From the Pen of the President....
The presentation
by Andrew Thatcher on grey water highlighted just how disadvantaged some of
the communities in our nearby vicinity are. It reminded me strongly that the
efforts of people who are prepared to serve can change the lives of the needy
in a positive and lasting way. The challenge will be to differentiate between
requests for handouts with only short-term benefits and those that will have a
sustainable impact, preferably through the continued involvement of the
beneficiaries themselves. All Rotarians should be alert to identifying suitable
potential projects in which the club can be involved during their routine daily
activities. Feel free to raise any possibilities you feel deserve consideration
during one of our meetings or directly with the appropriate committee.
Costa Qually
President
Tailpiece
Definition of flatulence
– an emergency vehicle that picks you up after you have been run over by a
steamroller
Last Friday....
...our guest speaker was Professor Andrew Thatcher, Chair of Industrial and Organisational Psychology at Wits. He works mainly in the area of Ergonomics (the study of peoples efficiency in their working environment) but that was not the crux of his presentation to us.
In light of Rotary's newest area of focus his talk was very relevant.
Andrew shared a very scary statistic with us; income inequality is calculated by the Gini coefficient and in 2020 South Africa came in with the highest score of all countries in the world, and nowhere is this glaring discrepancy more evident than right on our doorstep in Alexandra and the mushrooming informal settlements in its midst an on its borders.
The Johannesburg municipality does supply "essential services" like water and electricity, it has erected porta-loos that are serviced by "honey-suckers" which remove the "black waste" once a week, and PikitUp removes solid waste once a month. Because of space constraint it is impossible to put in a proper sewage system as it would mean clearing shacks, and this means that the grey water gets discarded indiscriminately, ends up in the Jukskei which eventually makes its way into the Hartebeespoort Dam.
Another scary statistic: The presence of e-coli is counted in CFU (colony forming units) in 100 ml of water. Drinking water has 0 CFU, recycled water (used to water vegetable gardens) has 2CFU, surface water (in swimming pools) has 200 CFU, upstream from Setswala informal settlement on the Jukskei they counted 100 000 CFU, and >500 000 CFU downstream. In a separate Wits study they recorded 7 million CFU at Frankenwald downstream from Setswala.
It is with this seemingly insurmountable challenge in mind that Andrew and many other interested parties are trying to find a sustainable solution which the community will buy into and adopt. Any project has to be handled with great sensitivity and has to be incorporated into every day community living and activity.
Man-made or constructed wetlands might be the answer. Research has shown that indigenous weed plants have the ability to cleanse water and thus a pilot project has been started. "Wetlands" have been built and planted with weeds harvested from the nearby river, with the objective that the community can dispose of their grey water into these troughs.
Early indications are that Andrew and Team are establishing a presence and are becoming known and accepted in the community which is imperative if this project is to succeed.
A question was asked of Andrew: How could we get involved?
Andrew maintained that there is no lack of funding for this project, what is needed is advocacy, being vocal about the problem and making people aware, and treating the problem at source.
Indeed a lot of food for thought.....
Skittle Rematch Team Rosebank v. Kyalami...
Team Rosebank was well represented last week at the skittles rematch organized by the Rotary Club of Kyalami at the Swiss Club and fellowship definitely was the winner, because we all made a lot of noise, ate hearty German food, but don't ask me which team was victorious.
Rosebank's Reach extends to the Cape...
David Bradshaw took time out of his holiday schedule to deliver much appreciated packs of Lego to the Anna Foundation in Stellenbosch.
The Anna Foundation was started in July 2005 by Anna Brom who was volunteering as a remedial teacher at a disadvantaged farm and township school in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Remedial education at these schools largely entailed teaching basic literacy (i.e. reading and writing) to learners of all ages. A vast number of learners aged 15 – 17 years, still attending primary school, were identified as unable to read at the level of an average 9-year old child. No special needs teachers are provided in these schools and no support supplied for these slower learners. It became clear that the need for greater support to these isolated and underprivileged schools in South Africa was crucial. Challenges faced by these schools include overcrowded classrooms, limited educational resources, lack of library facilities, language constraints, isolated geographical locations and poor transport availability. The Anna Foundation was created to provide support to these rural children and to provide them with a stimulating and uplifting environment.
Anna started by providing support classes in English and Maths to learners from Ipani Primary school. The school had no library facility so Anna started a library-in-a-box system, providing children with their first-ever taste of reading their own book. There were also no sports facilities at the school so Anna started a running group. These reading and running activities were then combined and became the start of the Anna Foundation’s 3Rs programme, namely Reading, Running and Right-ing. In order for children to become part of the running club, they had to read two books per week. The third R, Right-ing, was introduced to address the importance of positive self-esteem and self-worth, and help teach children different life skills.
The 3 Rs programme is currently implemented on farms and in rural schools throughout the Western Cape. Local women from these rural communities are trained in the 3 Rs programme and become responsible for implementing it on a daily basis. The Anna Foundation has been a registered non-profit organisation since 2005 and working on farms in the Western Cape since 2007.
This Friday....
Please join us as we honour pillars of our community that use their vocation to do exceptional work.
It is a face-to-face meeting at Wanderers where we will be joined by the award recipients and our soon-to-be-member Tayla Burger who will be inducted into the Rotary Club of Rosebank.
We shall of course also have Zoom link for our members overseas and those that cannot make the actual meeting.
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