A Business Meeting, Calling all music aficionados for our Music Quiz, Donate a Blanket and Bring-and-Braai.....

 
From the Pen of the President.....

We have been experiencing important religions occasions of several groups of people at pretty much the same time – Easter for Christians, Pesach for Jewish people and Ramadan for Muslims.  All of them seek to concentrate our thoughts and feelings on matters spiritual rather than on material concerns and encompass the need to consider and care for the wellbeing of others and our environment.  Several of these elements form part of the objectives of Rotary and will likely be in our minds throughout the year and not only at present.

Costa Qually
President

Tailpiece

We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do! ( Mother Teresa)

Last Friday...

.... our monthly Business meeting  saw only a handful of stalwarts meet in person at Wanderers and sadly even the Zoom attendance was pretty dismal. The low attendance figures of late was one of the topics addressed in the meeting, and we will have to put our collective heads together to come up with solutions to attract our members back to our weekly gatherings.  Do we change the venue? Maybe we should consider changing the time we meet? Mentorship for newer members?

All constructive input would be greatly appreciated.

Report backs:

President Costa:

Richard Tonkin has requested leave of absence from May to August and we all wish him God speed on his travels overseas, and Bon Voyage to Pam Donaldson who will also be winging her way to Europe in the near future.

Pam Donaldson, head of Club Service counted an average of only 20 members per meeting in the past month, and has asked members to please let her know of any make-up meetings and committee meeting attendance.

Finances - John Symons:

Club Finances are in good shape.

It was agreed that the Rotary Club of Rosebank would donate a sum of R5 000 to District 9370 to assist in the relief efforts for the flood ravaged KZN. Various members  donated funds in their personal capacity and John was able to transfer R15 500 to the District Relief Fund.

International - Richard Maloney reported back that he had been in contact with Shoprite CSI to pitch the cervical cancer project to them, but it will still need a lot of spade work. He will also be travelling to Germany in the next few months and plans on visiting Rotary clubs with the aim of building international connections.

Membership - ably steered by David Bradshaw, who is chipping away at potential candidates, and hopefully we will soon have some serious commitments.

David is trying very hard to establish a satellite club in Dainfern, who plan on holding a prostate cancer awareness talk for Dainfern residents in the near future.

Youth - The Interact Club of the Highlands North Boys Highschool have elected a President who will be inducted shortly, and they are planning on holding a Blanket Drive at the Norwood Hypermarket.

The Senior Youth Leadership Course will be taking place in October and deposits have been paid for 50 participants.

Jean and Ann Hope-Bailie  interviewed a couple of Rotary Exchange student candidates and were very impressed with their calibre.

The date for the Careers Day has been confirmed for the 15th of July at the Holy Rosary College.

Publicity - Ann H-B regularly updates our Facebook page and our Rosebank Ramble is in the running for a District Award to be presented at Discon in June.

Fundraising - Bookings for our Quiz Evening with the Music Guru Sean Brokensha have been going well, with more than 60 tickets already sold. Sonja has managed to secure some wonderful prizes for our popular raffle, but we still need many more and asks all members to bring, bring, bring....

https://www.quicket.co.za/events/145191-quiz-evening-with-the-music-guru-sean-brokensha/#/

Please avoid disappointment and book your team soonest.

Vocational & Community Services - The annual Blanket Drive at the William Nicol Pick & Pay will be taking place on Friday 6th and Saturday/Sunday 7th and 8th of May. Thank you to all the members, Anns and friends who are volunteering their time to "sell" as many blankets as possible. The Board has agreed to the purchase of a second Yoco Point of Sale machine, which should also help with more blanket purchases.

 

And this Saturday....

.... on the last day of April we can look forward to a wonderful day of Fellowship.

Guest Speaker Alison Groves on "green" buildings, Our Indian Quiz opponents win by a margin, the Anns hold a successful Jumble Sale, and Bookings are open for our Charity Quiz evening with the Music Guru

From the Pen of the President.....

A quick transition from a disappointing summer to winter weather that is both wet and cold highlights the need to assist the many underprivileged people in our community.  We will be involved in another blanket drive in the near future.  You will be able to assist in this drive by volunteering for a shift at Pick and Pay, Republic Road or by approaching people and enterprises to donate money to buy blankets – or both.  You can serve to change lives!

Costa Qually
President

Tailpiece

He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions. (Confucius)

Last Friday....

.....our guest speaker  was Alison Groves, a Sustainability Consultant and environmental activist who had been invited to address us about "greening" of buildings.

Our technical director Ann Hope-Bailie was faced with some challenges because our meeting had been relegated from our usual venue at Wanderers to some less than adequate room, but in her unflappable manner Ann connected the Zoom participants with the meeting and somehow made it work.

Alison, who has been part of the "green" movement in South Africa since its inception in 2007, and a recipient of many environmental awards proudly told us of her involvement with the Emira Property Group, whose Knightsbridge, Block A Building in heart of Bryanston had just received a net zero, energy performance certification - the first one in South Africa. 

The anchor of a "green" building depends on the materials it is constructed with. Alison mentioned fly ash, which is a waste product in coal-fired power stations which offers an energy saving substitute to Portland cement; also aluminium and gypsum, both of which are recyclable and are extensively used in the building industry.

"Passive" buildings use maximum daylight, keep out the heat in summer, yet bring warmth in during winter months.

The heat emissions of buildings can be reduced by clever shuttering and creating shade by planting trees and establishing gardens around them.

Environmental difference can be achieved by making incremental changes in our homes: using LED lighting, taking shorter showers, turning off lights and taps.

Alison makes mention of the 5 R's - Recycle, reduce, re-use, refuse (straws, plastic bags and promotional gifts) and reclaim (by using recycled goods).

Food for thought an a topic that fits in very much with our seventh area of focus.

The Rosebank Rotary Quiz Team versus a formidable Indian Opponent....

Last Wednesday five Rotary Clubs from the Indian city of Cochin, in the province of Kerala -  RC Cochin Smartcity, RC Cochin Beachside,  RC Cochin Periyar, RC Cochin Uptown and RC Tripunithura Royale put together a formidable team who took President and Quizmaster Costa's challenging questions in their stride and we were no match against their collective brain power. 

Well done Cochin, this calls for a rematch.

Have you booked your Dream Team.....

https://www.quicket.co.za/events/145191-quiz-evening-with-the-music-guru-sean-brokensha/#/

Avoid disappointment, only a limited amount of seats available and tickets are selling out fast.

Next Friday...

...have a blessed and peaceful Good Friday and Easter weekend.

 

PP Grace van Zyl promotes Rotary's involvement in peace programs, Rotarian Gareth Hood's letter from China and final Club 100 Winners are announced....

From the Pen of the President...

You cannot share what you do not have.  It may be time, resources or talents – very often it will be a combination of these.  Our members have demonstrated over and over what can be done for others by sharing and positively impacting the lives of those less fortunate than ourselves.  Keep up your contributions to the goals of Rotary – you have much to be proud of!

Costa Qually

President

Tailpiece

If you cannot feed a hundred, then feed just one  (Mother Theresa)

Last  Friday....

Past President of Rotary Club of Johannesburg and recently elected director for Africa on RI's  Rotary Action Group for Peace Grace van Zyl addressed our club and shared how the RAGFP works together to advance peace and prevent wars throughout the World. 

One of the objectives of the RAGFP is to forge a path for existing Rotary peace programs to become involved directly with Rotarians and their activities.

Rotary and Peace and how to approach projects with sustainable peace in mind.

 

Peace is in Rotary’s DNA “…to build goodwill & Peace”  and hence has partnered with the Institute of Peace & Economics (IEP) regarding positive and sustainable peace.  Anybody can complete the free courses offered by the IEP by going onto Rotary’s Peace Academy.

 

Peace is measured by two indexes, The Global Peace Index and the Positive Peace Index.  The global Peace index measures how peaceful a country is by the absence of war or conflict or the fear of conflict – this is viewed as negative peace.  The positive peace index measures looks at attitudes, institutions and structures that when strengthened lead to a more peaceful society.  It is not only associated with higher levels of peace, it is also associated with stronger macroeconomic performance.  The IEP uses thousands of data sets in each pillar of positive peace to measure peace. The Positive Peace index for 2021 showed the following:

In summary the world became less peaceful by 0.07% since 2020.  Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world, with Afghanistan the least peaceful. 

 

There is a synergy between Rotary’s 7 areas of focus and the IEP’s 8 Pillars of positive peace.  Every project we take on as Rotarians improves positive peace in the communities we serve.  We are unconsciously competent at peace building but with training and a mindset change we can be consciously competent. There are 4 key steps for a mindshift change when approaching our projects:

 

1. SEAK HEALTH – not mission accomplished

Continue wrong and adapting to make improvements

2. SEE PATTERNS – not just problems

Step back from the problem at hand and see the bigger picture and patterns behind the problem  (look at the cause as opposed to the symptoms)

3. UNLOCK CHANGE – don’t impose it

Don’t get focussed on looking for the problem and then rush in to fix it.  Rather unlock the forces within the system to create the change.

4. PLAN TO ADAPT – don’t stay the course

Navigate the everchanging dynamics whilst still keeping your eye on the end goal

 

Many projects fail when we apply “Clock-Like” fixes to “Cloud-Like” problems.

 

So where does the Rotary Action Group for Peace (RAGFP) fit into all of this?  The RAGFP encourages Rotarians, Rotaractors & Interactors to become part of the action group and then ultimately convert to peace builder clubs.  The cost to join the RAG is $20 for Rotarians, $10 for Peace Fellows and $5 for Rotaractors and Interactors for the year.  The benefits of joining the RAG gives you access to the following:

 

To become a Peacebuilder club, you need at least 2 Rotarians to form a Committee.  Each of these Rotarians must complete the free training on IEP and join the RAGFP.  The club can decide if they will fund the $40 or if the Rotarians will fund this themselves ($20 dollars each).  We encourage members to become part of the District Peace Building Committee as well.  The club must identify one project a year to showcase/enhance positive sustainable peace (it can be an existing project).  The club must also commit to training their members and communities on positive sustainable peace.  There are chapter meetings every week that meet virtually, currently in Hong Kong, Germany & Serbia.  We have also launched the Africa Peace Hour that takes place on the last Sunday of every month via zoom at 7pm SA time on the following link https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84438091586.  These meetings allow you to collaborate with peace builders in Africa that can give you a different insight into projects, what has worked and what are the challenges.

 

Becoming a peace builder club will help your club:

• More powerfully implement RI’s Peace and Conflict Prevention/Resolution area of focus in your club
• Address the growing problem and danger of divisiveness and polarization that fractionalizes and stagnates societies, disrupts peaceful relations, and increases the potential for violence,
• Build stronger, more harmonious communities and a more peaceful world,
• Help Rotarians maximize the peacebuilding impact of every Rotary project in all seven areas of focus, and

Assist in the accomplishment of Rotary’s mission to “enable Rotarians to advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace.”

 

Peace starts with each one of us, it is only when we become more peaceful within ourselves that we can build positive sustainable peace with in our committees.

A message from Rotary Ann Liz Short....

Dear Rotarians

 

At our last meeting we decided to continue with the Hundred Club fund-raising this year but we have had to reduce the cost of the tickets as people felt that money is so tight these days.  Your ticket for the year will now cost you only R200 and you will still go into the monthly draw for prizes of R150 and R300.  However, our end of year prizes have been slightly reduced, otherwise we won't make any money at all!

 

We would greatly appreciate it if you would support us again - we really value the contributions from our Rotarians and friends so please ask everyone you know if they will help us out.  Last year we only managed to sell 78 tickets so this year we are aiming for a full 100 and should raise about R12,000.

 

Thank you so much and love

 

Liz. 

And from further afield a letter sent to us from Gareth Hood....

The past year in China has been a fascinating year from many different perspectives. From a personal side, I have grown more in the last year as a person than I think I ever grew before in a similar period of time. I have experienced the challenges of being restricted from going home to see my family and friends who I miss dearly but through this experience I have realized that I have a strong mental fortitude and have developed a method of internal reflection that has greatly helped me through more challenging days. Another thing that has helped me greatly has been exercise of both my mind and body. Daily meditation and CrossFit have become hugely helpful tools in strengthening my mind and body. 

 I have missed the weekly quizzes and seeing the Rotarians online but due to blocks for security reasons, Zoom and very often any Google services will continue to not be viable communication sources for some time into the future. But be this as it may, I still strive to embody the values of a Rotarian on a daily basis and once the lockdowns in China are eased, I hope to start travelling internally again and make contact with fellow Rotarians. 

 With regards to my experiences in China so far, I have to say that China continues to amaze me by its beauty both natural and the beauty of their cultures and traditions. Never have I lived somewhere where people are so proud of the culture and still practice traditions thousands of years old. The people here are friendly and welcoming and love to hear my many stories about South Africa. One person even likened South Africa to the Wild West which I told them if they lived in Johannesburg could just mean Krugersdorp. 

 My students have been the highlight of my experience and life here so far. Never have I ever been so excited to walk into a classroom every day. My Grade 6s are the epitome of hungry minds, always inquiring. Our current unit is called Life on Mars in which we are exploring the pros and cons of humans going to Mars and a highlight of this unit was when one of the Grade 6s stood up during a class debate and stated that humans should fix Earth first before running away to another planet or we would eventually do the same thing to Mars. A life lesson if ever there was one. My Grade 10s are currently discussing conflict resolution focusing on game theory which discusses finite vs. infinite players and our discussions regularly give me hope that these students will one day lead the world into a more peaceful and prosperous period. 

 Overall I can comfortably say that so far my time in China has been the best time of my life and I am excited for the years to come here in which I can continue to grow and learn. I hope you are all staying safe and healthy and hopefully, I can eventually attend a meeting in person. 

Cheers for now!

 Love Gareth

This Friday.....

Alison Groves will address us at a hybrid Zoom/Wanderers meeting.

Alison has been involved in the ‘green’ movement in South Africa since its inception in 2007 and is a Green Star Accredited Professional. She is particularly interested in designing resilience into buildings, thereby future proofing against resource scarcities. A fundamental principle of her approach is to find synergies between systems and materials used, maximising potential for passive design.

Having worked closely with the Green Building Council South Africa since its inception, she has been involved in the development of a number of the Green Star rating tools, serves as assessor and sits on the GBCSA Technical Advisory Group. She has won several awards, including winner of the highest rated Green Star Building – Vodafone Site Solution Innovation Centre in 2013 and the Leadership award for the most Established Green Star Accredited Professional in 2015.