A visit from the President of the International Women's Club, and Rotary proves that we are People of Action....

From the Pen of the President....

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

We are on our way with our Rotary year. Thank you to those who donated to Rotary Foundation on 1st July - we have R2450 to start our giving.
I was contacted by Knights Pendragon Club, who asked us to join with them to help the Gerald Fitzpatrick Home for the Aged. Those members at last Friday's meeting voted to assist - I am sure others will agree. They have no emergency lights.
I took it upon myself to plan for our 5th Friday meeting - morning coffee at the Wilds, but on Saturday 30th.

https://www.jhbcityparksandzoo.com/services-facilities/nature-reserves-bird-sanctuary/find-a-reserve/the-wilds-nature-reserve

There is a lot of talk at times about membership, and lets face it, without members our club will suffer. I would like to adjust our focus to other important topics as well. Members who are serious about being Rotarians need to be part of a committee, take part in projects. As a hybrid club, we appreciate that 'online' is as good as in-person and I think we are doing pretty well, and thank you to you all . Committee meetings are hybrid too and the meetings should be short, to the point and at a convenient time. Chairpersons are obliged to send minutes ahead of our business meeting.

In August we will have an Assembly and can finalize our goals.
My goal for the year is to have fun - join me!! We can be successful at the same time.

Keep warm.
Ann

Last Friday....

 

...Our club invited International Women's Club President Helen Langridge to tell us a little bit more about this organization.

Helen has been a longtime member and the President of the IWC for the past three years. The club was originally established in 1967 as a lunch club to help newcomers to Johannesburg to settle into their life in a new city.

The IWC is first and foremost a friendship club bringing together women of all nationalities and walks of life. They meet once a month at the Bryanston Country Club, where they will have a guest speaker and have a chance to socialize, and they also have a monthly activity where they will visit a place of interest, this month for example they plan to visit the holocaust and genocide centre and the following month a pottery class has been organized. You can also participate in various other special interest groups like book clubs, travel club, garden club, MahJong and bridge club.

Although they are not a charitable organization, they do however participate in various charity drives throughout the year, like Santa Shoebox and blanket and animal food collections.

Like many organizations they too were hard hit by Covid and as a result they saw dwindling membership numbers, but slowly it starting to pick up again.

As a number of members are only here for a finite time and move on to other parts of the world or return to their country of origin, it means that the friendships that have been forged during their stay in South Africa are far reaching and often long lasting.

It was lovely that fellow IWC member Liz Wolhuter was able to join the meeting as well as being able to greet Rita Millan from Rotary Club of Northcliff.

As young Tutty Faber was unable to receive his 100% attendance badge at President Ann's induction, she pinned it to his chest at the Friday meeting. Well done Tutty!

Rotarians, People of Action.....

"Together we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change - across the globe, in our communities and in ourselves"

This past weekend Rotarians Costa Qually, Jean Bernardo, Sybille Essmann and Rotary Ann Shirley Eustace had the most profound opportunity to make a difference in a few hapless souls  lives, when we were invited to be part of a group of 11 volunteers headed up by powerhouse Marilyn Bassin of the Boikanyo - Dion Herson Foundation who had identified the Sivenathi Care Home in a community on the outskirts of Fort Beaufort, Eastern Cape which takes care of 36 severely mentally and physically disabled persons, who were in desperate need for specialized mobility devices. The other driving force behind this initiative was Ruth Stubbs of The Paige Project, who is a vastly experienced occupational therapist, specializing in the treatment of persons born with cerebral palsy. Kerry, a young comm serv occupational therapist, who singlehandedly heads up the OT department at the Victoria Hospital in Alice was our girl at the coal face who was tasked to identify the children and persons who would be receiving a wheelchair.

The preparation for this outreach started months ahead of time. The mobility devices had to be individually prepared and shipped down to the Eastern Cape. Our fellow Rotarian Anne Padmore employed all her connections to organize Value Logistics who transported the wheelchairs, equipment, 171 blankets and ePap, generously donated by the Croswell family and Marilyn Bassin. All free of charge!

Flights to East London had to be booked, accommodation organized, we needed a vehicle big enough to carry 11 persons plus luggage, food parcel donations had to be organized.... and the People of Action stepped up to the plate

We were indeed humbled to see how an impoverished community manages to survive with dignity and with what minimal resources they have to make do. There is no running water, electricity is sporadic and by all accounts the refuse removal is non-existent, the result of which was that we saw two of the children having been bitten by rats. As the care home did not have a First-Aid kit Dr Shirley Eustace headed for town to obtain an anti-biotic and buy the necessary resources to  clean  and bandage the offending sores.

Nevertheless it must be said that we no doubt made a difference to the quality of life of these desperate souls.

Please look at the makeshift wheelchair this young man had to make do with.

Before and after.

We also managed to refurbish a number of old wheelchairs . We even found one that had been donated by Rotary Great Britain & Ireland.

In between we also handed out much needed blankets, because it can get bitterly cold in that part of the world.

The caregivers are the unsung heroes of this care centre and as a small token of gratitude Boikanyo donated food parcels to them and their families. They also each received a blanket donated by the Rotary Club of Rosebank

This Friday....

...Join the meeting either in person or via Zoom when Roger Wedlake will educate us on Anti-Aging Part 2.

Please let Ann know whether you will be attending in person, so that Ann can order sufficient pizzas.