From the Pen of the President....
Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,
Once or twice a year we need to attend to business in the Club by holding a Club Assembly – an ideal opportunity for members to put something on the agenda and be heard/have it discussed by all the members. We are one big happy family, but, as in all families there is always someone with a differing opinion or wanting to have their say or just discuss something bothering them!!
Club Assembly is this coming Friday – please email me with your agenda items – if it is not on the agenda, it is not going to come up!! I will be sending you all, via email, our current annual budget for comment and also the goals I have selected for the club for everyone’s approval.
Please try and attend on Friday, either online or in person – we cannot make any decisions or vote on anything without a quorum!! We have 2 inductions to look forward to as well.
I was so happy last week as it seemed that winter was over – not so, but at least we know that spring HAS to come – it is the order of things!!
Keep cosy,
Ann Hope-Bailie
Club President
Last Friday...
... We were privileged to listen to Traveller Extraordinaire, Eric Dabbs' most recent travel exploits.
Since his retirement in 2011 Professor Eric Dabbs has criss-crossed the globe extensively and with his recent trip to the Baltic countries his tally of destinations has now passed the 100 mark.
Eric titled his presentation: Travelling through the Baltics (In the shadow of War in the Ukraine).
He had been drawn to that part of the world as he had numerous friends who had originated there and these were the only European countries he had not been to.
Despite the proximity to Russia the actual war was far removed.
The Baltics consist of 4 very diverse countries: Lithuania- capital Vilnius, Latvia - capital Riga, Estonia - capital Tallin and Finland - capital Helsinki.
The countries have a rich and deep history and thankfully most of the historical castles, churches and buildings have survived, because instead of going to war they capitulated to the invading forces.
Lenore thanked Eric for his fascinating talk and we had to agree with her that we were all intrigued by the Hill of Crosses which he visited while in Vilnius. It is a popular place of pilgrimage, and it is estimated that the hill houses about 100 000 crosses.
Quiz Challenge 100...
To celebrate our 100th Quiz Challenge last Wednesday our organizer David Bradshaw invited a few of the regular Rosebank Rotary participants to his home for a hearty soup supper and the opportunity to test our general knowledge in person. Our Zoom opponents were from the Rotary Club of Kyalami as well as the e-club of Harare. The winner of that evening was undoubtedly Fellowship!!
Juanette McCrindle shares her "Ukrainian" journey with us....
We are privileged to own 3 properties in Hamburg. We live in one of the apartments and the other 2 townhouses were standing empty. We decided that we did not want to rent them, but instead offer them to refugee families who have come to Germany and have to start their lives all over.
We attend a Rotary club in Norderstedt and we met a lady who I think was the previous Mayor of Norderstedt and she put us in contact with one of the departments who deal with asylum seekers.
Heide contacted us last December and said she had a family from Eritrea who needed a home. However, this did not work out.
Then in April after the Ukraine vs Russia war broke out we were contacted once again by Heide saying she had a family of 5 driving from Ukraine at that moment and were arriving in Hamburg within the next week and would need a place to stay. We agreed that they could immediately move into one of the townhouses. It was semi furnished so they had something to start with. It is a family, Vladimir (62) and his wife Natalia (46), Lena (58), Olga (36) and her son Nikita (3). Vladimir could leave as he was over 60 but Olga and Lena's husbands who are both under 60 could not leave, they had to remain to fight the war.
Without any questions we gave them the keys and they moved in. We also gave them a key to the house next door and said if there was anything that they could use from that house to please take it.
Vladimir and Natalia helped us and especially Rainer in sorting out our garages and putting up shelves to make our life easier. The language was a problem but our friend GoogleTranslate is an amazing app and we use it to type messages to each other. It took them a while to get registered and they are now attending German classes. The German government gives them an allowance of 380 Euro per person per month. And the government also pays us rent. (We did not expect anything from the government or the Ukrainians).
At the end of April Heide contacted us and said she had another family looking for accommodation. We made it clear that this house which is available is in fact not really habitable, but if they wanted to look at it they were most welcome. We met with a tall, dark and quite handsome young man. We sat and chatted, I estimated him to be about 33/34, but as it turned out he is only 24. He has a degree in Economics and speaks good English. His manner and the way he conducts himself is very mature and responsible. And remember, this is the 2nd war he is living through.
He went through the house with me and said yes, he would like to take it. I also gave him the keys and told him to keep what they wanted in the house. He explained that his mother, father and grandparents would be living with him.
He then asked if he could make some changes, but who would fund these changes as was penniless? So we agreed that if he managed and organised everything, we would fund the requested renovations. Within 2 weeks, he had ripped out the old carpets and replaced them with laminate, he had all the skirtings redone and painted the walls. Once he had moved in he organized lamp shades and curtain rails. The house has gone through a miraculous change and it has been a blessing not only for them but for us as well.
We went away to Wiesbaden to visit our grandchildren. Davyd wanted to organise a service to remove all the garbage which had come out of the house and we gave Davyd our car keys and trailer and said: here, please use it to remove the garbage. He has mentioned many times to me that he and his family do not know how to thank us. He said that it is so unbelievable that people will just hand over the house keys and say: here, stay as long as you like without expecting anything in return. He also can't believe that we would just give him our car keys and then leave town. These are things he said that do not happen and has given him a huge amount of trust and respect for us.
Davyd and his mom have been in the house since mid May but his dad only managed to get out much later and arrived in Hamburg on the 3rd July. His grandparents decided to stay in Russia with their daughter, as they felt that the trip to Germany would be too much of an adjustment at their age. Which I can totally understand. Davyd and his mum have worked in the garden and continue to make changes in the house and for this I am extremely grateful.
I took the ladies and Nikita out for lunch... I had to laugh.. I said to my children, I took Natalia, Lena and Olga out for lunch, we spent the whole time on our cell phones... ha ha haaa.... "translating" ..... It is the only time I have been to a lunch where I agreed that cell phones were acceptable :)
Our experience has been a humbling one. People who have fled and arrived in a country, with a culture and language they do not understand, have been pleasant, helpful, friendly, they laugh with us and they are so grateful they do not have to live in one of the communal halls where they would have to sleep with hundreds of others.
Unfortunately other people have had unpleasant experiences when they took in guests from other countries. We have been blessed.
I am separated from my family in South Africa by choice, but these families are separated from their loved ones because of war. One loses sight of how fortunate we are. When you meet people who have lost everything.. and I mean everything... It is a good time to stop, reflect and be grateful.
This Friday....
Club Assembly and the induction of Prof Shelley Schmollgruber and Vivienne Brokken.
See you all there, either in person or on Zoom.
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