A Friend of Rotary pays us a visit, Emma goes on vacation, a memorable Skittle evening and Charity Begins With Me promotes reading.....

 From the Pen of the President....

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

 

So our “Winter Wardrobe” project seems like it could get exciting – AG Jean has offered to provide the venue, we have a number of Rotarians with sewing machines. Those who can knit should get started – scarves, beanies, snoods, mittens or shawls. There is a lot of wool floating about (heard about it) – start bringing it in please. We need donations of fleece and ribbing. Do not be intimidated if you cannot sew or knit – I am sure you are able to use a pair of scissors? Make a cup of tea? Please do not hesitate to ask friends and family for help with knitting or donations of clothing or any materials. The wardrobe is going to require some shoes as well – Lorenzo’s son has given us some fabulous donations of shoes and caps (just need transport from Cape Town). I would like this to be a CLUB effort – you know what that means – if you cannot be there – we need your money, donations or time.

 

There is something about reacquainting oneself with old friends – it brings such pleasure! We had that last Friday listening to Mike Greeff, and over the weekend I received an email from President Richard of the Rotary Club of Otway, UK – they would like to reignite the relationships we had and assist with one of our projects!! Lets see what develops. CONTACTS - This is also what David would like us to do – approach our everyday contacts and friends to become Rotarians.

 

Back to sizzling weather – no rain – are we ever happy!!??

Have a good week.

 

Ann

 

Last Friday....

....Rosebank Rotary club said “hello” and gave a warm welcome to Mike Greeff, who was part of the Rosebank Rotary family for over 20 years, and many of the Rotarians and Rotary Anns that attended the meeting, spent time afterwards chatting, catching up and making plans to visit with Mike and his wife Fiona in Clarens where he now lives.

Mike Greeff's introduction to the Senior Youth Leadership Course was serendipitous. At that stage he was working for FNB and had been asked to help out and present a motivational talk to the learners, and the rest as they say is history.

Mike ran the annual courses for more than 20 years and he reminisced fondly of the family hitching up their caravan and heading out to Kloofwater  for the weekend. They so enjoyed “going to the Mountain” each year! He even remembers Lorenzo singing O Sole Mio!

His skills in leadership and strategy inspired the learners attending the camp to aim higher in their aspirations. More importantly, his decision to join St.Davids's Marist Brothers College as CEO was as a direct result of his involvement with SYLC. 

 He was awarded a Paul Harris fellowship. This is awarded for excellence in service to Rotary. This humble, but qualified and capable leader was unaware that he would be a recipient and he still regards this honour with awe. He will also forever be grateful for Rotary's sponsoring his overseas MBA trip.

The main reason for Mike's visit however, was to talk to us about the Royal Drakensberg Education Trust of which he is a founder member and Trustee. 

https://www.royal-drakensberg.org.za/

The Trust's humble beginnings were in 2007 when the Carte family of the famous family run Cavern Hotel near Bergville asked him to share in their vision to create an Early Childhood Development Centre in this rural and disadvantaged part of the Drakensberg. Mike lived on site for a year to ensure that the project got off on a sound footing.

The Trust has three main areas of focus: The Royal Drakensberg Primary school, the Khanyisela Project and the latest addition Baby Boost.

The school caters for children up to grade 3 and has 102 learners.

The Khanyisela Project is the main recipient of the Rosebank Rotary Anns fundraising initiatives. It works to improve the lives of 650 pre-school children in the impoverished Amazizi district and concentrates on education, social, emotional and cognitive development as well as health and nutrition.

The objective is to learn to read so that students can read to learn. Mike shared the vision of the “Valley of Excellence” which has international support, including that of Redford Rotary Group in the United Kingdom. 

Their latest initiative, Baby Boost, started by Dr Marisha Nash,  is a carer and baby project and concentrates on the first 1000 days of childhood. 

Mike said that in affluent Johannesburg one's wealth is measured by the cars or houses, but in rural Drakensberg, Mike was asked how many chickens he had. He answered that he had no chickens at all, only 5 dogs. 

His title is “Umkhulu Mike” – “Grandfather Mike” and he bears that title with pride.

When a pebble is thrown into water, no one can tell how many subsequent ripples form or on what distant shores the ripples unfurl. This is Rotary in its very essence.

Emma goes on vacation....

Schools had a short mid-term break and Emma's host family motored down Kapacz in Poland for a few days of sightseeing.

The weather started off quite miserable but eventually cleared up sufficiently so that they could get in some skiing.

They visited the nearby town of Jelenia Gora and the Czech border was only a stone's throw away.

RC Esbjerg, Denmark pips RC Rosebank at the Quiz Challenge post.....

If there is one thing that the Covid lockdown experience has taught us is that distance and time differences are easily overcome with Zoom technology and that Rotary Fellowship is truly universal.

Last Wednesday's quiz challenge against the Rotary Club of Esbjerg in Denmark was testament to this.

The quiz coincided with RC Esbjerg's weekly meeting and collectively they proved to be formidable opponents and quizmaster David Bradshaw's challenging questions did not seem to phase them and they walked away victorious by a small margin.

The ever-popular Skittles evening raises funds for Club projects....

... In the words of Pam Donaldson: "Well done Sonja, best Fundraiser ever!!" 

 The Swiss Club in Kyalami always host us graciously and it is lots of competitive banter, great fun, good food and all for a good cause, and last Friday evening's Fundraiser clearly did not disappoint.

A respectable amount of R5 200 was raised. Thank you to everyone  who participated.

A One Man crusade for Literacy...

The excerpt below was taken from Charity Begins with Me's  Facebook page. Stephan Ferreira does such amazing work amongst the most vulnerable people in the Durban Deep informal settlement.

We got soaking wet last week and the week before. The rain simply got the best of us. Today the sun was out, and we took some time out to catch up on reading. A lot of the kids really struggle with reading and don't have access to libraries. If we can just see a little improvement this year, it will all be worth it. I am also planning a few reading competitions so be sure to watch this space!!--

This Friday....

...Roger Wedlake will no doubt give us a insightful and entertaining lecture on the origins of Masonry.

Don't miss it.

A monthly business meeting, see who the February Club 100 winners are and Exchange Student Emma's weekly report...

 From the Pen of the President....

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

 

Having spent Saturday Rotary training , I recall how good it is to meet other Rotarians in person and hear about the wonderful things going on in our District. I am inclined to motivate that ALL new members are required to attend training in the first 6 months of their membership and I challenge those members who have not attended any in person training to register and attend.

We have some RLI training coming up… come on!!!

So much rain and so much water and the flooding has spread to the Vaal dam area and the Vaal and Orange rivers. I grew up on the Vaal river and lived through a few floods, also in February as it happens. My gran lost her house in 1975 floods and the one house on the farm was under water to the window ledges – you have no idea what it is like afterwards – the damp and fine silt in everything!!

Keep those affected in your thoughts and if you are still wondering what climate change is all about – this is it!!

 

Have a good week.

See you on Friday and I challenge you to do that training!!

Ann

 

Last Friday...

... we met for our monthly Business Meeting, where committee chairs have the opportunity to report back on Club activities.

Briefly:

Youth - Jean Bernardo thanked all the members that attended school assemblies where Rotary School Awards were presented to deserving learners that had excelled academically, in sports and leadership.

The Highlands North Boys High School Interact Club held another successful Blood Drive which was well attended. 

The annual Careers Day and the Senior Youth Leadership Course are in the planning stages and possible dates are being discussed.

Young Tsjamo Nyato, who had been accepted as a Rotary Exchange Student for 2023 had made the decision that because of his age (16 years) he would postpone his overseas placement to 2024, but due to circumstances beyond their control he and his mother have relocated to Limpopo, he is however still a keen candidate, and the Club has agreed that we will still sponsor a portion of the costs that are incurred as an Exchange student. District will carry 1/2 of the costs. His Exchange will now also only take place in 2025 after he has matriculated..

Membership - David Bradshaw has compiled a very comprehensive strategy to attract new members to our Club:

- We need to make more use of social media platforms like Facebook.

- To attract a more diverse and younger membership we should approach parents of Interact clubs and members of Round Table and the Lions. By example David took the opportunity to speak to a Lions member, who was manning a stall selling Christmas cakes and invited her to take part in one of our quizzes. Lyn recruited Brigid Booth by inviting her to a meeting.

A suggestion was made that at a social gathering that will take place in lieu of the 5th Friday meeting every member bring along a friend.

We need to distribute Rotary brochures at every fundraising event and also when we do our food and blanket drives.

The December edition of Rotary Africa specifically dealt with the challenges of  attracting new members and included a "Prospect Star Chart" as a guidance tool.

Community Services -  In last week's Ramble we made an appeal to assist Charity Begins With Me's Stephan Ferreira in his quest to supply 1500 children with a warm garment for the upcoming winter. 

And that gave rise to the idea of organizing a Sew-a-thon.

As the 5th Friday meeting of the month has now been replaced by a Fellowship and social gathering on the Saturday, we will be meeting on the 31st of March at a place and time still to be determined, armed with sewing machines, material (fleece) and necessary paraphernalia and sew up a storm.

We have a number of new members that might not be aware of the what the role of the Duty Sergeant entails, so President Ann asked Margaret Dale to read the documented task list.

Rotary Club of Rosebank (Johannesburg): Duty Sergeant’s Task List 

·         Arrive well before 1pm and check the venue of the meeting - sometimes they send us upstairs.

·         The key for the bureau is in the drawer.

·         Place the large Rotary Discs in 3 visible places ----- upstairs at the top of the stairs; at the bottom of the stairs outside the lounge entrance; outside the outer door where one comes from the parking lot to the Bowlers lounge. If the venue is upstairs then just “use your head.”

·         Put the lectern on the President’s table and the bell/gong. (Note: Some presidents prefer not to have the lectern there at all).

·         Put 2 Rotary banners on the hooks of the wooden stands - one on each table and the small RSA flag on the attendance desk, together with the sheets of name badges.
Raffle system - The numbered discs are kept in a bag with the Attendance Officer’s float and attendance sheets. The sergeant should obtain the bag of disks from the attendance desk. At the appropriate time ask someone to draw a disk and consult the attendance sheet for the winner. RETURN THE BAG OF DISKS TO THE ATTENDANCE OFFICER.

·         At 13:00, after checking with the President, ring the gong to call the meeting to order.

·         When called upon, ask the members to stand and you say Grace.

·         When the food arrives see that it is being served and assist with serving.

·       Sergeant’s Time: have a list of members’ and partners’ birthdays, wedding anniversaries and dates of Rotary induction-for that week. Tell a joke or two or ask someone before the time to help with a few jokes, or read out something of interest.

·         Ask someone to draw the lucky number.

·         Keep order during the meeting  -  use gong if necessary and pass the collection bottle around the tables.

·         At the end of the meeting ask members to rise and say with you THE FOUR WAY TEST.

·         Pack all the regalia away, lock the bureau and replace the key. This is an important part of the sergeant’s duties; please do not leave it for somebody else to do.

 Rotarians are professional people and should take personal responsibility for finding someone to replace them when they are unable to fulfil their duties.

Once they have found someone, it is then also their responsibility to let the Master Sergeant and the attendance officer know.

 

Emma's Weekly Check-in...

Last week Emma had the opportunity to visit Dresden, situated on the River Elbe. During WW2 the city centre was entirely destroyed, but has been painstakingly restored to its former glory.

The Frauenkirche lay in ruins for 50 years after the war as a war memorial but restoration work began in 1994 till 2005 and the cathedral is now once again a magnificent landmark.

Emma's host mom has a friend with horses, and because Emma does show jumping she of course "jumped" at the idea (no pun intended) to do some horse riding. She reports that it was more like "pony" riding.

This week Emma is going on holiday with her host family to the south of Poland.

She is certainly putting her passport to very good use.

This Friday....

 ....we welcome an old friend of the Rotary Club of Rosebank guest speaker Mike Greeff who will talk to us about the Royal Drakensberg Education Trust - Impacting Lives for the Better.

He will be joined by PDGA Janet Callard. 

Guest Speaker Eric Dabbs guides us through Ukraine's history, Emma's memorable weekend with fellow exchange students and an Appeal from Charity begins with Me...

 From the Pen of the President....

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

Beautiful rain – some would say too little, some will say too much!! While thousands are affected by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, thousands are also affected closer to home in Mozambique. Roads and bridges closed in the Kruger National Park. The Rotary Clubs in 9400 are donating money and collecting goods to send to Maputo. Please spare a thought for the residents of the city who have been without fresh water for some days and a spread of cholera is feared. The situation has occurred in a matter of days. Keep all affected in your thoughts and prayers.

It is at times like this that people ask how they can help – please contact me if you have any ideas, donations can be targeted. Bearing in mind that we are stronger together!

Have a great week.

Ann

Last Friday....

...our guest speaker was Eric Dabbs, certainly  no stranger to our Club, who gave us a riveting presentation. 

Since his retirement as Professor of Genetics in 2011 Eric Dabbs has travelled to 101 countries and has meticulously researched the history (and pre-history) of these countries. 

 He grew up in Surrey, south east of England and has always achieved academically – his academic qualifications are from Kent University, through Cambridge University and culminated in Harvard University where he received his PhD.

The topic of today’s talk was on the History of Ukraine (which means ‘borderlands’). 

Who knew anything of Ukraine before the recent historical events? We may have been aware of the Great Famine of the 1930's and that USSR premier Nikita Krushchev hailed from Ukraine and we would have heard about the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. Eric filled in the gaps in our knowledge of Ukraine’s rich and interesting history.

At the start Eric gave us statistics on Ukraine: it is a country of 43 million (South Africa is 57 million); the average life expectancy is 72years (South Africa’s is 67 and Germany is 82) and the GDP Purchasing Power Parity figure (USD) is 11.6, compared to Romania (which was also previously in the Soviet Bloc) at 40.2; Germany at 59.1  and South Africa at 19.3 (Source: ‘CIA FACTS’, 2022).

Some highlights of this captivating talk were:

·         that the first people in the area were Neanderthals (45 000 to 55000 years ago) and showed how the society had gradually changed to become agrarian.

·        Interestingly, earlier than Stonehedge, around the year 4000BC, in Ukraine, there was the relatively wealthy and sophisticated culture of  Cuouteni-Trypil  that had cities of 3000 dwellings each with around 20 000 people. An interesting fact was that, according to Ruth Tringham, in a ritual ‘cleansing,’ all the houses in those cities were burned to the ground every 60-80 years. Marija Gimbutas, a historian, hypothesized that this matriarchal society of Cuouteni- Trypillian was later replaced by a patriarchal society with classes based on wealth (as indicated by rectangular burial mounds).

·        Around 3500 BC the factor which changed the course of history in Europe (including Ukraine) was the domestication of horses (We know this from cave paintings). The increased mobility and speed of the horse-mounted warriors gave them the upper hand.

·       The Vikings arrived in the area, rowing large warships. A Muslim ambassador who went to the Volga via Ukraine, described with horror that the people of the area were tall, fair, filthy, drunk, immoral and worst of all cremated their dead by setting a boat containing the corpse alight. This fits our image of Vikings well! 

·      Around 370AD The area was populated by the Huns. Curiously, the elite families of the Huns deformed the skulls of the babies. This same anomaly was found in the Mayan culture of South America. The most famous Hun was, of course, Atilla the Hun. The DNA of the Huns reveals that they were a mix of Mongol and West Asians. The Huns were transient – after 100 years, they moved out of the Ukraine area. There were “waves”  of Asiatic Nomadic peoples in this area in the years that followed.

Ar

 T   The Slavs were largely polytheistic, worshipping a chief god Perun.  However Vladimir, the leader of the Slavs in 980AD, adopted Christianity. The result was that the elite became literate, and the new religion was reflected in architecture and in art, primarily icons.

·        Around 1162 Genghis Khan  invaded Ukraine. His armies were ruthless, killing mercilessly. The invasion by the Mongols created the vast Mongol empire. His son succeeded him as leader, but Genghis Khan’s grandson divided the Mongolian Empire into four, and it disintegrated. Fortunately in the Far North-west area of Ukraine, the Slav people were not impacted by the Mongolian invasion. Their leader was Alexander Nevsky and in 1242, he took control but he grovelled to the Mongols and the nation survived!

·    The two Ivan's in Ukraine history were Ivan the Great (iii) and Ivan the Terrible (iv) who killed one of his sons, and the remaining son who succeeded him was an ineffective and weak leader and so the dynasty ended.

·        In the 1700s the Romanov dynasty came to power; there were two notable leaders – Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. At this time, Crimea became part of Russia, but was re-united to Ukraine later.

·         Ukraine, Eric told us, has only had two periods of independence, immediately after the end of the first World War and in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union when  Ukraine became an  independent country.

Eric had researched the history of Ukraine in great depth and the talk was fascinating! It would be wonderful if Eric’s knowledge and research of Ukraine and of other related topics could be captured into a more permanent form such as in videos, podcasts or books, although he has made PowerPoint slides. 

We look forward to hearing Eric present to the Rotary Club again.

 

 Emma makes more Memories....

Last weekend Emma and other long term Rotary Exchange students staying in various parts of Germany met for a memorable skiing adventure in the ski resort of Oberwiesenthal, which is situated on the Czech border less than 3 hours from Weißwasser.

There were exchange students from all parts of the World: France, USA, Australia, Mexico, Brazil and of course Emma representing South Africa.

She reports:

* A meet-and-greet on Friday afternoon, where they built a snowman and then had a good old fashioned snowball fight.

* Two Argentinians Tiziano and Pablo and Emma tried to figure out how to make a fire so that they could have a braai (or asada as they would call it in Argentina).

* That night they went for a walk with burning torches to watch the lights of the neighbouring villages.

* Saturday morning was an early start so that they could attempt the baby slopes. None of them had ever skied beforehand, so they all battled on together.

* Carnival was also in full swing, so they took part in the festivities and only got to bed very late.

* The next day they were all very tired and stiff from their first ski attempts, but they persevered.

* They then took a cable car to the highest "mountain" in Saxony (all of 1000 meters above sea level) at minus 9 degrees Celsius. It was amazing and something she will never forget.

* After that they drank Glühwein and sat around a fire and watched the stars.

No doubt friendships for life were forged that weekend.

Speaking of forging, Emma also attended a Rotary meeting where she was taught to forge.

An Appeal from Charity Begins With Me....

Stephan Ferreira tirelessly and singlehandedly  tries to make a difference and we can assist him to reach his goal. 

New project!!

Winter is fast approaching and I want to make sure all my children have something warm to wear. Many children living in informal settlements walk around with old, worn out clothing.

My goal is to collect 1500 jerseys, jackets, long sleeve tops, or even long sleeve pj's.

(Other clothing items also welcome.)

Please take some time this week / weekend and clean out those closets.

Drop off in Fairland, JHB or send to us via PostNet.

Collection ends 31 March 2023.

Please WhatsApp if you can help.

Stephan

072 5933 866

This Friday...

....join us at Wanderers or on Zoom for our monthly business meeting.

Guest Speaker Tim Truluck's role as Ward Councillor revealed, Emma's journey, Sybille visits the Rotary Club of Stanford in the Cape and save the date for an exciting Quiz Challenge...

 From the Pen of the President....

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

 

Jennifer Jones reports back on the survey done amongst members – “what’s most important is for everyone in every Rotary club to speak up and listen to one another. We should never be afraid to share with our fellow Rotary member what we expect to get out of our membership and have an open discussion about how to make that happen.” Sound advice.

I picked up on the Inter District Friendship Exchange – who is keen – I am!! Not everyone can afford overseas travel, but a visit to another district in South Africa for example, could be fun and we would host a group from there in exchange!! Let me know if you are keen.

It is half way through the Rotary year – we need to start looking at our goals!!

Have a great week and keep well.

 

Ann

 

 

Last Friday...

...we had the privilege of a visit by Tim Truluck who is no stranger to our club, as he had addressed us on a previous occasion in 2015 when he gave us an account of the history of Linden.

Tim's background is in environment as he studied Environmental Science and he has always been community orientated, joining the resident association before becoming a councillor.

He has been the Ward Councillor for Ward 117, comprising of the area we call the "Parks" as well as parts of Blairgowrie, Zoo Lake and the Johannesburg Zoo and the Braamfontein Spruit for the past 12 years, representing the Democratic Alliance.

His role is admirable given the many pressures and stresses of the position. He maintained that proper maintenance and upgrading of basic services had taken place for more than twenty years but that it would take 20 years of a stable political coalition to rebuild these systems. 

He gave the club a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes machinations of the City Council of Johannesburg. It is a deteriorating system in which the government agencies are unable to operate efficiently - for a number of reasons - and this has created a downward spiral in municipal services. 

Tim urged those who were able to, to install solar panels, gas heated cylinders and boreholes. 

The suggestion was raised that ratepayers should stop paying rates, but Tim advised against this, saying it would worsen the situation immensely and that interest would be added to the account for which the ratepayer was liable, although he acknowledged that there are communities who, for historical reasons, are not paying for lights and water. 

The valuation roll for Johannesburg is being published on 8 February 2023, and will be in place for the next five years. R7billion Rand has been set aside by the city for infrastructure upgrades.

 He guided the Rotarians on how to appeal against high property valuations and suggested that proper valuations (not by estate agents, but by a qualified valuer) be part of the defence plea. 

Tim considers himself the top boule player in Parkhurst but he will have to take a break from this pastime activity as he will be undergoing a hip replacement in the near future and we collectively wish him all success and a speedy recovery.

The Friday attendees also had the opportunity of wishing Ken and Melodene on their anniversary in person.

Exchange Student Emma's weekly Check-in....

It was Emma's 17th birthday last Monday the 30th of January and her host family celebrated her in style by baking her two birthday cakes.

Emma is certainly getting her fill of historical sights right on her doorstep. This magnificent castle in Bad Muskau is only 12 km from Weißwasser.

Not only will Emma be an ace fencer by the time she returns home, her bags are packed to set off on a skiing adventure on the Austrian border.

Emma will soon be proficient in German, but she is also teaching her host family a bit of Afrikaans.

Sybille visits the Rotary Club of Stanford....

The Rotary Club of Stanford might only have 9 members, but what it lacks in numbers it makes up in energy and enthusiasm. They meet every second Tuesday of the month at Egret and the Owl Book Cafe and on this occasion they had three  Rotary visitors, two from the UK, swallows that spend half a year in Hermanus as well as a Rotary visitor from Norway. Besides yours truly there were two further visitors who could be potential members.

As it is such a small club everyone mucks in. Every last Friday of the month Stanford holds a sunset market, where Rotary sells raffle tickets for three hampers filled with local wines and fare and at the January market they managed to raise R3 650 for their projects.

Save the date for a Quiz Challenge against RC Esbjerg, Denmark....

Our quiz convenor David Bradshaw is getting ever more ambitious and has managed to confirm a Quiz Challenge against the Rotary Club of Esbjerg, Denmark on Wednesday 22nd of February.

They have announced it in their calendar and so far 22 of their members are attending, and no doubt we will match them in numbers and in brainpower.

This Friday....

... we welcome another Friend of Rotary, Eric Dabbs, who will give us insights into the history of  Ukraine.