Club Assembly, our Goals and an exciting event to look forward to...

Monday, 24th August

 From our President

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

 On the 29th of August Africa will be declared Polio free, as Nigeria, the last country to have active polio cases, has been polio free for three straight years. This is something to celebrate especially as we are all aware of Rotary’s involvement in the fight against Polio. The eradication of polio is one of Rotary’s longest-standing and significant efforts.

As a club we are aiming to raise and donate R5000 to PolioPlus this year. Are you aware of the many pluses in PolioPlus?? The pluses vary from one area to another.  When we talk about PolioPlus, we know we are eradicating polio, but do we realize how many added benefits the program brings? The “plus” is something else that is provided as a part of the polio eradication campaign. It might be a hand-operated tricycle or access to water. It might be additional medical treatment, bed nets, or soap. Of course we can raise more – let’s do it!!

 Spring is in the air and it reminds me of a joke my Dad used to tell us – the merry Bishop and the grumpy Archdeacon were walking along the road one day and the Bishop said “Spring in the air Archdeacon!”, to which the archdeacon replied “Spring in the air yourself Bishop!!”

 I attended some training regarding ClubRunner which we are all going to be using as our Club directory!! We are really moving into the 21st century!! It is just a matter of getting used to it all and you will need a smart phone. Please do not worry – we will send you a list which you can print out if you insist! Training to the Club soon.

Have a lovely warm week.

Ann

Last Week

We combined our monthly business meeting with Club Assembly and the main take-away from this was to review and highlight the Club Goals we have set for the year ahead.

Every member of our Club will no doubt contribute in their own way to collectively achieve these goals. As a family and as a team we can make it happen.

Rob Caskie Fundraiser

We would be very grateful if every member could circulate this invitation to friends and family. This promises to be a wonderful event.

We are ready to accept your bookings.

A Zoom link will be forwarded on proof of payment to: 

Rosebank Rotary Club 

Nedbank

Account Number: 1145 9991 23

Branch Code 198- 765

Reference: Your surname - Caskie

A Plea from Fourways Main Reef - In honour of our Women

This Friday

In our line-up of excellent speakers we are very excited to have Hayley McLellan talk to us this week.

Don't miss it.

Hayley McLellan, an Environmental Campaigner at the Two Oceans Aquarium, is passionate about a healthy environment and conscious, sustainable living choices. Rethink the Bag – an initiative striving for a plastic shopping bag free South Africa, is what gets her out of bed in the morning!

McLellan is generally inspired by conservationists and leaders who sincerely walk their talk. She adds: “I am also motivated when I reap positive results from the environmental action work that I engage in, especially with regards to human behaviour shifts that result in best practice for our earth.”

Loadshedding and Technology, Mandela Month update, Momo's July Report and a Covid Story.......

 Last Week

.....Or should we say, the week that wasn't.

In these times of Covid we have all become quite adept at adjusting to the New Normal and except for some minor glitches we have all embraced technology and slipped into the routine of our usual Friday Zoom meetings.

But lest we become too complacent, Eskom decided to re-introduce us to Hello Darkness my old Friend. And those of us who have not invested in a generator or an inverter and were on the 12:00 to 16:00 load-shedding schedule were snookered. So too our Zoom organizer who had no option but to cancel our meeting at very short notice. Thank goodness it coincided with a Social Meeting, so no damage done.

July - Mandela Month

Last Tuesday Sonja and Sybille used the donated funds from our Mandela Month initiative and  shopped up a storm for Stefan Ferreira's Charity Begins with Me feeding program.

Every Saturday Stefan selflessly distributes much needed meals to hungry communities in the West Rand and Rotary Club of Rosebank's contribution went a long way to fill some empty tummies.

Stefan's food item list came in handy

Covid Stories 

Jean, thank you so much for sharing your story with us:

One Friday afternoon, some weeks back, I heard Jerry return from work. He was frantic and tore through the house like a mini tornado. He was opening cupboards, the fridge, pouring water and then milk into his eyes.

I could not make any sense of what had happened other than him repeating like a mantra: the pain, the pain, you have to get me to a doctor.

As I drove him to Medicross, I finally discovered he had gotten sanitizer (ours also contains antiseptic) into his eyes and the pain was such that he was convinced that he would lose his sight.

All I could think was “the last place I want to be is a medical facility with Covid-19 flying around!”

He was immediately seen by a doctor, who put anesthetic drops in his eyes to dull the pain and then drops to ensure his corneas were not damaged.

The doctor then prescribes eye drops which Jerry proceeds to SQUEEZE into his eyes, as he is craving relief from the pain.

We get home and Jerry is yet again frantic and beside himself with pain in his eyes! I get him into the car and off we go to Sandton Clinic and yet again I’m thinking – COVID ALERT!! I don’t want to be in these places!

As it was not our regular doctor, we realize that the eye drops contained cortisone to which Jerry is allergic and he was experiencing a major allergic reaction.

I drop him off at emergency, park and proceed to go through the rigmarole of having my temperature taken, filling in  details, etc.

I find a quiet corner to sit in with no one else about and think I am safe. The receptionist informs me, that I need to move, as I may not sit there, I must join the others in the waiting room and in my mind I’m like – there is not sufficient space between these people. I’m thinking – Oh my word – this is a COVID den and here I am sitting with these people that touch the doors with their hands, use the same pen as the receptionist, touch the clip board and then use the sanitizer that everyone else has used.

Then I hear the nurse say to the lady next to me – please fill in everyone you have been in contact with as we are admitting him for Covid. I nearly jumped out of my chair. My mind was SCREAMING – COVID and you are sitting next to her!!! ARGH!!!

BREATHE JEAN, BREATHE – as my rational brain kicks in, I realise the nurse needs the info as they want to admit her husband and will test him for Covid. My shattered nerves!

They washed Jerry’s eyes for about an hour and then let him go home. Off to the emergency pharmacy to fill a script for pain killers, and voila – the pharmacy is closed – now what!! Luckily we had some painkillers left over from his fall and he was able to rest an recuperate.

Save the Date......

Our Fundraising Committee was not going to let Lock-down with all it's social distancing restrictions be a deterrent, and they have come up with an exciting and refreshing Zoom event that none of you will want to miss.

We are ready to accept your bookings.

 A Zoom link will be forwarded on payment to: 

Rosebank Rotary Club 

Nedbank

Account Number: 1145 9991 23

Branch Code 198- 765

Reference: Your surname - Caskie

Another Quiz victory and Lee Roebeck inspires us

 Last Week

As President Ann is having a well-deserved break with her family in Cape Town Costa stepped in and led the meeting on her behalf.

David Bradshaw has been ensuring that we have a line-up of excellent speakers and on Friday we were very privileged to have the well-known International Mindset Coach and Corporate Speaker Lee Roebeck  address us.

His aim is to inspire and motivate.

His question to us: Why is it important to have goals?

The simple answer: Much like the captain of a ship we need to know where we a heading.

There are three types of goals:

The A type Goal - This is a goal that you know you can do, and there is not really much growth attached to it.

The B-type Goal - is a goal you think you will be able to achieve, based on logic and self-knowledge

The C-type Goal - is where you have to really THINK BIG! It is something that you really wish to achieve and where you really have to stretch yourself.

Juanette gave us a wonderful example how it had applied to her life when she set herself the goal of completing a full triathlon and with a lot of blood, sweat and tears eventually crossed the finishing line. 

She is now close to achieving her second life goal of returning to university and completing a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree. 

Lee shared a harrowing experience with us of being hijacked one Sunday afternoon when he was bundled into the boot of his car by three gun-wielding criminals and how his Mindset helped him deal with this traumatic situation.

This experience shifted Lee's perspective.

1) It is what it is - accept it.

It will either control you, or you can control it.

2) Harvest the Good. 

There is good in everything. Seek and you will find it. Every adversity brings the seed of something good.

3) Forgive the rest.

Let it go completely, abandon and release it.

Lee invited anyone that would like to change their story to contact him:

 

Rotary - People of Action

In May Jean and Jerry, the Stonestreets, Lyn Collocott, Lenore,Juanette and Ann packed hundreds of food parcels to be donated to the needy.

35 of these parcels went to the Gracepoint Church.

David this week received a heartfelt thank you you letter:

Quiz Night...

Last week we were victorious against the Rotary Club of Northcliff and this week Wednesday the Rosebank Anns have stepped up to the challenge.

Please contact David if you would like to join the fun.

Covid 19 Stories..

Today I insert a link to stories told by 10 remarkable Rotarians from around the World.

The World stopped - They didn't..https://www.rotary.org/en/world-stopped-they-didnt

But from next week I am hoping to share some of our own Covid stories and experiences.

RIP Cesare Vidulich, Blankets making a difference and an inspiring Guest Speaker

Last Week

Before our speaker for the week took to the floor President Ann asked all attending Zoom participants to honour Cesare with a minute's silence. His funeral will be held on Friday the 7th of August at the Maryvale Catholic Church.

CONDOLENCES

The Anns send our sincere condolences to Donny Vidulich and her family on the sad passing of her beloved husband Cesare.   We are with you in spirit, dear Donny and may your happy memories of your times together bring you comfort in the days ahead.

District Survey

Hands up everyone who has completed DG Annemarie's survey. I for one have completed it (it really only took a few minutes) and those that shook their heads, you still have time until the 7th of August to submit. I think our President Ann would be very impressed if our club could boast 100% submission. 

Here is the link.

Membership Survey

Quiz Nights

11 weeks ago when we had our first Quiz Challenge against Kyalami we were all pretty much novices, but boy have we stepped up the ante. Our Quiz master Garreth (Sonja Hood's son) outdoes himself every single week with the most eclectic 40 +1 bonus questions, and Wednesday evenings have pretty much become the social highlight of our week. On average we have had 12 participants per team, but David Bradshaw who has been instrumental in organizing would be thrilled to put you on the list.

 Last week we took on the Newlands Rotary Club in the Cape, and they walked away with the laurels, but when we have a re-match in September we hopefully will be able to settle the score. James Croswell is our secret weapon.

David is in talks with Swaziland and Nairobi, so watch this space.

This Wednesday at 7 pm we are taking on Northcliff Rotary. How about testing your general knowledge?

Have I been pwned?

Richard Tonkin shared some very useful information with us during our business meeting and followed it up with an e-mail for our members and friends interest:

Allan Gray in a webinar on Cyber Security gave the following website to check.. Click on the link and enter your email address, then click on the box  pwned?

 

https://haveibeenpwned.com/  

If it gives a green response Good News - no pwnage found! - then you fine. If it gives a maroon Oh No - pwned! with the number of times it has been breached, and the number of times info has been pasted off your email address, then you need to follow the recommendations to secure your email. I received the following recommendations, but consulting an expert may be the best idea - (there is also a FAQ  section on the pwned website to read)

 

Hi Yash, so the first thing would be to try and understand where the actual breach happened as an example is it connecting to an Mweb service/ Office365 account or connecting to a hosted email service in their office. Obviously the email accounts password must be changed immediately but there may also be software that is installed by someone malicious on their device that is accessing the email account which defeats the purpose of the password change.

 

I would recommend that they get their machine fully up to date (patching and anti-virus) and then also scan the machine with a tool such as Malwarebytes (there is a free version for a once off scan). Once they are sure the machine is good then they should change the password. Again though context is key as they could be using a couple of machines to access the mailbox etc.

 

 

I think in the end, there is no definitive answer because often it is very difficult to ascertain how the breach happened. You can elect to use paid for services but ultimately that will be at your discretion.

 

No full-proof answer I’m afraid but I hope you picked up some helpful hints and tips on how to tighten your security – and hopefully that means you are less vulnerable to a breach or hack.

 

 

I hope this will be a help to us all.

 

Regards

 

RICHARD TONKIN CFP®

Thank you for looking out for us Richard.

Grateful Blanket Recipients

 Dear Rotary Rosebank

 Thank you for the donation of blankets that you gave to us to distribute, they were sent to rural Limpopo for handout. This area is so incredibly poor, this gift was so appreciated.

 I was sent these photos this morning, the doctors who transported the blankets were not allowed on the handout because of the COVID situation here, so I cannot tell you about the recipients. The only story I know, it’s the woman in the far right picture. She cares for her 3 children and 4 orphans from the area as well. She has 2 blankets for all of them, now she at least has another 2. The situation in the rural areas is so dire, whereas here in Gauteng there is hunger, at least there have been some food parcels. Out deep rural, there has been no food whatsoever and grandmothers literally watch while their grandchildren and dogs get thinner and thinner. The animals are the first to die.

Grateful thanks once again. This wasn’t just a donation, it was a life-saver.

 Warm Regards

 Marilyn Bassin

Linda Galvad  - Sought after Seedlings

No doubt every Zoom participant last Friday will agree that our guest speaker Linda Galvad delivered a powerful and inspiring talk from which we could all take some valuable advice.

Linda studied psychology, and took an interest in mental illness and her research led her to believe that what we eat makes us feel and act the way we do. 

This snapshot does not do justice to Linda's radiance and flawless complexion

A few key messages that Linda discussed and conveyed:

• Through proper nutrition and eating 50 - 70% of various, raw, organic vegetables per day one can prevent or even cure any disease.
• Prebiotics feed probiotics, with probiotics being vital to a person's physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. Examples of prebiotics include garlic, onion and leeks
• All diseases begin in the gut where good and bad bacteria are formed; this is true for 90% of one's immune system.
• A healthy gut with plenty of good bacteria staves off premature aging, as well as mood and personality disorders.                                                                                                                                 
• This conviction  started her passion for organic gardening and her research into heirloom seeds which come from open-pollinated plants that have been handed down from generation to generation  - some varieties being more than a 100 years old. They have not been tampered with and have a natural resilience to environmental influences. There are about 70 heirloom varieties and very single one is imported.

All in all I took about 3 pages of copious notes and at the end of the presentation Linda was bombarded with questions and asked whether she planned on writing a book. It is not on her agenda right now, but I for one would definitely buy it, if it ever came to fruition.

This Week

We are privileged to welcome another exciting guest speaker Lee Roebeck, who is an international mindset coach and speaker, who believes that every single human being has deep reservoirs of latent potential within them, and he has made it his life's mission to awaken this potential in as many people as possible.

Don't miss it.