A mid-month social meeting , The Senior Youth Leadership Course is back, the Highlands North Interactors blood drive and calling on all volunteers for the Norwood Spar Food Drive....

From the Pen of the President.....

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends, what a pleasure to have run the youth leadership course again after a 3 year break. Refreshing to get in touch with and interact with young people of 16 or 17. Thank you to those Rotarians, Anns and friends who came and helped. Thank you especially to our Youth Chairperson, Past President, Assistant Governor, NPC Chairperson Jean - she runs the business and whips the team into shape!! 

As we get closer to January, the calendars fill up and everyone gets busy - take time to diarize 3rd Dec for Year End drinks at my house - watch out for your invite!! 

May the promised rain fall soon.

If we do not see you in person, please try and pop in on line!!

Yours

Ann

Last Friday.....

.... was a mid-month social meeting, where the attending Rotarians, be it in person or on Zoom, had a chance to shoot the breeze and chat among themselves. Lyn Collocott invited two guests, Senzeni Ndebele and Brigid Booth and we certainly gave them a warm Rotary welcome.

Senzeni, born and bred in Bulawayo, shared with us that she had been exposed to Rotary projects during her school years. She completed her BComm degree at the University of Cape Town and then went on to do her honours at Stellenbosch University after which her career brought her to Johannesburg. She now works in mining.

She does her charity through the Church, where she teaches Sunday School and works in their thrift shop.

Brigid has a successful catering business which keeps her very busy. 

SYLC is back....

After a three year forced break due to Covid the Youth Committee was once again in a position to arrange the annual Senior Youth Leadership Course (SYLC).

The very first course was held 50 years ago in 1972 at Parktown Convent. Subsequent annual weekend courses were held at a fellow Rotarian's farm, Kloofwaters in the Magaliesberg, and in more recent years at Kadesh Barnea Campsite close to the Hartebeespoort Dam.

Invitations are extended to various Johannesburg schools for grade 11 learners to attend the three day course, at which their leadership skills are honed.

On Friday morning 32 learners arrived at Bryanston High School, where they were randomly divided into 5 groups and their first assignment was to choose a name for their team - Team Rio, The Silencers, The Rainbow Tree, The Band and The Alphas.

The Anns were at hand to feed the youngsters and before heading out to the camp they were given an amount of R455 as a group (R65 each!!), with which they had to purchase all their food for Friday evening, Saturday breakfast and lunch and a three course dinner on Saturday evening which they had to prepare and  which was then judged for nutritional value, taste, ambiance, presentation and creativity.

The judges, President Ann, Jean Bernardo, Sonja Hood and Sybille Essmann were blown away by the enthusiasm and thoughtfulness that each group brought to the table and the competitiveness was clearly evident. Well done to all the groups.

Tyron Sharnock, who has been the facilitator for many years, once again agreed to take on this task. 

Traditionally on Sundays the Rotarians would host a braai for the youngsters and it was great that so many of the members made the effort to be part of the fun.

People of Action....

And in between all the club activities Marilyn Bassin from Boikanyo needed volunteers to help prepare and assemble specialized wheelchairs - Madiba Buggies - which are destined for 35 cerebral palsy  children in the deepest rural parts of KZN. 

Interactors get active with their Blood Drive...

On Thursday the Highlands North High School held their second successful blood drive for the year and in total 30 units of blood were donated on the day. Our President Ann, AG Jean and teacher Mimie van Deventer were amongst the willing donors.

Calling All Volunteers...

There are still of open slots.

This Friday....

..... will be the penultimate business meeting for 2022. 

For catering purposes please respond on the Rotary WhatsApp chat group whether you will be attending in person.

Guest Speaker Kristi - putting the fun into fundraising and have you booked your Dream Team for our flagship fundraiser?

 From the Pen of the President....

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

Hope everyone is well? Looking forward to having some rain soon – take a moment and remember what it is like when it rains for days on end!!!

Lots of things happening – we have committee meetings coming up. Everyone should belong to at least one committee – if you are not on one, why not? Meetings are on Zoom.

The youth leadership course will be smaller this year – our dates did not suit school holidays like they usually do – just as much value and fun for those who attend.

Looking forward to a raucous quiz evening and there are great prizes always – it just happens to be World Polio Day on the 24^th Oct and quiz is on 26^th!!

After the informative talk last Friday, we have some great tips for proposals and selling ourselves – onward and upward!!

Stay positive, enjoy the sun and “hou die blink kant bo”!!!

Till next time.

 Ann Hope-Bailie

Last Friday....

The editor attended the meeting via Zoom and "happy snapped" this caption

...AG Jean Bernardo introduced guest speaker Kristi Hansen, head of fundraising at the Rotary Club of Morningside, who shared valuable insights she garnered from the District 9400 Fundraising and Marketing Seminar which she attended on the 19th and 20th of August this year.

Kristi, a mother of two boys, is well equipped to head up this committee as she has 15 years of experience in PR and advertising. She currently works as an editor in the content department for Kape, a global cyber-security firm, fighting for the rights to privacy on the Web.

In her spare time (besides Rotary) she writes restaurant reviews and goes hiking. She calms her mind by meditating and listening to recordings of thunder and rain on her phone.

Kristi maintains that for fundraising to succeed we need to change the way we think and equip ourselves with new ideas. We should stop thinking of fundraising as hard work and a slog and that people are unwilling to give.

In fact, there is an abundance of money, we must just be courageous in our ask.

Did you know that in 2021 the total estimated CSI expenditure in South Africa amounted to R10,3billion!

Generally giving is irrational, immediate and personal. People respond to stories that resonate:

For successful fundraising you need a powerful and well structured marketing plan.

When planning and showcasing fundraising events you should use creative and eye-catching copy, and put social media, radio, television and newspapers to good use.

No doubt we could benefit from a more in depth session but  Kristi gave us a lot of food for thought and a new perspective on marketing and fundraising.

And Speaking of Fundraising....

Wednesday 26th is fast approaching and ticket sales for our flagship fundraiser are going well but Sonja Hood is sending out a final appeal for raffle prizes, mainly wine, snacks or chocolates as fillers.

This Friday....

After a two year hiatus our Club is once more hosting the Senior Youth Leadership Course (SYLC) in Hartebeespoort this weekend.

The Wanderers meeting format will be a informal social gathering. 

No usual Friday meeting, instead Loads of Fellowship, The District Governor Ann visits the Rosebank Anns and Club 100 winners for September announced...

From the Pen of the President.....

President Ann's pen is taking a break this week and she sends us greeting from the Fairest Cape where she is spending precious time with all of her children and grandchildren.

Enjoy and make it count!

A fun filled Weekend of Fellowship and Fundraising....

Always popular, always successful, the Swiss Club Skittles evening last Friday was loads of fun and we also managed to raise R5 500 to help our Rotary Exchange Student Tsjamo  make it to Finland.

Our Queen of Fundraising Sonja Hood put together some enticing Raffle prizes and the selling of tickets was brisk. 

And just look at Jean and Charmaine's big smiles after their winning tickets were drawn....

Judging by the noise levels the competitive spirit between the red and green teams was palpable but after three nail-biting rounds of skittles the green team was victorious.

The Club festivities continued on Saturday with a well attended Bring & Braai hosted by Sybille.

The weather was glorious, the food was plentiful and we were also able to celebrate veteran James Croswell, whose birthday was on Sunday the 2nd of October.

Thank you to Braai Master Steven Hood who cooked everyone's meat to perfection.

Everyone agreed that these memorable occasions contribute to making our Club so special.

This Friday....

.. we welcome guest speaker Kristi Hansen who will give a Master Class in successful fundraising.

Who puts the FUN in FUNDRAISING?

Kristi Hansen has been a Rotarian on and off for nearly 13 years, and has been the clubs'  PR chick for many of those. She's worked in advertising and PR for over 15 years. She's currently the Fundraising Director at the Rotary Club of Morningside, a task she finds truly terrifying.

Fortunately, she attended the recent Marketing & Fundraising seminar held by District 9400, featuring one uber-dynamic Annelize De Jaager, and came away with a new confidence and plenty of fundraising ideas that she can't wait to share with you on Friday.

Urban Surfers enlighten us about the informal industry of recycling, Heritage Day celebrated the ECO way, A RI Citation and grateful blanket receivers....

From the Pen of the President..... 

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

 

Happy Heritage Day, Happy Rosh Hashanah, Happy Monday!! Hope you all celebrated in style and befitting your culture, heritage and religion – if that is your scene!!

 

 I  this analogy! (it is not new – but worth thinking about)

You are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you or shakes your arm, making you spill your coffee everywhere.

 

Why did you spill the coffee? 

"Because someone bumped into me!!!"

 

Wrong answer. You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup. 

Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled tea.

 

*Whatever is inside the cup is what will spill out.*

Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you (which WILL happen), whatever is inside you will come out. It's easy to fake it, until you get rattled.

 

*So we have to ask ourselves... “what's in my cup?"*

When life gets tough, what spills over?

 

Joy, gratefulness, peace and humility? 

Anger, bitterness, harsh words and reactions? 

 

Life provides the cup, YOU choose how to fill it!

 

Have a wonderful week.

Ann

Last Friday...

.... we had the opportunity to listen to a very valuable and insightful presentation given to us by the representatives of Urban Surfer, whose long-term goal it is to formalize the "waste picking" industry. 

Sifiso Gumbi, who himself started off as a reclaimer imparted some startling facts that few of us are aware of:

* Only 10% of the population recycle.

* 80 - 90% of all recycled waste in South Africa is collected by informal reclaimers.

* Reclaimers collect in excess of 200 kg of recyclable waste and can travel more than 50 km a day. 

* There are over 90 000 reclaimers that make a living collecting, sorting and selling recyclable waste.

* Their average earnings a day is +/-R400.

* Each reclaimer diverts up to 24 tons of recyclable waste a year from our landfills.

* Reclaimers save our municipalities hundreds of millions of Rand in landfill space annually, and they offer this service for free.

* Waste recycling is self-sustainable and helps improve the environment.

* Very few of the recyclers are homeless, but live a long distance from where they operate. They need to safe guard their waste and therefore sleep where they sort.

* They have limited resources, hence the majority of reclaimers have only makeshift trolleys and no PPE.

The Urban Surfer Project aims to recognize informal waste reclaimers as active and equal participants in political, economic, social, cultural and environmental processes.

Under the guidance of John Kullmann, who is responsible for design and development and Ivor Allison, head of manufacturing and logistics Urban Surfer received a major boost in November 2021 when Hippo (known for their comparative insurance quotes) came on board as sponsors and are now supporting 50 waste reclaimers with purpose built collection trolleys, collection bags, shelter covers and sleeping bags, PPE and a waste management GPS tracking device, with which vital data on waste collection, sorting and selling is collected. This data is crucial to determine recycling trends.

The total cost to kit out a reclaimer with all the necessary equipment would cost R12 200 and a further R1 650 for the Waste Management GPS tracking device.

Sifisu, who is the Waste Reclaimer relations officer for Urban Surfer, maintains that there is a genuine desire by the reclaimers to transform and uplift  their image and that with corporate support this would be achievable. Corporates would be able to take advantage of brand advertising and gain valuable plastic credits.

Plastic credits are measurable, verifiable and transferrable units representing  specific quantity of plastic that has been collected from the environment or recycled.

John Ullmann's ambitious vision is that within three years they would be able to onboard 1600 reclaimers and with that 40 000 plastic credits could be generated which would translate into R150 million!!

An ECO Conscious Heritage Day Celebration....

In the heart of bustling Diepsloot lies the God's Will Faith Ministries Church that houses the classrooms for the Khensani's Collection, one of them built entirely from eco-bricks.

Saturday, Heritage Day, was dedicated to showcase and celebrate the progress that has been made in the construction of three additional eco-brick classrooms.

Earthly Touch Foundation (ETF) is a Non-Profit organisation whose main focus is to, contribute to the reduction of global warming through collection of plastic waste and repurposing it into eco-bricks which are then used for construction, making of furniture, and in agriculture. The organisation was registered in 2020 operating out of Gauteng with the main focus in training and education of communities on the impact of plastic pollution and how they can participate in saving their own environment from the impact of plastic pollution. ETF is BBBEE level 1 with its activities aimed at benefiting previously disadvantaged communities through training, skills development and job creation jobs within their own environment.

It was a gloriously sunny and joyous day with school children from the Diepsloot community and learners from St David's Marist Brothers and St Mary's getting their hands dirty by picking up recyclable and non-recyclable waste from the informal landfills around the church grounds, planting avocado trees, making eco-bricks and getting some lessons in the construction process of the eco-brick walls.

It takes 16 000 ecobricks to build one classroom, and if you do the maths, if one ecobrick weighs 500 grams, it means that 8000 tons of non-recyclable waste has been repurposed and has not gone to the landfills or ended up polluting our rivers.

Further innovative recycling endeavours  showcased  that day were school shoes manufactured from repurposed hospital drip bags.

Eco-bricks - a truly remarkable initiative that we can whole-heartedly throw our weight behind!!

Congratulations Rosebank....

.....for being awarded a well-deserved Citation by Rotary International.

Grateful Receivers of Blankets....

30 blankets were distributed to waste reclaimers by Pastor Ndaba at the Rosebank Union Church and on behalf of them would like to extend their appreciation.

s been tracking 50 waste reclaimers since November 2021 as they covered more than 14,000km – on foot! – within just four months.

No Meeting this Friday.....

 ...instead an afternoon of fellowship hosted by Sybille on Saturday 1st of October. 

The District Governor pays our Club a visit, the Braamfontein Spruit is cleaned for World Clean-up Day and a very successful Anns' Bridge Drive....

From the Pen of the President... 

Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

Thank you all for everything you do for our club. The DG visit went well and she was so impressed with everything she saw.

I am so proud to be at the helm right now.

The participation and enthusiasm of our cleanup on Saturday showed just what I believe.

Keep doing what you are doing.

Yours in Rotary.

Ann

Last Friday...

... we had the great pleasure and honour of welcoming our District Governor Koekie Makunyane- Quashie and her husband PDG Kobla (who Koekie lovingly referred to as her driver) to our meeting.

We were  privileged to have been graced by the presence of PDG Francis Callard and his wife Janet, who too holds the title of PDG Ann, and also PDG Martin Forsythe-Thompson and his wife  Christina who is the current DG Ann. And of course let us not forget our very own PDG Ken Stonestreet.

DG Koekie had been presented with our Club goals and financials ahead of the meeting and overall she feels that we are an exceptionally well-run club, that we are a "giving" club and that our Fellowship activities are impressive. 

Koekie had recently met RI President Jennifer Jones in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, the first stop of her worldwide Imagine Impact Tour. Ghana, Kenya and Zambia were her next destinations and her plan is to visit 10 different countries during her tenure, speaking to heads of State and spreading awareness of Rotary's ongoing battle against the scourge of Polio and showcasing Rotary's Projects of Scale.

It is abundantly evident how impressed Koekie is of Jennifer's achievement of becoming the first female RI president.  

We were shown a piece of art with Jennifer's signature on it which is to be put up for auction, the proceeds of which will go into the coffers of the RI Foundation for the fight against Polio.

Jennifer would like us to wear our Rotary pins and tell our Rotary story with pride.

Above all she would like us to keep Rotary alive, relevant and fun.

The annual District Conference (Discon) will be held on the 27th/28th of April 2023 in eSwathini and PDG Kobla Quashi  heads up the planning committee. He presented some compelling reasons as to why we should not miss attending this event. It is to be held at the eSibayeni Lodge, outside Matsapha, the costs are to be kept low, there will be lots of singing and dancing and  celebrations of Rotary's achievements.

President Ann and AG Jean Bernardo were gifted with an Imagine Rotary pin and a colourful Swazi shopper and in return DG Koekie received a spekboom plant.

World Cleanup Day hits our 'hood....

Saturday the 17th of September was World Cleanup Day, and in collaboration with numerous community Forums the Rotary Club of Johannesburg New Dawn under the guidance of eco-activist Babette Gallard undertook to rid 25 km of the Braamfontein Spruit of waste in the water and on the banks of this otherwise beautiful river.

We had been allocated a stretch of river frontage in the Delta Park and throughout the morning Rotary Rosebank volunteers wearing protective gloves and armed with rakes, spades and pitch forks collected debris and litter and deposited into heavy duty refuse bags.

Even our Rotary Exchange Student Tsjamo Nyato pitched in, wanting to make a difference.

Hats off to New Dawn for organizing such a successful river cleanup and a big thank you to all the Rotary Rosebank volunteers who once again proved that we are People of Action.

A Rewarding Rosebank Rotary Anns Bridge Drive....

 

The morning was warm and sunny.

The Petria  plant in St. Michael’s garden blazed forth in all its purple glory.

 

It was the first Ann’s Bridge Drive in almost three and a half years.

I have been a regular attendee for a number of years and was delighted to find that the event was still run with its usual slick precision.

I arrived early and found a number of Anns already  in the kitchen preparing the platters of food for the scrumptious tea which is one of the highlights of the morning.

 

The tables were covered in red cloths, all waiting for the 96 participants to arrive.

 

The table in the front was laden with prizes for  lucky draws, raffle tickets and  bridge winners.

One doesn’t always appreciate the effort put in by the Anns to get sponsors for some of the prizes.

 

A wonderful time was had by all.

R24 800 was raised.

The beneficiaries will be the Khanyisela Project in the Northern Drakensberg and and a few others  and it is pleasing to know that all players did their  little  bit to help improve literacy in this rural area.

 

Lyn Collocott

 

This Friday....

....we welcome Speaker – Sifiso Gumbi

Recycler (2008 - 2017)

2013 he established GM Green Projects and  used the business to spread awareness about recycling and to teach people in the township about how they can use waste to earn a living. He was involved in community clean-up projects and clearing spaces around the community. In 2015 he established Ubuhle Bekusasa Recycling, operating a chain of buy back centres where he worked with waste collectors, buying over 10 tons of recyclables daily.

Urban Surfer (2018 - date)

He joined Urban Surfer in 2018, and with his vast knowledge of the informal sector he helped develop solutions for informal reclaimers. He works closely on projects with reclaimers on the ground as well as engaging with government and corporate companies to create awareness about supporting informal reclaimers.

 

 

Guest Speaker Anthony Rosenbaum tempts us with Wide Open Spaces, Highlands North Boys Highschool Interacters receive their Scrolls and are you ready for the World Wide Clean-up Day?

 From the Pen of the President....

 

The passing of Queen Elizabeth II is something we expected to happen sometime in the future, and yet it took us by surprise.

Life does not stand still for anyone – things happen all the time that surprise me – some are tragic, some are happy.

I wake up every day and read the news – it is sometimes enough to make one just crawl under the blankets and dig in!! So much corruption, so much disaster and craziness. But there is always something going on, or someone doing something absolutely amazing, quietly, unnoticed and not making a fuss. So many good people around, so many fantastic projects on the go – WOW!! Recycling, upcycling, caring, nursing, - you just need to stop looking at the negatives, it can be very distracting.

As Rotarians it is our mission to make a positive difference in the world. Jane Goodall said:

“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”

What is your difference??

 

We have the DG visit later this week – it is always an interesting meeting – see you there.

Ann

 

 

Last Friday.....

... Because the Rotary Club of Rosebank is a fully hybrid club, the Editor in Chief felt it would be a bright idea to test the Zoom offering when a guest speaker had been invited to address the Club and hence attended the meeting from the comfort of her own home. It was a tad noisy to begin with, but once President Ann had rung the bell and started the official meeting I am happy to report that the quality of the transmission was crystal clear and that it was a most satisfying experience (albeit without the obligatory pizza). 

Our guest speaker was Anthony Rosenbaum, a life-long friend of Lorenzo's.

His topic: Bespoke hiking trails in the Karoo and the Outeniquas.

Anthony was born an raised in the Eastern Cape and started hiking as a young lad.

It remained his favourite pastime  and he has been privileged to hike exotic destinations like Japan and Taiwan, and summitted Kilimanjaro in 2000.

In 2017 he found himself at a crossroad after he lost his wife to cancer and he turned to his deep rooted passion for hiking.

He walked every day for fitness and hiked with friends very weekend. He found that his health and mental wellbeing improved markedly.

When the opportunity arose to sell his business in February 2020, he decided that he would grab it and make a career change into the tourism industry.

Then of course came Covid!

Undaunted, he qualified as an advanced guide and tour operator, completed an Intuitive Wildlife Guiding course and in July 2021 started his bespoke walking experience business called Wide Open Spaces.

Anthony painstakingly explored various hiking trails and now is able to offer two unique hiking trips, or as he prefers to call it - walking experiences, one in the Outeniqua Mountains and the other in the Karoo, in the New Bethesda area. 

His slack-packing walks include a variety of activities, from coastal and fossil walks to wine tasting, visits to San rock art sites and star gazing. 

In the near future he is planning to add a further 4 night, three day walking experience in the Overberg, in the Botriver area close to Hermanus.

Initially Anthony's target market was the over-55-age group, but he soon realized that his walking tours suit any age group and that he has 80-year-old hikers that leave the young'uns in their dust.

In other words, anyone with the love for Wide Open Spaces is welcome.

Highlands North Boys High School Interactors are awarded their Interact scrolls....

On Friday 2nd September AG and Youth Chair Jean Bernardo had the pleasure of awarding six exemplary young men with their Interact Scrolls which they can proudly wear on their school blazers.

At the same time they also were given their Certificates of Merit for having completed a First Aid course.

AG Jean Bernardo with Neo Segooa, Allan Sibanda, Njabulo Seruto, Wandile Mtshali, Levi Nyathi and Mashudo Papala under the watchful eye of teacher Mimie van Deventer

All Hands on Deck for All Spruits Cleanup Day....

Followed by...

This Friday....

...We welcome District Governor Koekie Makunyane-Quashie to our club and your attendance would be greatly appreciated.