Our Weekly Meeting

“Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.”

We meet every Friday from 1:00 to 2:00pm at Wanderers Club, Illovo, Johannesburg. You can also join us on Zoom - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86496040522.

Thursday, 31 March 2016

Dinner, Play Pumps, Speech Pathology & Audiology, and Clean Water for Ghana

Dinner at District 6 Restaurant

Thirteen of us had a great social evening at District 6 in Emmarentia last night.  It really was a fun evening and a good turn out, especially when you think so many people are still on holiday!

Play Pump
Many thanks to Brian Leech for sending this to The Ramble.


In 2011 Rotary Club of Rosebank Johannesburg, in conjunction with the following New York Rotary Clubs, Lake Mahopac, Carmel , Brewster, Patterson and Putnam Valley donated a PlayPump to Siyavuya Primary School in the Eastern Cape.
 
We have just done a maintenance trip to the school and replaced rods, forcehead rubbers, repaired the tap, replaced bobbin rubs, bolts, nuts and washers and patched the soil crete. 

All working well.  Thought you might like to see the pictures and know your donation is still being used.

Warm regards


Sandra 
Play Pumps 

Last Meeting
Last Friday was Good Friday so there was no meeting and I trust you all had wonderful Easter Weekend. The week before was a Business Meeting.

This Week
Wits Speech Pathology & Audiology Students on World Hearing Day 2016
 Two supporters of our Careers Day, Dr Karin Joubert & Dr Victor de Andrade of the Wits Dept of  Speech Pathology & Audiology, are our speakers this week. 

Approximately 12% of all South Africans are likely to present with a speech, language or hearing disorder. Communication disorders are experienced by people at any age in the lifetime.
The assessment and management of communication disorders may include the client, the family, other professionals and the community. Communication disorders range from mild to severe disabilities.
Speech-language therapy addresses speech and language problems, including articulation, voice, fluency, expressive and receptive language problems, as well as feeding and swallowing problems.
Audiologists test hearing using behavioural and electrophysiological measures. They manage hearing loss with hearing aids, cochlear implants and rehabilitation. They are also active in Deafness issues and education work. Audiologists also work with associated problems such as balance disorders and central auditory processing problems.
Speech Pathologists and Audiologists are involved in various aspects of communication sciences and disorders including
  • Prevention
  • Identification
  • Assessment
  • Treatment
  • Counseling
  • Education
  • Consultation
  • Research

Concerned with the urgent need for ear-and hearing care follow-up services after a hearing aid mission in 2012 at the Ndlovu Care Group clinic, Dr Karin Joubert, senior lecturer of the Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology Department of the University of Witwatersrand, was invited to assess the situation at Elandsdoorn. Not long afterwards, in January 2014, The Ndlovu Wits Audiology Clinic became a reality when funding was granted for the implementation of the audiology project.
The Ndlovu Wits Audiology clinic uses its comprehensive resources and expertise to reduce the negative impact of hearing impairment on the health lifestyle and communicative abilities of hearing impaired individuals and their families through the:

·  prevention of the onset of ear and hearing problems with regular community education programmes on ear an hearing health;

·  early identification and management of ear and hearing problems by offering neonatal hearing screening services (at five clinics in the Elandsdoorn vicinity), school screening, ototoxicity monitoring of HIV/AIDS and TB patients of the NCG clinics as well as diagnostic assessments.

GRANT BRINGS CLEAN WATER TO THOUSANDS IN GHANA

Investing in clean water could save 2.5 million lives a year. We can't afford not to protect the world's water supply. Take action with Rotary to create access to clean water.
Worldwide, more than 748 million people live without access to clean water and at least 3,000 children die each day from diarrheal diseases caused by unsafe water. Rotary is working to change that. For example, members used a Rotary grant to drill more than 20 clean-water wells and to repair another 30 in villages across Ghana. The project also included education about and treatment of Buruli ulcer, a debilitating infection that if untreated can lead to disability and death. Nearly 70,000 people will benefit from this initiative.

Monday, 14 March 2016

Hugh Rix, Our Artists, Business, Dinner and the Importance of Mentoring.

Last Week



Hugh Rix gave us a fascinating talk on the three aspects of his life.  Growing up as a child in a remote part of Lesotho, working for Rio Tinto, a British mining house under pressure to withdraw from South Africa and running Woodside Sanctuary, a home for the "Profoundly Intellectually Disabled".




Henry Jenner, Karyn Wiggill & Eileen Bass
Henry Jenner introduced us to two more artists who participate in our Rotary Art Festival, Eileen Bass and Karyn Wiggill.  They are bothe miniaturists and Eileen is also a botanical artist and she has many awards for her work both here and overseas.  It was a great pleasure having them at our meeting last week.

This Week
It's a Business Meeting, so please make an effort to attend.

Social Dinner
This will be at District 6 Restaurant in Emmarentia on Wednesday 30th March, at 7.15 for 7.30.
Please book with Peter James-Smith by Wednesday 23rd.  Guests are welcome.

SUCCESSFUL WOMEN MENTOR YOUTH THROUGH ROTARY

Clara Montanez attends a reception in 2013 for the Champions of Change honorees at the White House in Washington D.C.
Photo Credit: Rotary Images
When Clara Montanez was a student, she never heard the word mentoring. The idea of having a role model help you pursue your ambitions was unfamiliar to her.
"You basically chose your career based on personal interest and hoped you could find a job," says Montanez, senior director of investment for Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. "I went the route of getting married and having children first, and started my career later in life. I had no model for how to do that."
That changed for Montanez the day a friend invited her to join Rotary.
"Frankly, I was dragged into Rotary. I didn't see a connection at first," says Montanez, who's been a member of the Rotary Club of Washington, D.C., since 2003. "But then I met several women, including Doris Margolis, who took me under her wing and started mentoring me on how to get more involved. I began seeing the value in having someone I could count on as a mentor, and I have become more of a leader in our club, in my community, and at work."
Rotary's mentoring opportunities motivated Montanez, Rotary's alternate representative to the Organization of American States, to help organize an event for International Women's Day, 8 March. The event, to be held at the World Bank Group headquarters in Washington, will feature Deepa Willingham and Marion Bunch, both previously honored as . Rotary International Director Jennifer Jones will moderate the event, which will be streamed on .
Montanez says Rotary has given her a platform to mentor young women as they balance career and family, as well as manage the challenge of repaying student loans. According to a , the student loan debt burden weighs more heavily on women because of the persistent gap in pay between women and men.
"I think Rotary has given me access to young people, like Rotaractors, and they are ready to accept guidance because Rotary is a safe place to reach out and get advice," says Montanez.
Similarly, Jackie Huie, a member of the Rotary Club of St. Joseph & Benton Harbor, Michigan, USA, recognizes Rotary's mentoring power. In 2007, Huie's club created a  that matches high school juniors and seniors with a mentor in the field they'd like to enter. The program started with 40 students at one high school and has now expanded into schools across the area.
"I got a letter from a girl who came from a poor background, and through the program, she got a chance to meet with an attorney in town," says Huie, president of JohnsonRauhoff, a multimedia company that fosters creative thinking for artists. "It inspired her and gave her confidence to go to school and study law. She got accepted into four law schools and is on her way to becoming an attorney."
Besides the investment in young people's futures, mentoring brings clubs important community recognition. For example, Huie's club has 150 members, a large number for a club that doesn't hold membership drives, she says.
"Everyone in southwest Michigan knows about Rotary," says Huie. "We had a student who wanted to be a CEO for a large corporation. After we arranged for him to meet with the CEO of Whirlpool, his father was so impressed with the whole program that he joined Rotary."
Many of the program's early participants went on to form an Interact club, and there are now more than 200 Interact members at four area schools. Forty of them will travel to the Dominican Republic this summer to install water filters and take part in a medical mission.
"It's important for Rotary to make an investment in young people," says Huie. "My own daughter is in Interact because of my membership in Rotary. I think her world is broader, and she looks at the world differently. We all do, because of what we've learned through Rotary."

Tuesday, 8 March 2016

Promoting Discon, The Artists, Hugh Rix, Careers Day, the Rotary Ann's Bridge Drive and Creating Peace in Myanmar.

Last Week

 David Bradshaw talked about Discon and the importance of many Rotarians as possible attending.
He was backed up by a number of other members.

Because Discon is literally down the road this year we expect that more members will be there to raise the Rosebank Banner.






Joan Sainsbury brought three artists who exhibit at our Rotary Arts Festival, Henry Jensen, Robert Domijan and Petra Oelofse as well as examples of their work.
Robert Domijan is featured on the "Rotary Artists - behind the Canvas" page (Top left of The Ramble, just click on the link).  The Artists' Page is updated every week with a different artist so please remember to have a look at it.

Raffle sheets were handed out to all Rotarians and the three prizes are the paintings at the bottom right of the collage.

This Week


Hugh Rix will be chatting about himself and his career.

Here he's receiving a parcel of Easter Eggs for Woodside Sanctuary that he ran for many years.







Careers Day
We really improved on Careers Day this year with more vocations than before, five different tertiary institutions which included all the local universities and about 330 Grade 12's.
The registration system worked well and the Soweto buses also arrived in reasonable time despite one breaking down!
Everyone I spoke to on the bases really felt it was worthwhile and though I was initially worried when some bases were empty first time round but eventually they all had a reasonable number of interested learners.  I think it took time for the learners to realise that they could speak to anyone.  Some of them were very organised, went to the base they were interested in and then to the tertiary institution to ask about their requirements.
There were some gaps which we will have to fill next year with vocations that were requested.  There were also useful suggestions from people on bases as to what we should aim at in the future and additional bases we should consider.
I can't thank everyone enough for their help, assistance and input.  As soon as we have had the follow-up meeting I will let you know the feedback from the Grade 12's.
My thanks to Jean Bernardo for taking pictures of all the bases that were in the school hall so you will have an idea of some of the vocations that were featured.


Rosebank Rotary Anns
The Rotary Anns are once again holding their annual Bridge Drive on Wednesday 18th May at St Michael's Church, Bryanston.
We appeal to the Rotarians to help us with a few prizes:  bottles of wine and boxes of chocolates are always welcome, or if you are visiting your favourite restaurant, please ask them for a meal voucher.  Most restaurants are only too happy to oblige.  Please make sure that the voucher does not expire before the date of the event - they usually make them valid for 6 months from that day.
Prizes can be given to Les Short at any Friday lunch.

Rotary Peace Fellowships
The Board is currently investigating the possibility of recommending someone for a Rotary Peace Fellowship. This will give you an idea of what it is all about.


Creating peace in Myanmar



Rachel Hall Beecroft with local Myanmar youth
Rachel Hall Beecroft with local youth on a field visit to Hpa-An, Karen State.
By Rachel Hall Beecroft, Rotary Peace Fellow at the University of Queensland, Australia
I looked around me at the faces of these change makers and felt overwhelmed by happiness, power, and positivity. These everyday people were coming together for a shared cause — peace. They were giving up aspects of their life to become something greater than themselves alone. They were contributing, they were committing, and most importantly, they were changing the world around them.
As a Rotary Peace Fellow studying for my master’s degree in Brisbane, Australia, I spent eight weeks creating the change I want to see in this world through my Applied Field Experience (AFE). The AFE is an opportunity to get out of the classroom and into the field, applying my new skills and new knowledge to real world situations.
They were giving up aspects of their life to become something greater than themselves.
I found myself in Myanmar (a country in Southeast Asia formerly known as Burma) working for a civilian peacekeeping organization. Myanmar has an incredibly tumultuous past between more than sixty years of civil war and decades of rule by an oppressive military dictatorship.
A drawing illustrates the Myanmar villagers' desire to work for peace.
A poster describes the villagers’ desire to live in peace.
The organization works for peace in war-torn countries using two principles: nonviolence and civilian action. In Myanmar, they train civilians from targeted areas to act as civilian protection monitors and civilian ceasefire monitors. These villagers are trained in nonviolent techniques, relationship building, confidence building, and on what actions they, as community members, can take to ensure fellow civilians are protected from violence and that local ceasefire agreements are respected.
These civilians told of their actions to create peace and end violence — about how they held awareness raising trainings at churches, schools, and community centers to teach their fellow villagers about nonviolence, peace, and the power they communally had to create change. They met with local stakeholders including government officials, military commanders, and guerilla leaders to inform them that they would be taking steps to protect civilians in that area and any incidents perpetrated by any of the warring sides would be monitored, documented, and conveyed to the relevant authorities.
As I looked around the room, I saw regular people whose lives had been transformed by their contribution to the peace process. I saw people who had previously lived in an environment of oppression and fear, and who now had the courage to stand up to create change in their own communities.
Learn more about the Rotary Peace Centers program










Tuesday, 1 March 2016

Vocational Service Awards, Rotary turns 111 & Careers Day, a Preview.

Last Week
Brooke Puttergill, Chibby Clacey, President Neville, Pierre Vercueil, Jean Warburton & Melodene Stonestreet, Chairman, Vocational Services.  In front, Penny Metcalf.
It was Vocational Service Awards Day at Rotary and President Neville handed them out with due aplomb!
Recipients of the awards for 2016 were:

Chibby Clacey for the work she has done in promoting preschool education and in particular for establishing a pre-school in  a very rural community near Rosendal in the  Free State.

 Jean Warburton a retired school teacher for her volunteer vocational guidance and welfare programmes to assist underprivileged children and their families.

Dr Brooke Puttergil for her work in establishing the Champs Organisation which provides a support network for paediatric amputees and their families. The major beneficiaries of these services are people without the financial means to fund the fitting of prosthesis.

Dr Pierre Vercueil  for providing pro bono ophthalmological surgery and care to children from disadvantaged communities thereby giving  them the gift of sight.


Penny Metcalfe, a Speech and Hearing Therapist, for her volunteer work  over many years in giving assistance to young children from disadvantaged communities. Penny has
developed unique methods  for helping those with impaired speech to communicate effectively.

Rotary's 111th Birthday
Ray Klinginsmith
There was a large gathering at the Bryanston Country Club last Wednesday when former RI President and current Chairman of the Rotary Foundation Trustees, Ray Klinginsmith, addressed us on what being a Rotarian means to him.
I think we were all expecting a Foundation speech and we didn't get it.  Instead we had something that was much more pertinent and certainly more interesting.
We were also addressed by Sanjoy Gupta (no relation to our President's friends) CEO of Mahindra SA who had picked up on an Ann's Project to supply thousands of solar lights to disadvantaged communities, particularly for use in schools.
It was a fun evening, the food was great, the company convivial.  Just a pity that there were so few Rosebank Rotarians there.





Above Right, DG David Grant & Sanjoy Gupta.  Below Right DGR Steve & Myrna Margo...and the Rosebank crowd.
Careers Day at Holy Family College, Parktown.  Saturday 27th February
Here are just a couple of pictures.  There will be a proper report next week.  There were about 330 participating Grade 12's.
Some of the Vocation Base People
Jean Bernardo's Bottle Tops
We all know that Jean has been driving round with a boot-load of plastic bottle tops for weeks.  At last she has been weighing them and this is what she has to say....

We have collected 65kg of bottle tops and 10kg of bread tags.

We need another 95kg of bottle tops and 5 kg of bread tags to meet the target required for a wheelchair.

So keep them coming!


GOODWILL GAMES

Photo Credit: Na Son Nguyen
The fierce July sun beat down on us as we approached the field where the match was to take place. It wasn’t much of a soccer pitch, with its uneven terrain and rusty poles for goalposts, but the local teens we had met came ready to play. They guided us over the piles of bricks and broken tiles that separate their neighborhood community center from the field behind it and took their positions.
Much like any schoolyard competitors, incursions from grazing cows notwithstanding, players stretched and warmed up, took turns retrieving out-of-bounds balls, and, after the final goal, lined up to exchange high-fives. The Vietnamese contingent handily outscored our group of American Rotary volunteers, but the defeat was far from bitter. The five Rotarians, four Interactors, and two 20-something alumni of Rotary Youth Leadership Awards had already achieved what they had come to Vietnam to do: distribute durable soccer balls to promote play and to spread Rotary’s message of service and goodwill.
The community center sits on the outskirts of Hoi An, a resort town on the South China Sea. Orange and fuchsia bougainvillea blossoms spill over stalls selling scarves and spices at one of Vietnam’s oldest marketplaces, and along the banks of the Thu Bon River, food vendors serve aromatic pho (noodle soup) and banh mi (sandwiches). By night, tourists dine under glowing silk lanterns at the seaside restaurants and hotels.
The kids we met in Hoi An have a few soccer balls on hand, but are just as likely to kick around rocks or bundles of banana leaves. Tim Jahnigen first observed this phenomenon in 2006 as he watched news footage of a refugee camp in Darfur, Sudan. The children on the screen were playing soccer using a bundle of trash tied with twine. Struck by the evidently universal tendency of children to play no matter how difficult the circumstances, Jahnigen set out to develop a soccer ball tough enough to endure the harshest conditions.
Almost 10 years later, One World Play Project – the company Jahnigen founded with his wife, Lisa Tarver – has provided more than 1.5 million durable soccer balls in over 175 countries. The ball itself is made of a proprietary foamlike blend that bounces like a soccer ball but won’t puncture, deflate, or otherwise fall apart.
“Play is vital for humans to thrive,” Tarver says, echoing recent research. “Play is one of the most effective therapies for any kind of trauma or hardship, whether in refugee camps or inner cities afflicted with gang violence – anywhere kids have suffered human rights abuses or the effects of poverty or natural disasters. Play is what allows them to recover and connect with their community.”
Our team of Rotary members and youth program participants from the San Francisco Bay Area brought to Vietnam 2,400 of these balls, bound for schools and community centers. We traveled south from the capital, Hanoi, through the mountains and along the scenic coastline to Ho Chi Minh City and the villages of the Mekong Delta. In each community we visited, we met with local officials, handed out balls, and challenged the recipients to a game – no translation required.
“Play is the universal language,” Tarver says. “You go somewhere and you may not be able to talk to the people, but if you pull out this ball, you’ll be connected, because it’s intuitive. The ball is the connector between the visitors and the community.”
There are no Rotary clubs in Vietnam; they were disbanded in the 1970s. Since 1994, however, when the U.S. government lifted the trade embargo that had been in effect since the Vietnam War ended, Rotary clubs have worked with government approval on several successful projects with local charities.
Sue McKinney, a member of the Rotary Club of Oakland Sunrise, has divided her time between Ho Chi Minh City and her native California since 1994. A lawyer by training and a serial entrepreneur in practice, McKinney has worked on 21 projects in Vietnam, coordinating Group Study Exchange trips, organizing wheelchair distributions and medical camps, hosting dozens of visiting U.S. Rotarians, and tapping into her extensive in-country network to promote Rotary’s work.
The collaboration with One World Play Project also has its roots in McKinney’s Rolodex. She once hosted a GSE participant from California’s District 5170 named Ingrid Fraunfelder, and the two kept in touch. When Fraunfelder went to work for One World Play Project as a program manager, McKinney saw a natural fit for the district’s Interact program. She presented the idea to the district and reached out to contacts at Aid for Kids and Football for All in Vietnam, two local nonprofits that provided logistical support and helped coordinate distribution events.
McKinney also saw an opportunity to expand Rotary’s network and build goodwill through cultural exchange. “Group Study Exchange was my introduction to Rotary 30 years ago,” before clubs accepted female members, she recalls. “I went to Holland on an all-female GSE team, and I’m still in touch with those women. Those connections are for life. It’s a way of networking, and it helped recruit me into the organization. Once I’d seen Rotary at work on the world stage, I wanted to be a part of it.”
For Gloria Garing, a member of the Rotary Club of Freedom, Calif., the trip was an opportunity to honor her late husband, Ward, who served in Vietnam in the late 1960s and died of cancer in 2006. Midway through the trip, Garing made a solo detour down the coast from Hoi An to Cam Ranh Bay, where Ward had been stationed, to deliver soccer balls at a school.
“I wasn’t sure about what it would be like going to a communist country,” Garing says. “Growing up in the 1950s and ’60s with a father in the Navy, the whole idea of communism was, ‘They’re the enemy.’ There was a lot we didn’t know, of course, but there was a real fear.”
Garing met students, teachers, and families in Cam Ranh. “I was surprised by how welcoming everyone was,” she says. Vietnam, she says, is beautiful and interesting, but there was more to the trip: “When we do service work, it’s about the people we meet and the connections we make.”
Vu Dinh, a member of the Interact club at Mount Eden High School in Hayward, Calif., until his graduation last spring, was born in Vietnam, but his family moved to the United States when he was a baby. He had returned to Vietnam only once since then, on a family trip 10 years ago.
“It’s weird to think that one turn of events can change your whole life,” he said as we left a secondary school in Hanoi where he had addressed students in hesitant Vietnamese. “I’m sitting across from these kids, thinking how I could have been in their seats, meeting these American visitors, but instead I’m coming to their school on a tour bus.” Later, after he had reconnected with family members outside Da Nang, he said, “I’m glad my parents came to America, but I’m also glad I have the chance to come back to Vietnam, to spend time with my parents’ brothers and sisters, and see what the world looks like from the back of their motorbike.”
Dinh joined Interact during his sophomore year. He met new friends across the district, participated in leadership development programs such as RYLA, and served as club president in his senior year.
“In high school it’s often repeated that grades stay on your transcript forever. But these clubs teach you that the impact you make stays on these people’s lives forever,” Dinh says. “Interact has given me the opportunity to grow as a person, gain leadership skills, and give back. In Interact we have a structure and a network that allows participants to branch out in different communities and move toward a global community. That’s what sets Rotary apart.”
The way he sees it, our group is bringing that message of inclusion and opportunity to everyone we meet in Vietnam. “We’re giving away these soccer balls, but we’re also giving the opportunity to play and grow as a community through sports,” he says, “and we have the opportunity to let people know Rotary is important.”
The nearly indestructible soccer balls will go on conveying that message, says inventor Jahnigen. “When you go into a community and leave a ball behind, it reinforces the bonds and messages that came with it,” he says. “As long as it’s there being played with, it keeps the connection alive.”
Look for Interactors from District 5170 in the House of Friendship at the 2016 Rotary International Convention in Korea.  about this ongoing project.

Monday, 22 February 2016

My Rotary, Our Vocational Service Awards & the Rotary Foundation prepares for its Centenary.

Last Week 
Jane Sims & Joan Sainsbury
Our usual Business Meeting.

It was enlivened by the presence of Joan Sainsbury and Jane Sims as well as Gregory and Susan Howes, our President's son and daughter-in-law!

Jane is one of our "Rotary Artists" and she is standing next to one of her paintings.  The idea that the artists who exhibit at our Art Festival should visit the club is a very good one and it they seem to appreciate it.....we certainly do!  Thanks to Joan Sainsbury and Mark Franklin for this initiative.

My Rotary
Les Short raised the issue at the Business Meeting that less than 50% of the club had registered with My Rotary on the RI website.  Here's the LINK.  Now click on the My Rotary tab at top right and you will then be able to register.  I automatically go through to my page but I think you have to register with your RI number and automatically the club details come up.  You can then fill in your own profile.

This Week
It's an important meeting, the presentation of our annual Vocational Service Awards.
The recipients are:
Dr Pierre Vercueil for his pro bono paediatric ophthalmological surgery on young patients.
Dr Brooke Puttergill for her dedication to young amputees and their families.
Mrs Jean Warburton for her volunteer vocational guidance and assistance to underprivileged children and their families.
Mrs Penny Metcalf, a Speech & Hearing therapist, for her volunteer work.
Mrs Chibby Clacey, for her volunteer service as a teacher in setting up a pre-school for disadvantaged families.
There will be more about them next week as a short sentence doesn't provide an adequate summary of their worthiness for these awards.

Don't forget to let Les Short know if you are bringing anyone extra for lunch.



DISTRICT LEADERS SET TO CELEBRATE FOUNDATION’S CENTENNIAL

The Rotary Foundation has been improving lives since 1917. Learn about our work and help us celebrate 100 years of doing good in the world.
Rotary Foundation Trustee Chair Ray Klinginsmith asked district governors in training at the International Assembly to lead the celebration of the  year, 2016-17.
"You are the primary contacts between the Foundation and our 34,000 Rotary clubs in the world. The success of the centennial celebration is largely in your hands," said Klinginsmith at a 19 January general session. "Catch the spirit and spread the word about the importance of celebrating our success."
Since the Foundation was established in 1917, it has spent more than $3 billion on programs and projects to improve the lives of millions worldwide, said Klinginsmith.
The centennial celebration officially kicks off in May at the Rotary Convention in Korea and culminates at the 2017 convention in Atlanta.

DISTRICT PLANS FOR THE CENTENNIAL

Governor-elect Tom James Markos of District 5100 in Oregon, USA, says he is proud to be serving during such a historic year. He plans to promote the centennial not only to his district's members, but also through local media.
"We need the public to be aware of what we've accomplished," says Markos, who has set a district goal of raising $1 million for the Foundation during the centennial year.
Bill Proctor, incoming governor of District 7080 in Ontario, Canada, believes the centennial year is an opportunity to "refocus and reeducate" members on the importance the Foundation's work.
"We have so many accomplishments to celebrate," said Proctor. "We need to use the momentum of the celebration to strengthen the Foundation's future."
Share your centennial photos and stories on social media using #TRF100.

Wednesday, 17 February 2016

Welcome Hugh, Literacy, Food, and Even More!

Welcome Hugh
Hugh Rix was inducted as a member of our club last week.  The camera carrying man forgot to photograph the event and thought that a hot air balloon or three was appropriate instead.

Welcome, Hugh.  It's a great pleasure having you as a member of the club and we are delighted that you have agreed to take on the Public Relations portfolio.


Last Week
Megan Maynard spoke to us about The Link Literacy Programme.  The programme is heavily dependent on volunteers and was really enlightening that a number of Rosebank Rotary Anns are volunteers for The Link.  I think that's wonderful and it shows how little we as club know about some of their projects...unless you are married to one, of course.
I was particularly interested in the mental arithmetic programme because every day I experience young people's inability to add up quite apart from anything slightly more complicated.  It is so important not to be dependent on a calculator...applause!

We were also joined by our ADG Brian Humphries and his wife, Hilary.


Food!
It was the second week of the new lunch system with ordering from Chariots.  The burden very much falls upon Les Short who juggles attendance and food orders plus collecting the money.  He was helped by Merle Langenegger last week but it is an arduous task even for two people, especially when we have such a large number of people attending our meeting as well as the England/SA ODI filling up the bar!

This week we will assist Les when the food arrives by a couple of us serving it to the tables as this will be less disruptive and if there is a speaker it will mean that the food can be served straight away.

 This Week as President Neville pointed out is a Business Meeting.

Rotary's 111th Birthday
Last week's Ramble gave the details of the event on Tuesday 23rd.  Several of us will be going so please book directly and join us at the Rosebank Table!

Blanket Drive
You will all have received a preliminary notice for the Blanket Drive as mentioned by President Neville.  We are fortunate that David Bradshaw is on the committee so let's hope that we get a better shopping centre this year!

Rotary Peace Scholars
The Board is exploring the possibility of proposing one so the article below is particularly apposite.

PRESIDENTIAL CONFERENCE EXPLORES ROUTES TO PEACE

Actress and humanitarian Sharon Stone gives the peace sign after speaking at the Rotary World Peace Conference on 15 January in Ontario, California, USA.
Photo Credit: Rotary International/Ryan Hyland
On 2 December, a terrorist attack killed 14 people and wounded more than 20 others in San Bernardino, California.
Less than two months later, an event nearby focused on peace: the Rotary World Peace Conference. The two-day meeting on 15-16 January brought together experts from around the world to explore ideas and solutions to violence and conflict.
The conference was the first of five  planned for this year.
San Bernardino County official Janice Rutherford, a member of the Rotary Club of Fontana, California, told attendees at the opening general session that the conference couldn’t be timelier.
“Now more than ever, we need to come together and create peace and reduce human suffering,” said Rutherford, who declared 15 January 2016 Rotary World Peace Day and a Day of Peace for San Bernardino County. “We appreciate your commitment to exploring these options and taking them back to your community and the rest of the world.”
More than 150 leaders in the fields of peace, education, business, law, and health care led over 100 breakout sessions and workshops. Topics ranged from how to achieve peace through education to combating human trafficking to the role the media has in eliminating conflict.
Hosted by Rotary districts in California and attended by more than 1,500 people, the conference is an example of how Rotary members are taking peace into their own hands, said RI President K.R. Ravindran.
“We can’t wait for governments to build peace, or the United Nations. We can’t expect peace to be handed to us on a platter,” said Ravindran. “We have to build peace from the bottom, from the foundation of our society. The valuable information you leave with at the end of this conference will aid you in managing conflict in your personal lives, local communities, and potentially around the world.”
Actress and humanitarian Sharon Stone urged conference attendees to find tolerance within themselves as a way to develop compassion and understanding for others. Noting that today’s technology makes it easy to learn about diverse cultures and beliefs, Stone encouraged Rotary members to embrace differences while learning about others’ work.
“The more we understand the darkness of our enemies, the better we know what to do, how to respond and behave,” said Stone.
Rotary is inching the world closer to meaningful change, said the Rev. Greg Boyle, executive director of Homeboy Industries, a Los Angeles-based gang intervention and reentry program.
“Rotary decided to dismantle the barriers that exclude people,” said Boyle, a bestselling author and Catholic priest. “You [Rotary members] know that we must stand outside the margins so that the margins can be erased. You stand with the poor, the powerless, and those whose dignity has been denied.”
Rotary’s most formidable weapon against war, violence, and intolerance is its Rotary Peace Centers program. Through study and field work, peace fellows at the centers become catalysts for peace and conflict resolution in their communities and around the globe.
Dozens of Rotary peace fellows attended the conference to promote the program, learn about other peace initiatives, and help Rotary clubs understand the role they can play.
Peace Fellow Christopher Zambakari, who recently graduated from the University of Queensland in Australia, said the conference is a chance to increase awareness of what others are doing to achieve peace.
“Some people have only a local view toward peace,” said Zambakari, whose  in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, provides advisory services to organizations in Africa and the Middle East. “An event like this, with so many diverse perspectives, can open up connections and different possibilities to how we all can work towards a more peaceful world." 
Other speakers included Carrie Hessler-Radelet, director of the U.S. Peace Corps; Judge Daniel Nsereko, special tribunal for Lebanon; Gillian Sorensen, senior adviser at the United Nations Foundation; Steve Killelea, founder and executive chair of the Institute for Economics and Peace; Dan Lungren, former U.S. representative; and Mary Ann Peters, chief executive officer of The Carter Center and former U.S. ambassador to Bangladesh.
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