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.

Monday, 24 April 2023

A Business Meeting, The Highlands North Boys Highschool Interact Club gets an EcoBrick demo, Rotary Exchange student Emma embarks on a tour of Europe and the final winners of the Club 100 big draw for the year announced...

 From the Pen of the President...


Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

 

It is all about forthcoming events and dates in the diary – feels like the end of the year – oh yes, it is the end of the year – the Rotary year!!!

So please take special care to look at the side bar of the weekly Ramble to note all the dates and events we have coming up and put them in your diary.

If everyone takes a turn for the blanket drive and does something towards the Winter clothes for kids and sewing day to come, it will be July in no time at all and you will not have noticed that winter arrived!!

If you have not yet joined the weekly quiz, you are really missing an opportunity – it is great fun and an opportunity to learn a lot!! I am the quizmaster tomorrow evening and I have reused some questions from 2020 – there is a clue!! Sorry that no one has the quiz – just rely on your memory!! Keeps you young.

 

Looking forward to some holidays this week and next. But we have Rotary on Friday – I am doing a Friday Story – very interesting.

This week we have Discon in Eswatini – sadly only Costa will be representing Rosebank – promise to make up for it next year!

 

Keep well – enjoy the lovely warm days.

Ann

 


Last Friday...


...was the monthly Business meeting where the various committee heads had a chance to keep the rest of the club up to speed as to what their committees have been getting up to behind the scenes.
It was great to welcome back treasurer John Symons, who looks fighting fit, albeit a few kilos lighter, after triple-bypass surgery. 
A warm welcome was extended to return visitor and past-Rotarian Stavros Kitsopoulos.
Thank you once again to Brigid Booth for being the Ramble editor's eyes and ears and taking some happy snaps on my behalf.
President Ann emphasized the importance of Club Assembly which has been set for Friday 5th of May, and she would like every member to make a concerted effort to attend the meeting whether in person or online. 
An agenda item she would like to address at Club Assembly is the creation of a sound Club Service committee.
Stalwart member Les Short was asked to clarify what Club Service entails.
Les explains that this committee would be responsible to manage the running of the club, starting with the allocation and monitoring of Sergeant's duties, keeping an attendance register and appointing an attendance officer, keeping track of the meeting venue and technical support, regalia and last but certainly not least coordinating Fellowship activities.

David Bradshaw is tirelessly working at attracting potential members to our club and he is trusting that the Bring-a-Buddy meeting set for Friday 9th of June will bear fruit. This gives every member the opportunity to go trough their lists of friends and associates to identify possible candidates and invite them along to the meeting.
 
Youth Committee Chair Jean Bernardo reported back on their activities: 
Marianne Soal has taken on the responsibility of assisting the Highlands North Boys High School Interact Club with their projects, one being their regular Blood Drive, next one taking place on Wednesday 17th of May from 10:00 to14:00.
Maybe some of the members would consider donating on that day.
The Career's Day has been set for Saturday 3rd of June at the Holy Family College in Parktown, and Jean appealed to all members to assist on that day.
The Senior Youth Leadership Course has been diarized for the weekend of the 6th - 8th of October and Tyron Sharnock has once again agreed to facilitate the course.

Lyn Collocott, heading up the committee for environmental matters has pledged our Club's support for the annual World Clean Up Day under the auspices of the Rotary Club of New Dawn, which will take place on Saturday the 17th of September. Lyn feels that the day is more than just picking up rubbish and would like to organize a walk along our allocated route to investigate how else we could increase awareness about the precarious state of the environment. Any suggestions would be welcome.






The main item on the Community Services agenda is the upcoming Blanket Drive taking place Friday 12th/Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th May. 
It is taking place at the William Nicol Pick 'n Pay at its two main entrances. We still need a few volunteers to assist with duties. Please let David Bradshaw know which shifts you would be able to assist with:
Friday 12th -  one shift  - 9:00 to 11:00 
Saturday 13th - three shifts - 9:00 to 11:00, 11:00 to 13:00 and 13:00 to 15:00
Sunday 14th  - 2 shifts - 9:00 to 11:00 and 11:00 to 13:00

Alternatively, any donations towards our Blanket Drive will be gratefully accepted. The price of a blanket this year is R90.



The Highlands North Boys Highschool Interact Club throws its weight behind the EcoBrick initiative...



Last week Marianne Soal attended an Interact meeting where the lads received a demonstration on how to "construct" an EcoBrick and were told of  the multitude of environmental benefits this initiative holds.






Emma embarks on an exciting tour of Europe...



.... Her bags are packed, she's ready to go.


First stop after Dresden was the enchanting city of Prague in the Czech Republic. Emma absolutely LOVED it and could not stop sharing pictures of the art, architecture gardens and street musicians.







Then on to Vienna where they did some fun stuff as a group.


But they also did some serious stuff, like visiting the United Nations offices (UNOV)

The United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV) is one of the four major office sites of the United Nations where numerous different UN agencies have a joint presence. UNOV was established on 1 January 1980, and was the third such complex to be created.

Headquartered at Vienna:

- International Atomic Energy Agency (has a special agreement on its status)

- International Money Laundering Information Network

- International Narcotics Control Board

- Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty

- United Nations Commission on International Trade Law

- United Nations Industrial Development Organization

- United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs

- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime


Next Friday....


.... the meeting falls between a public holiday and the weekend. Maybe some of those members that battle to attend meetings in person might have taken a day off and can make it to Wanderers for a social meeting.  President Ann has a Friday story she would like to share.







Monday, 17 April 2023

RIP Jennifer Jones was in town, Guest Speaker and Traveller Extraordinaire takes us to Galapagos, RC Rosebank pulls out all the stops for a successful Sew-A-Thon, Rotary Exchange Student Emma's exploits and Sybille plants trees in Stanford....

 From the Pen of the President....


Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

 

You all will have heard and seen that our sewing/knitting day on Saturday was a huge success – from a Fellowship point of view it was GREAT and from a productive view it was also GREAT. We will need to have another day to label and sort what we have and finish off the many things that were started. Planning for the 20th May, so there is time to still knit and make things!!

Thank you for the generosity of your time and money – to everyone!

 

Our thoughts go out to Hugh and his wife – they had a nasty incident in their home. We hope that with family support and time, the memory and shock will fade.

We are looking forward to hearing about the gorillas – Tutty has just been on a successful trip.

The regular news from Emma is exciting – how will she ever be able to settle back at school here??!!

Mazeltov to Debi Lieberthal on her engagement; many happy years with Mervyn. We love happy stories like this!

 

We have some important dates to remember:

May 5th  - Club Assembly – a ‘must’ attend Friday meeting!!

May 12th – 14th – Blanket Drive – need your help.

May 20th – Winter wardrobe sewing/knitting.

June 3rd – Careers Day – will need your help

June 9th – Bring-a-friend to Rotary!!

 

A very busy time ahead and opportunity to fulfill those goals we have not met for the year.

Thank you all – we are People of Action after all!!

 

Ann

 



President Ann, AG Jean and PE Costa get to meet  RIP Jennifer Jones....






President Ann's feelings:
" RI Pres Jennifer Jones is just amazing - she is a warm, friendly, REAL person. She has been all over the globe, is doing a 26 hour a day job, is supported by a loving husband - it is all about how fantastic Rotary is as an organization, all about the amazing work being done by peace workers, health workers and the like and all about the impact on her ( and our) lives and the great story we should be telling, and shouting out so people hear it!! She does not talk about HER achievements, but Rotary's. I loved her!!"

AG Jean's thoughts:
"Gosh. She spoke so eloquently but my main take away from her talk was how her experiences in Rotary have changed her and made her a better person and that we should see each other as people who want to make a difference and not see gender, race, etc."

PE Costa says:
She also indicated what a positive impact Rotary had on polio, malaria and other infectious diseases in poor countries as well as the positive and heart warming impact that individuals and clubs can make in needy communities.


Last Friday....


..... we vicariously experienced a tour of the Galápagos Islands through the well travelled and knowledgeable Eric Dabbs. The Galápagos Islands are a dot on the world map that hold huge appeal and it was a bucket list tick for Eric! 
The island was discovered by chance in 1535 by Fray Tomas de Berlanga the Bishop of Panama en route to Peru. The giant tortoises were seen which inspired the name for the Island. Galapago in Spanish literally means tortoise. The island had no inhabitants due to no fresh water supplies. The whalers in the late 1700s fed their ships tortoises. Sadly there are not many left. 
Did you know? The tortoises could survive a whole year without food and water. Interesting fact. 
The islands first inhabitants after 1832 were convicts. It began as a penal settlement. Charles Darwin spent 5 weeks on the island late 1835 collecting geographical samples, mostly rock. The significance of the finches in evolution followed 2 decades later. 
Other interesting birds are the Blue Beaked and Blue Footed Boobies. They have excellent diving skills with an impressive wingspan of around 5 feet. Eric shared his photographs of himself with the sea lions that look like giant slugs! They looked very chilled and made themselves very comfortable on the human's benches!!
The deciding factor to add the Galápagos Islands to my Bucket List was Eric’s account of a member of his tour group experiencing vertigo looking into the crystal clear waters with visibility of 150 meters. A diver's dream come true not to mention the waters full of hammerhead sharks and plenty other sea life. I didn’t think the planet had a magical place like that left to experience. Could it be because the island has about 33 000 inhabitants on 3% of the land 97% is National Park. I’ll leave you to decide.
Thank you Eric for sharing your wonderful trip with us.

Thank you to Brigid Booth for penning this contribution.


RC Rosebank - Truly People of Action....


One of the charities we whole-heartedly endorse and support is Stephan Ferreira's Charity Begins With Me. Every Saturday come rain or shine he feeds up to 1500 children. This is not a hand-out; in return for a plate of food he expects the children to bring a bag of recyclables. He also runs a toy, books and stationary swap-shop where the children are allowed to choose an item in exchange for recyclable items. It's a win-win situation for everyone. 
When we picked up on one of his Facebook posts where he asked his followers to support him make sure that the 1500 vulnerable and needy youngsters on his weekly feeding program have a warm item of clothing this winter our club immediately jumped into action.
A Sew-a-Thon was planned.
The support for this initiative from all sides was overwhelming and the day was undoubtedly a resounding success. Every member threw his or her weight behind this project, and those that could not be there in person donated funds towards fabric, wool and sewing paraphernalia.
Liz Short, a long-standing Rotary Ann puts it this way:

"The Anns joined with the Rotarians and friends of Rotary for a wonderful fellowship/work party on Saturday 15th April.  Sitting in the shade on Jean's driveway there was a hive of activity from every side:  groups of knitters under the gazebo, cutters, sewers and braaiers all working together.  We had such fun and it was so heart-warming to be part of the club, with nine Anns participating.  This is what it's all about and we hope to be part of many more such activities.  Thanks to Jean for letting us use her house, to Ann for her motivation and organisation and to all the noble men Rotarians who assisted not only with the braai and producing delicious boerrie rolls but also with the cutting out of the material.  We didn't know you had such hidden talents."



Who would have thought how adept the men could be at wielding a pair of scissors.





Not to speak of the antics some of the members got up to.




Lyn Collocott's comments:
"What a beautiful autumn sunshiny day.  As I wandered around  I thought how today encompassed the reason why many of us became Rotarians.  Fellowship, fun and the opportunity to serve..
Thank you to all who were involved in so many different ways. 
Paul Harris would be proud."









The WhatsApp chat group was abuzz with comments:




A table full of completed items and many more to follow.





Emma's weekly Check-In...


Emma went walking with alpacas with her host family in a nearby Sorbian town called Schleife.



She is really starting to get excited as the exchange students of two Rotary districts leave for their European tour on the 18th of April. Hopefully her Rotary blazer will fill up with lots more pins.

Emma's host family took her and South African Bestie Leah and family who were visiting Germany to a soccer game and great fun was had by all.



No sooner had they returned to Weißwasser they were on the road again for their annual Easter break. They spent the week at the Baltic Sea in Poland. It was very quiet and tranquil and the family literally walked miles every day, and Emma sported her "Sasko White Flour" look on the beach.




And what did Sybille getting up to....


... further afield Sybille was part of a tree planting ceremony at the Queen Victoria playground in Stanford organized by the Rotary Club of Stanford. A few years ago two benches had been constructed donated by the club and hopefully in years to come these Yellowood trees will cast welcome shade over them.
Club President Anne Ranger had enthusiastic assistance from some young helpers.






Next Friday....


...Please join us for our monthly business meeting.










Monday, 3 April 2023

ClubClubRunner 101, Obituary for Dulcie Floweday, Emma's weekly update and Sybille's activities in Stanford....

 From the Pen of the President...


Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

 

The month of April has begun and it is a very significant and Holy month for many people – we have Easter, Pesach and Ramadaan coinciding during the month.

We have the beginning of autumn in SA and the air is decidedly cooler – end of term, holidays and a change to winter sports!! A lovely time of the year.

I hope everyone is thinking of our latest project and planning some contribution.

I have spent some precious time with family in Cape Town and am pleased to say that we met up with Lorenzo who joined us for a family lunch on Sunday – we gave him a glimpse of how we roll!!




Wishing all members a break over the coming Holy Week – however you spend it and whatever your spiritual leanings are. We will have a break until 14th April and will meet again just before we do our big sewing day!!

Enjoy and God Bless you all,

Ann

 


Last Friday...


Thank you Brigid Booth who was the Editor-in-Chief's eyes and ears.





We met on a cold rainy day but we nonetheless had a lovely Rotary gathering, all 12 of us at one table. We had lots of laughter and witty chirps. Lyn demonstrated the many uses of the beanie we will be making on the 15th of April which resulted in more laughter.
 The techno challenged opening the Rotary Club of Rosebank ClubRunner app were helped by Costa to get up and running. Passwords were the missing key to unlock the app and I was one of those but found mine written down in my diary. It is such a wonderful feeling to remember a password these days. A huge accomplishment!
It was a lovely cozy meeting albeit missing other members in person and on zoom. We finished off saying the 4 Way test and I passed with flying colours! 
Look forward to the next meeting and the sewing day. It promises to be a lot of fun while we are busy working. Team work makes the Dream work! 
Take care and Get Well soon to members struggling with health issues.



R.I.P. Centenarian Dulcie Floweday, who passed away on Sunday 26th March....


Patsy Dalziel (99), June Virtue, Dulcie (100), Penny Smith, Maud Londal (95) & Margaret Jackson (95). Picture taken at Dulcie's 100th birthday celebration in 2019


Dulcie May Floweday (nee Roberts) was born on 18 September 1919 in Pietermaritzburg. As a girl she lived also in Sea Point, Cape Town and then in Port Elizabeth where she attended Girls Collegiate.

She married Ted Floweday, a teacher, and they had two daughters, Frances and Penny. Later, Ted gave up his job lecturing English at the Technical College to join the Methodist ministry, being appointed to Newton Park Church in Port Elizabeth, and subsequently, Musgrave Road Methodist Church in Durban. From that time, Dulcie’s life work was that of a minister’s wife. She enjoyed all aspects of service within the Church, particularly those of administration and organisation, music and catering.

When Ted and Dulcie were transferred to Pietermaritzburg’s Metropolitan Church in 1963, they were invited to join Rotary, and greatly appreciated the fellowship and activities of Rotary and the Rotary Anns, making many friends there. In 1970 they were transferred to East London, and there they had many happy years with Rotary. On Ted’s retirement in 1982, they moved to Johannesburg where their daughter, Penny, was living, and joined the Rosebank Rotary Club. Dulcie will always be grateful to the Rotarians, especially Gordon and Vivvy Craig, for the care and support they showed her when Ted died unexpectedly in 1984.

Dulcie remained an active member of the Anns, until forced to give up driving at age 92 but still enjoyed reading the monthly minutes and attending occasional social meetings.  The Anns celebrated her 100th birthday with her, when she was in top form and regaled us with stories of her early life.


 We have two more Anns who are - hopefully - going to make it to 100!  Maude Londal was 99 this month and Margaret Jackson will be 99 in June.  If you want to live a long life, join the Rosebank Rotary Anns…

 



Emma excels in her exams....



It was not a very eventful week, except that the cold winter is slowly starting to get to Emma. Just as it was getting a little warmer, the temperatures dropped and it snowed again.
They are also writing tests and some of them went really well.
Emma's best friend from South Africa, Leah, is spending Easter in Germany, and they have plans to meet up in Leipzig. They will have a sleepover so that they can catch up. 
Michelle dropped off some goodies for Emma with Leah for her to take along.







What is Sybille getting up to in Stanford?


The Rotary Club of Stanford meets up every second Tuesday and at the previous meeting the Sunset Market, which takes place on the village common every last Friday of the month, was on the agenda. The club always takes the opportunity to raise some much needed funds by selling raffle tickets for three hampers filled with local wines and goodies which the folks of Stanford donate. Sybille put up her hand and offered to get the chef at the lodge where she works to bake a chocolate cake as a prize. 
The weather was sublime and the locals came out in their droves to enjoy a glass of wine, local fare and music. Raffle sales were brisk and at the end of the evening a respectable R3 400 had been raised for various club projects.






Next Friday....



..Is Good Friday, so there will be no meeting and the Ramble will also stand over till the week of the 17th April.
Wishing everyone a Blessed Easter and Pesach.









Monday, 27 March 2023

President Ann goes on a Madiba Buggy Outreach, a jolly Social Meeting and Emma prepares for a traditional Easter....

From the Pen of the President...



Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,







 

This past weekend I had the wonderful experience of joining on an Outreach with the Boikanyo Foundation. It was a fun group, it was heart-wrenching, REAL, it was rewarding – it was everything and more. We live in a country where people need to depend on charitable organizations to get the care and service that they deserve from the Health Department. However, let me say that we worked for 2 days at the Thebe Hospital in Harrismith (the municipality is under government review due to debt) – it was run down, has shortages but was clean, and the people we encountered were enthusiastic and doing their jobs.





The cerebral palsied patients that Boikanyo see have been assessed and seen previously in the health system, but the beauty of what we did there was really that they got more professional service, donated ePap for a year, blankets, and refurbished buggies – we gave them a boost (especially their parents). They come from very impoverished communities, they struggle to get transport, they are just  amazing.




There are so many photographs to share but you would have to have been there to experience the smiles on some of the faces to know what it all meant. Our club is doing a good thing by helping, donating and working for all those charities out there that need support – please let us keep being of service – we are needed and appreciated.






This coming Friday I challenge you all to either learn how to go online to My Rotary, access E Learning and Club Runner OR assist another member to do so. Bring your devices, laptops etc to the meeting, join via Zoom and get assistance, call a member who is not there and ask if they need help.

 

On 15th April we are gathering in numbers at Jean’s house to sew, knit, shoot the breeze, bring along your donations and your money, assist the sewers – every member is being asked to make a contribution in one way or another – we are in this together and have 1500 children, teenagers to give something to for winter.

 

Thank you and enjoy the week.

 

 

   Ann Hope-Bailie




Last Friday...

.... the monthly social meeting  only had the in-person option available, as both our President and tech-fundi and her stand-in Costa, who normally takes over the tech duty when Ann is not available, were away on a Madiba Buggy outreach to deepest Freestate.
And as the Ramble's Editor-in-Chief resides in the Cape and normally attends virtually, she asked duty sergeant Michelle von Benecke to  be her eyes and ears at the meeting:


Hi Sybille, 
so there were 11 Rotarians in attendance for our social meeting today. Lyn Collocott presided as president in Ann’s stead. 

Even though there were no Zoom Rotarians to up the numbers, the mood was very jolly and great fun with pizza was had by all. 

I was doing sergeant duties and focused attention on-this-day-in-history and related jokes. I also had to explain my Meyers-Briggs personality type (INTJ) and shared Emma’s economics project I helped with this week.

Lyn shared her latest NetFlix craze … watching the conspiracy theories around the MH370. Apparently all very believable.

But Les was not as convinced and explained in detail how aviation routes can be intercepted via satellite phones and special console plug-in devices.

Various other conspiracy theories were also discussed.

Roger Wedlake is very involved in a secondary school in Hillbrow called Newgate College and has appealed to all to donate bookcases and books for their new library. They are very well run, have a 100% matric pass rate and reading is actively encouraged at home and school.

Lyn reminded all of the sew-knit- crochet-a-thon at Jean’s house in April. Keep the goodies streaming in. All well worth it.

Thank you Michelle, you did a sterling job!


Exchange Student Emma prepares for a German Easter....


This week the decoration of the Easter eggs started. An Emma had to do them in the Sorbian tradition. 
In Slavic tribes (and in much of northern Europe) the gifting of elaborately decorated eggs goes back to pagan times. Eggs are the symbol of fertility, and the rebirth of nature after a long cold winter.When Christianity established itself the eggs were incorporated into the new religion, as a symbol of Jesus Christ's resurrection.




She also baked some rusks for the family. After they dried out the dad ate five on the spot and mom had three, so clearly real treat and a hit!


Emma's European tour with the other exchnge students is fast approaching and her host dad asked her to design their tops. Se was so thrilled and honoured to receive this assignment, and by the looks of things she did not disappoint.





This would be on the front and back of the tops they will be wearing.
The tour route is impressive.



This Friday...





Although it is the fifth Friday of the month, there will be a meeting: ClubRunner and Rotary Data 101, which will be an informative and hands-on session to make sure everyone will be brought into the 21st Century s far as technology is concerned.
Please bring along your Smart phones and your laptops, if you have.





Monday, 20 March 2023

President Ann champions ClubRunner, a Business Meeting, the Anns District Conference, Club 100 Winners and Emma's exploits

 From the Pen of the President....


Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

We have lots of work to do in the club over the next few weeks and I am really hoping that every member takes part. Have you started knitting, sewing, or scrounging for donations? Please do not leave it to the last minute or our actual day of sewing and sorting on April 15th.

On the 31st March please remember to bring along your laptop – if you have got your data updated on My Rotary and Clubrunner, you will be able to assist a fellow member with getting their profile created and their data updated. If you use your phone for more than something to call someone with, then you can also be shown how to get Clubrunner on your phone – your Club and District address book!!




We have the Blanket Drive coming up and would like you to sell some to friends and family as well as put your name down on the roster!!

Have a great week – shortened by our holiday!!

Ann

 


Last Friday...


....being the third Friday of the month, was the club's Business meeting.
We were able extend a warm Rosebank Rotary welcome to two guests: Stavros Kitsopoulos and Stacey Kemertgoglou.
Stavros had been invited by Lyn Collocott. He is the owner of the Parkhurst Postnet and he had overheard Lyn chatting about Rotary with one of the patrons, and mentioned that he had been a member and Past President of the Rotary Club in Bloemfontein-Raadzaal. 
Stacey is married to a Greek, but does not speak it. She is an attorney and had read about Rotary in the local Dainfern rag, and contacted David, who invited her to a meeting.




A brief report back from the various committee chairs:
Finance Chair John Symons told us that we are a club in good standing with RI as all our annual dues and contributions to Foundation and Polio Plus have been remitted.
He banked R5 041 raised at the last Skittles evening.
Fundraising queen Sonja Hood is planning a Bingo evening, and would be grateful if anyone could suggest a good "Bingo master".
She has also approached the Linden Bowling Club for a potential bowling event fundraiser.
A lot of things are happening behind the scenes in the Youth portfolio; Jean Bernardo let us know that Marianne Soal has taken responsibility for the Highlands North High School Interact Club and she is planning for Winnie from Upcycle to chat to the boys about ways to fund their own projects as well as getting Josephine from Earthly Touch to teach them how to make a "proper" EcoBrick and the tell them about the benefits of disposing responsibly of non-recyclable plastics. 
They will also be encouraged to volunteer their time for the Sew-a-Thon on the 15th of April.
The annual careers day date has provisionally been set for Saturday 9th of June, and the committee in conjunction with Holy Family College that hosts the event have a few ideas of making this an even better experience.
All being well the Senior Youth Leadership Course will be held the weekend of the 6th to the 8th of October. 
Membership Chair and Almoner (and quiz convener) David Bradshaw is quietly and tirelessly  plugging away at encouraging potential members to join. His hard work is paying off.
Friday 26th of May has provisionally been earmarked as a "Bring-a-Buddy" meeting.
The Community Services committee can confirm that the Sew-a-Thon will take place on Saturday the 15th of April and Jean Bernardo has generously offered to host it at her home.
 Melodene, Lyn and President Ann "modelled" items that can be made on the day.



At the social meeting next Friday a list will be circulated where every member needs to pledge either expertise, time, material, wool etc for this project.
Charity Begins With Me and Stephan Ferreira have an ambitious goal to make sure that 1500 children from the Durban Deep informal settlements don't get cold this winter.


The District Rotary Anns Conference....






11 Rosebank Rotary Anns recently attended a very enjoyable District Anns’ Conference, organised by Germiston Anns’ Club. The venue at The School of Achievement in Elspark was convivial and the décor, catering by students and general organisation was excellent.

The event was attended by DG Koekie Makunyane-Quashie and her husband, PDG Kobla Quashie, as well as DGA Christina Forsyth-Thompson and several PDGAs. The speaker was Sheri de Wet, founder of “Palesa Pads”, an innovation which gave much food for thought in terms of projects and helping disadvantaged young girls.

Some Anns Clubs may have folded but the enthusiasm and energy of the many Anns Clubs and the Inner Wheel club attending was inspiring and heartening.


What did Exchange Student Emma get up to last week?


Two and a half hours drive west of Weißwasser lies the city of Leipzig. It is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony with 624 689 inhabitants.
Emma and a group of fellow exchange students were planning to plant trees in and around the city that weekend, but the weather was abysmal, so the young'uns bonded over table tennis and explored the city instead.



They visited the monument to the Battle of the Nations (Völkerschlachtdenkmal), commemorating the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. The monument was completed in 1913 for the 100 year commemoration and cost six million Gold Mark but was mostly paid by generous donations. It looks very similar to the Voortrekker Monument.




Emma met up with two Rotary friends from Mexico and Brazil in Dresden  and together they visited the Royal Palace. It is known for the different architectural styles employed, from Baroque to Neo-Renaissance. The original building dates back all the way to the 1200's.




Back in Weißwasser Emma's family is starting to prepare for Easter. They took her to see some beautifully painted Easter eggs as inspiration before they start with their own creations.



Finally the sun peaked out again and to celebrate Emma spoilt herself with a pair of genuine Birkenstocks.







Next Friday....


....President Ann as well as PE Costa and AG Jean will be embarking on another Madiba Buggy outreach, this time to rural Phutaditjaba, Vrede and Harrismith in the Freestate.
It is their most ambitious outreach to date where they plan to give 38 profoundly disabled children the gift of mobility. 
Most of the fittings will be done in the local hospitals with the assistance of the resident occupational therapists, but a few home visits have also been scheduled. 
They also plan to also distribute e'pap which has been generously donated, blankets and 2500 Easter eggs.
With our tech team not being available to handle the hybrid meeting option it has been decided that next Friday's meeting will only have the in person option.





 

Monday, 13 March 2023

Welcome to e-member Lorenzo, an illuminating talk by Prof Shelley, Emma's weekly news and Sybille volunteers at the Cape Town Cycle Race....

 From the Pen of the President....




Wish you were here....


Last Friday....


.... there was great excitement at Wanderers because e-member Lorenzo Locatelli-Rossi, who most of us only know from his Zoom attendance, was in town.
For some of the "old-timers" it was however a happy reunion.




Sonja Hood was the appointed duty sergeant and showed us how it's done when you have to do it virtually:




Charlotte and James Croswell are passionate champions of e'Pap, and they had invited Charles Mhephu, who heads up the Rotary Community Corp in Alexandra, to the meeting and he gratefully accepted a donation of this super-food for distribution to vulnerable and needy persons.
e’Pap is made from wholegrain, precooked maize and soya beans. Vitamins and minerals are added into the mixture in a form that the body can easily absorb.










When Prof Shelley Schmollgruber asked meeting content organizer David Bradshaw what she should talk about, he vaguely said: your work, a book or anything trending.
As it is not her nature talk about herself she decided to tackle a burning topic instead:
 Loadshedding, or as she titled it - Escomplicated.
She reflected on research done amongst 1836 respondents who were questioned about their daily lives, their fears and how they were managing to cope with this crisis.
The study sample was fairly wide ranging; they were of varying ages, 74% were employed, 35% had no access to alternative power solutions, whereas 65% had access to alternative solutions, like inverters, gas, generators or solar.
The findings of the study were that feelings of helplessness were often reported.
The employed respondents were expected to deliver work despite outages, which resulted in high levels of performance anxiety, work-related stress and heavy financial demands.
The psychological impact can not be ignored: 4 out of 10 respondents reported depression and 62% admitted to struggling with anxiety and panic attacks. Anger was also a common emotion voiced.
9 out of 10 reported feeling worried when there are non-scheduled power cuts.
1 in 10 contemplated suicide.
Social relationships are also suffering: 31% reported problematic family relations and feelings of isolation. There is reduced social interaction because people have to scramble to complete tasks when there is power and tend to collapse into separate spaces in the dark.
People also fear crime so tend to stay in their homes, further reducing social coping.
How then are we coping?
Nearly half of the respondents slept more, 16% numbed out on their cell phone, and nearly a third stepped up to their work pressure by meeting professional obligations.
Interestingly enough more than a quarter of the respondents chose to a proactive break and wellness activities, such as meditation, yoga and spending time in nature. 20% chose to exercise
In summary: an option open to us all is the proactive implementation of psychological coping strategies.
We do not have to normalize life without electricity supply, but we can attempt to cope in ways that make us feel better
We can create our own light, be kind to ourselves an employ the wisdom of one respondent who said:
I put my head torch on do and do the best I can. We may not know when the power will return, but we can (and should) build our own insulation and frame our crisis on our own terms.

Thank you Shelley, that was truly enlightening!


Weekly News from Exchange Student Emma...


Just as there were the first signs of Spring, everything was once again covered in snow. However: Emma is now officially part of the Noack family as her name is now proudly on the family post box (although sadly none of Michelle's letters and post cards have arrived to date)






During the week she and some friends visited Muskau Park. It is a landscape park in the Lusatia region of Germany and Poland. It is the largest and one of the most famous English Gardens in Central Europe, stretching along both sides of the German-Polish border on the river Neisse.
She also took part in  an annual light festival where about 1000 people displayed multi-coloured lanterns.
Apparently it was a sight to behold.



Emma also had to write exams this week; she did however give German a miss; her German Shakespeare is not quite up to scratch yet.
She has also almost completed her first pottery piece, a little fountain with duck, which is in fact going to be used to display her rings and bangles.



Today she left for Leipzig, where she will be attending an outreach project for all the exchange students based in Germany.


Sybille volunteers at the Cape Town Cycle Race...


The Rotary Club of Newlands' biggest and most lucrative fundraiser is the annual Cape Town cycle race, held on the second Sunday of March.
Every year various Rotary clubs volunteer to assist in the mammoth task of running a smooth event and are then reimbursed by the event organizers. RC Newlands' job is to man the sweep vehicles that are deployed all along the gruelling 109 km or the shorter 42 km route to pick up stragglers and their bicycles, who for whatever reasons are unable to complete the race.
The club gratefully accepted when Sybille put up her hand to offer her services. 
She attended a thorough briefing the week before the event, and on Sunday at the ungodly hour of 4 a.m. showed up for duty.
It was promising to be a perfect day with not a cloud in the sky, not too hot and thankfully not even a breeze.


Sybille was positioned about a kilometer after the start and she had the privilege of watching more than 27 500 cyclists pass her in a period of 4 hours before her actual duties started.
It was a very humbling experience watching participants with profound disabilities attempting to conquer this punishing 109 km route.

Also heartwarming was to see cyclists take disabled children along for the ride of a lifetime.



Once  the cyclists had all passed the work began, following the last competitors on a relentless 7 km uphill, and it was soon evident who had not trained sufficiently or had equipment failure.
It was heartbreaking to see the disappointment in these cyclists faces, and part of the job was also to comfort them and administer words of encouragement. Sadly we also picked up unaccompanied bicycles where the riders had been taken to hospital.
There were 16 mini sweep vehicles in total along the whole Cape Peninsula route and we were all in radio communication with the control centre and by the sounds of it we certainly had our work cut out for us.
It was past 5 o'clock in the afternoon when the last sweep vehicle could finally call it a day.



This Friday....


... is our monthly business meeting. Hope to see you there, in person or via Zoom.