Melanie Walker & the Borer Beetle, Welcome Sonja & Stewart and Rotary GBI at the London New Year Parade.

Last Week

Last week our speaker was Melanie Walker.  She was highly entertaining as you can see by her gesticulations

Amongst other things she raised the issue of the threat to our Urban Forest, the biggest in the world, by Borer Beetles

It's not just Johannesburg that's threatened bu all trees in South Africa, both indigenous and agricultural.

What Is The Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer?

These beetles, also known as Euwallacea fornicatus, are a troublesome species that are able to cause a great deal of trouble to the environment. Furthermore, the beetle has been discovered in Johannesburg and therefore, are considered a great threat to the indigenous trees of South Africa. These beetles are approximately 2mm long and are native to Southeast Asia. Moreover, the polyphagous shot hole borer, or PSHB, is associated with different types of fungi. One of these fungi is called Fusarium euwallacea. The shot hole beetle shares a symbiotic relationship with this fungus, as this fungus is the beetle’s main source of food in addition to it being the main cause associated with the wilting of trees. The other types of fungi are believed to help the beetle’s colonization of newly infected trees.

How Was The Shot Hole Borer Discovered In South Africa?

Dr. Trudy Paap of FABI (Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute) initially discovered the shot hole Borer beetle in South Africa. On a routine study for diseases in KwaZulu-Natal Botanical Gardens in Pietermaritzburg in 2017, Paap found a series of infested trees. This led to the identification of the beetle in addition to the regions in which infestations are taking place.

How To Identify The Shot Hole Borer:

Unfortunately, the beetles are too small to detect. However, what you can do is identify the infected trees. The symptoms of infected trees vary from one tree species to another and there are many signs that show when a tree is infected. Some of these signs are:

• Wilting trees
• Dead branches
• Exit/Entry holes on the bark of the trees
• Shotgun-like lesions on the bark at entry/exit holes.
• Sugar volcanoes on the bark at entry/exit holes.
• Blotches of oozing resin on the bark at entry/exit holes.
• Wood frass (wooden powder) on the bark at entry/exit holes.

Why Should We Be Concerned?

The PSHB along with its fungus has caused tremendous damage to the trees in the US, specifically California, in addition to regions in the Middle East. Moreover, the beetle has been recently discovered in Sandton, which is Johannesburg’s economic hub. This discovery is particularly concerning because Johannesburg is believed to be one of the world’s largest urban forests with over 10 million trees. Furthermore, judging by the number of trees the beetle has killed in Johannesburg as well as Knysna, this beetle could potentially be one of South Africa’s largest ecological tragedies. In addition, the beetle is currently infesting over 200 tree species from 28 plant families worldwide.

South Africa is considered to be the biodiversity capital of the world and is a host to 299 species of mammals and 858 species of birds many of which are heavily dependent on trees as a source of nutrition and sustenance. Therefore, the Shot Hole Borer truly does pose a threat to what makes South Africa unique. For this reason, an immediate response to eradicate this threat is imperative to help preserve the beauty that is South Africa.

On a happier note President Jean inducted two new members,  Sonja Hood and Stewart Mutegeki.

Here they are again with Steven, Sonja's husband.

Polio Plus Evening
President Jean sent her pictures of the evening....but she is in them!

This Week

It's our monthly Social Meeting.  Last time it became a very valuable meeting because a potential Rotarian asked about our projects so we had to rack our brains to try and think what we actually do.

It was a very valuable exercise and I hope that this week's social meeting again becomes involved in some sort of discussion because a Business Meeting doesn't really become one simply because the reports back from the Board take up most of the time.

Rotary Blanket Drive

Message from David Bradshaw –

With Winter not that far off its time to start thinking about our annual blanket drive and to get our requests in early for churches, schools and companies to get their blankets through us.

We will not have the wonderful support of Super Group this year who have made a decision not to purchase blankets for 2019.

Please start asking as many people as you can, our blankets are wonderful value and will once again be R70 with the same quality as last year.

We will have available sample blankets and can of course supply these to your church/company/college to help them to promote sales.

Dates of our own sales weekend will be announced shortly.

Rotary members were flying the flag at the London New Year’s Day Parade.

Past Rotary GBI Presidents, Eve Conway and Denis Spiller, headed the Rotary contingent who paraded through the streets of the capital to promote the Purple4Polio campaign to End Polio Now and forever.

The Rotary team were joined by a vintage steam traction engine, as well as a Volkswagen Beetle – one of a number of vehicles which took part in the Rotary Purple4Polio Grand Tour last year raising an estimated £50,000 for the polio initiative.

Rotaractors and Rotary Global Scholars also joined to promote Rotary’s campaign in front of a crowd of 650,000 and a worldwide TV audience of 600 million viewers.

They were among 8,000 performers from 26 nations across the world and 15 London boroughs who took part in the 33rd London New Year’s Parade.

The parade set out from Piccadilly near Green Park Station, before heading past several of the capital’s landmarks including Regent Street, St. James’s, Pall Mall, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall, before finishing at Parliament Square.

Among those also taking part were the City of London Brass Brand, All the Queen’s Horses, the London boroughs, plus a selection of cheerleaders, as well as marching bands from the United States, plus organisations from the capital and across the world.

In a message posted on the London New Year’s Day Parade website, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “There really is no better place to welcome in the New Year than London.

“From the world’s greatest fireworks show on New Year’s Eve, to the fun-filled New Year’s Day Parade and Festival, our capital will be celebrating our unity and diversity as we again show the world that London is open to all.”

There really is no better place to welcome in the New Year than London.”

Mayor of London

The parade first took place in 1987 involving 2,000 performers, and was originally called the Lord Mayor of Westminster’s Big Parade.

Eve Conway said: “We’re here at the London New Year’s Day Parade to show that Rotary’s campaign to rid the world of polio is bearing fruit.

“There were just 29 cases of wild poliovirus last year in two countries worldwide compared to about a thousand a day in 125 countries when we started our campaign for a polio-free world over 30 years ago.

“We must finish the job and End Polio Now and forever.”

Many sent messages of support by video to Rotary International President, Barry Rassin, who was taking part in the Pasadena Rose Parade along Colorado Boulevard in California later on New Year’s Day with the Rotary Rose Parade Float.

Mike Lawrence RIP. Snow Leopards, the Mosque Outing, Melanie Walker and a Peace Initiative.

Last Week
Sadly Past President Mike Lawrence died at about midday on Saturday morning.  I asked Mike Lamb if he would kindly provide an In Memoriam as he has known him longer than most of us.

Michael Lawrence 1936 to 2019

Michael Lawrence became a Rotarian in 2000. In 2004/05 he served as President of the Rotary Club of Rosebank. In his service of eighteen years he worked tirelessly on a multiplicity of projects and was particularly true to the Object of Rotary in his daily activities. The Rotary Family was always meaningful and of great importance to him.

In latter years, he took on the onerous duties of Administrative Officer of the club and discharged his responsibilities in an exemplary manner including the changeover to computerised reporting and the mentoring of his successor, Jeannette Horner.

Michael was the victim of a physiological anomaly – his heart practically filled his entire body.

He took a keen interest in the activities and achievements of others and was always there quietly offering support and encouragement.

I enjoyed a close personal friendship with Michael, initially based on sharing a deep commitment to the promotion and extended use of electronic commerce, particularly EDI – Electronic Data Interchange - as a means of expediting, simplifying and accelerating inter-company transaction exchanges such as orders, invoices, etc. In business Michael worked tirelessly at promoting and implementing EDI with his company, Reckitt Benckiser, FMCG suppliers and major supermarket chains.

He has a zest for life that he held on to despite chronic heath issues that debilitated him for many of his later years and which he bore stoically despite the adversity.

Michael had a consuming passion for flight which we shared and which he passed on to his son Mark.

In flying, the position of an aircraft in an envelope of air – whether climbing, banking or any other manoeuvre is called it’s attitude.  There is a quote that we both enjoyed:

“ It’s your Attitude not your Aptitude that determines your Altitude”

Michael flew high. 

Michael is survived by his wife, Carol and his son Mark.

We extend our deepest sympathy to both families as they mourn the loss of this fine man.

A memorial service will be held at 3pm on Thursday 7 March at Harveston Retirement Village, 30 Penchartz Road, Honeydew Manor followed by refreshments and a rousing farewell to Michael.

Michael Lamb  

Our Friday Meeting

Dr Rodney Jackson was our guest speaker, accompanied by his wife Darla, talking about Snow Leopard conservation in the Himalayas.  

I said enough about Snow Leopards last week but what is interesting is that they are not related to leopards at all, they are effectively a type of tiger.

What I didn't do was to show a picture of one so here's one taken by Rodney for National Geographic magazine.

He showed us others that emphasised the amazing camouflage of these cats as it was extremely difficult to spot them against the Himalayan mountain side.

We had a number of visitors.

Former Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar Larissa Phillips presents President Jean
with a banner from the Rotary Club of San Marino, California

Artist Mario Soares and his manager, Mpho Mosia

Nicole Broome

Nicole Broome and Mpho Mosia are helping with our Rotary Arts Festival.






And last but not least Cuthbert Gumbochuma won chocolates by being the closest to guessing the amount in the Foundation Bottle...but it was much more than anyone guessed.

I am sure there was a bit if insider trading there.....otherwise he would have offered them round as any good Rotarian would!





The Saturday Outing - what President Jean had to say

Rotary Club of Rosebank fellowship outing to Nizamiye Mosque in Midrand where we had a delicious, plentiful lunch and the best baklava I have ever eaten. 😊











This Week
Our Speaker is Melanie Walker who used to do dangerous things but now is more of a gardener amongst other things which includes writing  for SA Garden and Home, presenting a gardening show, “Grounded” on 1485 am Radio Today; scriptwriting and researching for a couple of shows on DSTV (including Studio 53 – lifestyle and entertainment show that goes out on M-Net Africa); scriptwriting and doing voice-overs for Bike SA Tv; organising the Momentum 94.7 Cycle Challenge Experience; teaching on Show Garden Design at Lifestyle College.




Peacemaker

David Ives
Rotary Club of Rhinebeck, New York

David Ives was a 16-year-old in rural Ohio in 1967 when he embarked on a trip that changed his life

. With his parents, Ives visited church missions in South America, where he saw people living in shelters made of corn stalks or tin cans, and in homes with no furniture other than a mattress on the floor. He saw rivers that were used as both sewers and sources of drinking water. “That’s the touchstone I can never get rid of,” he says, “the feeling that I had when I saw poverty for the first time.”

Ives turned that experience into a career dedicated to peace and the eradication of poverty. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Costa Rica, he was a nutrition educator, helping people plant gardens to feed themselves during difficult economic times. While there, he tried unsuccessfully to save the life of a child whose lungs were filled with worms as a result of drinking dirty water. “She’s on my mind a lot,” he says.

Ives is a former Rotary Peace Forum coordinator, an adviser to the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, and the executive director emeritus of Quinnipiac University’s Albert Schweitzer Institute, which conducts programs based on Schweitzer’s philosophy of reverence for life to bring about a more civil and ethical society characterized by respect, responsibility, compassion, and service. He has organized Rotary peace conferences around the globe which feature world leaders such as former Costa Rican President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Óscar Arias Sánchez. At one of those peace conferences, in Côte d’Ivoire, Ives — himself a polio survivor — helped administer the polio vaccine to children in local communities.

With his fellow Rhinebeck Rotarians, Ives helps raise money for U.S. high school students to visit Costa Rica and carry out humanitarian projects in conjunction with Earth University, which teaches students from Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America how to work for socioeconomic and environmental change. 

Though now living with Parkinson’s disease, Ives, who turns 68 this month, shows no signs of slowing down his peace efforts — particularly where Rotary is concerned. “I’ve been extremely impressed with the power of Rotarians to be a force for peace,” he says. “We have great potential to do even more.”

Welcome Sybille, Pets, Snow Leopards..not as pets.. and next Rotary Year theme, Rotary Connects the World

Last Week

 President Jean mentioned
 next Rotary Year's theme badge.

It was a Business Meeting but most important was welcoming Sybille Essmann as a new member of our club.  There are a couple more to follow.
There was quite a bit said about the need for fundraising and the new approach that is necessary for the Rotary Arts Festival.



We also welcomed Takalani Mashadzha,the recipient of our Lester Connock Award but only one person recognised him out of his nurses uniform!




President Elect Training Seminar (Pets)

This took place on Saturday to lunchtime on Sunday and was at a conference centre in Isando so it was easy for us to get there.  It was very different from last year because a lot of time was spent on My Rotary and on the  Learning Centre .  Click on here for the link.....it's actually on the right of the menu when you go into My Rotary. 
I looked at a number of the modules and they vary a bit in quality.  Getting Started was all right.  Peace Fellowships really told you what was on Rotary.org.  Best Practices for Engaging Members & Building a Diverse Club didn't quite make it in my opinion though the two modules added by Great Britain & Ireland, Assistant Governor Basics & Mentoring in Rotary were excellent despite being British and Irish orientated.
President Jean obviously concentrated on the whole thing where-as others read the newspapers, in spite of  PDG Grant Daley in the background.

Incoming District Governor Maurice Stander set the agenda for radical change in our approach to Rotary in his year whilst incoming DG Elect Annemarie Mostert calculates the results.

I have always been a bit sceptical about the District Training Seminar but I realised that it is certainly very valuable, particularly for Board Members.  It will be on Saturday 6th April in Benoni or alternatively Saturday 13th April in Pretoria.  Do make an effort to attend as sadly those who go are the converted and those who really should go don't.

This Week
Our speaker is Dr Rodney Jackson.

Dr. Rodney Jackson is the leading expert on wild snow leopards and their high-mountain habitat. The Snow Leopard Conservancy has grown out of Rodney’s thirty years’ experience gained in working closely with rural herders and farmers whose lives are directly impacted when snow leopards prey upon their livestock.

Upon receiving a 1981 Rolex Award for Enterprise, Rodney launched a pioneering radio-tracking study of snow leopards in the remote mountains of the Nepalese Himalaya. The four-year study led to the cover story in the June 1986 National Geographic. In addition, the June, 2008 issue of National Geographic featured Rodney’s work with the Snow Leopard Conservancy India. He has been a finalist for the Indianapolis Prize in 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2016 – the first to be nominated three times consecutively. The Indianapolis Prize is the world’s largest individual monetary award for animal conservation.

I imagine we will have a number of visitors so will order additional pizza, the snow leopard's natural food.

2019-2020: Rotary Connects the World

RI President-elect Mark Daniel Maloney’s theme for 2019-20, Rotary Connects the World, asks Rotarians to strengthen the many ways that Rotary Connects the World, building the connections that allow talented, thoughtful, and generous people to unite and take meaningful action through Rotary service.


.

Vocational & Lester Connock Awards, Assistance with Load Shedding, PETS....and Another PETS

Last Week
It was Awards Week.  First, the Vocational Service Awards:

Three awards were made this year.  Left to Carol Dyantyi CEO of iKageng.  Ikageng is a community-based organisation founded in Orlando West, Soweto where the HIV and AIDS scourge has decimated families, leaving several children orphaned and vulnerable.  Her sponsor was the Rosebank Rotary Anns and Past President Shirley Eustace introduced her.

Top Right, Mandy Davis of Gracepoint Methodist Church who gives so much of her time to a wide variety of projects from blankets to feeding schemes, from teaching at Leeukop Prison to addiction/recovery assistance. Sponsored by David Bradshaw

Bottom Right, Mimi van Deventer who trained to be a teacher as a mature student and is invaluable in running our Interact Club. Sponsored by Cesare Vidulich.

And President Jean naturally did the honours.

Lester Connock Award

This is effectively a bursary awarded to a postgraduate nursing student at Wits.  This year only one award was made, to Takalani Jeffrey Mashadzha.  His field of study is the working environment of psychiatric nurses.  Nurses work longer hours than any other health professional and are subject to a number of traumatic experiences when they first enter the profession.  They also experience compassion fatigue and secondary trauma, violence and abuse from management and patients.  He hopes that his study will ease the negative approach and be a means to implement programmes that will be of benefit to the profession.

With him is Viv Herbert, a Lecturer in Nursing Education at Wits.






This Week
It's a social meeting that gives us a chance to talk to each other rather than listen to a speaker.  There's a Board Meeting beforehand.

Careers Day
Unfortunately we have had to change the date from the 9th March to the 16th March.  I have already sent an email to everyone involved.  It looks as if we may have many more bases this year.

Load Shedding...something that might be of assistance to some Rotarians.
The Ramble was delayed by Load Shedding so I will try and make some suggestions that will certainly be needed when winter comes.

PETS (President Elect Training Seminar) Sat 23rd/Sun 24th February
This is something all incoming Presidents, Secretaries and hopefully some Board Members should attend.  It costs nothing and is in Isando this year so you don't have to spend the night.  You have to take a laptop with you and, judging by last year, it really has been jacked up.

Louisa Horne, a trainer in District 7820 runs her version of the presidents-elect training seminar (PETS) in the spring. 

When she was asked to be a district trainer three years ago, Horne knew she wanted to reshape what she called “drill and kill” sessions that revolved around information participants needed to learn.

“Instead, we leveraged the talents of some highly skilled trainers we happened to have among our members,” says the incoming district governor. “We got people who were adult educators who understood how facilitation should be done and were able to create a very different approach to developing our leaders.”

Horne recruited Doug Logan, a past governor, to help. They named their seminars “Training for Leaders of Clubs” (TLC) to stress the changes they made and persuade those who might not want to attend another seminar to give it a try. They later led a breakout session at the 2018 Toronto convention and have also brought their workshop to others outside of their district.

Strategic doing

The core idea is to get people thinking strategically about what they need to do to make their clubs more attractive to members.

“Decline in membership is not the problem. It is a symptom,” says Logan. “So rather than rushing to develop recruitment strategies, we want people to start thinking, ‘OK, what else is really happening here?’”

Rotary members should be thinking about what they can do to make their clubs more interesting to potential members. Good service projects is one way. Rotarians in Tanzania, above, operate a project helping people with albinism become financially independent. 

Logan and Horne recruit facilitators with a background in management consulting or adult education. They use a variety of tools to encourage “strategic doing.” Participants are asked to create a list of what they’ll do in the next 30 days to help achieve their clubs’ goals and decide how they will evaluate their completed tasks. They then make a list of what they’ll do 30 days after that to keep making a difference.

Succession

The seminars also stress succession planning and courageous leadership.

“This is not just for presidents and secretaries. This is for all leaders and aspiring leaders,” says Horne. “You can’t think of it in terms of ‘my year.’ Most clubs need to have a longer-term plan for what they want to accomplish and how they want to have an impact. Those strategic conversations need to involve people who can give it continuity.”

By shifting responsibility from a single person to a team, Horne says, clubs can make a role less consuming and more appealing. Horne plans to exemplify this approach to her clubs by using the title “chair of the district leadership team” in place of “district governor.”

“We expect our club or district leaders to be all things to all people, and that just doesn’t work,” Horne says. “It has to be a team, and there have to be very simple tools that people can use effectively with some basic training.”

A Social Meeting, a Business Meeting, Valentines, the Nizamiye Mosque Visit and a Rotary Day?

Last Week

Tony Reddy

It was a purely social meeting with Costa Qually starting the ball rolling with a number of amusing limericks. 
From then on it went down hill until we were asked about our projects by a number of visitors and then we had to rack our brains to try and remember what we do!
A first time visitor was Tony Reddy of Capital Horizons.






As President Jean mentioned in her column she and Jerry and Charlotte and James Croswell attended the Valentines Day Dance organised by the Rotary Club of Kyalami Satellite Club  based in Sandton.

Very Glamorous

James's handkerchief...or is it?

This Week
It's a Business Meeting....what can I say!  It's worthwhile for visitors as they get to hear what the club is doing and what it plans to do in the future.

Lester Connock Award
We received an email from Professor Shelley Schmollgruber of the Dept of Nursing Education at Wits as she was copied on the payment of the R25 000 bursary awarded to Takalani Jeffrey Mashadzha.  

Dear John, Dear Peter, Dear Board Members,

Thank you so much.

We are highly appreciative of all the support and kindness from yourselves. 

The bursary does make a huge difference for the nurses to realize their dreams in advancing their careers.  

Kind regards

Shelley Schmollgruber 

Visit to Nizamiye Mosque in Midrand Saturday 2nd March

Hussein from the Nizamiye Mosque has booked a tour for the Rotary Club on Saturday 2 March at 10 am.  It will take about 2 1/2 hrs and they will offer Turkish tea to everybody.  There is no cost and I suggest everybody meet there at 9.45 am.  Everybody has to remove their shoes and ladies must dress modestly (arms covered) and cover their heads.  Bring your own scarf or they do have scarves to borrow.

I took a visitor again last week and the mosque is stunningly beautful.  The whole precinct is now complete and apart from a carpet shop, barber, ladies dress shop etc there is the Ottoman Palace Restaurant serving Turkish food, a Turkish bakery with the most delicious smelling bread, Manti which serves Anatolian food (light meals) and makes the best pistachio Baklava and a shop with all sorts of Turkish goodies, and other, but has the real Turkish Delight in about 4 flavours. 

Those who want to, can have lunch afterwards.

Contact me, Pam Donaldson, to book......guests are welcome pmmdonaldson@gmail.com

Nizamiye Masjid, , is a mosque situated in  Midrand. It is often stated to be the biggest mosque in the Southern Hemisphere, occupying less than two-thirds of a hectare in a 10 hectares of land.^[2] The plans for the mosque were originally designed in Turkey, but a South African architect adapted the design to South African building standards. Construction began in October 2009 and was completed in 2012.

Construction on the mosque began in October 2009 and was completed in 2012. The basic plan of the mosque was adopted from the 16th-century Ottoman Selimiye Mosque. This mosque, located in Edirne, Turkey, was designed by Mimar Sinan. Nizamiye Masjid was scaled to the Selimiye Mosque by a ratio of 80%. The plans for the mosque were designed in Turkey and adapted by a South African architect to South African building standards.

The mosque has a main dome that is 31 m (102 ft) high and 24 m (79 ft) wide that is covered in 48 tons of lead. There are an additional 4 half domes and 21 smaller domes. Inside the mosque are authentic Turkish ceramics on the walls and calligraphy on the ceiling. The dome is patterned with Turkish art and the custom-made carpet below is a reflection of it. There are 4 minarets that are 55 m (180 ft) high, which have stairs that go up to three platforms. There are 232 stained glass windows.

Up to 6,000 people can be accommodated per service within the facilities of the central prayer hall for men and the prayer gallery for women. There are five wudhu facilities in one of the courtyards. On special occasions, the mosque is lit up in luminescent green and purple at night.

President Jean is looking to make our Rotary Arts Festival a Rotary Day

In an effort to increase membership and highlight Rotary’s inspiring work, RI President Barry Rassin is urging clubs and districts to organize fun, informal community events called Rotary Days.

"Rotary Days events will offer you the chance to have an impact in your community, build long-term partnerships, increase interest in membership, and improve Rotary’s image," Rassin said.

Any club, big or small, can host a Rotary Day. Neighboring clubs can pool their resources and co-host an event, and entire districts can come together for a large-scale Rotary Day.

Tips for planning a Rotary Day:

• Consider including a hands-on service project as part of the event to let visitors see for themselves how Rotary benefits the community.
• Feature guests that appeal to a non-Rotary audience. Consider young leaders, inspirational speakers, celebrities, musicians, or other public figures.
• If the event will offer food, keep it simple — for example, a self-service buffet rather than a formal, sit-down meal.
• Advocate on local issues related to Rotary’s areas of focus by calling attention to challenges that affect people in your area.
• If you charge admission, keep prices low. Ask local businesses to sponsor your event.
• Welcome families and make the event enjoyable for them.
• Present Rotary as an appealing opportunity for potential members to make new friends, exchange ideas, and take action to improve their community and the world. Avoid using Rotary jargon or referring to club traditions.
• Highlight the work of local Rotarians, Rotaractors, Interactors, Rotary Community Corps members, and other community members who do extraordinary humanitarian work.
• Recognize non-Rotary community members who demonstrate Rotary’s service ideals.
• Sponsor an event with a partner organization to show that, by working together, we make a deeper and more lasting impact on communities.
• Ask local news media to cover the event.
• Collect participants’ contact information, and invite them to future club events.
• Partner with local civic groups, service organizations or local businesses.

During and after your event, post photos and videos with the hashtag #RotaryDay to social media. We’ll collect photos of Rotary Day events around the world and show them at the 2019 Rotary International Convention in Hamburg, Germany. Some may also appear in Rotary media throughout the year.

"Imagine the collective impact we can have if all 35,000 Rotary, 10,000 Rotaract, and 22,000 Interact clubs engage their neighbors, friends, young people, and organizations," Rassin said.

Skittles, Footprints, Mike Honnett and it's Awards Week this week.....and don't forget Polio Plus.

Last Week

On a stormy night, last evening, President Jean, Jerry, John & Jane Symons,Les & Lis Short,James & Charlotte Croswell; Ann Hope-Bailie, Christine & myself arrived at the Swiss Club in Vorna Valley.

Without telling us they had turned it in to a pure social evening as it was the 5th Thursday of the month. When the count was taken we had more players than them and so we lent them James and Charlotte to even up the numbers.

Dinner was ordered(the main menu was in Swiss German) and off we went. Unlike the German Club's Skittles Club, the Swiss have a wider lane and larger heavy balls !!!!!! 

The nine pins are automatically re-set after each throw and each team has to get one one, two two's three threes etc, not a total score, well we lost the first game by one number and then dinner was served after the Rotary Grace.

Agonizingly, we lost the 2nd game by one number but finished the evening on a high note by winning the last game, also by one number.

One of the frustrating rules of this game is that if you have wiped out say 5 fives and one of your team then gets another five , if the opponents still need to get a five, the five you have got counts for them !!!!!  Henry Jensen turned up half way through the evening to support us.

We finished around 9.30pm what was a most enjoyable evening.

President Jean and a few Rotarians joined the Rotary Anns at Footprints to mark the completion of their Bathroom Project where we assisted with the application for a District Grant. here are the Anns in and outside the bathroom, a general view and a little snake charming. See the Anns Page for a report from June Virtue.

I gather that Mike's hair was dyed in last week's photo
or maybe in this one.

Our Friday meeting was one of those Ábout Me' meetings featuring Mike Honnett.  It's distinctly different from the 'My Job' talk that new members have to give because these talks are much more personal, talk about childhood and university quite a lot and steer clear of what we did to survive!

Visitor, Sonja Hood

Mike Honnett's talk was no exception.  I think we all thought he was from Zimbabwe but he turned out to be a native.  It was just that his father was transferred to Bulawayo before Mike even got to school and then subsequently returned to South Africa.  It was the usual entertaining talk that we expect from these sessions and we always enjoy the 'How I met my wife' stories!  




This Week
It's our annual Vocational Service and Lester Connock Awards Lunch.  It will be at Parkview Golf Club and the cost is R100.  12:45 for 13:00.  If you haven't already told Pam Donaldson please do so urgently and pay direct into our Club Account.

Dr. Ujala Nayyar dreams, both figuratively and literally, about a world that is free from polio

Nayyar, the World Health Organization's surveillance officer in Pakistan’s Punjab province, says she often imagines the outcome of her work in her sleep.

In her waking life, she leads a team of health workers who crisscross Punjab to hunt down every potential incidence of poliovirus, testing sewage and investigating any reports of paralysis that might be polio. Pakistan is one of just two countries that continue to report cases of polio caused by the wild virus. 

In addition to the challenges of polio surveillance, Nayyar faces substantial gender-related barriers that, at times, hinder her team's ability to count cases and take environmental samples. From households to security checkpoints, she encounters resistance from men. But her tactic is to push past the barriers with a balance of sensitivity and assertiveness.  

"I'm not very polite," Nayyar said with a chuckle during an interview at Rotary's World Polio Day last year in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. "We don't have time to be stopped. Ending polio is urgent and time-sensitive."

Women are critical in the fight against polio, Nayyar says. About 56 percent of frontline workers in Pakistan are women. More than 70 percent of mothers in Pakistan prefer to have women vaccinate their children. 

That hasn't stopped families from slamming doors in health workers' faces, though. When polio is detected in a community, teams have to make repeated visits to each home to ensure that every child is protected by the vaccine. Multiple vaccinations add to the skepticism and anger that some parents express. It's an attitude that Nayyar and other health workers deal with daily. 

"You can't react negatively in those situations. It's important to listen. Our female workers are the best at that," says Nayyar. 

With polio on the verge of eradication, surveillance activities, which, Nayyar calls the "back of polio eradication", have never been more important. 

Q: What exactly does polio surveillance involve?

A: There are two types of surveillance systems. One is surveillance of cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), and the second is environmental surveillance. The surveillance process continues after eradication. 

Q: How are you made aware of potential polio cases?

A: There’s a network of reporting sites. They include all the medical facilities, the government, and the hospitals, plus informal health care providers and community leaders. The level of awareness is so high, and our community education has worked so well, that sometimes the parents call us directly. In response to cases in humans as well as cases detected in the environment, we implement three rounds of supplementary immunization campaigns. The scope of our response depends on the epidemiology and our risk assessment. We look at the drainage systems. Some systems are filtered, but there are also areas that have open drains. We have maps of the sewer systems. We either cover the specific drainage areas or we do an expanded response in a larger area.

Q: What are the special challenges in Pakistan?

A: We have mobile populations that are at high risk, and we have special health camps for these populations. Routine vaccination is every child’s right, but because of poverty and lack of education, many of these people are not accessing these services. 

Q: How do you convince people who are skeptical about the polio vaccine?

A: We have community mobilizers who tell people about the benefits of the vaccine. We have made it this far in the program only because of these frontline workers. One issue we are facing right now is that people are tired of vaccination. If a positive environmental sample has been found in the vicinity, then we have to go back three times within a very short time period. Every month you go to their doorstep, you knock on the door. There are times when people throw garbage. It has happened to me. But we do not react. We have to tolerate their anger; we have to listen.

Q: What role does Rotary play in what you do?

A: Whenever I need anything, I call on Rotary. Umbrellas for the teams? Call Rotary. Train tickets? Call Rotary. It's the longest-running eradication program in the history of public health, but still the support of Rotary is there.