Art Expo, Blanket Drive, Lambano & Rotary Club of Geneve International

Last Week

It was a Business Meeting and quite a lot of time was spent discussing our up and coming Art Exhibition at the end of the month.

Roger Lloyd is chairing the committee and obviously he and the committee have been working very hard to put things together and Joan Sainsbury has, as usual, been working very hard with the artists.

The most important thing is that we, as club members, provide as much support as is required.  Because the nature of the exhibition has changed President Jean is effectively turning the exhibition into 10 Rotary Days.  We no longer have to concentrate on selling the paintings but rather on selling Rotary, not just for our own club but for others as well because not everyone who is interested in Rotary is able or even wants to come to a Friday lunch at Wanderers.

There has been some discussion on asking other clubs to participate for their own Rotary Days and I think that is a very good idea because we need to grow Rotary and not to be parochial about it.  I think it's an excellent idea that we showcase other clubs and what they do and when they meet because it does give the public more of an idea what Rotary stands for and gives them an idea as to how different clubs become involved.

The Rotary Blanket Drive
It starts on Friday until Sunday and the club, as usual, is supporting this extremely well.  We will be at Pick 'n Pay Centre on William Nicol.  We have always done extremely well in the past but we know we don't have the huge corporate input this year.




This Week

The Inner Wheel International President, who is Australian, visited South Africa recently and Bedfordview Inner Wheel Club took her to visit Lambano....which I had never heard of.

I just happened to pick up my wife's folder, she is a member and was astounded at who they were and what they had planned.  They started as a shelter for abandoned HIV/AIDS babies in 2001.  Of course most of them died so very quickly they established a paediatric hospice which currently can accommodate 18 children and is accredited by the Hospice Palliative Care Association of SA and is monitored and evaluated by them on an ongoing basis in every aspect from financial, governance and quality assurance.  They are looking to build a much bigger Hospice that will be able to take in children financed by Medical Aid who will then effectively subsidise the current children and their successors who are there at no cost to themselves.

They have the land already as well as funding from overseas to build the premises which will be in Kensington.  What they do need is the office equipment and medical equipment as well as the necessary beds, cots etc.

Stewart Mutokonya will be talking to us
 and I hope Evelyn Makanda as well

We are heavily involved with our Cervical Cancer Project so obviously I couldn't make the suggestion to our club but Northcliff have taken it under their wing and we do have some involvement because Richard Moloney will look at the requested medical equipment and the costings when that becomes available....it is currently being revised.  This is the way Rotary should work, to use the  expertise from other clubs where necessary.

Now-a-days HIV/AIDS babies do not die so Lambano has had to expand its activities into have houses with house mothers as they now have young people in matric...something they never anticipated!

Back to the Hospice.  This will be the first purpose built paediatric hospice in the country, possibly even on the continent and Lambano see it as just being the first because there is such a huge need and the long-term plan is to have one in every province.

Rotary Club of Genève International, Switzerland
Chartered: 2015
Original membership: 31
Membership: 53

Bucking conventions: In Geneva, a cosmopolitan city that is home to tens of thousands of expatriates, a club for English speakers was an apt idea. As the European seat of the United Nations, the city hosts 179 permanent missions, along with the offices of hundreds of nongovernmental organizations and multinational corporations. The Rotary Club of Genève International reflects this diversity, with members representing more than a dozen nationalities.

Rotaractors are integrated into the life of the Rotary club

Club innovation: The club is committed to bringing young people into Rotary through Rotaract and Interact. As one of their first actions, members drafted a plan to establish an English-speaking Rotaract club, followed by an Interact club — a goal it met within two years. Rotarians and Rotaractors work together on projects, and mentoring is central to the club’s culture.

The Rotary Club of Genève International wasted no time in getting to work in 2015: Members including Walter Gyger, a retired diplomat and RI’s principal representative to the UN Office at Geneva, worked their connections to organize a fundraising gala to support Syrian refugees in Lebanon. The event was a joint effort with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

With a number of former Rotaractors among its members, the club decided to focus on young people. “We call it engaging the next generation instead of working the pipeline,” says Royston Flude, who led the youth outreach initiative. Thanks to that effort, the Rotaract Club at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies was chartered in 2016 and, the next year, an Interact club was established on the La Châtaigneraie campus of the International School of Geneva. 

“It is absolutely crucial to create a cascade into Rotary,” Flude says. When the club took on the ambitious task of running events for the 2017 Rotary Day at the United Nations in Geneva, the Rotaractors stepped up as active partners. The gathering drew 1,200 attendees representing more than 80 nationalities, Gyger says, adding that “because of the involvement of the Rotaractors, about one-third of participants were younger than 35.”

The Rotary club has a robust mentoring program for Rotaractors. “You have people going through large career jumps, especially those just coming from universities to their first management job,” Flude says. “We’ve held career fairs and events on interviewing techniques. Rotary is providing mentoring — not just in career enhancement, but in life.” 

The club encourages Rotaractors and Interactors to attend its meetings, always mindful of practical matters such as expenses. “The InterContinental isn’t the cheapest place,” Flude says of the luxury hotel where the club meets, so the Rotarians fund meals for Rotaract and Interact members. More important, the Rotarians never underestimate their younger cohort: “We park ego,” Flude says.

A case in point is the club’s involvement in the Classroom to Boardroom entrepreneurship program, offered through the International School of Geneva. “Students create a quasi-business and go to an international organization such as the World Bank or International Committee of the Red Cross, and over a week, they offer solutions,” Flude says. “The Interactors showed these organizations how they could digitize the marketing and appeal to young people.”

Rotary benefits when young people get involved in its programs, Flude says. “When you get someone who is an Interactor, immediately you’re connected to the parents, the grandparents, and a community in the classroom and the school. For every Interactor you get on board, you probably get a connection with four to 10 people. It’s a brilliant opportunity.”

Our Proposed Cervical Cancer Project Moves Forward, a Business Meeting and the Scourge of Loneliness.

Last Meeting

It was Good Friday last week ...no meeting.

Akin Sanya Kayode
Rotary Club of Asokoro Abuja, Nigeria

Our last meeting was a social meeting and we had a number of visitors.

Nigel Bellamy, one of our frequent visitors,
presented President Jean with his club banner.

Charles Mpefu from Alexander Township

Proposed Cervical Cancer Project

James Croswell and his team are making real progress with a meeting at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital just before Easter.

  The Rotary side'

Sybille Essman, Ann Hope-Bailie, John Symons and Richard Moloney...also Marianne Soal. 












The Medical Side

James Croswell (He's changed sides)
Dr Carla Chibwesa, Associate Professor Edrich Noth, Carolina University & Right to Care, Dr Mpho Ratshikana-Moloko (Head of Paliative Care).....
also Dr Will Aldridge, Head of Oncology Dept.



This Week
It's a Business Meeting so we will doubtless hear the latest on the Arts Festival...it's only a month away!

Rotary Great Britain and Ireland State of the Nation Survey.

Rotary’s survey found that nearly half of people (47%) in the UK and Ireland felt lonely, with a third (32%) feeling more alone than they did five years ago.

It appears that this epidemic is affecting the younger generation in particular with over one in ten (14%) in the 20-34 age group say they feel lonely all the time compared to just 3% of over 55’s.

This is despite more than a fifth (22%) of retired people only having face-to-face interactions with just one other person or no one at all during a typical day.

Loneliness and social isolation have a huge impact on our mental wellbeing and the report found it had the following effect on individuals:

1. Low self-esteem (30%)
2. Depression (27%)
3. Anxiety (26%)
4. Trouble sleeping (24%)
5. Irregular eating (16%)
6. Lack of appetite (12%)
7. Headaches (11%)
8. Brain fog, confusion or memory loss (10%)
9. Stomach pains / digestive issues (8%)

While social media has been a great tool for connecting people all over the world, it has done little to combat loneliness with a third of people saying it provides a “superficial” connection with people and more than a fifth (22%) claiming technology and social media has made them uncomfortable meeting others in real life.

One of the key findings in the report identifies the importance of groups and initiatives, such as organisations like Rotary and the projects it is involved in. Currently, only 16% get involved in groups or volunteering to help meet new people, whereas nearly one fifth (19%) said they would like to join a group but wouldn’t know how to or where to look.

Throughout the past year, Rotary clubs have held a whole host of events, projects and initiatives to help combat loneliness and social isolation in local areas. These include:

• Working with local colleges to support befriending services
• Facilitating dementia cafes
• Supporting young carers to have a break and meet people their own age
• Offering pick up services and putting on parties and events to get people out of the house

Rotary is present within most towns and cities, supporting community cohesion and underpinning the fabric of society. Working alongside other community groups, Rotary is often the facilitator bringing support teams together.

But it is our millennial generations that need to be brought into Rotary to ensure the 113-year legacy is maintained and importantly evolves to ensure relevance in the 21st century and beyond.

With data analysis from our State of the Nation report showing that people have devised tactics to distract from feeling lonely, it was sadly revealed that 62% put the television on while 27% have spoken to a pet. Results have also found women (49%) are more likely to feel lonelier than men but more men experience loneliness at work.

Worryingly, more people are finding excuses to have face-to-face conversations with people on a daily basis and revealed they have done the following just to see someone during the day:

• Gone to the doctor or GP
• Ordered post to have a conversation with the postman
• Answered or engaged with a spam or cold caller
• Gone to the shops

The question we want to raise is around how Rotary affects change within our communities to address the concerns that have been uncovered. Tackling loneliness and enhancing community spirit and cohesion is at the heart of what Rotary stands for.

Taking part in something meaningful, getting out of the house and meeting others, particularly in a family friendly environment gives a greater sense of intrinsic satisfaction, easing feelings of isolation and loneliness.

The global Rotary network is a great way to meet new people, make lasting friendships and have fun.

This is particularly pertinent given the feedback from the young adults who responded as they will be able to develop skills, share personal and vocational experience and take up leadership roles all whilst making a difference to the local or international community.

Ken Stonestreet, a Social Meeting, the Blanket Drive, Rotary Leadership Institute and Climate Change.

Last Week



We had PDG Ken Stonestreet talking about himself.  These talks are always such fun because you learn so much about someone who you see every week but really know so little about.
Maybe it's because as a club, generally, our members are more interested in the present and the future rather than the past.  Maybe that's why we have a constant flow of new members into the club.  There's nothing that puts people off more than endless talk on how wonderful the
club used to be.
Looking to the future certainly personifies Ken because he never dwells on the past and he never plays the 'Past District Governor' card.

This picture includes about half of us at the meeting and the question is 'Spot the DG.  Here's a clue, you can tell by the shirt.

This Week
It's a Social Meeting so it's a good time to come and see what we get up to and observe us talking to each other.....we might even talk to you!

Rotary Blanket Drive
Last week Dave Bradshaw sent round a roster for the Blanket Drive at the beginning of May and it was practically complete.  There are gaps.  If you can assist please contact him.

Rotary Leadership Institute
 Here are the next range of courses being offered:
11th May - Parts 1 and A
18th May - Parts 2 and B
1st June - Parts 3 and C

You have to start with Part 1.  Training isn't really the Club's strong point but it would be great if we could encourage new Rotarians in particular to start with Part 1.  These courses will be in Boksburg.  More details to follow.

Why climate change is Rotary’s business and what Rotarians are already doing about it

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Rotarians understand that the whole world is their backyard. They can see the effects of climate change in communities they care about, and they haven’t waited to take action. They’re tackling the problem the way they always do: coming up with projects, using their connections to change policy — and planning for the future.

Read our series to see:

• Why RI president says the environment is our ultimate mission
• What Rotarians are doing right now
• Rotary member gains ground with Citizens’ Climate Lobby
• Rotary scholars and peace fellows put expertise to work
• Is there hope for indigenous Alaskans?

Sizwe/Rietfontein Project, the Blanket Drive, Ken Stonestreet and Much More.

Last Week

One of our members, Marian Laserson, spoke about the Sizwe Rietfontein Project.  I gave the background to it last week.  It's a problem that we often face, affordable housing and a hospital extension, 7 000 graves on the site mainly unmarked that would need to be exhumed, a threatened ecology, the possibility of latent disease spores still existing in the graves and a river runs through it.
Marian and her small committee battling their cause against Provincial plans and a large corporate interest.  We can but admire her dedication whether she is successful or not.

We also had the pleasure of hosting two visitors from Lusaka, Jimmy and Kapemblos Mwambazi.  Here they are with our two resident 'Zambians'....

Rotary Blanket Drive 3rd-5th May





This year our Blanket Drive will again be at Pick 'n Pay, William Nicol Drive.  It's a prime spot and we have been successful there.  Unfortunately we will not have the added extra of blankets being purchased through us by Supergroup this year so if anyone knows of a church, company...anyone...who needs to buy blankets for distribution please approach them and pass it on to David Bradshaw.









Rotary Cyclone Idai Relief
President Jean has already mentioned this in her column.  I'm assuming that our club has made a contribution to the fund .  You will see from the DG's Letter that arrived this morning that so far clubs have donated just short of a quarter of a million Rand and the main push from District is the supply of water purifiers.

This Week

This week it's Ken Stonestreet, the Man behind the Mask.  We all know he is a Past District Governor in what used to be my old District which stretched from East London to Kimberley and up to Welkom.
It's not the Rotary thing that is interesting in these talks, it's the person behind the mask which is why we enjoy them so much...you never know you may discover he was a lead guitarist in a rock group!

The lack of access to clean water, sanitation facilities, and hygiene resources is one of the world’s biggest health problems — and one of the hardest to solve.

Rotary has worked for decades to provide people with clean water by digging wells, laying pipes, providing filters, and installing sinks and toilets. But the biggest challenge has come after the hardware is installed. Too often, projects succeeded at first but eventually failed.

Across all kinds of organizations, the cumulative cost of failed water systems in sub-Saharan Africa alone is estimated at $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion, according to data compiled by the consulting firm Improve International.

Rusted water pumps and dilapidated sanitation facilities are familiar sights in parts of Africa, South America, and South Asia — monuments to service projects that proved unsustainable. A 2013 review by independent contractor Aguaconsult cited these kinds of issues in projects Rotary carried out, and the review included a focus on sustainability to help plan more effective projects.

That’s one factor in why Rotary has shifted its focus over the past several years to emphasize education, collaboration, and sustainability.

With Rotary Foundation global grants, a dedicated Rotarian Action Group, and a partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Rotary’s water, sanitation, and hygiene, or WASH, programs are achieving greater, longer-lasting change.

“All Rotary water and sanitation projects are full of heart and well-intentioned, but many of them didn’t always meet the actual demands of the community,” says F. Ronald Denham, a founding member and chair emeritus of the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group. The group, formed in 2007, stresses a needs-based approach and sustainability in projects.

In the past, equipment and facilities were usually installed properly and received well, but the local ownership, education, and sustainability were sometimes lacking. Communities often did not receive enough support to manage the projects independently for the long term.

One obstacle to sustainability: the ongoing human involvement that’s required.

Rotary members, by their nature, are volunteers. “Like everyone else, Rotarians have priorities like work and family,” says Denham, who has worked with clubs on water, sanitation, and hygiene issues for more than 30 years and led projects in Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, and Uganda.

Speaking of the Rotary members who work to make improvements in their own communities, he says, “It’s difficult for host clubs, for instance, to manage WASH projects long-term,” especially if the projects have complex technical components. “We’re extremely dedicated, but we need help. Reaching out is essential to our success.”

Community engagement, community ownership

That success now increasingly depends on collaborations with organizations that provide complementary resources, funding, technology, contacts, knowledge of a culture, and other expertise.

“Clubs need to better engage with the community, its leaders, and professional organizations,” Denham says. “More important, we need to understand the needs of the community. We can’t assume or guess what’s in their best interest.”

The Rotary Foundation has learned over time that community engagement is crucial to making long-term change. It now requires clubs that apply for grants for some projects in other countries to show that local residents have helped develop the project plan.

The community should play a part in choosing which problems to address, thinking of the resources it has available, finding solutions, and making a long-term maintenance plan.

No project is successful, Denham says, unless the local community ultimately can run it.

In 2010, his club, the Rotary Club of Toronto Eglinton, Ontario, Canada, became the lead international partner in a water and sanitation program in the Great Rift Valley of Kenya, where clean water is scarce.

When initial groundwater tests revealed high levels of fluoride, the sponsor clubs changed their plan to dig shallow boreholes. Given what they learned, rainwater collection was a safer approach.

The Rotary Club of Nakuru, Kenya, the local host club, now provides materials and teaches families how to build their own 10,000-liter tanks. Each family is responsible for the labor and maintenance. With a $50 investment, a family can collect enough water to get through the dry season.

To date, the project has funded the construction of more than 3,000 tanks, bringing clean water to about 28,000 people. Family members no longer have to walk several miles per day to collect water, a task that often fell to women and children.

As owners of the tanks, women are empowered to reimagine how their households work. And with the help of microloans they get through the Rotary clubs, mothers are running small businesses and generating income instead of fetching water.

“With ownership comes liberation, not just for the mothers but for their children, who now have the time to attend school,” Denham explains.

Teaching WASH

It takes more than installing sanitation facilities for a WASH project to succeed in the long term. It’s also important to cultivate healthy habits. Good hygiene practices can reduce diseases such as cholera, dysentery, and pneumonia by nearly 50 percent. Washing hands with soap can save lives.

The Rotary Club of Box Hill Central, Victoria, Australia, facilitates Operation Toilets, a program that builds toilets and delivers WASH education to schools in developing countries including India and Ethiopia. The group constructs separate facilities for boys and girls to ensure privacy, and Rotary members teach students how to wash their hands with soap. Workers at each school are instructed in how to maintain the facilities.

The program works with the advocacy group We Can’t Wait, which raises awareness of WASH needs and promotes education to the community. Since the project launched in 2015, nearly 90 schools and more than 96,000 students have directly benefited from the program.

In another example of successful WASH education, the Rotary Club of Puchong Centennial, Malaysia, partners with Interact and Rotaract clubs in the Philippines to teach at several schools in Lampara, Philippines. The groups invited several speakers to instruct students about oral hygiene, hand washing, and the importance of frequent bathing. After each presentation, students were given kits that included toothbrushes, shampoo, soap, combs, and other toiletries.

Our Potential Cervical Cancer Project and a new Interact Club in the pipeline. Cyclone Idai, the Rietfontein/Sizwe Development and More.

Last Week

I wasn't at Rotary so I don't know what the report back was but I do know that Joan Sainsbury is busy with the conversion of the Carers Club at Holy Family College into an Interact Club and that James Croswell and the International Committee have made considerable progress where our proposed Cervical Cancer Project is concerned......

On Friday morning there was an ad hoc meeting with Dr Carla Chibwesha , representing Right to Care , about the potential Global Grant Project concerning cervical cancer. A preliminary agreement was reached to link onto the existing mobil screening unit at Cosmo City/ Diepsloot to provide an independent mobile treatment  clinic to provide “ on site” treatment and obviate the need the need for patients to travel to a Provincial Hospital for such treatment. The hope is that a greater percentage of patients, showing positive test for cancer, will be attended to. The next step is to agree on an appropriate MoU. The photo shows those who attended the meeting.

Thank you, James, for the photograph and the information.  Congratulations.

Cyclone Idai

The devastation, loss of life and the consequent problems of starvation and disease have produced an outpouring of international assistance not only for those in Mozambique but also for victims in Zimbabwe and Malawi.  Mozambique is part of our Rotary District and clubs have been asked to assist, mainly with financial contributions.  The Mozambique Rotarians are are in the forefront of Rotary's efforts.  Here is a very disturbing video that really underlines the magnitude of the disaster at a personal level.

https://www.facebook.com/colemanpg/videos/10157112732162288/

This Week

Marian Laserson will be talking to us about the Rietfontein/Sizwe Development.  

The development is across the road from Huddle Park Golf Course and Sandringham High.

Sizwe Hospital was first built in 1895, as Rietfontein Lazaretto, it stood alone in a remote location, a full-day's cart-ride from the centre of the town, established that far away as a safety measure against the smallpox epidemic sweeping Johannesburg.

One of South Africa's unsung heroes is the late Dr. John Max Mehliss, who for 32 years, was the hospital's superintendent and was responsible for treating some 160,000 patients. After only 2 years of formal high school study in King William's Town, during which he proved to have an exceptional ability, he completed his courses at the Universities of Munich and Guttenburg, gaining recognition as one of Germany's top students.  He caught the eye of Otto von Bismarck, Germany's  "Iron Chancellor", who asked of him, "Who are you, an unknown from an unknown land, to come here and beat all our best men?" Together with German physician Ehrlich, John Mehliss helped develop Salvarsan, a cure for Syphilis. 

The fame of the hospital, called "Mealies Hospital" by patients who corrupted the unusual name Mehliss, spread far and wide and it was inundated with patients from all over Africa coming to be treated there. In one instance a young black woman brought two old patients, both crippled and unable to walk, to the hospital. She had carried one of the old people 100 meters, set him down and returned to fetch his wife. It took them three months to arrive at their destination...

Archbishop Desmond Tutu spent two years as a patient in the Rietfontein Hospital, undergoing treatment for and eventually being cured of his TB.

Its treatments for plague, for communicable diseases like Spanish flu, Bubonic Plague and smallpox, as well as its successes with Veneral Disease, TB, leprosy, typhoid, anthrax, Ebola, and Marburg fever among others were groundbreaking.

While many of the hundreds of thousands of patients survived their illnesses and lived long years, about 7000 diverse people - including Chinese mine workers in the 1900s, Indians, Malawians, some  Irish, English, Germans, Poles and of course some South Africans of all creeds are buried there. Three of the original five cemeteries have been found, but to date there is no sign of either the Jewish or the Leprosy Cemeteries.

Metal markers rather than tombstones identified most of these burial sites.  In 2004 the Department of Water Affairs destroyed the Bluegum trees separating the cemeteries, because they were "foreign trees".  The Department promised to replace the trees with indigenous ones more suited to the environment, but to date - 10 years later - nothing has happened.

At the same time as the trees were uprooted, the metal markers on the graves began to disappear. Mr Eben De-Villiers, manager of the nursery in the grounds of the Sizwe Hospital, which is opposite Saheti  school for many years, remembers, some years back, huge heaps of metal markers with numbers on them, as well as markers with crosses on them commemorating soldiers who died in the Boer War.  All this metal, he said, was collected from the graves and sold as scrap metal.

In the last year tombstones have begun to be stolen. The Guthrie family lost three family members in 2 days: their huge tombstone is one of those that has disappeared.

Because of the presence of the graveyards and the danger of diseases coming from the graves, the area has for many years been secluded and protected from damaging development. Today it is home to troops of monkeys, to mongoose, owls, rodents of sort and a type of a small duiker.  In addition, orange and red data  plants within the grasslands are also present. Part of the area is a wetland; and three rivers run through the property, the largest being the Jukskei River.  Sadly today, more and more trees are being cut down, thus destroying wildlife habitat.

Load Shedding

A brief respite but here's equipment you can use to ameliorate the situation when it returns....and it will!

This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the Rotary-USAID Partnership, which has brought communities and resources together to provide clean water, sanitation facilities, and hygiene education in developing countries. 

Rotary-USAID education programs are teaching students in Ghana, like Philomina Okyere how to effectively wash her hands. More than 35 Rotary clubs are working in partnership on WASH projects in Ghana. Our Potential 

Rotary and USAID, the world’s largest governmental aid agency, bring distinct strengths to the effort. Rotary activates a global network to raise money, rally volunteers, and oversee construction, while USAID provides technical support to design and carry out the initiatives and build the capacity of local agencies to operate and maintain the systems.

“Rotary brings a lot of energy to the program and has the ability to create a lot of buzz,” says Ryan Mahoney, a WASH and environmental health adviser for USAID and member of the Rotary-USAID steering committee. “They have been great at leveraging their relationships with community leaders to get projects off the ground.”

In Ghana, which was a focal point when the alliance launched, 35 Rotary clubs across six regions will have implemented more than 200 sustainable WASH programs by 2020.

Fredrick Muyodi and Alasdair Macleod, members of The Rotary Foundation Cadre of Technical Advisers, visited 30 of them last September to assess and evaluate their successes and ongoing challenges.

Macleod, a member of the Rotary Club of Monifieth & District, Tayside, Scotland, was impressed with the education efforts he saw. Most of the schools he visited had built-in education components, including a dedicated WASH educator on staff. In one case, the WASH teacher and students made and distributed posters about the importance of hand washing.

“Long-term projects need to start with the younger generation,” says Macleod. He adds that students can be agents of change in their own homes and in their communities by teaching the proper technique.

Other site visits revealed unexpected challenges, such as security. When a school has sanitation resources that are otherwise unavailable in a community, for example, the risk of break-ins and vandalism increases. Muyodi, a member of the Rotary Club of Kampala City-Makerere, Uganda, says that projects can lessen the risk by expanding to include the surrounding community.

Distance is also sometimes a challenge, if project sites are too far away for the clubs involved to commit to regular site visits. To remedy this, Muyodi says, clubs should engage with more local residents and create better links with leaders on the community and district levels.

Denham, a member of the Rotary-USAID steering committee, attributes the alliance’s success in Ghana to better coordination and communication, from using WhatsApp to connect with partners to hiring full-time staff. As it enters its second phase, the partnership — a landmark public/private collaboration in the WASH field — has secured $4 million in commitments for projects in Ghana, Madagascar, and Uganda. Rotary clubs in each country are responsible for raising $200,000.

“Rotary is in the business of social and economic development,” says Denham. “Our work in WASH can be a testament to that.”

A Social Meeting, Visitors, the Youth Exchange Weekend, a Business Meeting and RI President elect Mark Maloney looks to the Future.

Last Week
It was a social meeting and a very enjoyable one.  We had a number of visitors as well which enlivened the proceedings.





Marian Laserson was Sergeant and it was a great pleasure to see her after such a longtime.  Here she is in studious mood.








Helmut Ogulin was a visitor from the Austrian Rotary Club of Bad-Fischau - Thermeregion.  He presented President Jean with an almost blank banner!









A frequent visitor, David Craik from Sevenoaks in Kent, presented President Jean with a medal from the fun run that his club organises to raise funds.  This does give her the opportunity to prove to others that she runs a lot, even overseas. 

An increasingly frequent visitor was Nigel Bellamy from the Rotary Club of Selibe Pikwe in Botswana.  He bears a striking resemblance to PDG Jankees Sligcher.

PDG Jankees Sligcher

Rtn Nigel Bellamy

Youth Exchange Weekend



Our Youth Director, Joan Sainsbury and Youth Committee member Cuthbert Gumbochuma attended with our potential Exchange Student, Masego Matiko.

District suggested that Masego look at Long-term rather than a Short-term Exchange and she decided during the weekend that that made more sense than the Short-term she had applied for.

Masego will be a brilliant ambassador for Rotary and South Africa as she has really made her mark at the SA School for the Arts.  We wish her all of the best in this her Matric year.  Last Year she took the leading role in an interesting radical play at school and if Matric doesn't hold her back we must support her in any performance this year.



This Week
It's a Business Meeting so we should hear more about what money we need to raise, what  the expectations are regarding the Arts Festival etc.


Here's just a snippet of RI President-elect Mark Maloney's ideas on growing Rotary during his period of office starting on the 1st July.

President-elect Mark Maloney maps out a course for Rotary’s future

We need to grow Rotary. We need more hands doing service, more brains coming up with ideas. We need more partnerships, more connections. To accomplish that, I have four priorities for my presidency, and No. 1 is growing Rotary.

Q: How do you do that?

A: First, we redouble our efforts to support our clubs to attract new members and engage current members so that they stay with Rotary to perform greater and more innovative service. That means clubs being more flexible than they have been.

But the other aspect is to form new Rotary clubs. Our tradition was to form new clubs in areas where clubs didn’t exist. We need now to focus on forming new clubs where Rotary not only exists, but thrives. In many of those areas we are serving only a certain segment of the population. We need new clubs with alternative experiences that meet in nontraditional ways. That would help us attract a different demographic — be it age, gender, ethnic background — so that we are serving all aspects of the community. 

Q: What are your other priorities?

A: My second and third priorities support the first. At every level of this organization we need to design our club meetings, service projects, and social events so they are family-friendly. We need to provide opportunities that complement younger individuals’ family lives rather than compete with those family lives. 

And my third priority is that we must change our culture, our attitudes, and the way we do business so that it is possible and apparent that you can be actively engaged in Rotary and even assume positions of Rotary leadership while you are still actively engaged in your business or profession. If we want Rotary to be attractive to a younger demographic, we have to make Rotary leadership accessible to the younger demographic.

Q: What’s No. 4?

A: In June 2020, the United Nations will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the signing of the UN charter. Rotary has been involved with the UN since before the UN began. Because of that, I want to focus on Rotary’s relationship with the United Nations. The annual Rotary-UN Day will be returning to the UN headquarters in New York after having been in Geneva and Nairobi. We also hope to have three presidential conferences focusing on Rotary’s relationship with specific UN agencies at different locations around the world and a final celebration of Rotary’s UN relationship before the convention opens in Honolulu, Hawaii.

So in terms of legacy — just to wrap that up — for those of us who are working together in 2019-20, our success will not be measured on 30 June of 2020, but on 30 June of 2025 or 2030, when others can determine whether the things we started had an impact as the years went by. 

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.