District Six, Neil Butcher, a Little Education, Interact and a Little History!

DISTRICT SIX EATERY

Call 011 486 7226
Physical address: Corner Greenhills and Barry Hertzog Road, Emmarentia

There is no Wednesday Breakfast Meeting on Wed 30th March.
As it is the 5th Wednesday we will be meeting at 19,00 at District Six Eatery. Here is the menu!

Starters:

Samoosas – meat or veg R6.50

House salad – mixed veg and fruit R30 for 2/3 people

Mains:

Ouma onder die Kombuis. (Frickadelles wrapped in cabbage leaves) R75.00

Denning Vleis (Slow-roasted lamb) R100.00
Lamb Curry R85

Chicken Curry R80.00
Bobootie R75

Tomato Bredie (with beef) R75
Green bean Bredie R75

Smoorsnoek R75

Vegetable curry (chic peas, sweet potato and butternut) R55

Dessert

Melk tert R38.00

Pumpkin fritters R18

Cheesecake R30

Malay style koeksisters R18

Hertzoggies R10

They have NO WINE LICENCE, so do bring your own tipple.

Many thanks to Allan Beuthin for arranging this.

Please let him know if you are coming and what you intend ordering.  allan@backabuddy.co.za

Here's last week's speaker, Neil Butcher, who spoke to us on his observations of Education throughout the world and comforted us by saying that our problems in SA were common to just about everyone. He also pointed out the problems of educational consumerism that plays on parents' guilt. Very interesting.

Don Lindsay was asked to introduce him, that was a mistake. As you can see, top left, he is unfortunately threatening him with dire consequences should his talk not be of a sufficiently high standard!  Fortunately for us and particularly for him, it was.

Most of us were worried that the talk might not be up to Don's exacting standards and you can almost hear Julian Nagy's sigh of relief when the Rack was not wheeled in.

Joan Donet sent me this note about Interact and the Induction of our second Interact Club at McAuley House School.  Congratulations, Joan, you have really worked hard at sorting this one out!  I have added a place for Interact Dates in the left hand column.

Dominican Convent School - The office bearers for 2011 will be inducted at school assembly on Tuesday, 5 April. The current office bearers, now in Grade 12, are unable to devote 100% of their time to club activities, so it has been proposed that a request be directed to RI for a change in period for this school based club (and McAuley House) to January to December. In future the office bearers for the ensuing year, will be inducted before school closes for the December holidays.

Please diarise - 5 April, School Assembly at Dominican Convent School (time to be confirmed)

McAuley House - The club originally inaugurated by Blackheath Rotary club is listed as "active" by RI, so we will be submitting a request to take over sponsorship of the club. Plans for the induction of the office bearers for the current year are progressing well, and it is envisaged that the induction will take place on Saturday, 16 April at 12:30 (at the school).

Please diarise - 16 April at 12:30, Induction Lunch at McAuley House.

Historic Moments: The first four Rotarians

By Susan Hanf and Jason Lamb
Rotary International News – 10 February 2011
 

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The first four Rotarians -- Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, Hiram E. Shorey, Paul P. Harris.

On 23 February 1905, Paul P. Harris, Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, and Hiram E. Shorey gathered in Loehr’s office for what would become known as the first Rotary club meeting.

Harris’s desire for camaraderie among business associates brought together these four men and eventually led to an international organization of service and fellowship.

Read about each of the first four Rotarians below, and about Harry L. Ruggles, who is often called the "fifth Rotarian."

Rotary’s founder, Harris , was born in Wisconsin, USA, on 19 April 1868. He was raised by his paternal grandparents in Vermont and attended the University of Vermont, Princeton, and the University of Iowa. He was Rotary president from 1910 to 1912 and a member of the Rotary Club of Chicago until his death on 27 January 1947. Learn more about the founder of Rotary in “ The Life and Times of Paul Harris.”

Loehr , a mining engineer, was born on 18 October 1864 in Carlinville, Illinois. He was a Rotarian for only a few years, never holding office at the club or international level. But that first Rotary meeting was held in his office, Room 711 of the Unity Building in downtown Chicago. He died in Chicago on 23 May 1918.

A Rotarian for only a few years, Shorey served as recording secretary during the club’s first year. He was born in Maine in August 1862 and died in March 1944.

Schiele , a coal dealer, served as the Chicago club’s first president in 1905 and Rotary International’s third treasurer in 1945. Born in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1870, Schiele attended Terre Haute Business College and served in the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American War. He was president of the Schiele Coal Company from 1902 until his retirement in 1939. He and Harris became lifelong friends and lived near each other on the South Side of Chicago. Schiele died on 17 December 1945 and is buried near Harris at Mount Hope Cemetery.

Originally from Michigan, Ruggles was a graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and joined Rotary at its second meeting. He was treasurer of the Chicago club during its first year, president from 1908 to 1910, and a Rotary director from 1912 to 1913. He is known for having introduced singing to Rotary club meetings. His printing company, H.L. Ruggles & Co., printed the first issue of The National Rotarian and the first Rotary songbook. He died on 26 October 1959, an honorary member of seven clubs in addition to his home club, the Rotary Club of Chicago.

Lina Saintus, Niel Chen, Indoor Cycling, Neil Butcher & Rotary Foundation Aid to Japan.

 Ambassadorial Scholar Lina Saintus spoke to us last week on her studies in Public Health and what she is up to at Wits.  Lucille Bloomberg will be giving one of the lectures on Public Health in SA so she had a preview! Many thanks to our own Ambassadorial Scholar, Alex Gano for introducing her.  It is the first time that I have known one of these scholars with their own car....how useful!  These are some of the pictures that Lina showed of her family in Florida.  Top centre, she is the little one on the left!

 Top right in amongst the general pics is American Rotoract member Niel Chen from Philadelphia who is working in HIV/AIDS also at Wits.  Thanks, Niel, for coming and we look forward to you talking to us in the future.  Anyone who reads this blog is always welcome at our meetings...and even people who don't!

Saturday saw the Charity Indoor Cycling Fundraiser that I unfortunately was unable to attend.  Thanks, Jenine for the pics.  Some people obviously enjoyed it and Mike Vink looks remarkably relaxed after his hour on the machine!  Nici Hammerschmidt is not only wearing a shirt and interesting shoes but I imagine the bike had one of those old-fashioned skirt-protectors over the back wheel!

And a late entry, the Spinning Cresswells!


Our speaker this week is Neil Butcher who will be talking about his travels through the Education Systems of Africa and the World.

Neil Butcher is based in South Africa, from where he has provided policy and technical advice and support to a range of national and international clients regarding uses of educational technology and distance education, both as a full-time employee at the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE) from 1993 to 2001 and as Director of Neil Butcher & Associates.

He has worked extensively with the South African Department of Education in the areas of distance education and technology-enhanced learning, helping to develop quality standards frameworks for the former and policy positions for the latter. Neil led a national study into the feasibility of establishing a dedicated educational broadcasting service, and a Department of Education project on open learning in General and Further Education. He coordinated the development of ICT Curriculum Frameworks and Education Strategies for GautengOnline, as well as IT policy positions for the education Departments of KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Cape. He was the educational leader on the development of a NEPAD e-Education Initiative business plan, done together with Ernst & Young, and worked with KPMG as the educational leader in completing a feasibility study for the South African Department of Education’s e-Education Initiative.

Neil has worked with various institutions of higher education across Africa, assisting with institutional transformation efforts that focus on harnessing the potential of distance education methods and educational technology as effectively as possible. These include major components of strategic, programme, and financial planning. He is currently the project leader of the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa’s Educational Technology Initiative, which is investing in educational technology strategies in seven universities across the continent. He is a leader in the unfolding Open Education Resource Movement, where he works with OER Africa (a Hewlett-funded initiative of SAIDE, headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya) as the Initiative’s OER Strategist. He has coordinated a range of planning exercises for the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). Neil is a fellow of a global consulting Network, Education Impact.

Neil has travelled extensively through Africa conducting research on distance education and educational technology for a range of organizations. This work has enabled Neil to develop extensive experience in working across countries in Africa and beyond, often also working with significant Inter-Governmental Organizational clients such as UNESCO, the Commonwealth of Learning, Commonwealth Secretariat, SADC Secretariat, African Union Commission, and African Development Bank. He has also run research projects on aspects of schoolnetworking for SchoolNet Africa, as well as a range of other evaluation and research projects on use of ICT in education for clients such as Intel, Microsoft, Nokia, Telkom, Multichoice, and Schoolnet South Africa. Neil has also developed a range of instructional materials for various types of educators, including education policymakers, development agency staff, teachers, and universities.

In the field of IT applications, Neil is leading the development of South Africa’s national education portal for the Department of Education –. He has managed a range of online database and web development projects for various organizations, in partnership with a technology company called Blue Matrix, including:

• Portal for the SADC Secretariat;
• Student portal for the Foundation of Tertiary Institutions of the Northern Metropolis in South Africa;
• SAIDE, the International Association for Digital Publications, and the National Association of Distance Education Organizations of South Africa (web sites);
• OER Africa website;
• UNESCO (distance education knowledge base);
• Website for the Southern African Regional Universities’ Association (SARUA).
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Foundation sets up disaster fund for Japan

By Ryan Hyland 
Rotary International News -- 15 March 2011 

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People carry their furniture from their ruined home 15 March in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, four days after an earthquake and tsunami devastated Japan's northeast coast towns. AP Photo/Kyodo News

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In response to the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on 11 March, The Rotary Foundation has established the Rotary Japan 2011 Disaster Recovery Fund, which will support long-term recovery projects in affected areas.

Rotarians and non-Rotarians can donate online. Clubs and districts can contribute cash and District Designated Fund (DDF) allocations to the fund.

The 9.0-magnitude quake, Japan's largest in history, and the tsunami that followed it caused widespread devastation, paralyzing much of the northern coast. More than 10,000 people have been killed, and thousands are missing. Millions have been left without clean water or power, and at least 550,000 people have been forced from their homes.

A series of explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 140 miles northeast of Tokyo, damaged reactors and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands. The Japanese government is working to contain the situation. Damage from the earthquake and tsunami is estimated at US$170 billion.

RI President-nominee Sakuji Tanaka, of the Rotary Club of Yashio, Saitama, was in Lisbon, Portugal, on Rotary business during the disasters. He was able to reach his wife, Kyoko, on the phone to confirm her safety.

"She said it was the most horrifying experience she'd ever had," says Tanaka. "The northern region of Japan is still in chaos. We are unsure when this chaos will end or when things will get better. However, I am most thankful to know that Rotarians around the world care for us."

Japanese RI directors Masaomi Kondo and Masahiro Kuroda, as well as staff at Rotary International's Japan office, are confirmed to be safe.

Rotary clubs and districts worldwide are mobilizing efforts to bring urgently needed aid to victims.

"I've received many messages from Rotarians all over the world," says Noriko Futagami, the Public Image Resource Group coordinator for Zone 2. "I also have reports that Rotary clubs have begun to start planning projects for immediate help. Unfortunately, there are many Rotarians and families who haven't been able to be contacted. Rotarians in Japan worry for their safety."

Group Study Exchange team safe

Rotarian Robert Blackburn was leading a Group Study Exchange team in Japan when the earthquake struck. The five team members from Illinois, USA, were in a hotel in Tokyo, getting ready for a farewell dinner with their hosts.

"It was our last night in Japan. I felt the whole building shake," says Blackburn, a member of the Rotary Club of Westmont. "It was not just a mild tremor. My hotel room was shaking from side to side. It felt like forever. I have never been so scared in my life."

Blackburn says the earthquake lasted at least two minutes. He used a laundry cart outside his hotel room for protection. After the tremors stopped, he walked 18 floors down to the lobby, where the rest of the team congregated.

"The airport was temporarily closed, so I told everyone on our team that we might have to be here for a day or two longer," he says. "Thankfully, the airport reopened. Our hosts were incredible and were able to get us to the airport on time for our flight."

Tanaka says he is grateful for the warm support of Rotarians worldwide.

"The great thing about Rotarians is that we share everything, including each other's joy and sadness. They have the ability to put themselves in the position of others and act to help," says Tanaka. "Despite the unthinkable hardship we're experiencing now, the people of Japan will not give up on efforts to rebuild their communities."

Learn more about how to contribute to the Rotary Japan 2011 Disaster Recovery Fund established by The Rotary Foundation.

Chickens, Scholarship, a Spin and Rotary Alumni.

President Elect Jankees Sligcher gave us a wonderful talk on chickens complete with chicken noises.  I wasn't sure whether they were real or made by Jankees himself.  we were all duly amazed by the enormous size of the South African Chicken Industry and his hopes that it will double in 10 years.  If that is the case Jankees will be so rich that the club fees etc will be completely subsidised by him out of his small change!  Thanks, Jankees for a really fascinating talk.


This week our speaker Ambassadorial Scholar Lina Saintus.  Lina Saintus, sponsored by the RC of Deerwood, is a Haitian-American who grew up in cosmopolitan South Florida. In her own words, she seeks “expansive educational and professional experiences rich with service and cultural exchange”. She holds a BS in Psychology from UF,  an MS from UNF, and has completed her requirements as an intern, working as a Child care Evaluator for the Dept. of Children and Families. In the pre-scholarship year, she took a certificate in Maternal and Child Care at USF.  She is currently an Ambassadorial Scholar at Wits....she'll tell you what she is up to!

Here is an unnamed Rotary Club practising to take us on next Saturday.  In my ignorance I thought we were cycling round and round a track for an hour but no; we are not going anywhere.  I had actually found my cycle clips and was already for the fray.  Just look at the opposition!  Don't forget to book via Barry or you can phone him on 011 482 6365.  There is also a Facebook Event Page.

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Top: Ray's Rotary Reunions kick off in Cape Town, South Africa, with the arrival of RI President Ray Klinginsmith (center); Rotary Foundation Trustee Chair Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar and his wife, Monica (left); District 9350 Governor Shân Biesman-Simons; and Rodney Mazinter, chair of the reunions committee. Bottom: A gathering of Rotarians and alumni during the event.Photos by Trevor Wilkins

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Foundation alumni reconnect at Ray’s Rotary Reunions

By Megan Ferringer 
Rotary International News -- 10 March 2011 
 

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More than 350 Rotarians and Rotary Foundation alumni from 25 countries gathered for Ray’s Rotary Reunions in Cape Town, South Africa, 3-5 February.

Hosted by District 9350 (Angola; Namibia; South Africa), the event was designed by RI President Ray Klinginsmith, a 1960-61 Ambassadorial Scholar at the University of Cape Town.

“Ray’s Rotary Reunions gave alumni the chance to reconnect with an organization that meant so much to them in kick-starting their careers,” says Rodney Mazinter, chair of the reunions committee.

The first reunion, held on 3 February, reconnected former Ambassadorial Scholars who studied at the University of Cape Town and graduates of the university who spent their Rotary scholarship abroad. Attendees ranged from recent alumni in their 20s to 85-year-old Henry Kreh of the Rotary Club of Marathon, Florida, USA, the first Rotary Scholar to study at UCT.

“The gathering of so many leaders who have made a difference in communities across the globe through the help of Rotary was simply inspiring to me,” says Betsy Sutherland, a 2010-11 Ambassadorial Scholar from South Carolina, USA, studying at UCT. “The relationship we all shared enabled us to talk about goals and projects we felt were important to populations within the African continent.”

At the second reunion, UCT alumni were joined by Rotary Scholars who studied at any university in Africa and those from African universities who studied abroad. Former Group Study Exchange team members who were sponsored or hosted by Rotary districts in Africa also took part, joined by many Rotarians.

Throughout the reunions, attendees participated in instructive programs that included addresses by government and professional leaders who have made a difference in Africa. In addition to Klinginsmith, featured speakers included former South African President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate F.W. de Klerk; former South African Constitutional Court Judge Catherine O’Regan; Peter Kyle, a member of the Rotary Club of Capitol Hill (Washington, D.C.) and recipient of the 2009-10 Rotary Foundation Global Alumni Service to Humanity Award; and Francis Moloi, chief director of the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation. O’Regan, Kyle, and Moloi are all former Rotary Scholars.

“As I complete a circle in my life from being a Rotary Scholar at UCT in 1961 to being the RI president 50 years later, I have learned much about life from my visits to Africa,” Klinginsmith says. “I believe the reunions are a good learning experience for everyone.”

On the last two days, a Rotary projects expo gave clubs the chance to seek out partners and make connections to facilitate international service projects in support of Rotary’s Reach Out to Africa initiative. Launched in 2007, the initiative matches the resources of the Foundation and clubs in developed economies with needs in Africa. The projects expo was also open to alumni.

“I’m working on a project that will establish a library for a school located in an impoverished area of Cape Town,” says Sutherland. “As a result of [the initiative] and the projects expo, I linked up with a Rotary club who supports literacy in schools and has offered to help with the project.”

Former Ambassadorial Scholars number more than 41,000 worldwide, and the reunions were an experimental model that Klinginsmith hopes will be implemented by other universities in the future.

“Ray’s Rotary Reunions have been a highlight of my past year here in Cape Town,” says Sutherland. “It was filled with wonderful fellowship of Rotarians from all over the world and a celebration of what Rotary can achieve.”

The Club has been Busy! Chicken Week & Eradicating Polio.

The Saturday before last Club members helped with cycle race number 2.  Altogether a much more serious,  if not dangerous, affair.  Steve Du Plessis took pictures at the base he was involved with but there were many more members involved.  Thanks to Don Lindsay who got us in!

From Jenine Coetzer:  On Saturday, 5 March 2011, members of the New Dawn Rotary Club serviced the “book store” at the Humanitarian Distribution Centre in Bedfordview, Johannesburg.  

Many people came around to collect, but the biggest GROUP was the PRETORIA ROTARY CLUB, led by its president, ISADORE KAHANOVITZ.

Also on the premises on Saturday was the KAYALAMI Rotary Club, who came to unpack a container sent all the way from Denmark! The content: TOYS collected under the supervision of the Rotary Club of Copenhagen. The toys have been boxed in three broad categories:  soft toys, hard toys and educational. It will be distributed to various causes identified by Kayalami Rotary, as far as a project in Kwazulu/Natal!  

New Dawn’s Steve, Jenine and Amina salute all fellow Rotarians who spent the day working for the good of some of our country’s youngsters!

The members were Jenine Coetzer, wearing her reporting hat, Steve Du Plessis lurking in the back of the book store and Amina Frense getting all up front and personal with a Danish Bear or two!

This week our guest speaker is our President Elect, Jankees Sligcher who heads up Pas Reform SA...it's all about chicks!  Here he is! 

Just so there is no confusion as to Jankees' topic here is a picture of what he is going to talk about.  I'm sure it will be a fascinating talk as it is something we know very little about.

Jankees goes away a lot, as you know.  He goes to places like Saudi Arabia and Darling and increasingly to the Far East to check  on his customers.  He also likes Chinese cuisine.

Anything short of eradicating polio is 'unacceptable,' says DePreist

Rotary International News -- 4 March 2011
 

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James DePreist will conduct Itzhak Perlman and members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a concert benefiting Rotary's campaign to end polio worldwide on 7 March.

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On 7 March in Chicago, James DePreist will conduct Itzhak Perlman and members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a concertbenefiting Rotary's campaign to end polio worldwide. Both Perlman and DePreist are polio survivors. RI News recently talked with DePreist about the importance of eradicating the disease.

You contracted polio in 1962, when you were in your 20s. What was the disease's impact on your life?

The impact was obvious and immediate: I could no longer walk. Crutches and braces became a part of my life, and I learned to adapt.

What do you want people to know about polio?

Polio is a profound limiter that requires imagination and energy to deal with. It helps if one can use the upper body constructively and creatively.

Why do you think it's important to eradicate polio and not just contain the disease?

Containment means acceptance, and acceptance is unacceptable.

Why did you want to be a part of the Concert to End Polio, and what does it mean to conduct Itzhak Perlman for that performance?

Itzhak and I are old friends. We've worked together several times here and abroad. This is our first concert together in which there is a focus on polio.

What would you say to Rotary club members to encourage them to continue their more than two decades of work to eradicate polio?

If the goal is eradication, then the fight is ongoing.

DON'T FORGET THE IN-DOOR CYCLING ON THE 19TH MARCH.  GOT TO THE EVENT ON FACEBOOK


And here is a late entry from Allan Beuthin:

Hi All,

With our membership evening coming up in just over a month, (Fri 13/05) its not too soon to start planning the catering, the invitations and the presentations - and perhaps even the awarding of some prizes!

As discussed, we should aim to have 40-plus attendees of whom at least 15 should be potential members and/or spouses, supplemented by the traditional full-house of existing members.

Our thanks go to Graham for once again offering the efficient and very welcoming Cookery School as our venue for the evening. We will, I’m sure, take full advantage of the  facilities and the stimulating company of our fellow Rotarians  to ensure that guests gain an insight into our unique spirit of fellowship and camaraderie. As we have found in the past, this is a wonderful opportunity to mix informally with potential members as well as with each other -  all that’s needed to create another successful evening is for usl to participate!

At this stage, I would like to call for catering volunteers and contributors as well as to ask Ian whether we may, again, call upon his skills as our presenter.

 Should anyone have alternative plans for the 13/05, please let me know in advance so that we can start to estimate the catering needs.

Looking forward, as usual, to Wednesday’s scrambled eggs,

Al

Allan Beuthin