Last week was most entertaining because not only did Alex Gano, our Ambassadorial Scholar, give us such a clear and interesting talk on the US Electoral System, despite his Republican sympathies slipping out occasionally...what you might call the Elephant in the Room.....but we had so many visitors who were interested in what he had to say! Thanks Alex! We have started planning the Thanksgiving Dinner for Alex and his parents on the Thursday 24th November and this will be a fundraising dinner that we hope will be paired with Alex's sponsoring club, The Rotary Club of Charlseton, Illinois so put the date in your diary!
We are lucky to have a truly bionic President following in the footsteps of Cher and Navratilova and hotly pursued by several other Club members!
Our speaker this week is Miguel Chan, De Luxe Brand Sommelier for the Southern Sun Hotels Group:
Lucille's Choir
It's not really Lucille's Choir....this is what she has to say about it:This is a reminder to please buy tickets for the NICD Choir ‘ Sing for Change ‘ concert on Friday 4 November, 1300 - 1400 at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, number 1 Modderfontein Rd Sandringham in the PRF auditorium . There are limited seats and the prizes for the lucky draw are EXTREMELY exciting.
All proceeds are going to a local children’s home that desperately need funds! YOU CAN MAKE A SMALL DIFFERENCE BY ONLY DONATING R20!!!
If you need tickets please just let me know, only 180 tickets , each R20.00
Lucille 082 807 6770 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 082 807 6770 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
University of L'Aquila honors Banerjee in recognition of Rotarian-led rebuilding effort
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Top: RI President Kalyan Banerjee receives an honorary doctorate in engineering from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of L'Aquila, Italy, on 12 October. Photo courtesy Margarita Hewko Bottom: Banerjee, with his wife, Binota, receives a check for €50,000 (US$69,300) from the Italian blood donation agency AVIS during the ceremony. Photo by Maria Chiara Zilli
RI President Kalyan Banerjee received an honorary doctorate in engineering from the University of L'Aquila, Italy, on 12 October, in recognition of Rotarians’ help in rebuilding the engineering campus after the devastating earthquake of 2009.
Rotarians in District 2090 (Albania; part of Italy) have joined with the Italian blood donation agency AVIS to raise almost €2 million (US$2,772,000) so far to rebuild a wing of the school.
"This honor is from our university, but also from the entire city of L'Aquila," said Roberto Volpe, vice chancellor, who presented the degree along with Pier Ugo Foscolo, dean of the Faculty of Engineering. "From initiatives such as [Rotary's] we will acquire the hope -- actually the certainty -- that we will have a future of full economic, civil, and cultural recovery."
During the ceremony, AVIS presented Banerjee with a €50,000 (US$69,300) check to further support the rebuilding effort. Rotarians and AVIS have pledged to raise €3 million (US$4,159,000) total to completely rebuild and reopen the campus.
"The honorary degree I am accepting today is really an honor that is directed not toward me, but toward the organization I represent, Rotary International," Banerjee noted. "One of the things that Rotary has been very involved with has been the rebuilding of the [Faculty of] Engineering here at the university. And I think you’ve seen for yourselves how Rotary has inspired this community, and brought so many together to make this dream a reality."
Solving humanitarian problems
The University of L'Aquila also awarded the doctorate in recognition of Banerjee's work to elevate and affirm the role of engineering in solving humanitarian problems. University officials cited his contributions "in a rapidly evolving society, such as India."
Banerjee shared some of his background with the audience of university and civic leaders and Rotarians. He explained how, after earning his degree in chemical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, he decided to join a relative in a venture that led to the formation of United Phosphorus Limited, now the largest agrochemical manufacturer in India.
"I've never regretted going to work for a small company instead of a multinational, and now I can see that bypassing graduate school was the right choice as well. I'm getting my doctorate in the end -- even if it did take me 45 years," he quipped.
Banerjee joined the Rotary Club of Vapi, Gujarat, shortly after the launch of United Phosphorus. The club helped transform Vapi from a town with no substantial infrastructure to a city with medical facilities, schools, and colleges.
"Ultimately, the transformation of the city of Vapi came about because of one simple and, I hope, obvious idea: that we all share responsibility for the well-being of our communities and, ultimately, our world," he said. "It’s the idea that all of us, as individuals and collectively, are fundamentally responsible for seeing that our world gets, not worse every day, but better."
Francesco Ottaviano, governor of District 2090, noted the importance of the ceremony to local Rotarians, the town, and the university: "This recognition will be news that will go all around the Rotary world and to more than 200 countries."
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