Our speaker last week was Miguel Chan, Group Sommelier for Sun International. He spoke to us about his duties as a sommelier and surprised us by saying that there are only 7 accredited sommelier in the country and we are the only wine producing country not to run accredited courses.....amazing! Sommeliers have always been a rare breed here and I think it must have ben the Cellars-Hohenhort Hotel that first employed one, a Frenchman, Philippe. he made such a difference to the buying and care of wines in their cellar quite apart from the assistance he would give to diners, that other hotels in the Cape began gradually to follow suit. Miguel must be the first in Johannesburg...we are so far behind the rest of the world!
This week's meeting is a Business Meeting which is very much the President's Meeting. As our President has been away and immediately on returning to South Africa ended up with a torn ligament and an operation to repair it, we must applaud his tenacity in attending meetings and thanks to his chauffeur, Calvin Meter. I have already applied for a new badge for Calvin with his new classification.New email scams target Rotarians
Rotary International has received numerous complaints of email scams targeting Rotarians.
Please be aware of the following scams:
- An email scam targeting Rotarians and Rotaractors claims the recipient has won hundreds of thousands of euros through an international promotional program conducted by the "Euro-Millones Lottery". Attached to the e-mail is a PDF letter signed by "Luis Alberto, Vice President" with a photo of Past RI President Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar.
- An email scam with the subject line "Dear Award Beneficiary!!!" has targeted Rotarians claiming the recipient has won US$500,000 and two HP laptops from RI. The email asks for contact information and is signed by "Mrs. Sarah Olic, Programme Co-ordinator, Rotary International".
Rotary International does not solicit funds through e-mail, nor does it ask that personal information be updated by e-mail or other electronic means. RI encourages Rotarians and Rotary clubs to avoid becoming victims of such scams by deleting any e-mail that appears suspicious.
When Rotary launched PolioPlus in 1985, the “plus” signaled the belief that the polio eradication effort would increase immunizations against five other diseases prevalent in children: measles, tuberculosis, diphtheria, whooping cough, and tetanus. As time went on, the list of benefits grew.
Polio immunization campaigns created an avenue for other lifesaving health interventions, such as the distribution of vitamin A supplements. New equipment for transporting and storing vaccines made it easier to combat infectious diseases in developing areas.
The enormous network of laboratories and health clinics charged with identifying new cases of polio began to monitor the spread of other viruses as well. And the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which Rotary helped create, rose to international prominence as a model for public-private partnerships to address world health issues.
The “plus” in PolioPlus means that Rotarians are doing more than stopping the spread of polio in the last four countries in which it is endemic; they also are building a legacy of infrastructure and partnerships that will support the fight against infectious disease long after polio is gone.
The cold chain
Transporting vaccines to developing areas is no easy task. From the time they leave the manufacturer until they reach recipients, vaccines must be kept between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius (though some may be frozen at -15 to -25 degrees). Variances of even a few degrees could spoil an entire shipment, leaving children without the protection they need.
The “cold chain” created to distribute polio vaccine has been used to transport other vaccines, such as measles, tetanus, and diphtheria. An estimated one-third of the cold chain capacity in sub-Saharan Africa was implemented to support polio eradication.
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