President Amina has asked Ronnie to talk to us on Wednesday as he will be up in Johannesburg. We'll very quickly talk through the DG's visit. Anything important can be held over for further discussion next week.
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| Ronnie & Amina on their wedding day. |
Prompted by the Sharpeville massacre, Kasrils joined the ANC in 1960. He became a member of the armed wing of the ANC the following year, Umkhonto we Sizwe, and participated in many sabotage operations, some of which were with his wife Eleanor.
Pursued by the police, the couple fled into exile in 1963 after Eleanor’s brave escape from detention. Exiled for 27 years, Kasrils was based in London, Luanda, Maputo, and Lusaka. He worked underground for the ANC in South Africa during Operation Vula, a plan by the ANC to have a structure in place designed to overthrow the apartheid regime.
After the first democratic elections in South Africa, Kasrils was appointed Deputy Minister of Defence from 1994 to 1999. He then became Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry from 1999 to 2004, when he was appointed Minister of Intelligence Services until he submitted his resignation in September 2008.
Author of bestselling autobiography, Armed and Dangerous (1993), Kasrils emerged as the country’s Sunday Times Alan Paton Award winner in 2011, for The Unlikely Secret Agent, a memoir based on the life of his late wife, a leading figure in the apartheid struggle, who died in 2009 at the age of 73.
Of The Unlikely Secret Agent, Kasrils says, “[It] is a testament and tribute to Eleanor […] I wanted people to realise who she was and what she had done. I also wanted South Africans to realise what our people are like and how the ordinary, average person has within themselves the most amazing qualities.”
Last WeekJohn Vink gave us a very easy to understand talk about the world economy and also the South African situation. It provoked much discussion and we felt there should be a Part 2.
We also hosted a visiting Rotarian, Dr Joel Apiyo and his cousin Danford Apiyo. Joel is a member of the Rotary Club of Grudziadz in Poland. Linda Vink discovered his Rotary membership as he was staying at Twickenham Guest House. So here they are with Linda and President Amina Frense.
Marshalling on Sunday at the Henley Cycle Race
This is the only photograph I have of the event. One of our Rotarians, whose name I will not reveal, working hard. I take my hat off to all of you who got up at 4,00am to get down there!
The District Governor's Visit.
Your Executive met with him last Saturday morning to discuss the the Club's objectives and the way ahead. The Club, in the persons of President Amina Frense and Julian Nagy, made a presentation in the afternoon. Julian Nagy, Jean & Peter James-Smith and Don Lindsay attended the Dinner in the evening.
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| Julian in conversation with the DG |
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| Don arrived late and sat in the DG's seat whilst he was speaking. |
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| Francis Callard thanks the DG. |
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| Don's Food! |
There will be a full report on these events this week and particularly the effect on the Club.
Next Weekend
There are two important meetings on the 2nd February....see the sidebar. The most important one, from our point of view, is the Blanket Drive Meeting. It is imperative that someone attends and hopefully is on that committee.
Discon
I have also sent out the documentation for the District Conference in June. Our President always goes and as many people as possible from the Club. The special rates for accommodation apply for Rotarians from the Monday so you can go for an inexpensive holiday in Swaziland.
District grant projects meet multiple needs in India
More than 180 students at a primary school in District 3140 (part of Maharashtra, India) now have access to clean water through a district grant project sponsored by the Rotary Club of Dombivli Midtown. Photo courtesy of Rahul Timbadia
Rotarians in Maharashtra, India, used a 2011-12 district grant to meet a range of community needs, from providing families with clean water to equipping homes with solar energy.
“District leaders considered projects that came under (Rotary’s) six areas of focus,” says Rahul Timbadia, past governor of District 3140. “Geographical areas were identified, for example, where there was no electricity or water, which could then be (addressed) by clubs and thus impact the community.”
District grants aren’t required to fund projects in the areas of focus but can be used to sponsor a wide range of activities locally and abroad.
In soliciting project proposals from its clubs, District 3140’s leaders gave priority to clubs that didn’t participate in 2010-11, the first year of the Future Vision pilot.
“The overall impact of the district grant on the quality of life in the communities served can be described as very significant,” says Timbadia. “Since the district awarded grant funds to 45 clubs, the impact was certainly widespread.”
Clean water projects, for example, benefited 15 villages in Maharashtra state, with small dams, rainwater harvesting, bore wells, and water purifiers. Among these efforts, the Rotary Club of Bombay West constructed dams to serve two villages highly prone to drought.
“In an area of water scarcity and unpredictable monsoons leading to failure of crops, this (project) has impacted the community in a very meaningful way by harvesting (significant) quantities of water,” says Timbadia.
District grant-funded projects brought solar-powered lighting to homes and streets in more than 15 villages.
Other efforts included establishment of a human-milk bank at a hospital serving the poor, diagnosis and treatment of children suffering from malnutrition, provision of a kidney dialysis machine and other medical equipment, vocational training for youth and adults, construction of toilet blocks, and funding for a vocational exchange team to study in Austria.
The grant also funded diagnostic aids for a school for hearing-impaired students near Mumbai. The facility, which provides education from preschool through high school, receives ongoing support from the Rotary Club of Mumbai Queen’s Necklace.
The club’s support “has instilled renewed enthusiasm in the children, who are keen to learn new activities,” says school principal Lata Nayak. “We are very grateful for (the Rotarians’) generous and kind encouragement.”
And Timbadia notes that “upgrade of the school through the grant has also generated great publicity for Rotary in the area.”
- District grants are one of three types of grants under The Rotary Foundation's new grant model. Learn more.
- Read about district grants, global grants, and other stories of Rotary service on the blog, Rotary Voices.
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