Welcome, Martin. Farewell Don. Windpower, Tourism, Business & Rotary News from around the World

Welcome Martin van Heerden!

President Amina Frense, assisted by PP Graham Donet, inducted Martin as a member of our Club last Wednesday.  Congratulations, Martin, and welcome to New Dawn.

Farewell Don Lindsay

It was also a sad occasion....thought it certainly looks pretty cheerful in the photograph....saying goodbye to our Charter President Don Lindsay.  Don has done so much to get the Club started but now he and his partner Arthur Begley have emigrated to Brazil so we lose two loyal members.

Don has already been made a Paul Harris Fellow for his services to the Club and he wouldn't accept a present so we gave him a certificate instead....

 On the other hand we will certainly have a link with a Brazilian Rotary Club in the future.  Arthur is in Kazakhstan at the moment and he and Don are both in Brazil now, hopefully sitting at one of these tables in the street below their apartment.  Don & Arthur have donated a sum of money to the Club with the intention that it may be used for a project at Johannesburg Zoo.  More about this in due course.

Everyone who was at the meeting with Don and his certificate.  The photograph was taken by our Guest Speaker.....

Edward James-Smith who spoke to us on the pro's and con's of Windpower and gave us an interesting insight into electrical power requirements in South Africa and the way forward with renewable energy.  It was a very positive talk when so much comment on the Electrical Power Industry in South Africa tends to be negative.  He didn't mention tariffs, only costs, and how the overall costs could be reduced!

Business Meeting

This week's meeting is a Business Meeting but it is enlivened by a 10 minute talk by Prisca Lete allowing her to practise her presentation to the World Tourism Forum in Switzerland. The title of the presentation is: LINKING RESOURCES,CAPABILITIES AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE FOR BRAND POSITIONING: THE CASE OF SUN CITY.  She is a 21 year old, BTECH student at the University of Johannesburg, studying Tourism Management. She already has a National Diploma in Tourism Management. She has been selected as a Young Talent (the only one in Africa) by the World Tourism Forum 2013. WTF selected only 8 students studying Tourism, from across the world this year to participate in this programme. She is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, however her family has made South Africa their home. She is very active in Sports (Tennis, Karate, Chess, Netball), Drama, and had worked briefly as  a Model. She is presently working as a Tutor at the School of Tourism and Hospitality, University of Johannesburg under the tutorship of Dr Ike Ezeuduji......and we will induct him as a Club member at the same time!

Rotary news in brief from around

 the Globe

 

 

 

The Rotary Club of Manama, Bahrain, donated a mobile diabetes unit to help combat type 2 diabetes among the country's youth.Photo courtesy of the Rotary Club of Manama

Rotary International on Facebook

TheRotary Club of Manama, Bahrain, donated a mobile diabetes unit to the Bahrain Diabetes Society as part of the club’s ongoing effort to combat type II diabetes among youth in the country, where the disease accounts for 12 percent of child and adult deaths.

The van, which cost US$111,400 to equip, travels to schools and neighborhoods across the nation to screen children for diabetes and educate families on prevention. The unit’s staff consists of volunteer doctors, nurses, and students from the Bahrain medical campus of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

Cameroun

Early last year, the Rotary Club of Fergus-Elora, Ont., Canada, worked with the Rotary Club of Bafoussam to install potable water systems in seven rural villages as part of Hand Up Cameroon, a project involving 34 clubs in Canada and the United States. One of the villages, called Bawouk, has 1,300 residents, who are mostly women and children; many of the working-age men have migrated to the nearby city of Bamenda to find work. The new water systems will benefit these families as well as the students and traders who come from neighboring villages for Bawouk’s primary school and market.

Canada

The 56 clubs in District 7070 (Ontario) set a new fundraising record in September for their annual Rotary Foundation Walk. More than 500 Rotarians, family members, and local residents helped bring in over $142,000 for the Foundation. District Governor Ted Koziel, Past District Governor Bob Wallace, and Rotary Foundation Trustee Chair Wilfrid J. Wilkinson attended the event. In 2011, the district raised a total of $848,000 for the Foundation.

Japan  

Twenty years ago, Grace Michiko Saito, of the Rotary Club of Tokyo Seijo Shin, founded Tokyo Grace, a charity that supports young musicians, children with disabilities, and the elderly. Since Saito began organizing biannual fundraising concerts for PolioPlus in 2002, Tokyo Grace has raised close to US$96,000 for polio eradication, disaster relief in Japan, and The Rotary Foundation. The concerts have featured distinguished vocalists, violinists, pianists, saxophonists, and flutists. The most recent event, held in November, raised more than $3,300.

Nicaragua

Every November, the Rotary Club of Waterloo, Iowa, USA, sends Rotarians and other volunteers to impoverished areas of Nicaragua with two semitrucks full of donated Christmas gifts. Churches, school groups, and Rotarians from Iowa and seven other states work year-round to collect the goods. Since 2001, they’ve shipped about 2,400 “shoeboxes” – packages loaded with clothing, school supplies, and toiletries for kids – 790 layette bags filled with supplies for new mothers, 100 bicycles, and 12 tons of food.

Taiwan

District 3500 had an all-time record number of Rotary Foundation Major Donors (individuals or couples whose cumulative donations to the Foundation total at least US$10,000) in the 2011-12 Rotary year. A ceremony at the district conference in April recognized 82 Major Donors, including three who decided to donate on the spot. Inspired by the generosity of his district, Tony Hung-Ming Chang, then district governor, declared his intention on stage at the ceremony to become a member of the Arch C. Klumph Society; he was inducted with his wife, Julia, on 26 October, along with three other couples and one individual from Taiwan who have donated $250,000 or more to the Foundation. The district’s total contribution exceeded $1.5 million in 2011-12, another district record.

USA

The Wekiva River Basin provides clean drinking water, habitats for indigenous plants and wildlife, and outdoor recreation venues across 380 square miles in central Florida, but excessive nitrates have degraded the water quality. To preserve the federally designated Wild and Scenic River and the local water supply, the Rotary Club of Seminole County South launched an initiative to promote river-friendly policies among homeowners and businesses. By signing on to the Wekiva River Promise, residents pledge to limit their use of fertilizer and pesticides, grow native plants, regularly inspect their septic tanks, and write letters to government officials in support of Wekiva River Basin conservation efforts.