Wildlife, Social Life and Microloans in Honduras

Last Week

EmilyTaylor, Urban Conservation Manager of the Endangered Wildlife Trust spoke to us about things we could do to conserve wildlife in Johannesburg.  She was introduced by her friend Rotarian Samantha Donet. The amazing thing is the extraordinary variety of wildlife, particularly medium sized mammals and even predators.  It was a fascinating talk and also a fun breakfast and we all went away ready to pat any passing porcupines in our neighbourhood.

President Joan took the opportunity to show the certificate for our participation in Rotary Family Health Days.  Here she is with Amina Frense who co-ordinated our club's effort.





This Week

Steve du Plessis will be talking about Social Media, particularly where it was discussed and used at Discon but obviously how we should be using it at New Dawn.

My Last Blog
After five and a half years I am hanging up my mouse as New Dawn's weekly blogger.  I have enjoyed doing it but it's really time for someone else with new ideas to take over.  I never intended it being so long but the five and a half years have flown by since we received our Charter.

Many thanks to everyone for your for your support and encouragement over the years and an especial thank you to Linda Vink who has produced a bound volume of the blog for every year.

Next week there will be no breakfast meeting on Wednesday but a Social Meeting at 17,30 on Tuesday 1st July at SACA.  Please confirm your attendance with President Joan Donet.

Rise of the female Honduran entrepreneur

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

 A member of the Santa Catarina assembly receives a receipt from assembly president Roxana Dominguez after making a loan payment.

Photo Credit: Rotary International/Monika Lozinska

Marta Lopez bakes up to 100 items a day in a small clay oven. Higinia Reyes owns a corn mill. Remigia Dominguez is the head of a weaving co-op. All of these women live in rural Honduras and run their own businesses with the support of loans provided by the Adelante Foundation and Rotary International.

The rural villages of the Lenca Corridor in the western highlands of Honduras are home to some of the poorest indigenous people in the country. This is where the Adelante Foundation, a microlender, finds poor women who want to become self-sufficient business owners.

Adelante collaborates, through Rotary's global grants, with the Rotary Club of Real de Minas-Tegucigalpa (Honduras), the Rotary Club of Poway-Scripps (California, USA), and several other clubs from District 5340 (California, USA). With the help of Rotary, Adelante has been able to provide business training and 600 loans to its clients. The partnership continues to grow in the departments of Intibucá and La Paz.

"Not only did [Rotary's] support enable us to provide loans, [it] also went towards the development of educational materials and other costs associated with the biweekly education program that we provide to our clients," says Gina Cappuccitti, a social impact analyst at Adelante.

Adelante takes a unique approach to microcredit loans. Rather than lending to individuals, it offers noncollateralized group loans. Four to six women take out a loan together, and if one member cannot make a payment, the others in her group cover the shortfall. Group meetings and assemblies led by credit officers foster a tightknit community that provides mutual support and encouragement. The credit officers, who also provide business advice and training, are often from the same region as their clients, and they work to build good relationships with the borrowers.

"The community now has access to badly needed products these new businesses provide, plus employment opportunities when the businesses grow," says Win Cox, international service chair of the Rotary Club of Poway-Scripps. "And as repaid loans continue to be reissued, the money Rotary invested in this region will have a transformative impact in these communities and women's lives for years to come."

Cappuccitti says that Adelante staff sees its clients as female entrepreneurs who have few opportunities rather than labeling them as poor.

"We've recognized that prior to joining, the women we work with have not received the opportunities needed to fully realize their potential," she says. "And that opportunity, and the confidence that we place in them, is what makes the difference for so many of our borrowers throughout Honduras."

Cox, who has traveled to Honduras to meet with Adelante's staff and clients, says it has been both inspiring and humbling to see that the Lenca women can start sustainable businesses with as little as $50 each.

Cox's Rotary club has supported a number of microcredit projects, but this global grant project is the largest, and that's because of Adelante's verifiable results and willingness to work closely with both host and international clubs.

"Adelante has proven to be an excellent partner -- cooperative, credible, fiscally sound, culturally sensitive, and extremely knowledgeable about how to administer a microloan program in almost inaccessible areas of Honduras," Cox adds.

 

Urban Conservation & A Global Thirst for Water

 This Week
Our Speaker is Emily Taylor, Urban Conservation Manager for The Endangered Wildlife Trust.  It'll be all about how to keep the dragon in our back garden happy and what to do with it when it gets too big and becomes a fire risk!

Emily Taylor has a background in both sociology and nature conservation, and is currently pursuing her Masters of Science at WITS University, entitled: A Sociological and Biological Study of Human-Wildlife Interactions in Urban Areas of Gauteng. 

Emily is also the coordinator of the Endangered Wildlife Trust’s new Urban Conservation Project, which aims to sustainably manage the human-wildlife interface in urban Gauteng with the possibility of later extending its mandate to include urban areas further afield. The key output of the project will be the development of a toll-free hotline and support platform that will help to facilitate the public’s enjoyment of the rich array of wildlife and ecosystems within Gauteng's urban areas, as well as to provide advice and assistance to urban residents that may come into conflict with wildlife in and around our city, in an environmentally sustainable way. 

URBAN CONSERVATION AND BROWN HYAENAS IN SUBURBIA  


There were several reports of Brown Hyaenas in and around Johannesburg in September 2013. The vast majority of the time these reports have been welcomed by the public with 
awe and enthusiasm, but there have also been expressions of concern and fear, which are not 
unexpected as most people are not familiar with these animals. 

This week’s incident, where a Brown Hyaena had lost its way in the Randburg Central Business 
District in Johannesburg is unusual because the species prefers secluded, quiet areas and was likely 
driven into the CBD in a confused effort to escape the heavily populated area in which it found itself 
wandering. Over a period of two days, conservation organisations like the Endangered Wildlife Trust 
(EWT), the NSPCA and FREEME were trying to locate and monitor the animal’s movements and to 
work with the public in ensuring both their, and the animals’ safety and welfare. 

The animal, a young female, was subsequently darted in Randburg and taken to the Johannesburg 
Zoo. She had injured her paws and will be treated at the Zoo and kept there until a suitable release 
site can be found. Funding also needs to be sourced for a satellite collar to fit to her so that her 
post-release movements can be monitored. 

A few facts on Brown Hyaenas: 
 Brown Hyaenas have been occasionally sighted in suburbia for many years. There was a 
Brown Hyaena shot on Allen’s Nek in Roodepoort over 20 years ago and a Brown Hyaena 
was caught near Gilooleys Interchange more than 15 years ago. 
 Brown Hyaenas are scavengers and eat mostly carrion. They will also eat eggs, fruit, insects 
and small mammals such as rodents. 
 The do not pose a threat to humans or pets as they are shy and elusive. 
 They live in small clans but forage alone and can move up to 60km in one evening in search 
of food. 
 Brown Hyaenas can exist in an urban environment and go undetected for long periods of 
time. They can coexist with humans on the urban edge and this could become more and 
more common as humanity encroaches on their habitat. 
 Brown Hyaenas are classified as Near Threatened, are protected by law and permits are 
required to trap, handle, transport or destroy them. Key threats to their survival include: 
killing as ‘problem animals’, traditional medicine trade and poisoning. 
What to do if there are Brown Hyaenas in your neighbourhood: 
 Do not harass or chase them. 
 You do not need to worry about your safety as they will take pains to avoid you. 
 Do not feed them or leave food out for them to access. 
 Do not shoot, poison, trap or injure them. 

Discon

President Joan Donet has just returned from Discon on Monday.  Next week we will ask her and the others that went to Conference to report on the event.

A GLOBAL THIRST FOR WATER

Braimah Apambire was a featured speaker at this year's World Water Summit held by the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group (WASRAG) on 30 May in Sydney, Australia. Apambire is director of the Center for International Water and Sustainability at the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada, USA.

Photo Credit: Illustration by Louisa Bertman

Growing up in northern Ghana, a particularly arid region of a parched land, Braimah Apambire saw how a lack of access to water can sap a community's vitality – and how something as simple as a catchment or pump can transform lives. Apambire, director of the Center for International Water and Sustainability at the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nev., USA, will be a featured speaker at the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group (WASRAG) World Water Summit on 30 May in Sydney, Australia.

THE ROTARIAN: How did you get involved in water issues?

APAMBIRE: In my village, Zuarungu, we do not have a lot of rainfall. In the dry season, three or four months of the year, we had to walk several miles to get water. My sisters, mother, and aunts would fetch the water; the boys were responsible for driving the cattle about 4 miles to and from a reservoir in the morning and evening. That affected our schooling. When I was about 12, the Canadian International Development Agency drilled about 2,600 wells in the region. I could see the change in peoples' lives. My mother and aunts, for example, had time to go to the village market to sell food. I got my bachelor's degree in geology and worked for a hydrologist installing water systems, and then I went to Canada for my master's degree. [Apambire also holds a PhD in hydrology from the University of Nevada, Reno.]

TR: How acute is the lack of access to safe water?

APAMBIRE: An estimated 740 million people globally do not have access to what we call improved water sources. About two billion people do not have access to safe drinking water that has been tested for chemicals and microbes. An estimated 88 percent of childhood illnesses are related to contaminated water and poor sanitation, and about 5,000 children die every day from that and poor hygiene practices.

TR: What advances are helping to improve access to water?

APAMBIRE: We're seeing more cell phone- and Internet-based technology to monitor water systems. Rainwater harvesting also has received a lot of attention. But even with the technology, you need to have the sanitation framework. If the village gets access to water, no matter how safe, you may still end up with behaviors that contaminate the water source. The community needs to know the link between contamination and disease.

TR: How crucial are partnerships, such as the ones fostered by WASRAG?

APAMBIRE: In developed countries, water is still taken for granted. In the United States, we each use about 100 gallons a day – showering, drinking, and watering lawns. You turn on the tap and you're not even aware you're wasting it. In Africa, the average is about 5 gallons of water a day, and many people don't even have that, or if they do, it's often contaminated.
I've seen Rotary building capacity and strategies around water. WASRAG has good projects that work with local people, using appropriate technologies and building sustainability. Because Rotarians are influential, they are bringing that attention. They also focus on where the need is, among the poorest of the poor.

2011 Remba Island, Kenya Water Project, Rotary Contributions

Rotary Distance Education Program New Video

The RI Convention in Sydney and Much More!

Last Week
It was a Business Meeting and I, unfortunately, was unable to attend owing to business commitments and I have a horrible feeling the same thing will apply this week as well as our suppliers are a day late....aaaarrrgh!
Steve du Plessis spoke, at the Board Meeting at the need for the Club to be involved in a Water Project and in an Education Project to have any chance of accessing a grant from The Rotary Foundation so I assume that was one of the things you talked about.

Clear Rounds for Clean Water

This Week
It will be a social meeting as there is no speaker and Discon is upon us this coming weekend.  We don't often have the chance to socialise at our meetings as they are short and often taken up with a speaker.

ROTARY BREAKS RECORDS, PUTS POLIO ON NOTICE AT SYDNEY CONVENTION

During Friday's world record-breaking Sydney Harbour bridge climb, Rotary members raised enough money to protect 240,000 kids from polio.

Photo Credit: Rotary International/Alyce Henson

Polio took a hit at this year's Rotary convention in Sydney, Australia.

First there was the record-breaking climb across the Sydney Harbour Bridge that raised enough money to protect 240,000 kids from polio. On 30 May, two days before the official opening of the convention, 340 participants ascended the bridge, eclipsing the record previously held by Oprah Winfrey for most climbers on the bridge. Waving 278 flags, they also broke the Guinness World Record for most flags flown on a bridge.

Then it was announced that the World's Biggest Commercial, Rotary's public awareness campaign for polio eradication, set a Guinness World Record for largest photo awareness campaign. More than 100,000 people from 170 countries have uploaded their photos, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Bill Gates, Archie Panjabi, Jackie Chan, and many more.

But the biggest news was the $101 million pledged to polio eradication. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbottopened the convention on 1 June with a commitment from his government of $100 million to the PolioPlus campaign. Two days later, Sir Emeka Offor, executive vice chair of Chrome Group, announced a $1 million gift to The Rotary Foundation to help end polio.

"Scores of my friends and classmates fell victim to this dreaded disease," said Sir Emeka, who serves as Rotary's PolioPlus ambassador in Nigeria. "As a young man I vowed that I would someday do something significant to end polio in Nigeria."

While Rotary's work to end polio took center stage at the convention, it wasn't the only Rotary initiative getting attention down under. Here are some highlights from the Sydney convention, which ran 1-4 June:

• Providing clean water. Collaboration and partnerships were emphasized at this year's World Water Summit, held 30 May. Global experts in clean water and sanitation urged attendees to join with the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, and governments to work more efficiently and effectively.
• Empowering youth. Australian cricket star Brett Lee, founder of Mewsic, and Maya Ajmera, founder of theGlobal Fund for Children and former Rotary Scholar, inspired attendees with their dedication to providing a better life for the world's poorest children.
• Promoting peace. Mwila Chigaga, former Rotary Peace Fellow and gender specialist for African Regions at the International Labour Organization, spoke to convention goers about ensuring decent work and equal opportunities for men and women.
• Fighting disease. Renee Saunders, senior public health adviser for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stressed the importance of public-private partnerships in helping to achieve an AIDS-free generation. Professor Martin Silink spoke of the challenges he overcame — with Rotary's help — to make diabetes a United Nations resolution.

A Fantastic Turkish Rotary Project.....and it's a Business Meeting this Week....the Last One of this Rotary Year!

Here are some pictures of our  meeting of two weeks ago when Robin Fenn of The Baby House spoke to us.  Guess which one she is!

Last Week

Francis Callard came to promote Foundation

Steve du Plessis gave us a very good presentation on the Rotary New Dawn Cycle Tour.  The tour to Luderitz will be in alternate years and next year will be a circular tour through Southern Gauteng and the Free State.  Congratulations, Steve, on such a successful first tour!
This is a project that will go from strength to strength.

Jankees Sligcher

Amina Frense

Steve du Plessis

President Joan Donet presented Certificates of  Appreciation to Amina Frense & Jankees Sligcher for their hard work at the Rotary Family Health Days and to Steve du Plessis for the Rotary New Dawn Cycle Tour.  Congratulations!

This Week
It's the monthly Business Meeting, the last one of this Rotary Year.

I think that this Turkish Project is fantastic!

ROTARY PROJECT CREATES COOKBOOK FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED

A participant receives instruction chopping ingredients during a cooking course for the visually impaired in Izmir, Turkey.

Photo Credit: Figen Ertas

• 
• 
• 

A woman with a black apron is stirring tomatoes into a pan of vegetables in Bursa, Turkey. Visually impaired, she is being helped by an assistant, who is a spouse of a Turkish Rotary member.

Elsewhere in the kitchen, other cooks and Rotary spouses are preparing meatballs, slicing and peeling eggplants, and measuring out cookie dough. At a table in an adjacent dining area, a man is reading a recipe from a Braille cookbook.

The cookbook, "Good Smells From the Kitchen," has enabled many members of the Library of Turkey for the Visually Disabled to enter the kitchen with new confidence.

"For the first time I made lentil meatballs," says Sϋheyla Karayalçin, a book recipient. "I had never done it before. I let others taste it, it was nice. I am very excited to have a special recipe book for us [people with visual impairments]."

The activity is part of a project by Rotary members in western Turkey, who have partnered with the library to produce the country's first cookbook for the visually impaired, printed in Braille and recorded on audio CD. Several dozen copies of the book have rolled off the library's presses and have been recorded in the library's studio, and given free to library members. Additional copies are printed as Rotary members secure funding and line up new sponsors.

Günes Ertaş says fellow Rotary club members came up with the idea after they had helped the library purchase Braille machines and other equipment through Rotary grants. Ertaş's wife, Fίgen, collected more than 100 recipes.

"We asked for recipes from Rotary spouses living in the areas from Canakkale to Fethiye," Fίgen says. "We asked them to empathize with persons with visual impairments before sending recipes. There would not be any sentences like 'add flour until the mixture comes together'; the recipes would be precise. We did not want to have measures in grams. Instead we asked for adjustable measures like tea cups and spoons."

A committee made up of a food engineer, a dietitian, several recipe contributors, and library users tested each recipe before selecting 100. Bursa chef Omur Akkor cooked each recipe with his eyes closed and made further adjustments.

"I came across an interesting description to dice a carrot in the book," says Karayalçin. "It says slice like a backgammon dice since not everybody may know what a cube is, but everybody knows the size of a backgammon dice. I usually do not spend much time in the kitchen, but thanks to this book I am more interested in cooking."
The recipes are divided into categories including soups, salads, starters, vegetables, main dishes, desserts, pastry, and bread. While the cookbooks were coming off the library's printers, Rotary spouses recorded the recipes for the audio version in a recording studio.

Four cooking courses were held in Izmir and Bursa to give library members a chance to practice the recipes. They were each given a free copy of the book and cooking utensils. Another course was organized by Rotary spouses in Balikeshir in December for children with visual impairments and their mothers.

The cookbook won first place among all Turkish entries in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in the categories of Best Innovative Cookbook and Best Charity Cookbook. It now advances to the world finals in Bejing. Günes says he and his wife plan to attend the award ceremony in May.

The project has also been featured on Turkish television and was selected by the Sabanci Foundation as one of its 100 changemaker projects. Günes says Rotary members continue to seek new sponsors to print additional copies of the cookbook, which costs $150. The name of sponsors are included on an inside page.

"This book is the first of its kind in Turkey," Günes says. "That's what makes this project special. That and a lot of people were involved. It shows what can be done in Rotary through collaboration."

Read a blog post about the project from Günes Ertaş

And here's something from the RI Convention in Sydney:

ROTARY’S HISTORIC CLIMB IN SYDNEY

Rotary members climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge and break the world record for most flags flown.

Photo Credit: Rotary International/Alyce Henson

During Friday's world record-breaking Sydney Harbour bridge climb, Rotary members raised enough money to protect 240,000 kids from polio.

Despite the physically grueling four-hour trek up and down the bridge's storied steel arches, the 340 participants kept their good spirits and stood side-by-side waving 278 flags.

"When the helicopters were going around, you just felt like one great big nation," says Graeme Davies, district governor of the Rotary Club of Kincumber in Australia.

The massive turnout eclipsed Oprah Winfrey's world-record climb in 2011 when she summited the bridge alongside 315 of her most ardent fans. But for Rotary members, the record paled in comparison to the experience and the opportunity to take a step closer to ending polio forever. The event raised 110,000 Australian dollars (US$102,300).

"It made me even prouder to be a Rotarian," said John Avakian from Healdsburg, California, USA. "It was an incredible experience of tremendous camaraderie."

Rotary members cheered for each of the 26 groups as they made way through the lobby to the entrance of the bridge climb. Cloud cover hid the sun for most of the morning, but light broke through briefly as the climbers unfurled their flags, which had been tucked into their sleeves during the ascent. Helicopters circled overhead from a variety of local Sydney news stations. Climbers cheered, danced, and even broke into the "Wave" from 400 feet above ground.

"I think that's exactly what Rotary needs," said Nate Harimoto of Thousand Oaks, California, "a show of force from all around the world."

Climbers from Taiwan, Australia, China, Japan, United States, and dozens of other countries and regions supported each other during the event. They watched each other's backs, literally and figuratively, helping to steer climbers' heads away from hanging steel beams. For a day, their commitment to help others also became a commitment to help each other. And in the process, they raised enough money to show the world how committed they are to polio eradication.

For Leilani Ross of Queensland, however, the climb was also about closing an important family chapter. She had long wanted to climb the bridge with her father, but didn't get the chance before he died a few years ago.

"The friendliness is just wonderful," Ross said. "Everyone is very welcoming."

Cheryl Drozdowicz, a former Youth Exchange student from Wisconsin, USA, who stayed with Ross 35 years ago, watched her go up. After the convention, Drozdowicz will travel back to Queensland for the first time since her program all those years ago.

"I always feel like a piece of my heart is still there," Drozdowicz said.

Fondly known as the "Coat Hanger," the bridge officially opened in 1932. The bridge is also referred to as the "Iron Lung" because it employed so many Australians during the Great Depression. Tourists began climbing the bridge in 1998, which is now considered a tourist must with over 3 million visitors from more than 130 countries in that time.

Get more news, images, and videos from Sydney
Go behind-the-scenes on Convention Insider