Greetings from the USA

The first meeting this year went off with a bang after a very quiet start when Jankees, Frayne, our speaker Dr Maria van Driel and I sat looking at each other, wondering if we were going to be the only attendees.
     The table soon filled up, though and Dr van Driel filled us in on the Jozi Book Fair, to be held at the Wits Science Stadium, West Campus, Braamfontein, from 1 - 4 September this year.

President Jankees Sligcher handed over an
 Usborne Dictionar to Dr Maria van Driel, who
 promised to find a home for all 70 of these
 dictionaries paid for by the Rotary clubs of
 Jhb New Dawn and Jhb North East

     The theme of the book fair is Youth Rising to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the 1976 Soweto youth uprising. She invited Rotary to set up stall at the fair this year, and the Humanitarian Centre will almost certainly take her up on that.
   
     Alex Gano and his girlfriend Kelsey (soon to be fiancé, he assures us) paid a two week visit to Kommetjie on the Cape Peninsula just after Christmas Day to join the clan for a wonderful summer holiday.

Alex and Kelsey during a wine tasting in Stellenbosch

     We plied them with freshly caught crayfish, Karoo lamb (they eat mainly beef in the USA) and of course South African wine and beer to make sure the holiday was so memorable they'd want to come back.
     For those who didn't meet him, Alex was a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar in 2011 and lived in Johannesburg for the year while completing his Masters in Economics. The club mentored him during this time.
     Alex is now just a year away from being a lawyer and is studying at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He already has a job lined up in Denver, and says they plan to make that city their home. He must be missing the Jozi altitude! Kelsey starts studying this year for a degree in Sociology.
   
     In the spirit of the festive season Dr Lucille Blumberg helped remind us that not everything we do goes unnoticed. Lucille has over the years been helping a community near Bushbuckridge with wheelchairs and latterly also with books from the Humanitarian Centre, while visiting the area for work. This has been one of the club's more successful interventions, helping change peoples' lives.

Lucille with a grateful Petrus Sibuyi

     Petrus Sibuyi thanked Lucille and the club in a heartwarming letter that shows we must redouble our efforts to help where it is needed most, especially when it comes to education and teaching kids to read.
Dates to remember: 31 January, Fast One Cycle Race
                                   21 February, MacSteel Cycle Race
Thought for the week: Scratch a pessimist and you will often find a defender of privilege. - William Beverage, economist (1879 - 1963)