Monkey business at Discon 2016

There was a bit of monkey business at Discon this year, but also a lot of serious discussions over the three days at Misty Hills in Muldersdrift, at what was widely regarded as one of the best district conferences to date.
     The bar has been set high for our upcoming Discon at a surprise venue (and believe me, it's going to be a very pleasant surprise) to follow the one next year in Polokwane, where Grant Daly will be handing the reins over to Jankees Sligcher.
     The Polokwane Discon will be held from 22 to 25 June 2017 at Bolivia Lodge. Discon is normally held closer to the June 16 public holiday, but has been shifted a bit to make allowance for the RI convention, which takes place from 10 - 14 June in Atlanta, rather than the usual earlier date at the end of May/beginning of June.
     So start saving now!
   

Monkey business at Discon 2016. The New Dawners attracted
 a lot of attention, but unfortunately no prizes!

The chief monkey leads his troop ...

There was lots of serious business as well. Jankees Sligcher, now
District Governor Elect, addressing Discon.

     A few impressions from the plenary sessions: At last year's Discon there were a whole array of motivational speakers, at least five of them. Each one in his or her own right was inspirational, but because there were so many, no message really stood out.
     This year concentrated more on specific projects by clubs, most of whom had qualified for RI grants.  It's interesting to hear what other clubs achieve, often with as few members as ours and as little resources to start with.
     Former First Lady Graca Machel was the keynote speaker and was an instant hit. She listed many of the projects her Graca Machel Trust has undertaken.
     As with all the other speakers, she was given 15 - 20 minutes to state her case, which meant the sessions went particularly smoothly.

Gracious Graca ... Former First Lady Grace Machel

     She spoke eloquently and passionately about work being done with mentally stunted children, saying that 43% of black kids in the country are stunted in some way, largely due to malnutrition; about women in agri-business; about enterprise development and a new challenge, creating a network of women in the media
     A highlight as in many past years was the session with Rotary Exchange Students. Two of the dozen or so arrived in South Africa at the beginning of the year unable to speak a word of English. When they had to introduce themselves, it became clear that living in the platteland quickly cures that! Pierre from France, a strapping lad, played rugby for the first team at his school and his conversation and that of a German boy, Nils, was peppered with "Ja", "awesome" and "cool".

     Johannesburg New Dawn did well this year, receiving a Presidential citation in the bronze class from the RI president for fulfilling all but two of the set goals for clubs worldwide. Two clubs got the award in the silver class and eight in the gold class for meeting all the criteria. There's something to strive for in the next Rotary year!
     We also received a merit award from DG David Grant, both certain signs that the club is operating on all cylinders. Long may it stay that way.

Outgoing DG David Grant and DGA Margie Grant went
to the theme evening as the Flintstones, cheered on by
 Paul and Carol

     The report back from district wasn't all good news. District membership is now just over 1 400 in 79 clubs, down from almost 1 500 members in 85 clubs.
     Worldwide Rotary International has a membership of 1 239 000 in about 33 000 clubs, where the respective numbers a few years ago was 1 500 000 members and 35 000 clubs.
     A challenge was laid down for clubs to grow membership by 25% this year, which in New Dawn terms means 5.25 new members over and above Judy Symons. The call is also for 100% retention of existing members.
     There was also a call for more people to undergo the Rotary Leadership Institute training and better attendance at PETS.
     These are all achievable goals, although the increased membership might be a bit of a problem. Another goal is for 100% sign-up for My Rotary. This is such an easy and obvious thing to do, it's hard to believe only four or five members of the club have already done so.
     Go to the RI website, and REGISTER. The website will tell you everything that you want and need to know about Rotary, as well as offering useful tools to be a better Rotarian. It was one of the two goals we didn't achieve for the presidential awards.

The New Dawn team and friends ... PP Steve du Plessis is with Linda and on the far right is Stella Anyangwe, incoming president of Pretoria West, in her Rotary outfit. Jenine was behind the camera and the Sligchers were with the VIPs

Carol and Jenine at one of the lunches

Jenine cozies up to RIPPR Josh Chimhanda, attending as the Rotary
 International President's Personal Representative

We even got to play with Lego

Carol designed this perfectly balanced
thingy, proving that she has missed her
calling as an engineer

Tripping the light fantastic ... Jankees and Judy show some of the moves that keep them going!

     This year the club was better represented than at any previous Discon, with nine members attending some or all of the sessions and functions.
     Jankees and Judy led the way, with Paul Kasango, Frayne Mathijs, myself and Linda, Carol Stier, Jenine Coetzer and Carin Holmes making up the numbers.
     Some dates to remember: 26 June, joint board meeting; 1 July, the presidential induction; 15 July, Cheese Gourmet dinner; 23 July, proposed date for the first club assembly for the year.
     Thought for the week: Since when do we have to agree with people to defend them from injustice? - Lillian Hellman, playwright (1905-1984)