Cooking, Donating and Packing Are What We Do

If you're planning on cooking a Bolognese meat sauce, set aside 4 days for the task. It needs to cook and cook and cook at a slow simmer for hours on end until nothing remains of the texture of the mince we are accustomed to buying in the supermarkets and butcheries and the vegetables (chopped carrot, tomato, celery and onion) become indistinguishable.
     The is the kind of tip you'll only ever get from a real Italian Mama ... or a Masterchef winner.

Pretty in pink ... Lucille Blumberg thanked our speaker, Philippa Robinson, and handed over
a Rotary gift

     If four days sounds a bit excessive, cook it for at least seven or eight hours at a very low simmer, and add water when necessary to prevent it sticking to the pan. (The Italian cook's bible, The Silver Spoon, says 90 minutes is enough, but it isn't!)
     This was one of the tips we got from Philippa Robinson last week, who spoke to the club about her experiences in coming third in the previous Masterchef South Africa, and about her very adventurous life before and after being on TV.
     She said, for instance, that you should never eat a curry or stew on the day you make it, as the flavors haven't had a chance to merge together yet. Keep it in the fridge and eat it the next day, or better still two days later. Even then, she promised, the leftovers on the third and fourth days will taste even better!
     We should've asked her for tips for the Christmas dinner.

Carol Stier, a preoccupied president, Bob Wahl, one of our visitors last week, and Mike MacDonald listening to the speaker.

     A quite new and very welcome sight at meetings these days are the many visitors we get, and, hint hint, quite a few of them turn into regulars and then members.
     Last week Mike MacDonald brought Bob Wahl along, who turned out to be an ex Rotarian from quite a few years back. Bob looked interested in coming back to Rotary, so here's hoping.

Amina Frense and visitor Steve du Plessis, looking relaxed after he and Jenine had spent two weeks on holiday in Hermanus

     After quite a long absence, it was good to welcome Jenine back, but also to have Steve du Plessis there as a visitor. The other visitors were of course Debbie de Vries and Carin Vosloo, who hopefully will be around more often.
     We'll be inducting Debbie into the club on Wednesday, so be there if it is at all possible, as inductions are always special occasions.

Felicity and Paul Kasango and Judy Symons at the 5Cees AGM

5 Cees
     Paul, his daughter Felicity, Judy and I braved the rain, hail and thunderstorms to attend the Annual General Meeting of the Christ Church Christian Care Centre in Berea last night, always quite an uplifting experience, although they did carry on a bit last night and I only got home after 10pm. (In days gone by about the time the night started; these days way past my bedtime!)
     Interesting, sometimes disturbing, facts to emerge from the evening were, in random order, that the home needs R200 000 a month just to keep going. If Pastor Mike Sunker achieves his goal of increasing numbers at the home to between 70-75, that will increase to about R250 000, a daunting task.

Pastor Mike Sunker told the AGM the original idea for the 5Cees was
sparked after five street kids died of the cold in Hillbrow in the 1990's

     Primary income is from overseas donations, boosted by the exchange rate. Local donations have fallen of late, but they're hoping for about R1 million in the next budget, and R2 million from overseas.
     The increase in the number of children will be thanks to the conversion of the original coal bunker, used for heating, into a new block of seven bedrooms and four bathrooms on two floors. This project, run by Mike's son Ajith Sunker, impressed DG Grant Daly very much during his visit to the club earlier this year.
     Salaries take up a large chunk of the expenses, as half of the 17 employees are professional care mothers. There is also a social worker and the director and manager are also on the full-time staff.
     Utilities are expected to cost more than R500000 for the year and groceries R400000.

Birthday girl ... Siza Dlamini visits the 5Cees once a month to help
celebrate all the birthdays of the past month, much to the delight
of the children. 

     The kind of help that outsiders such as New Dawn can give from time to time, is a great help and the club got several mentions for helping with blankets, the Mandela month celebrations and the R20700 we donated for the paint for the exterior renovations last year.
     A special mention also wen6 to Siza Dlamini, who helps the children celebrate their birthdays with a visit once a month with gifts and special eats and treats.
     Pastor Mike also said a proposed joint operation with Absa to open another home in the Krugersdorp area fell through when the community decided they needed a community hall more than an orphanage, and Absa decided to comply with their wishes. He is looking at other possibilities to take the home to new communities.

Amina and Allister
     To Amina Frense fell the enviable task of disposing of the late Allister Sparks' extensive library after his death last month following a career of more than 60 years in journalism.
     Sparks was the best kind of journalist, one whose enemies could never sleep too soundly, knowing he was onto them. He was the master opponent: of the apartheid regime, of the English mining and business bosses in the Rand Daily Mail days and more recently of the corruption that has become so prevalent in the modern ANC.

Allister Sparks

    His memoir, The Sword and the Pen, was released last year on his birthday, says Amina.
    "As a journalist, editor, author, commentator and political analyst his collection of books was extensive and impressive," says Amina.
     Thousands were gifted to the Rotary Humanitarian Distribution Centre in Bedfordview. From there Khanya College in Johannesburg, with whom New Dawn partnered at the Jozi Book Fair in September, have collected many for the use of their students. Another part of the collection will be housed at the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism, the training institute founded by Sparks 25 years ago. Amina is of course the current chairperson of the IAJ and a long time friend and associate of Sparks.
     Congratulations on a rather sad job well done, Amina. The Sparks legacy will live on through your efforts.
     And as an aside: Amina says she's still wondering if there is any significance in the fact that Sparks had no fewer than 6 copies of Machiavelli's The Prince in his library!

Pedal Power
     In a letter of thanks to the marshals at the Macsteel race last week, the Rotary Club of Germiston and the Germiston Wheelers Cycling Club say that judging from early feedback, the race was a success.
     "We will be able to execute a number of community projects from the proceeds," the race committee say.
     "Your contribution to this success cannot be over emphasized. Thank you for placing the marshals as you have done for some years now. Please convey our appreciation to each member of your team."

Speakers
     Beate Schulte-Brader, who was going to be the speaker this week, has asked for a rain check (quite appropriate in the light of the weather these past weeks) because she's attending a course that runs from early morning to late afternoon.
     Beate, a Rotarian from the Johannesburg North Central club, has promised that she's still very keen to address us, so we'll try to set another date, most likely in the new year.
     She'll be replaced tomorrow by Chris Van, who will speak to us on the life of William Shakespeare. Yes, you read correctly. Chris is an expert on The Bard and it promises to be a great experience.
     The following week, 23 November, is the cub assembly meeting and then we're into the final straight for the holiday season.
     30 November is a fifth Wednesday, but the feeling is that we don't organise a social meeting, as it is too soon before the Christmas dinner on 9 December.
     They end of the year is a good time for catching up and I've finally got around to something I should have done more than a year ago: arranging for a sign to be put up outside the Parkview Golf Club announcing our meetings and the times. With a bit of pushing it'll be up before the end of the year.
     A Thought for the Lands of Trump, Zuma: No drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed, and love of power. - P.J. O'Rourke (1947-)
     ... and something more to think about: There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." - IsaacAsimov (1920-1992)