Of DG Visits, Exchange Students, Painters & Other Things

We're back! After a week resting in the Kruger Park it's great to be able to report that the venue for the Discon 2018 is absolutely sensational and this could become one of the best Discons ever.
     DG Jankees Sligcher says booking for accommodation in Skukuza, where the conference will be held, will be available fairly soon, probably at the beginning of next month. It would be a good idea to book early and then wait for the registration for the conference to open as SA National Parks will give Rotary very preferential accommodation rates.

DG Jankees Sligcher laying down the law while president Carol Stier and Foundation chair Paul Kasango listen intently

     Linda and I managed to catch Jankees and Judy in a rare moment of relaxation over the weekend, something they haven't had much of during his first month as District Governor. Jankees expressed satisfaction with his official visit to the club last Wednesday. He has hit the ground running and has already visited every one of the clubs in Region 2, the region for which Christopher Thompson is AG.
     All in all he has to visit 80 clubs in the district, which he plans to do before the end of this year.

Looking presidential ... Carol Stier running the meeting

     Paul Kasango reports that the DG expressed his satisfaction with New Dawn, saying that there are not as many clubs as vibrant as ours in the district. He emphasised how vital it is to turn that vibrancy into actions to live out the Rotary theme for 2017-18 of Rotary making a difference.
     He also spoke of how necessary it is to attract younger people to Rotary, but also how important it is for older members to keep pace with the latest technology and use tools such as social media to good advantage.

Catching 'em young!  
     We've had an influx of young people over the past few weeks with Debbie de Vries and Henk van Buuren's two attending meetings along with Nxo, who is spending the school holidays with Mike and Frances MacDonald.
     There was an even bigger youth component last week when Emma Parsons, one of the two Short-Term Exchange Program students that New Dawn is sponsoring this year. arrived with her Austrian guest. Emma will be going to Austria towards the end of the year for six weeks and brought her Austrian "twin", Ivonne Gattringer, along to the meeting to introduce her to the New Dawn members.

Emma and Ivonne at the meeting. These student exchanges under the auspices of Rotary are
 more often than not life-changing experiences

Jankees and Ivonne at last weeks meeting. Jankees is the shorter one!

     Emma will be going to the town of Kirchberg-Thening near Linz in Northern Austria at the end of the year.
     Interestingly enough Ivonne's mother, Heidi, was an exchange student for a year in South Africa when she was a young girl.

Christiaan, Nxo and De-Jean, who have been visiting the club

     The second STEP student is Tim Lee, who is hosting a French boy, Come de Poncins from Lyon, at the moment. The two boys are boarding at St Stithians College and therefore find it difficult to get to our club breakfasts, but we'll hopefully get to see them at some stage.

Soweto visit
     It has been a busy start to Carol's year as president, kicked off two weeks ago by a visit to the Rotary Club of Soweto.
     Five of us, including Paul as the driver, went quite nervously into Soweto after dark along back streets to the Rena le Lona centre, home of one of the club's signature projects. Carol, Linda and I, Frayne Mathijs and Paul attended their meeting and had some supper with them afterwards.

Paul with president Lebo Ntoane

     Paul is Assistant Governor of the club and has been tasked by DG Jankees to help breathe a little more life into the club, which was established in 2001 with 25 on board, but has dwindled to the present 7 by the looks of it very enthusiastic members.
     Club president Lebo Ntoane is serving a second consecutive term in that role and has already been president a few more times over the years.

Carol receives a Soweto club banner from Lebo while Paul looks on

        If anyone can help them to get going again and going out to look for more members, it must be Paul. Perhaps more of our club members should try to go there next time Paul pays a visit.

Painting the town multi-coloured
     Nelson Mandela's birthday on 18 July is always an opportunity to do good deeds and Carol arranged with Woodside Sanctuary that members could go and help paint their new day-care room.
     This was an occasion for matching great fun with good deeds, so well done to everybody who could spend a bit of time on last Tuesday to help.

Hitting the headlines ... Carol arranged a visit by the Northcliff & Melville Times for the Woodside painting job

      Blanket drive
     The final consignment of blankets from New Dawn were delivered last week during our absence thanks to Lee Ndlovu, operations manager, driver and problem-solver at Auckland Park Accommodation who arranged the delivery, fetched the blankets and dropped 100 off at Woodside and a further 188 at 5Cees.

Warmth for the winter ... Sarah Sunker from 5 Cees helped township kids hand out blankets donated through loyal New Dawn supporters

     Thank you once again for all your hard work to seller-in-chief Linda and her team comprising at various times Sam Devercueil, Joan Donet, Frayne Mathijs, Paul Kasango, Judy Symons and no doubt a few more whose names I don't have at the tip of my typing fingers.
     The other main contributor to the blanket drive this year, as it was last year, was Coenraad Bronn, who has adopted the blanket drive as his own, using the good offices (and good reputation) of Rotary to get his friends, family, customers and whoever crosses his path, to each buy a blanket for those who need it most.
     We don't get to see him that often, so through this medium a very big thank you for your incredible efforts, Coenraad.

Lucille Blumberg hands over medicines to Shadrack, the security man at the Immaculata homeless shelter in Rosebank

Fighting colds, flu and other nasties
     Between trying to solve the world's malaria problems, HIV viruses, polio and other outbreaks, Lucille Blumberg found time again this year to replenish the medicine chest of the Immaculata homeless shelter in Rosebank, something she has done every year for many years.

Souping it up
     The induction dinner at the beginning of the month was memorable for a number of reasons, one of them being the zucchini soup that Judy Symons prepared. Many people asked for the recipe, and Judy has obliged. Enjoy!

Ingredients: Olive oil, 1 chopped onion, 2 crushed cloves of garlic, 750ml vegetable or chicken stock (home-made is best), 750g thinly sliced zucchini (baby marrows), 60ml cream and thinly sliced and toasted ciabatta bread for serving.
Method: Heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan. Cook the garlic and onion in the oil for about 5 minutes. Bring the stock to a boil in a separate saucepan. Add the zucchini and the hot stock to the onions. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 10 mins. or until the zucchini is very soft. Transfer the mixture to a blender, or using a stick blender, blend in batches until smooth. Return the mixture to the pan and stir in the cream and 2 tablespoons of basil pesto (again, home-made is best). Check the seasoning and heat up a bit more if necessary. Serve with the toasted bread and pass a bowl of basil pesto around for people to add more to taste.

And finally ...
     Please read Carol's email about the meeting tomorrow. THERE IS NO MEETING TOMORROW MORNING AT PARKVIEW GOLF CLUB.
     Instead, there is a club assembly at Twickenham Guest House, 66 Twickenham Ave, Auckland Park. Important decisions need to be made, so please attend, 6.30 for 7pm. Carol is making lasagne for a light supper and you're welcome to bring drinks if you so desire (it makes the time pass more quickly!) Jokes aside, do try to be there.
     A Thought for the Week: The good man is the friend of all living things. - Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)