Monday 18 February 2019

Spanning the Generations at New Dawn

In true New Dawn style we celebrate the young and the slightly less young all in the same week.
     This has happened because last week Frayne Mathijs had her 80th birthday and this week the Rotaracters will be addressing the club.
     We also had a speaker last week, fellow Rotarian Elvis Munatswa of the Johannesburg North East club.
A toast to a favourite member on her 80th birthday, and may there be many more
     Frayne's 80th was celebrated with some orange juice and something fizzy for breakfast provided by President Linda Vink, and a magnificent carrot cake compliments of Carol Stier, for the health conscious amongst us.
If you weren't there you missed out
     In true Frayne style she managed to get in a plug for the National Progressive Primary Health Care Network during her brag and even produced a photograph of her with the founding members. See if you can spot Frayne, or rather a much younger version of her in the photo.

Frayne with the photo while Steve du Plessis listens to her brag, spade at the ready
Where's Frayne? Hint: somewhere in the middle
     Elvis Munatswa told the club that he runs a corporate wellness programme aimed at ensuring that people in the workplace remain functional. People often go to work hiding conditions such as depression and end up not being fully functional, which can frustrate fellow workers.
     Sadness is the major sign of depression, he said, but sadness is not the same thin as depression.
     "Depression has sadness for breakfast, lunch, dinner, on walks and in other everyday activities."
     "People on the edge don't smile as much, laugh as much, hug and high fives each other as much. They show fatigue and loss of energy."
Elvis Munatswa talking on depression
     As a community we have lost the capacity for compassion, he said.
     The answer is to try to spend time with colleagues who seem a bit off-colour. Give free hugs, high-fives and a kiss on the cheek freely.
     "People who get depressed are you and I, the person sitting next to you. If you don't have the tools to help them, refer them to people who have."
     Judging by the questions afterwards and the intensity of some of them, it'll be a good idea to invite Elvis back at a later stage.
Judy Sligcher and Carol Stier at the COSA meeting at the weekend
     As usual fellow club members were doing things Rotary at the weekend and a number attended PDG Jankees Sligcher' COSA (that's Rotary-speak for Council of Southern African District Governors) meeting at Twickenham Guest House in Auckland Park.
     Linda and I hosted the meeting as part of our day job as guest house owners and by all accounts it was a very successful conference.
     Delegates from all four Southern African districts attended and there were DG's, IPGD's, PDG's, DGE's and DGN's galore.
DGA Colleen Deiner won the prize for the most spectacular hat, proving that Rotarians can also have fun.
 PDG Shirley Downie looks on
     Rotary is a very American and Western orientated organisation and regional interest often get swamped by the interest and passions of the larger areas with the most members, so a conference like this serves a very useful purpose and helps build friendships and networks between the different districts.
     The speakers this week are Nadine Mitchley and Minenhle Majola of the Rotaract club who will each give a short presentation on the research they did in Middelburg under the watchful eye of DG Charles Deiner last year.
     They're inviting all the members of the Rotaract club along, which presents an ideal opportunity for members to get to know them a bit better, so please do attend the meeting.
Ian Widdop talks about our link with The Link
     Ian Widdop, fresh from his knee operation, was at the meeting last week and said that Tim Bashell of The Link Trust, our major project, will try to be at the meeting this week, hopefully giving him an opportunity to speak to the club about developments there.
     Dates to Diarise
     The speaker the following week is Wayne Duvenage, CEO of Outa (Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse), which gives us another great opportunity to invite guests and prospective members to showcase the club and the work we do.
     The theme of his talk will be: Are we winning the fight against corruption?
     The other important date is of course the Bridge Drive on Thursday, 14th March in Orchards.
Linda and Joan Donet have all the details.
     A Thought for the Week: Be sincere; be brief; be seated. - Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 -1945)







No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.