Tuesday 11 February 2020

Projects Big and Small

A meeting to review the club's larger projects is planned for this month where Carl Chemaly, board member for projects, wants to break each project down into manageable components. In this way  club members, whether they're members of the larger projects committee or of a specific project committee or not, can take on specific tasks.
     The more members involved in a project, the more chance there is of building and maintaining momentum and the more chance of eventual of success there is.
     The above relates to major projects such as Meriting, Realema, Donate-a-Loo, The Link and others.
     Most of the above are contenders for global grants if we can find overseas partners and have enough to put towards the grant.
Andy Ostle with Mike MacDonald
     The club is also involved in a myriad smaller projects and one of these came in the form of a golf day that Mike MacDonald wants to hold at The Wanderers in March.
     Mike brought Andy Ostle of the SA Golf Development Board to the meeting to tell the club a bit more about the reason for the golf day.
     Although chiefly a fundraiser, it is also a project in the sense that club members have been asked to try to provide golfers who will be willing to play.
     The Wanderers only charges R200 per player for green fees and Mike aims to raise enough to give R10000 to New Dawn and at least R10000 for the Golf Development Board.
     This money will go towards a bursary for a promising young 12-year old golfer who is already setting golf courses alight but lacks training and the means to a good education.
     Andy told the club that the youngster, Eric, is already playing provincial golf with 15-year-olds and is more than holding his own.
Joan Sainsbury talking about her experiences at Leeuwkop Prison
     Joan Sainsbury, who is transferring to New Dawn from the Rosebank club, told the meeting how she was approached three years ago to help create an art class for inmates at the Leeuwkop Prison. This she did with an initial group of 5 which has now grown to 109 students.
     She said the first groups were so passionate about art that they resorted to cutting up their mattress covers and using their sheets to create art on and sleeping on sponge with no sheets.
     She says she started teaching the pupils how to draw and paint, but that the range of teaching has expanded to include chest making, jewellery and other crafts.
     Creating and selling their art, even to fellow prisoners, helps the inmates to start becoming self sustainable ahead of their eventual release.
     Amina Frense reported that the Rotary Books for the World project that she and the late Frayne Mathijs amongst others championed, is getting a second consignment of mainly South African books from the publishers Jacana Media for distribution to worthy causes.
    David Marshall reported on efforts initiated by Jankees and Judy Sligcher to upgrade a children's playground at the Zoo Lake which is very popular but dangerous. Progress on anything involving municipal officials is often painstakingly slow, but it's a worthy cause and will be pursued.
Frank Odenthal and Hannes Dressler welcome a fellow German, Christof Plate, to the meeting
     The German contingent in the club could be growing following a visit by Christoph Plate, director of the media programme for Southern Africa of the the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a German political foundation aligned to the Christian Democratic Union in Germany.
     Christoph has been in South Africa for two years and is still a member of the Rotary Club of Lindau-WestallgaĆ¼ in his homeland. He has expressed an interest in joining a local club.
     He has travelled widely in sub-Saharan Africa and has many contacts in these countries and in Germany, most of which can be great assets for New Dawn.
Lucille Blumberg at Hluvakani with the lifesaving JoJo tanks
     There are of course a myriad smaller projects of all kinds, mostly focused on children and education, in which members are involved, such as Lucille Blumberg and the NICD at Hluvakani in Bushbuckridge in Mpumalanga where the club was involved in providing JoJo water tanks (donated by Carol Stier and installed on instructions by David Marshall) to the community. Fraynne Mathijs was also instrumental in providing books for local libraries and according to Lucille a Rotary plaque bearing her name will be placed in the Hluvakani library.
President-elect Ian Widdop
     There was also a significant announcement at the meeting when Ian Widdop said he has thrown his hat into the ring to make himself available District Governor for 2022-2023.
     If he is selected, it would be a great achievement for New Dawn, delivering a second DG after Jankees Sligcher.
PP Chibesa Chitangala of the Rotary Club of Chilanga in Zambia with President Judy Sligcher
     A visitor last week, PP Chibesa Chitangala of the Rotary Club of Chilanga in Zambia, attended last week's meeting as well and President Judy Sligcher handed over a club banner for him to take home.
     Chibesa is in South Africa to help look after his brother, who is recovering from heart surgery at the Milpark Hospital.
Rotary International Incoming President Holger Knaack, unveiling the down-to-earth motto and logo for his presidential year 2020-2021: Rotary Opens Opportunities
     Rotary International President-Elect Holger Knaack recently unveiled the Rotary motto for his year: Rotary Opens Opportunities. Knaack will visit South Africa in April next year for Discon 2021, when Rotary's 100 years presence in Africa will be celebrated by the Rotary Club of Johannesburg, the first club on the continent and founded in 2021. The Discon will be held at Emperor's Palace next to the OR Tambo Airport.
     Speakers: The speaker tomorrow is Lorna Wridgway of The Sages Toastmasters Club. Toastmasters is an organisation that has very close ties with Rotary and she will be speaking on A Journey Through Toastmasters.
     Sue Cock will be speaking on the following Wednesday (19th February) about her and Ian Widdop's plans to present the Faure Requiem at St-Martin's-in -the-Veld in Rosebank on Saturday 23 May with an amateur choir (including New Dawn members apparently!)
     This will be a fundraiser for New Dawn so start practicing your singing.
     A Thought for the Week: There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still. - Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 - 1945)

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