Inspiring Tales In Uncertain Times

 It's just over a week to go to the first webinar in what the club hopes will become a regular New Dawn Forum fundraising mechanism. As we all know by now, raising funds, the lifeblood of any Rotary club, has become increasingly difficult as the lockdown continues into August of a year that for many has been traumatic.

     The webinar is being presented by Dawn Nathan Jones and Lesley Waterkeyn and costs only R150 per person. Probably because of the long weekend registrations have been very slow, so please support your club in this effort and circulate the invitation with the registration details to everyone you know. We'll have to get at least 100 people to make it a significant fundraiser.

The invitation. Please forward it to as many people as possible

    

     The webinar is next Wednesday, 19 August at 10 am and will last an hour. It will be in place of the regular 7am meeting. Only people who have paid and registered with Karlien Kruger, as stated on the invitation, will be allowed to attend. The link will be sent out before the meeting to those who have registered.

     The club has also decided to sponsor attendance by 10 members of the Rotaract club and some members have already offered to sponsor Rotaractors, although we need some more sponsors. You're also welcome to pay more than R150 to help raise funds.

The cover of the book, which will be on sale at R200 a copy

     Dawn and Lesley have just written a book, Hope Stories, 27 Stories of Hope and Inspiration in Unprecedented Times, which will be officially published on 18August, the day beforethe webinar.

     During the webinar Dawn and Lesley will be sharing lessons of courage and inspiration during the current uncertain times.

     Proceeds from the webinar, as well as 10% of all sales of the book during the webinar, will go to Meriting, one of the club's signature projects, which empowers unemployed youth through education to become productive citizens and community entrepreneurs. You can read more about them at: http://meriting.org.za.

     Dawn and Lesley are both accomplished speakers and the webinar promises to be an experience to remember.

Dawn Nathan-Jones

     Dawn is known as one of the founder members, along with Carol Scott and Maureen Jackson, of Imperial Car Rental, which later became Europcar. She was CEO for many years before leaving in 2016 and becoming the only female Shark in the M-net reality series Shark Tank South Africa, where people with entrepreneurial skills could apply for funding for start-up projects.

     Part of her new life is giving back and this involves developing strategic partnerships with the aim to aid fledgling businesses, specifically focused on youth and women. One of these partnerships is her investment in Over the Rainbow, a social enterprise NGO that strengthens entrepreneurship ecosystems by providing entrepreneurs with resources that will enhance their success and sustainability in business.

     Dawn's passion for female and youth development not only stems from her role as a successful businesswoman, but from her ability to understand the difficulties women face in starting their own businesses. As a result, she is focusing her time on empowering female start-ups with innovative skillsets to succeed in today's challenging economic climate.

Lesley Waterkeyn

     Lesley Waterkeyn is the founder and vice chairman of Colourworks, now known as CWDi after merging with Design Ink in Johannesburg. The company has an impressive client base and deals with blue-chip companies throughout South Africa.

     She is described as a natural rainmaker whose generous and infectious entrepreneurial spirit uplifts and inspires others to do more than they imagined possible. A lifelong learner and active member of the world's largest peer-to-peer entrepreneurial network Entrepreneurs' Organisation, Lesley is passionate about unlocking the potential of South Africa's young people. She is also the co-founder of Over the Rainbow.

     You can find out more about Over the Rainbow at http://www.overtherainbow.co.za.

A family in KZN with a Hippo roller

     A number of members, including the Sligchers, Linda and I, the Donets, Helene Bramwell,  and Lewellyn Leonard attended the Zoom meeting of the Rotary Club of Winnipeg last Wednesday evening. The speaker was Strini Reddy, who attended the New Dawn  meeting in June where we thanked our international partners for their help with the Sondla Abantwana (Taking Care of Children) project in Alexandra.

The contents of the Survival Kit

     Strini spoke about their 1000 Survival Gardens Project which aims to distribute a thousand Survival Garden Kits to 1000 women in Africa at a cost of about R2500 per kit. He also mentioned the New Dawn Alexandra project and was clearly pleased that so many members of New Dawn attended.

     The Rotary Club of Winnipeg has already delivered the first consignment of 40 Hippo rollers, which are manufactured in Johannesburg,  to the Rotary Club of Hillcrest in KwaZulu-Natal-Natal, which were transported to needy families in the Valley of a Thousand Hills.

     The Hippo water rollers are of course not news to District 9400, as PDG Jankees Sligcher managed to get hold of them for a donation during his year as District Governor.

     Speaker: The speaker tomorrow is club member Christoph Plate, who will be speaking on East Africa. Christoph is Director of the Media Programme for Sub-Saharan Africa for the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

     President Ian Widdop will also induct Errol Burman as the newest member of the club.

     A Thought for the Week: What a child doesn't receive he can seldom later give. - P.D. James (1920 - 2014)