Two women from very different backgrounds (Ventersdorp in Northwest Province and Angola) but with the same aim, to help heal the world through Rotary, joined the Rotary Club of Johannesburg New Dawn at the Women's Month meeting this week.
They are Mpho Mogotsi and Weza Solange, both of them media personalities in their own right. We look forward to them telling New Dawn members a bit more about themselves.
The Parkview Golf Club was a sea of pink and spirits were high for this special meeting attended by 30 members and guests.
The newly formed events committee under the guidance of Ivone Vosloo and with the help of Joan Sainsbury, Linda Vink, Karlien Kruger, Helene Bramwell and others organised a special meeting, made even more special by the induction of our two newest members.
(There were nine guys at the meeting to get tips so look forward to a special Men's Month meeting in the near future with beer and reruns of the Rugby World Cup Final 2019 and the Mbombela victory over the All Blacks 2022).
The meeting started with our speaker, Michele Jefferies, talking about mothers and their role in society. A mother, she said, wears many hats within the family and is the glue that keeps the family together.
It is essential that when you talk to your children or grandchildren, you make sure you're focused. They need to know you're talking to them and not anybody else. Get off your phone! she warned.
"Even when they want to ask you something at a busy time, just stop." If you don't, they turn elsewhere, to friends and others.
"If you don't give them the attention they deserve, they feel they're not valued," she said. And if you don't give positive reinforcement, they won't go the extra mile.
Weza came to South Africa almost 20 years ago with her family after her father had been assassinated during the Angolan civil war.
"The least I can do is to give back to the community (in South Africa) that has given me so much. I'm happy to join such an extraordinary group in a very selfish world," she said.
She made her name as a presenter on Channel O, Africa's biggest music channel. She was a Big Bother Africa participant on TV and has since become a star on stage and screen all over Africa, taking roles in Generations: The Legacy, Isidingo: The Need amongst many other productions.
Mpho describes herself as a life coach, energy healer, entrepreneur, author, philanthropist, model, brand ambassador and Mrs Universe Africa finalist 2022. Mpho has just started with pageant week for the competition.
She started her professional life in corporate banking after matriculating at Potchefstroom Girls High and graduating with a certificate and associate diploma from the Institute of Bankers South Africa.
"I look forward to getting to know all of you and joining you to help heal the world. I want to make a difference in this world."
The meeting was also an opportunity for President Julian Nagy to present Captain Velani Buthelezi with his Paul Harris Fellow certificate and badge for a lifetime of service to the community through the Salvation Army and now Rotary.
Rita Millan of the Rotary Club of Northcliff, also one of the Rotary Leadership Institute trainers, joined the meeting to hand over certificates to a number of members who have completed all the courses. They are Jacinta Akbara, Amina Frense, Matt Pitjeng, Tshepo Ramutumba, Wendy Challis, Babette Gallard, Joan Sainsbury and Olivia and Shaun Khoza, who have since left the club but are planning to return.
Thanks again to Joan Sainsbury for arranging the prizes for a lucky draw at the close of the meeting and for providing a platter of toasted sandwiches on each table. It is probably an opportune moment here to point out that whereas Rotary International has a female representation of just on 25%, New Dawn stands at about 60%.
A Thought for the Week: A poem cannot stop a bullet. A novel can't defuse a bomb ... But we are not helpless ... We can sing the truth and name the liars ... we must work to overturn the false narrative of tyrants. - Salman Rushdie (1947 -)
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