PRESIDENT IAN BALLANTINE’S MESSAGE

Ian Ballantine - Rotary President   The Rotary year is drawing to an end, but the Knysna Club remains very busy. Last Monday, the equipment bought with the Matching Grant from the Rotary Club of York in the UK, was handed over to Masithandane at a “Celebration Gathering”. Sincere thanks were expressed by their Board for the wonderful support given to them by both the Rotary Clubs.

On Tuesday, 4th May, our club celebrates the 48th birthday of its inauguration with a family fellowship evening at the Knysna Yacht Club.
 

MASITHANDANE MATCHING GRANT 2010 WITH YORK ROTARY CLUB

Way back in 1999 PDG John Satchel of the Knysna Rotary Club embarked on a 7-month overland trip through Africa to watch South Africa playing Scotland at Murrayfield in the first match of the Rugby World Cup in the British Isles.

After many unusual experiences and memorable adventures, he ended up with one other member of the original group and no vehicle in York, on the way to Edinburgh. This one survivor of the Africa trip had a relative in York who was a Rotarian, and they spent a few nights with him. The Rotarian’s name was Geoffrey Sherwin, and during the evening John and Geoffrey soon started chatting about Rotary. Nothing more happened after that chance meeting until 2007.

Geoffrey’s wife passed away in 2007. She was a South African whom he had met during the War, and Geoffrey had the idea that he would like to initiate a Matching Grant between his York Rotary Club and the Knysna Rotary Club in memory of her, and because of his conversation many years before with John. So he contacted the President of the Knysna Rotary Club who just happened to be John’s wife, Lesley. The Club had recently seen an impressive presentation about the work undertaken by Masithandane Community Centre in Sedgefield, and soon the 2 organisations were put in touch with each other: Rotary and Masithandane.

A list of needs was drawn up, with quite a lot of items relating to improving the structure of the building at Masithandane. Also items of furniture, shelving, kitchen items, equipment for employment projects (carpentry and mosaic designs), office equipment, educational equipment for 7 preschools in township and rural areas, a chemical toilet, and disposable diapers. 		  PDG John Satchel
PDG John Satchel admires the new equipment purchased for the mosaic work
  Equipment and Educational games
Equipment and Educational games for the
Grade R schools
   PP Joan Huskisson managed the administration of the whole Matching Grant from Knysna, and once all the formalities had been approved, an amount of more than R100 000 was available to spend on the needs and requirements of Masithandane.

A symbolic handover function was held a Masithandane recently. Rotarian David Heasman and his wife Angela from York were able to attend the celebration, which included an up-to-date DVD of the work at Masithandane and musical items by the preschool children who had received percussion instruments as part of the Matching Grant. The function was also attended by Knysna Rotarians and Board and staff members from Masithandane.
 

JERSEYS AND CAPS FROM AUSTRALIA
 
Liz Hall, the President of the Rotary Club of Foster in Australia, contacted Ina Thompson last year with the request to distribute beautiful jerseys and caps for premature babies. Those articles were knitted by ladies in their community. That parcel went to TygerBear Foundation at the Tygerberg Hospital. This week Ina received another 52 beautiful jerseys and 23 caps in the post from Liz. Some of these jerseys and caps were donated to the Maternity Ward at the Provincial Hospital in Knysna and the rest will be donated to TygerBears again.   Baby Jenn-Ray
Baby Jenn-Ray in her new jersey and cap with Jennifer and Sister Brownley
 

THE ROTARY CLUB OF KNYSNA’S ANNUAL CRICKET MATCH AGAINST EPILEPSY SOUTH AFRICA
Every year Epilepsy South Africa challenges the Rotary Club of Knysna to a cricket match. This year the match took place on a bright, sunny day at the Knysna Sport School on Sunday, 11 April 2010.

Epilepsy South Africa in Knysna is one of the institutions that has been supported by the club over the years. This facility is where 57 epilepsy sufferers have their permanent home. The Rotary Club of Knysna, through Matching Grants, supports them with things such as a workshop where they work daily making goods that can be sold for funds, bedding and curtaining for bedrooms, a bus to transport the day patients and an industrial washing machine for their laundry.

When the Rotarians arrived at the field, the Epilepsy team was practising already in their lovely, new, red, sponsored golf shirts. They practice the whole year for the highlight of their, the cricket match. This day they were rewarded, once again, with a convincing win. The 40 members, partners and friends of the Rotary Club played very hard, but the age difference was too much and Epilepsy won by far. After a lovely braai supplied by the Rotarians and some fellowship, the cup was presented to the winning team by the Club President, Ian Ballantine.

Everyone is again looking forward to the next year’s cricket match, braai and fellowship. Well done to Epilepsy for winning the trophy once more.
ANNUAL CRICKET MATCH
The winning Epilepsy SA Team


ROTARY INTERNATIONAL DISTRICT 9350 CONFERENCE 2010

Venue: The Lord Charles Hotel, Somerset West, 14th to 16th May 2010. See the Website for registrations: www.hsrotary.co.za

Functions include: Opening Cocktail party & Wine Tasting, Pre-conference Golf, Inspiring Speakers, Carnival-themed DG Gala Dinner
 
THE ROTARY CLUB OF KNYSNA’S PROJECT- “IT STARTS WITH A R1000”
 
Jenny Hayward
Jenny Hayward with the operators at the repaired the woodwork machine
   The Rotary Club of Knysna started a new project – “It Started with a R1000”. Every member of the club received a R1000 to spend on any project of their own choice. It is amazing to see the variety of projects. Three members used their money to repair essential equipment at Werkswinkel. Another used his money to buy a new fishing rod for a needy car guard and the rest he donated to the Association for Alzheimer sufferers. Three Rotarians bought 75 Rotary dictionaries for the Primary School. Epilepsy South Africa needed toothbrushes and toothpaste. With the R1000 and sponsorship from Checkers, a member bought toothbrushes, tubes of toothpaste, cakes of soap and face clothes for each of the 57 residents. The other members of the club are enjoying finding projects on which to spend their R1000 as well.
Happy residents
Happy residents of Epilepsy SA receiving their toiletries

THE ROTARY CLUB OF KNYSNA ANNUAL CHARITY GOLF WEEKEND 22ND AND 23RD MAY 2010

Rotary Knysna has announced its 11th Annual Charity Golf Weekend will be held at the Knysna Golf Club on Saturday the 22nd of May and at Simola Country Estate on Sunday 23rd May. This event annually attracts more than 50 visitors from Bredasdorp, Worcester, Albertyn, Ladysmith, and Cape Town to compete with our own local golfers for prizes in excess of R80 000 thanks to the generous support of local prize sponsors and generates in excess of R50 000 extraordinary cash sponsor support for this fun weekend for good cause.

Knysna Golf Club kindly assists sponsorship of both morning and afternoon fields every year on the Saturday. Pezula and Simola each sponsor alternative years on the Sunday, a real fun Shot Gun start event which starts with a briefing of all golfers followed by a rush to their respective golf carts and a dash around the course to appointed positions for all to start together. Anyone standing looking out at the course on the Sunday event would have fun watching the carts go whizzing around, occasionally one gets ‘lost’, has to be ‘found’ and led back to a starting point, a great fun day followed by fellowship get together at prize giving.

CHARITY GOLF WEEKEND        CHARITY GOLF WEEKEND
The Rotary Club of Knysna looks forward to local golfers supporting this charity initiative again to allow their work for those less fortunate to continue.
 

“PASK” EXTRACT FROM AMBASSADORIAL SCHOLAR DAMIEN LAHOUD’S BLOG

For those of you are do not speak Swedish, the title of this blog is Easter. Easter time in Sweden has been really interesting because it seemed to me like a combination of Halloween, Christmas and Easter all thrown into one.

Halloween because on Thursday the children dress up. The girls as witches, complete with broomstick, and the boys as gentlemen, they paint beards on their faces and wear old fashioned clothes and hats. Then they carry a kettle on the end of a stick and go knock on peoples doors asking for sweets in exchange for handmade cards, painted eggs, for singing a song or reciting a poem. It is very cute because its funny to watch lots of little people walk around dressed up as old people.

I did not see the kids trick or treating, but I did see them walking around at the Easter market I went to on Palm Sunday in Gamla Linköping. This was a smaller version of the Christmas market, but they still had tons of stalls selling sweets and food. There was also live entertainment including a local square dancing team complete with record player and cowboy outfits that had everybody tapping their toes. Now I don't know if it was just at the market or if its a tradition, but there were also elderly couples all dressed up in clothes from way back when? Even though it was a little cold, it was still a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Nothing really special happened during the week except a sushi night with some friends as well as a good old night out to celebrate Easter, student style! Saturday morning I caught the train to Stockholm to meet up with Donna, a Rotary scholar from Scotland who is studying in Lund, and Daun, a friend of hers from South Korea.

As I arrived early in Stockholm I took advantage of the beautiful weather, it was 12'C, to sit in the park and enjoy a fika while tilting my head skywards to soak up as much sun as possible. This is a really Swedish thing to do whenever the sun is out. No matter where you go there are people just sitting facing the sun with their heads raised. I felt like a local! It was a fantastic little solo fika and it made me look even more forward to the coming summer.

After a little shopping, I mean I was in Stockholm after all, I met up with the girls and we spent the afternoon exploring the old town as well as the southern suburbs. It was great fun just chatting, shopping and enjoying fika. It was nice to be able to share stories of Swedish life with a fellow scholar.

While exploring the southern suburbs we came across another interesting Swedish Easter tradition. While walking past the graveyard of an old church we noticed that it was very colourful so we went in to have a closer look. All the graves had been decorated with colourful feathers, flowers, pictures, teddy bears, etc. I'd never seen anything like it and it was quiet moving.

This is also when I realized the similarity to Christmas because they have, what I have dubbed, an Easter tree. They decorate the leafless trees or small dry sticks with brightly colored feathers and display them outside shops and in their gardens, there is even a large one in the middle of the town square. It is easy to see why because now that the snow is gone, but its still cold, everything is a little brown and boring. The colored feathers really bring life to what would otherwise be a rather dull time of year.

After our day of walking the city we treated ourselves to an excellent Asian buffet. It was an amazing selection of sushi, Chinese starters and Mongolian stir-fry...very, very yummy! After supper we went to a corridor party at Stockholm University to visit friends of Daun. It’s a pity it was dark when we arrived because I would have liked to have seen some of the campus, but I had a good time at the party discussing soccer with an Italian and cricket with a Pakistani. All to soon we had to leave and we made our way to our accommodation. A couch surfer by the name of Chris put us up for the evening and I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

After sleeping late and eating a late breakfast, Daun went off to visit her friends again and Donna and I spent the day exploring the rest of the city, especially the beautiful Djurgården, a park island in the middle of the city. It was another beautifully sunny day and we even had the opportunity to sit on the docks, with our faces skywards of course, eat ice cream (the Swedes love ice cream and the only requirement is that it must be above 0'C) and feed the swans.

I was really sorry to have to say good bye to my new friends, but luckily I know I will see them again in May when I go to Lund for a student festival. So ended my Easter weekend and now I'm back home and once again working on exam assignments and all sorts of other little things. I trust you all had a good Easter break? To all my South African readers I hope things don't get too "cold" now that winter is around the corner and too my Swedish followers I hope you are enjoying the "heat" as much as I am!

Hej då
Posted on Thursday, April 08, 2010
 

RYLA CAMP (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards)

Nineteen Interactors from Knysna Sekondêr, Oakhill, Knysna High, Montessori and Percy Mdala attended the RYLA course at Outward Bound near Sedgefield just before Easter. The learners reported that they enjoyed the six days tremendously. Not only did they experience physical challenges and “hardships” such as having to shower in salt water, but they also learnt to relate to others in the group in terms of assisting and supporting.

Good, clear communication was of utmost importance. The Interactors also emphasised that their activities often gave them food for thought and encouraged them to explore new ways of approaching problems. This course is an annual event which continues to be of great value to the Interactors. The Interactors who attended the course will be invited to lunch at the Rotary Club of Knysna where they will personally report on their experiences and impressions.   RYLA Camp
Learners who attended the RYLA camp
 

THE GREAT EASTER EGG HUNT: Knysna Rotaract Club
By Pierre Bredahl, Knysna Rotaract Member

On the morning of April the 10th, 2010, the Knysna Rotaract team, jovial of the experience to come, gathered at to Pick 'n Pay parking building for a morning of smiles and laughter.

A quick drive into Wit Lokasie brought us to Wonderland, a small crèche of about 30+ children run by a kind and hard working woman, Thelma. Mission Easter Egg hunt was now in effect.

Thelma moved all the little children into the building for the activity session. Colouring in pictures was the activity in which Jessica Kane and Stephanie Finn eagerly jumped in to assist but this was just a ploy so that the others of the Rotaract club could begin the covert operation of hiding the Eggs in the surrounding exterior of the building.

Once we were happy with the state of the hiding places we unleashed the little ones to find and secure those precious little commodities of chocolaty goodness which the children happily gobbled up along with all the other sweats and drinks provided. The sugar rush that soon followed was so powerful it could have easily powered a small city.

All in all the day went very well, lots of chocolate was eaten and smiles were had by all involved, a day worth burning into the memories of all that were there. A group photo was taken, with the children, Rotaract club members and those that worked at the crèche. Once this was done we bid our farewells to Thelma, the other women and many waving hands of chocolate fuelled kids. A farewell to remember!

For more information about the Knysna Rotaract Club please visit our website, www.knysnarotaract.co.za
Rotaract Easter Egg Hunt   Rotaract Easter Egg Hunt   Rotaract Easter Egg Hunt
Knysna Rotaract team and children at the Wonderland crèche Easter Egg Hunt
 
President: Ian Ballantine; Past President: Peter Klews;Secretary: Des Wearne;Treasurer: Rob Clark;
Club Administration: Franc Bentley;
Service Projects: Derrick Ikin; Membership: Mick Furman;
New Generations: Mendy Weiner;
Rotary Foundation: Louise Pannell;
Public Relations: Ina Thompson; Anns President: Helena Monk

Contact details:
THE ROTARY CLUB OF KNYSNA - knysna@rotary9350.co.za
WEBSITE ADDRESS - www.knysnarotary.co.za

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