This Week - Johann de Wet of Dewetshof Wine Estate will talk about how they became a Chardonnay House and how the estate has developed from there.

 

Johann de Wet from De Wetshof is the third member of the De Wet family to gain membership to the Commanderie de Bordeaux, the French organisation recognising members of the international wine fraternity for their contribution to promoting the culture and wine of Bordeaux.

Johann, who is responsible for marketing and vineyard management on De Wetshof, joins his father Danie and brother Peter on the South Africa chapter of the Commanderie de Bordeaux. During his induction the Commanderie lauded Johann’s role in helping establish the Bordeaux cultivars Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot on De Wetshof.

Together with Peter, these site-specific vineyards have allowed De Wetshof to add prestigious Bordeaux-styled red wines to the Estate’s collection of acclaimed whites as well as Pinot Noir. A life-long visitor to the chateaux of Bordeaux, Johann’s contribution in promoting the viticulture techniques and wines of the iconic French region to South African wine-lovers was also recognised.

According to Johann, Commanderie membership is a tremendous honour as it underscores the important role heritage and culture play in the world of wine.

“I have been visiting Bordeaux regularly since my primary school days and the region has played a profound role in my outlook to wine,” he says. “In Bordeaux wine is life and it is culture. As a young South African wine producer it is important to acknowledge the role Bordeaux plays in influencing winemakers, viticulturalists and wine-lovers - it certainly has made a tremendous mark on my approach to wine. To be recognised by the Commanderie of this wonderful region is an honour you thus cannot approach without a sense of true humbleness.”

Last Week

Willemien Kleijn of the SA Guide Dogs Association spoke on the work of The College of Orientation and Mobility.

It was a fascinating talk as she discussed the various aspects of training for blind and partially sighted people and the obstacles that they have to overcome at home, outside the home in the street, shops etc.  She also spoke of the three aids were available to help them, the white cane, a gadget to assist with filling containers with liquid and a clip to hold banknotes that enables them to know the value of the notes.

It was decided to give our weekly Porky Pig personal brag collection to purchase the three items.

Next Week

Alwyn Colyn, MD Fezemax Training Academy on “Decentralised Training and trade-test centre for Heavy Equipment,Diesel, Forklift, Tractor, motor mechanics and  transportation Electricians.

International - England

An event to celebrate Indian culture featured local luminaries with Bollywood connections and raised about $2,200 for the Rotary Club of Maidenhead Bridge’s service work. Attendees included Chittal Shah, choreographer to celebrities, and vocalist Atul Pushkarna, both of whom now reside in the United Kingdom. Ten of the club’s 55 members are from India or have Indian heritage. “The laughter, dancing, and genuine sense of connection in the room showed just how powerful cultural celebration can be in bringing people together for a good cause,” says Lisa Hunter, charter president of the club. The November event helped fund a Parkinson’s disease support group and a trip by the club’s vocational training team to Uganda for a maternal and child health initiative.

Willemien Kleijn will talk about The White Cane Project of the College of Orientation and Mobility, SA Guide Dogs Association.

 Willemien Kleijn, of the South African Guide-Dogs Association, will talk about how white canes change the lives of people with visual impairments.

While guide-dogs are superb mobility aids for people with visual impairments, not everyone wants or needs a dog. The Orientation and Mobility Department, for which Willemien works, provides the alternative in the form of the white cane. The department serves people with visual impairments throughout Gauteng. It does so through orientation and mobility training and provision of canes and other assistive devices. This service empowers people with visual impairments to lead more fulfilling and independent lives.

Last Week

It was a Business Meeting that I, unfortunately, was not able to attend.

Next Week

 Johann de Wet of Dewetshof Wine Estate will talk about how they became a Chardonnay House and how the estate has developed from there.

International - Malta

The Rotary Club of Gozo has discovered a formula for civic and social media engagement: tell community members just how much they’re appreciated. After rolling out the glitzy Pride of Gozo Awards in 2022, the club saw a burst of interest in the work of Rotarians on Gozo, one of Malta’s three populated islands. “The event is our showcase of the year,” says Tom Welch, a past president of the club who proposed the ceremony, which is supported by the Times of Malta newspaper and a government ministry. “While not a fundraiser, it raises our profile: a touch under 40,000 views on Facebook, 600 new followers, and over 2,000 engagements. It also provides us with a collection of wonderful speakers and drives membership growth.”

This Week - It's a Business Meeting

 

Here is an appropriate cartoon for a Business Meeting.

Last Week

Mxolisis Mlangeni spoke to us about his ambition to become a commercial pilot and how he had achieved a private pilots license after huge efforts subsequent to achieving Matriculation in Thembisa.  He is currently working as cabin crew for Airlink but is struggling to make further advances owing to the enormous costs involved and the obstacles he has to overcome.  Ingrid Bolding, one of our international contacts in the USA, is putting him in touch with the Rotary Aviation Fellowship...that may not be the correct name!  Many thanks, Ingrid.

It was a very interesting meeting.

Next Week

Willemien Kleijn will talk about The White Cane Project of the College of Orientation and Mobility.

International - Vietnam

The Rotary Club of Saigon International participated in two global grant projects with District 3740 in Korea that have corrected congenital heart disease for 100 Vietnamese children since 2023. The $125,000 Heart-to-Heart project helps low-income families bridge the gap between what the government covers and what they’re able to pay out of pocket.
“We chose pediatric heart surgery because, with a relatively small contribution of $1,500 from us, we can quite literally save a child’s life,” says Hoa Nguyen, president-elect of the club. Rotary contributions are matched by the VinaCapital Foundation and the Vietnamese government. The impact on livelihoods is significant, Nguyen notes, as caregivers are able to return to the workforce after their child’s recovery.

This Week - Mxolisi Mlangeni will talk about his journey towards becoming a commercial pilot.

 My journey with the Rotary began in 2018 when I attended a leadership camp through my school Tersia King Learning Academy which played an important role in shaping my mindset and ambition.

In 2022, I joined one of South Africa’s leading airlines as a Passenger Handling Agent where my responsibilities included check-in and boarding coordination. Within a year I was promoted to an Operations role where I contributed to ensuring on-time performance and the smooth preparation of flights.

Driven by my commitment to growth I embraced a new challenge and became a Cabin Crew Member a position I proudly serve in today. Alongside my professional career I have been pursuing my lifelong dream of becoming a pilot. Through personal sacrifice and dedication I was able to fund my own flight training and successfully obtained my Private Pilot License.

Last Week

At the last minute our speaker, Jeremy Manuel, was unable to attend and Rotarian Ilesh Gopal stepped into the breach with a fascinating chat about his coffee business.  It was less about coffee itself and more about why he started the business and how it has grown and developed.  It was a talk that provoked a lot of questions and the surprising thing was that he sells more tea than coffee!

Next Week

It's a business meeting.

International - Hungary

A charity wine auction by the Rotary Club of Budapest-Margitsziget in November sold  over 100 bottles. Local wineries and three other clubs — Berlin-Gendarmenmarkt, Milano Sud-Ovest, and Paris-Quai d’Orsay — donated signature wines from their countries. The fundraiser’s attendance nearly doubled from 2024 and helped raise about $17,000 for the Fellegajtó Nyitogatók Foundation, which is constructing a residential home for children with disabilities. “We are delighted by the outcome, which far surpassed our expectations,” says Ferenc Szénási, the club president. “It is a great joy to see how the strength of community can bring real change.”

This Week - Jeremy Manuel will be talking about Water Retention.

 Jeremy will be talking about fresh water retention, not the medical condition! 

I was reading an interesting article about Dr Anthony Turton who wrote a report in 2008 about an impending water crisis which would cause unrest.  It was, of course, ignored;  probably because he he also cited the loss of expertise amongst the other issues.  He was suspended by the CSIR for bringing the organisation into disrepute.

He has continued to warn about an impending water crisis to no avail.

It will be interesting to hear what Jeremy has to say at a domestic and institutional level.

Here are the official government recommendations on saving water addressed to the lumpen proletariat, most of whom don't possess piped water anyway.  

1. Use a displacement device (a water-filled bottle) in the toilet tank to reduce the amount of water required to flush.
2. Use toilet only for its intended purpose. Don't use the toilet to dispose of trash or tissues.
3. Repair leaky taps or toilets immediately. A slow drip wastes 15 to 20 gallons of water/day.
4. Consider a small capacity toilet when replacing an old one.
5. Take shorter showers.
6. Don't let the faucet run when brushing teeth, or shaving. Turn on only when needed.
7. Flush toilets less often whenever possible.
8. Let smaller children bathe together.
9. When washing dishes by hand fill a basin or sink for rinsing rather than let the water run.
10. Run dishwashers only when full.
11. Avoid running the tap for a glass of water. Put a bottle in the refrigerator to stay cold.
12. Never pour oil or grease in the drain. It requires too much water to rinse it down and may clog the drain.
13. Wash only full loads of clothes.
14. Use buckets and tubs to wash your car or the dog, rather than a continuous running hose.
15. Water lawns and gardens only when needed and only during the early morning or evening when evaporation is lower.Use a nozzle on your garden hose to act as flow-restriction and reduce water use significantly.
16. Cutting grass to no less than 2 or 3 inch height will reduce the amount of water needed.
17. Sweep sidewalks and driveways instead of washing them down with a hose.
18. Reuse as much water as possible.
19. If lawn watering is scheduled, let kids play in the hose or sprinkler in a grassy area instead of filling a wading pool.

Last Week

Vinessa van Rensburg spoke about the Rondevlei Learning Centre with great enthusiasm.  I wasn't at the meeting but the success was measured by over R4 000 that the club raised via Porky Pig for the Centre.

Next Week

Mxolisi Mlangeni is a pilot who works works for Airlink. He will talk about his journey in aviation and how he has progressed up the ladder from being a Passenger Handling Agent.

International - Jamaica

Called Jamaica’s storm of the century, Hurricane Melissa swept across the island in October,devastating southwestern coastal communities. “Trees and power lines had fallen, roofs had been blown away, and some buildings had collapsed,” says Dominica Pradère, a past president of the Rotary Club of Montego Bay, one of the worst-hit areas. Two members’ homes were severely damaged, and all were left without electricity or running water for weeks. “Once we were able to communicate, we began to explore ways to assist people whose situations were far worse than our own,” Pradère says. Club members provided relief packages to several communities, working in partnership with the Rotary clubs of Kingston and Ocho Rios, and ShelterBox and Food For The Poor. “Fortunately,” Pradère says, “we have a network of Rotary friends and other organisations around the world who want to assist as we help communities and institutions to get back to normal.”

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  Visitors spooked nightly by Eldora Rotarians

This Week - Vinessa van Rensburg on The Rondevlei Learning Centre

This is a short video about Vinessa, our guest speaker on Wednesday.  I will repeat what I said about Rondevlei Learning Centre last week.  Our late treasurer, Richard Eley, asked that a certain amount of money be donated by the club on his behalf to Rondevlei Learning Centre.

About Vinessa van Rensburg 

The Centre is at Sedgefield, not to be confused with the Rondevlei Nature Reserve in Cape Town.

It's an unconventional school, ACTS at Rondevlei Learning Centre is a place of imaginative, loving and inspired teaching. The perceptive, intuitive and open-hearted teachers have attracted amazing helpers and tireless volunteers to support them. This has in turn, resulted in the creation of an unlimited space for a number of children to thrive, children who were not coping with the standardised mainstream government education system.

Carol Van Zyl and Vinessa Van Rensburg used to help out at Smutsville Primêre School. One day after discussing the painfully slow progress they were making because of the limited time they had with the children, Carol said to Vinessa it wasn’t enough; they needed to have their own centre where they could make a bigger and longer lasting impact. Seeing children struggling to learn, the pair were gripped with a determination to help them overcome difficulties that could otherwise negatively impact the rest of their lives.

Next Week

Jeremy Manuel will be talking about water retention.  This is something that is importance to all of us and the country as a whole.

International - Mauritius

On the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius, Rotarians are helping the country shift from an agricultural economy dominated by sugar to one centred on technology, banking, and tourism. The Rotary Club of Haute Rive joined the Ministry of Education to coordinate a job and education fair to connect job seekers with employers in hospitality, financial services,information technology, manufacturing, education, retail, and other industries. “For many, it was a first-time experience of being seen, heard, and valued in a professional setting,” says Deeksha Bundhoo, a member of the club, which has since established a mentorship programme. Government officials lauded the outreach. “The fair represents a bridge between the aspirations of our youth and the evolving needs of our industries,” says Mahend Gungapersad, the country’s minister of education and human resources, who attended the fair with other senior officials and members of Parliament.

This Week - A Business Meeting

There's not much to say about that, so here's the usual cartoon.

Last Week

Debbie Smit talked about an International Domino Competition.  I was absent and have had no feed back.  Maybe the whole club is going mad with spots in front of their eyes...I don't know.

Next Week

Vinessa van Rensburg will be talking about the Rondevlei Learning Centre. 

The Centre is at Sedgefield, not to be confused with the Rondevlei Nature Reserve in Cape Town.

It's an unconventional school, ACTS at Rondevlei Learning Centre is a place of imaginative, loving and inspired teaching. The perceptive, intuitive and open-hearted teachers have attracted amazing helpers and tireless volunteers to support them. This has in turn, resulted in the creation of an unlimited space for a number of children to thrive, children who were not coping with the standardised mainstream government education system.

Carol Van Zyl and Vinessa Van Rensburg used to help out at Smutsville Primêre School. One day after discussing the painfully slow progress they were making because of the limited time they had with the children, Carol said to Vinessa it wasn’t enough; they needed to have their own centre where they could make a bigger and longer lasting impact. Seeing children struggling to learn, the pair were gripped with a determination to help them overcome difficulties that could otherwise negatively impact the rest of their lives.

International - USA

For more than two decades, young anglers across Nevada have become hooked on fishing during a statewide free fishing day. In the city of Sparks, the event tips the scales: On a Saturday last June, more than 2,000 people lined the banks of a marina for the event sponsored by the Rotary Club of Sparks. Rotarians, joined by community volunteers, provided free use of 1,200 rods and offered fishing tips, hot dogs, ice cream, and beverages. The club has sponsored its city’s Kids Free Fishing Day since 2002. One of the event’s founders, club member Don Welsh, organised an extra day for anglers with disabilities, including his daughter, Rebecca, who had trouble navigating the burgeoning crowds at the main event. Club member Ed Lawson, now the mayor in Sparks, prodded the state Legislature to grant an extra day of license-free fishing for those outings, dubbed Fishing with Rebecca.