This Week: Fr Joseph Pich, Southern Africa and the Antipodes

 Father Joe is a priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei from Barcelona.  He studied Civil and Canon Law before he became a priest. He has worked as a school chaplain in Spain but lived in  New Zealand and Australia for many years. Father Joseph comes from a big family and has many years experience in working with parents, teachers and students. He is currently working in Johannesburg as a parish priest at Mater Dolorosa Catholic Church, Kensington and is Dean of the Central Deanery of the Catholic Archdiocese of Johannesburg.  Amongst his many activities he has established the Thusanang Programme to mentor school leavers who will be going to university.

He plays golf and sometimes football, likes hiking and goes for a run every morning

He has had a long and varied experience working in Australia and New Zealand and it will be interesting to hear what he has to say comparing working in those countries to South Africa.

Last Week - Adi Badenhorst of Badenhorst Family Wines

It was a really interesting talk that covered many aspects of winemaking at all levels and included many other aspects of farm life on Kalmoesfontein in the Swartland. including his love of parrots and his philosophy of life and the need for sharing and cooperation between wine farms and the responsibility towards those who are employed.  

Next Week - Georgie Visser of Dalewood Fromage Estate Cheese

It's a change to have a talk on cheese and though nothing in the food line can be 'authentic' if produced in another country because obviously the milk, the water and the climate are different, I would say that Dalewood produce some of the best soft cheeses in the Brie and Camembert style.

The following week is the 5th Wednesday and there has been no indication as to what we will be doing.

International - Vietnam

When a primary school teacher in Vietnam’s highlands explained that many of her students’ families struggled to afford warm clothing, the Rotaract Club of One Million Lives Saigon mounted a collection drive. In December, Rotaractors delivered 1,000 garments to villages that are home to indigenous ethnic minority groups in Dak Lak province, more than 150 miles from the club’s home base in Ho Chi Minh City. “Despite the challenging journey, we are committed to providing support to improve their living conditions,” says Thi Duong, the club’s president. Over 100 adults and children received the gently used clothing, including coats, shoes, gloves, scarves, and other accessories, which were shipped to the school along with food staples.

This Week - Adi Badenhorst of AA Badenhorst Family Wines

 

Kalmoesfontein, the Badenhorst family farm in the Swartland is well worth a visit.  It's owned by cousins Adi and Hein Badenhorst and they were at the forefront of developing the Swartland as a wine area.  I remember when it was just wheat and dairy.  The family has a history of wine making as their grandfather was the winemaker at Groot Constantia.

Adi's interest in wine really began when Jean Daneel, then winemaker at Buitenverwachting, let him make his first wine when he was 13.  After working at many farms in South Africa, Europe and the Antipodes, Adi and Hein bought Kalmoesfontein in 2008 and turned it into an ecologically friendly farm and began making wines using traditional methods.  I am sure he will expand on that!

His latest venture is the Saldanha Wine and Spirit Company that I only discovered when my son bought me a fino sherry made by them which is excellent.  I had wondered what had happened to the Monis Solera because its destruction would not only be tragic but almost the demolition of a National Monument.  Having tasted the fino, I wondered if Adi hadn't acquired it.

Last Week

It was a Business Meeting with much discussion on fund raising because we have to look at new ways of doing it, particularly as demands from the various charities we support are ever increasing as government funding for NGO's is whittled away.  A new committee has been established to make recommendations to the club.

Next Week

Fr Joe Pich  will be talking to us on the contrasts of working and living in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand .  He has spent considerable time in all three countries.  It promises to be interesting and entertaining.  When I asked him about South Africa  he said "Ah!  But  here you have freedom."

International - Bermuda

In October, Girl Scouts joined their parents and Rotarians in a beach restoration project along Bailey’s Bay in Hamilton Parish. “They collected over 1,000 pieces of microplastics, several tin cans, paper, large plastics, and rope that were on the beach near the mangroves,” says scout troop leader Cathy Bassett, a longtime educator who is president of the Rotary Club of Hamilton. The girls, ages 7 to 10, are studying the preservation of mangroves in Bermuda, Bassett says. The scouts have also conducted a geographical study of sand to learn what gives Bermuda’s beaches their distinctive pink colour. 

The mangroves, shrubs, and small trees that dot shallow waters along parts of the 75-mile coastline support biodiversity.