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.
Blind SA’s White Cane project, which puts production power directly into the hands of the blind and partially sighted, was awarded with the South African Breweries (SAB) Foundation Disability Empowerment Award 2025. They walked away with R1.3m in funding support from the awards ceremony, held at the Inanda Polo Club on October 14.
At its heart, White Cane is a bold, local manufacturing initiative where blind and partially sighted individuals produce the very tools essential to their independence… White canes.
These mobility aids, once expensive imports, are now being made in South Africa by the people who use them, bringing dignity, affordability, and local empowerment into sharp focus.
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.
