This is the Rotary Calendar

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The Rotary Club of Paarl handed over 12 wheelchairs to disabled residents of Mbekweni. In a truly international effort, funds for the wheelchairs were raised by the Wheelchair Foundation of the UK, Honorary Rotarian Nicolaas Vrijland and the Rotary Club of Cranleigh in the UK, the Rotary Foundation and the local Rotary District 9350. Present at the handover were standing, left to right: Mr V. Mbubu Ward, 16 Councillor; Rev. Zamani Sikupela; Rotarian Cynthia Kabanyane; Paarl Rotary President June Kroukamp; Potris Mangena, Ward 9 Councillor and Rotarian Dave Moss.

The Mayor of Drakenstein addressed Paarl Rotary on the future of the Drakenstein region and efforts by the Municipality to improve quality of life for all residents in the area. Adv. Geesie van Deventer said the local authority was concentrating on strategies that would assist in creating jobs opportunities by providing clean, efficient local government; incentives for businesses to invest; stimulating tourism and improving service delivery, among others. She praised Paarl Rotary for its service to the community and cited the club as an example of constructive involvement by civil society.

Mr Abie Martin was inducted as a member of The Rotary Club of Paarl on 31 January 2012. A retired information technology executive, he has long been active in the local community and plays a prominent role in the Paarl Valley Eisteddfod and efforts to restore the Arboretum to its former glory.

In January the Paarl Rotary Club again successfully hosted the annual Bouckaert-Soenen Road an MTB cycle races. Here are some images from the day:

Dr David van Velden, well-known Stellenbosch medical academic and health columnist, addressed members of Paarl Rotary on the benefits of Whole Person Wellness, Integrative Medicine and Nutritional Medicine. Dr Van Velden said modern medicine was moving away from acute intervensionist treatment with medication and surgery, to preventive lifestyle interventions to avoid and manage chronic diseases. He said a healthy diet, regular exercise, creative activities and a positive mental attitude are the basic building blocks for a healthy life. Annick van de Geest, Past President of the Rotary Club of Haarlemmermeer 1852 in the Netherlands, also visited Paarl Rotary. She is pictured exchanging club banners with June Kroukamp, President of Paarl Rotary.

In December Paarl Rotary President June Kroukamp and Rotarian Eugene Reynders delivering food parcels to residents of the Sontstraal home for the Christmas holidays. Many residents return to their homes and families for the holidays and the parcels add cheer to the festive season

Dan Skinstad inspired members of the Rotary Club of Paarl when he talked about his recent circumnavigation of Iceland in a kayak with adventurer Riaan Manser. On 4 September, the duo conquered Iceland’s coastline paddling 2 000km in a kayak named “Inspiration” without aid, battling treacherous seas and freezing temperatures for almost six months. Dan is the younger brother of Rugby star Bob Skinstad, and was born with a mild form of cerebral palsy.

Jonathan Deal, Chairman of the Treasure Karoo Action Group [TKAG], addressed Paarl Rotary on the potential dangers of fracking in the sensitive Karoo environment. Hydrofracking is the contentious practice of using chemicals and water to extract underground natural gas. A number of major energy corporations are preparing to apply this method to extract gas in the Karoo. Opposition is growing amid concern that fracking will deplete and pollute the area's scarce water supplies and severely damage the fragile surface environment. TKAG, with a handful of core leaders and about 100 volunteers, has emerged as the main opposition group to fracking in the Karoo.

Caption for the attached pic: Left to right: Jeanie le Roux, TKAG researcher, June Kroukamp, President Paarl Rotary, Jonathan Deal, Chairman TKAG

The Rotary Club of Paarl hosted District Governor Judge Deon van Zyl at a meeting last week. He is busy visiting the 61 Rotary Clubs that comprise Rotary District 9350. The district includes Angola, Namibia, part of the Northern Cape and Western Cape. Judge van Zyl was accompanied on his visit to Paarl by Rotary Assistant Governor Geraldine Nichol.

Caption: Left to right - Assistant Governor Geraldine Nichol, Paarl Rotary President June Kroukamp, District Governor Deon van Zyl

A group of visiting Rotarians from the Midborg, Reykjavic club in Iceland, including a former Prime Minister of Iceland, was hosted by the Rotary Club of Paarl. At a luncheon meeting on 18 October were from left to right: Aslaug Jonsdottir [Franschhoek Valley Rotary Club], Robert Melax [Paarl Rotary], Erna Halldorsdottir, Geir Haarde [former Icelandic Prime Minister] June Kroukamp [President, Paarl Rotary] Inga Jona Thordardottir, Guilherme de Santa Anna Arantes [Rotary Exchange student from Brazil] and Kolbein Kristinson [Franschhoek Valley Rotary Club].

The partners of members of the Rotary Club of Paarl attended a workshop on how to use the right side of the brain. The workshop took place on 8 October at Mountain Shadows guest farm outside Paarl and was presented by Ade'Le Claudia Fouche of Art Route at De Poort.

The Marc’s Simonsberg Mountain Bike Challenge took place on Backsberg and surrounding farms on Saturday 10 September under treacherous, rainy conditions. Almost 500 riders entered and battled one of the toughest courses in the Boland. The MBT Challenge was made up of a 45km long route and a 30km short route. The long route required more technical riding skills than the average PPA fun ride and was aimed at the fit rider. Family activities for the day included glass blowing demonstrations, horse riding, winetasting and foodie experiences.Organised by the Rotary Club of Paarl, money raised by the race will go towards community development projects. The Pedal Power Association rated the event and gave it a score of 92%, saying it only got positive feedback from riders.

Ciaran O’Reilly, a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar from Ireland, addressed the Rotary Club of Paarl on Tuesday 23 August. Ciaran is a post graduate student in human rights at the University of Cape Town and spoke about human trafficking and its dehumanizing impact on especially young girls across the world. Fellow student and Paarlite Lynelle Kenned accompanied him.

The Rotary Club of Paarl bestowed their annual Supercop Awards on Warrant Officer Donevan Cupido and Detective Constable X T Makupula for exceptional service to the Paarl community. They were instrumental in significantly reducing crime levels in their respective areas of responsibility during the past year. Paarl Rotary President June Kroukamp handed W/O Cupido his award certificate during a function last week. Detective Constable Makupula has in the meantime been transferred to Motherwell in the Eastern Cape.

Two students visited The Rotary Club of Paarl this week and gave presentations on their activities in South Africa. Bence Gonda Step Stot is from Pecs in Hungary and has been sponsored by his home club to spend three months in Paarl. Yashar Keramati is a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar from Canada and is studying the dynamics of gang culture in townships. He is currently living and working in Fisantekraal to improve quality of life among the local youth.

The Rotary Club of Paarl inducted Mrs June Kroukamp, its new President for 2011-2012, at a ceremony held on Saturday 2 July. June is the second female president in the club’s 71-year history and succeeds Jimmy Ferendinos, whose term of office ended on 30 June. The induction was attended by 100 guests, including the Deputy Mayor of Paarl, Conrad Poole, and members of surrounding Rotary clubs and service organisations.

Recently the club had a 'bridge wetting' ceremony for the unveiling of a bridge on Paarl mountain. The club had sponsored this bridge for the benefit of the community.

The Rotary Club of Paarl smashed all previous records when they made a gross profit of almost R300 000 at the 9^th annual Rotary Wine, Art & Jewellery Auction held at Backsberg Wine Estate on Sunday. The event is the biggest charity wine auction in South Africa. More than 250 guests from as far afield as Europe, Australia and the USA attended, making it one of the highlights on the Boland social calendar. Many of SA’s top wine estates, hospitality establishments and artists donated more than 100 lots that came under the hammer of charity auctioneer Dan Nicholl. One of the highest bids was R6 000 for a collection of 18 bottles of Arra Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, Shiraz 2005, Viognier 2008 and two nights for two at Kagga Kamma Private Game Reserve. A vertical collection of six bottles of Klein Constantia Vin de Constance was sold for R5 750 and a diamond necklace fetched R26 000. Funds raised will be distributed to community projects in the Paarl and Wellington areas. “This has been our most successful auction to date and we want to thank all who supported this good cause despite the current tough economic conditions”, said Mr Jimmy Ferendinos, president of Paarl Rotary Club.

With the wet winter chill setting in, some deserving individuals will find comfort thanks to a generous gift of 120 soft, warm blankets. Dischem at Paarl Mall approached the Rotary Club of Paarl to distribute the blankets on their behalf to needy residents of Paarl and Wellington. The blankets were delivered to NorSA and Drakenstein Palliative Hospice’s Butterfly House, two organisations doing sterling work in these communities.

The Rotary Club of Paarl members recently manned their Boerewors and Ice-Cream stall at the annula Cheese festival held at Sandringham.

At yesterday's meeting the guest speaker was Ambassadorial Scholar Lina Taing from California. Her sponsor club is R C Long Beach, CA D5320 You both heard her presentation. She is pictured with the bottle of wine Len won and gave her.

During the meeting on 19 April Ruth Gylfadottir was inducted as a new member.

Ruth is Honorary Consul for Iceland in the Western Cape Province, lives in Pearl Valley and is Founder and Chairperson of ENZA, a South African / Icelandic NGO who run a Skill Centre for women in Mbekweni / Newrest.

The Guest speaker at the same meeting was Sister Jane Austin from the Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, Cape Town. She talked about Tracheotomy Care, where she has developed a unique approach in South Africa which includes a training program for mothers. She has recently returned from delivering a paper in Australia.

The guest speaker last Tuesday was Karyne Merrick Moor an Ambassadorial Scholar from Canada, studying at Stellenbosch University. She came with her husband Wesley to give us a very polished, informative talk about her studies, qualifications and work so far, followed by a broad picture of Canada.

At last meeting the guest speaker was Stephen Meyer who talked about his experiences while doing research on Marion Island. Stephen is a Paarl boy who attended Courtrai Primary, then Bridge House School and did his BSc and BSc Honours in Nuclear Physics at Stellenbosch University.

On Marion Island he worked on the space physics equipment, similar to that at Antarctica, but on a smaller scale. Currently Stephen is working on his Masters Degree on Space Physics at the Hermanus Magnetic Observatory and through the University of KwaZulu Natal. His very interesting talk was enjoyed by all present.

The guest speaker at the weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of Paarl was Dr. Greg Olsen, who talked about his visit to the International Space Station in 2005. After six months of intensive training for the ten day trip, he set off from Russia. One of the most careful maneuvers was docking the space capsule, which took three days. He described weightlessness as something you get used to. Having established that the carpet part of the space ship was the floor you would suddenly find yourself thinking of the carpeted side as the roof. He thoroughly enjoyed the whole trip and would happily do all over it again.

Dr. Olsen has bought a farm in the Paarl area and is trying hard to become a Paarlite.

The Rotary Club of Paarl has a new Rotary Exchange Student. He is Guilherme de Santana Arantes, from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Guilherme has joined grade 11 at Paarl Boys High for the year. Currently he is hosted by Mrs. L Beyers of Paarl, who's daughter Babette is hosted by Guilherme's parents in Sao Paulo.

A few pictures of the Seniors' Concert. The 2 gentlemen with Jimmy and Kaufie are from left to right Fahmie Kozain, Perishable goods manager and Mark Abrahams, store manager, Shoprite, who supplied the food packages.

The pictures below are from a recent meeting with visiting Rotarian (Prof.) Hermann Delbrueck, R C Wuppertal, Germany exchanging banners, Chubby Howell and Bakkies Smit who both received a Paul Harris award from RC West Jordan, Utah, USA for their help, given by handling the Matching Grant in the case of Chubby -and his is a Sapphire-, and to their members during the visits in the case of Bakkies.

At the meeting on 1 Feb, the guest speaker was Ambassadorial Scholar Kirsten Thompson from Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, USA. Her sponsoring club is R C Mount Pleasant, D7770. She is studying International Relations at UCT. The hosting club is RC Sea Point. Kirsten exchanged banners from the sponsoring club.

Visiting Rotarian Hubert Gaemz and his wife Susanne from RC Stromberg-Naheland, Germany also exchanged banners.

On 17 January the Rotary Club of Paarl handed over another eight wheel chairs to residents of Mbekweni.

Pictured are four of the recipients form left to right Engelina Buti, Sibuleka Kola, Zoliswa Ndiniso and Nomsamo Siyuma in front of Rotarians Dave Moss, Cynthia Kabanyane and Club President Jimmy Ferendinos.

The guest speaker recently was Dr. Sidima Kabanyane, the Drakenstein Muncipal Manager (and Cynthia's husband), and visitor Ruth Kristinsson Icelandic Consul and Chairperson of Ensa.

Babette Beyers, our outgoing exchange student visited the club, shortly before leaving for Sao Paulo on 15th Januar 2011. Rotarian Marc Cappis and wife Valeria, R C Appenzell, Switzerland, handed over a Banner during their visit to our club. Robert Melax returned to club after visits to four clubs in four South American countries, handing over club banners to President Jimmy.

Wrapped presents from the Tree of Joy, organized by R C Drakenstein were transported to the various children's homes in time for Christmas.

From midday Saturday 27. Nov. until evening of Tuesday 30th our club hosted an R F E team from D-5960 -parts of Wiconsin and Minnesota, USA. The group were takent for a tour of the winelands including wine tasting, up Table Mountain and the club's main community projects. They joined our evening meeting from where they were rushed to Cape Town to catch their flight home , which left at midnight. The group left with many new impressions, which hopefully result in a return visit.

Pictured are from L to R Paarl Pres. Jimmy, Arba-Della Beck, Jeanne Matlock , team leader Jennifer Homer, Jingle Mahan, Melany Sullivan, Cherry Kohoutand and Jack Matlock. Left on and earlier flight Al Zdrazil and Sally Mortenson.

Marietjie Bezuidenhout, Managing Director of NorSa Community Care in Newrest was made a Paul Harris Fellow in recognition of her and her team's valuable contribution in the fight against HIV/AIDS, TB and extreme poverty. President Brenda Cole, Rotary Club of West Jordan, Salt Lake City, Utah, made the presentation at a function hosted by the Rotary Club of Paarl at the Monte Christo Ministries Food Centre in Dal Josafat. A posthumous award was made to NorSa's stalwart Antoinette Labuschagne to honor her important role in the organization's success.

The Rotary Clubs of West Jordan and Paarl, through a matching grant have made a donation of R145 000 to NorSa.

NorSa was founded in 2006 as a non profit organization and is funded through donations and grants. It cares for 150 families and 500 children through its various programs, while its soup kitchens feed 800 people every day.

Pictured: President Brenda Cole, USA exchanging banners with President Jimmy Ferendinos, Paarl with Rotarian Wiekus Viljoen in the foreground.
Marietjie Bezuidenhout receiving the award from President Brenda Cole of the Rotary Club of West Jordan, Utah, USA

The Rotary Club of Paarl recently celebrated its 70th year with an informal dinner. Some interesting information fro over the years:

The total cost of the first luncheon in April 1940 was Two pounds and seventeen shillings (R5.70) President's chain presented by V J Lindstrom on behalf of the Rotary Club of Stellenbosch. The first Rotary meeting in 1940 was held at the Royal Hotel (later Picardie) until 1945 when the club moved to the Central Hotel where it's meetings were held for the next 40 years until the hotel closed down in the mid 80's and meetings were again held at the Picardy (old Royal) until it also closed down in the 1990's.

Paarl won the attendance prize at Conference in Pietermaritzburg in1952 -hard to believe, but true- at the time one district covered the whole of South Africa.

R C Paarl was chartered on 27. June 1940 The charter members were; Allsop F J, Bishop H P, De Kock R P De Villiers J S, Frater G (Pres. 1943/44), Gibbon R W (Pres. 42/43), Horwitz E J, Kaplan S, Knott-Craig J F (Pres 40/42), Le Roux S, Malherbe M P (Pres. 44/45, Nel J A, Oettle E J, Smith T V (Pres. 46/47),Smuts L M (Pres. 45/46), Stoffberg J A, Swanepoel J D, Weedon W (Pres 42/43).

Admission Fee: 10s (R1), Membership Fee: 2 guineas (R4.40)

Although the first Rotary lunch was held at the Royal Hotel on 17 April 1940 and the club officially chartered 27 June, the charter dinner was held on the 30th of October due to wartime and late arrival of charter certificate.

The recently held Rotary 6 a side Cricket tournament was won by the Paarl / Wellington team, captained by our own Clive.

The team members were Lynne le Grange, Pres. R C Wellington, Clive, Theo Rischbieter, Wellington Rotarian, Mitchell, Rotaractor, Mark Trent, Clive's son,
Rudi Brits, and Thinus Bredell for Henk, David Myburg for Eugene and Team psychologist: Kim

The Club presented Ms. Anne Kruger, editor Paarl Post, with a Certificate of Excellence.

The award was given as a token of the Club's appreciation for continuing support. By publicising the social upliftment initiatives of Rotary and other service organizations, the Paarl Post creates invaluable public awareness and greatly assists our efforts to improve the quality of life of those in need.

There were also some visiting Rotarians at our recent meetings: Erna Bryndis Halldorsdotter of the Rotary Club of City Reykjavik and Guest Speaker Janey Ball, of R C Newlands. She is the District Public Relations Chair.

Our guest speaker was Tony Maracini. Tony, who is from New York State is studying at UCT. She exchanged banners from her host club R C Harrison, New York, D7230.

At a recent function at the Aandbloem Dienssentrum vir Senior Burgers President Jimmy, Elsabe, and Lindy Howell handed over
46 Mack Jackets to seniors to protect them from inclement weather.

The Coordinator Mrs. Susan Manas assisted in handing out the jackets to the very grateful members. Personnel from Rusthof
Old Age Home were also present. The funds for the jackets were shared between our club and by way of District Designated Funds.

Here are some pictures taken at the handover of 2 of the 4 children's wheel chairs to children from the Mbekweni community.

Pictured are Pres. Jimmy and Cynthia with Nasiphi 6 years old, left, and Phaphamani 17 years, right, with their respective mothers Sephokazi Bandeza and Sylvia Qhangaqha, Sitting in Cynthia's office and listening to what Pre. Jimmy had to say, translated by Cynthia.

At a recent informal dinner, Jimmy Ferendinos was inducted as the Rotary Club of Paarl’s President for the forthcoming
year. The induction was conducted by the Club’s outgoing President Robert Koch. The occasion was celebrated by Assistant
Governor Lorna Reade, representatives of other local service organizations and Rotary Clubs.

Photograph on left: l to r Outgoing President Robert Koch, Assistant Governor Lorna Reade, Incoming President Jimmy Ferendinos .

During the same function, the Rotary Club of Paarl also proudly bestowed a Paul Harris Fellowship on Mrs Margie Molenaar, wife of Past President Guus Molenaar in recognition of her untiring efforts in support of two of the Club’s community service projects – the Island of Hope and NORSA. Photographed on the right above.

At a recent function The Rotary Club of Paarl presented Aletia Grundling with the Rotary Community Service Award in
recognition of her efforts in managing the Monte Christo feeding programme here in Paarl, where they feed in excess of 5000
children per day. The Rotary Club of Paarl contributes R8000 per month to this extremely beneficial scheme.

Photographed are: President Rob Koch presenting Aletia Grundling with the Rotary Community Service Award.

Four students who attended the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards camp earlier in the year, were recent visitors at their
sponsor’s weekly meeting, where they shared their individual experiences with the members of Paarl Rotary Club.

In the photograph are: l to r : David de Almeida, Kayleigh Garrett, Rob Koch , President of Paarl Rotary Club, Lesley Arenz and Chad
Marthinussen.

Recently the club was fortunate enough to have visiting Rotarian John Diksa from the Grenoble Club, France, at our meeting as a guest speaker. He handed from his club a glass disc with the Four Way Test inscribed to our newest member (Marita) to be passed on by her to the next new Rotarian, for him/her to pass it on in turn. Our President and John also exchanged banners and gifts.

John Diksa is an Englishman living in France, who is from ShelterBox and has come to the Cape specifically to talk at the District Conference and to our club to explain to the board and committee the ins and outs of becoming a ShelterBox Affiliate, which the board is considering.

Visiting Rotarian Dirk Rosiers of the Roeselare Mercurius Club, who contributed significantly to the Island of Hope project exchanged banners with President Rob. At the same meeting, Braam Potgieter, leader of the entertainment group who always perform for free at our Seniors' Concert was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship for his assistance to Rotary and the community over the years.

Following on from the successful stall at the Cheese Festival, some of the meats were donated to Butterfly House who then arranged a fundraiser braai of their own. These funds went to towards purchasing soccer uniforms for their enthusiastic team!

The Rotary Club of Paarl were fortunate enough to be awarded a stand at the annual Cheese Festival at Bien Donne farm outside Franschoek. With the duty of preparing and selling braai meals and boerewors rolls to the 30 000 visitors that attended the festival the four days, there was lots to do. Fortunately the members joined in enthusiastically with most volunteering for more than one shift. Fun was had by all and we made a great contribution to our project funds. Congratulations to Deon Erasmus for managing and coordinating this fundraiser.

Valley Interiors assisted in transporting donated books to the library in Gouda. All the books were arranged by the Rotary Club of Paarl.

Over the last month or so, we have had visits from two Rotarians from Iceland. Quite amazing for a club at the southern part of Africa. Robert Melax hosted both these visiting Rotarians at our club meetings. Pictured above left are Ólafur Ingi Olafsson with his wife Erla.
Pictured on the right is Gudrun Vilhjálmsdóttir. Both these rotarians are members of the Rotary Club of Seltjarnarnes, located in a small town near Reykjavík.

On 16 March the guest speaker was Jean du Plessis. The subject he spoke about was Edible Gardens. An interesting subject on establishing vegetable gardens to help people live sustainably off their own land. There was much interest, including from NorSa, in
his ideas and services. For more information see www.livingtree.co.za

At last weeks evening meeting, our guest speaker was Saskia van Heeren. She gave a most interesting and very well delivered talk about her participation in the LONGEST HORSE RACE IN THE WORLD ACROSS WILD MONGOLIA, the Mongol Derby. It is a 1000kms race from Kharkhorin Chinggis Khaan's capital and ends in the Khentii Aimag in the north east of Mongolia and is ridden in 9 days.

She has entered again for this year's race and will be one of 35 riders and the only rider in the world who will have ridden this race twice. Last year it took Saskia 12 hours in the saddle, for 9 days on 25 different horses. For more details go to http://www.mongolderby09.theadventurists.com

A mentors evening was held for new members recently inducted. The aim being that some of our 'older' members provide some insight and experience into what Rotary entails. It also gives new members the opportunity to ask all those questions they where wondering about! The club also welcomed Marita van der Sluys and all the experience that she brings. Marita was introduced by June.

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The very successful Seniors Concert was once again presented by the Paarl Rotary Club. Read about the history of this event under the Community Projects section of the website.

DG Mike Saxby recently made the very special presentation of awarding Selwyn and Beryl Sterling in recognition of 50 years service in Rotary!

The annual Boeckaert Soenen Paarl Cycle Race organised by Paarl Rotary took place on Sunday 21 February 2010 and was once again a great success. This cycle race forms one of the clubs main fundraisers and enables the Rotary Club of Paarl to be of service in various projects in our community.

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On Tuesday 19 January 2010, another two members were inducted into the Rotary Club of Paarl. Robert Malex was introduced by Alan Richards and Deon Erasmus was introduced by Dave Moss. The two new members were welcomed into the club and we sure that they make a positive contribution to our ever growing club.

Our year began on a positive note with the induction of two new members to the club! Clive Trent and Eugene Reynders were inducted by President Rob and welcomed into the club. That brings the Paarl Rotary Club membership to 45!

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During the December holiday season, two club meetings were held as Breakfast meetings at Marc's Restaurant in Paarl. With the summer heat pushing into the 30 degrees regularly in Paarl during this time, the morning meetings were very welcome!

At a recent club meeting held at Mountain Shadows Guest House, the guest speaker was Mr. Patrick Hall, Western Cape Community Liaison, ADT Security. He delivered a very interesting talk on the crime position in the greater Cape Town area and measures to take to improve personal security.

Pictured are Rotarian Maya Friederich, who introduce the speaker and Mr. Patrick Hall.

At the club meeting of 7 December 2009, the induction of our newest Rotarian Cynthia Kabanyane was held. She was introduced by Rotarian Jimmy Ferendinos, and inducted by President Robert Koch. With Cynthia is her Husband Dr. S Kabanyane, Municipal Manager Drakenstein Municipality. Welcome Cynthia!

At the meeting of 01 December 2009 the guest speaker was Kate More, a former Rotary Exchange Student to Oregon, USA. She is a speech therapist with a degree from UCT and is involved in starting Boland School for Autism, which will open it's doors in January 2010. They have much support and appealing for funds.

At the same meeting we had 2 visiting Rotarians Melanie Koch (no relation of our Pres.) from Germany and Øistein Glømmi from R C Nittedal, D2260, Norway. This is Øistein's second visit to the club. He previously came to the meeting at Amado.

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We had very interesting guest speakers in November. One of them was a father and son team: Mr.Derrick Schroeder and Rick Schroeder. Mr. Schroeder is with the Directorate Social Dialogue & Human Rights, (Office on the Rights of the Child), Department of the Premier, Cape Town. He was a member of the GSE to the Netherlands lead by our PDG Alex van der Sluys in 1997. Derrick's talk was a testimonial on the benefits of that visit resulting in a major positive influence in his home and professional life. Mr. Schoeder's son Rick, who captained the 2009 u/18 Craven Week side, talked about overcoming a tragedy in his family as well as sporting injuries sustained. He is a wonderful example of a proud and successful young man with a great future.

Also at the meeting was a visiting Rotarian Carol White from RC Innerleithan, Walkerburn & Traquair, D1020 England as well as 3 Rotarians Brenda Cole, Sharon Richardson and Chris Christenson from RC West Jordan, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA plus Marietjie and Antoinette from NorSa. The Americans are working together with us on a grant for NorSa!!

The club had one of our meetings in the outdoor environments of AMADO! This again in keeping with our plans of visiting our projects. At the meeting PP Trevor Harris handed over a Merit Certificate to M'Lani Basson of AMADO.

Visiting Rotarian Øistein Glømmi conveyed the good wishes from his club, the Rotary Club of Nittedal, D2260, Norway. He and our club president then exchanged club banners.

District Governor Mike Saxby visited the Paarl Rotary Club for an evening meeting held at Mountain Shadows. Pictured above is President Rob Koch with DG Mike Saxby. Also pictured with the DG are two previous DG's who are members of our club, Len Van Der Merwe and Alex Van Der Sluys.

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With the annual Paarl Cultivaria Festival being held in our town, the club was invited to assist with the selling of the wine glasses for this event. This gave the club an excellent opportunity to raise funds for the club. Good fun was also had in the process!

On 20 October 2009, PDG Rodney Mazinter and Paula Zolessi (pictured above) from the Rotary Club of Seapoint, visited our club to present and give a talk on their Street Children Program. For more information visit their website at www.seapointrotary.org.za

Continuing with our club's initiative to visit and conduct our meetings at one of our various projects more often, a recent club meeting was held at NorSa. This gave Marietjie Bezuidenhout the oppertunity to show the members of the club some of the progress that has been made at this project as well as how the local community benefits. The children at Norsa also proudly sang a few of their songs. For more information on Norsa's activities visit www.norsacommunitycare.org.

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PP Dave Moss brought along a shelter box to the club meeting, to show all the members what these boxes contain. The Shelter Box project is something that the Rotary Club of Paarl would like to get involved with.

WHAT ARE SHELTERBOXES? Starting as the brainchild of one Rotarian with the support of his Rotary club in year 2000 – ShelterBox has grown to become the largest Rotary Club project in the 100 year history of the organisation.

Rotarian support currently contributes an estimated 50% of ShelterBox donations. Around 5,000 rotary clubs worldwide have supported ShelterBox since it was launched.

Recognising this worldwide support from the Rotary community, ShelterBox was designated as a Global Rotary Club Project in 2009. Logos with this designation will now appear on all ShelterBoxes, tents, blankets and ancillary materials.

WHY THE NEED? Every year hundreds of thousands of people all over the world are affected by disasters, like earthquake, volcano, flood, hurricane, cyclone, tsunami or conflict. People often lose everything and would be unable to survive without help. ShelterBox instantly responds by delivering boxes of aid. Each box supplies an extended family of up to ten people with a tent, lifesaving water filtration system, stoves, pots and pans and basic tools to use while they are displaced. Since 2001, ShelterBox has provided shelter, warmth and dignity following over 80 disasters, in more than 50 countries.

The club recently decided that on a regular basis, we will hold our meeting at one of our projects. This opportunity allows all club members to firsthand experience our involvement in the community and how these projects have progressed. After the meeting, members are encouraged to walk around he premises and become more informed about the specific project. This month, the meeting was held at the Island of Hope, which was our centenary project. Major Naomi Malinga was the speaker and she once again underlined what wonderful work they are doing in the community, and how this was all made possible by the support from the Rotary Club of Paarl. Their challenges are great, but their achievements are even greater!

The Rusthof Old Age Home in Paarl was in dire need of a wheelchair lift for their vehicle to assist them with transporting their patients. With a donation of R45 000 from the Rotary Club of Paarl, this was made possible. Pictured above is PP Dave Moss (sitting in the wheelchair!) with President Robert Koch, Mrs Naude and Mrs Kleinhans from Rusthof Old Age Home.

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Every quarter, the Rotary Club of Paarl acknowledge and reward those Police men and women in our community who go above and beyond the call of duty. Pictured above are Constables Carmen Isaacs and Andrew Kona who received the awards for Best Police Officials for the quarter. Mrs Alet Mostert received the award for the best administrative personnel member.

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Invitations to an Essay Competition were sent to all primary schools in the Paarl area. Seven schools responded: Paarl Girls Primary, Laerskool Noord-Eind, Laerskool Drakenstein, Newton Primary, Huguenot Primary, Charleston Hill Primary and Langabuya Primary. In all seven schools book prizes were awarded. The overall winner was Jacques van Wyk from Drakenstein Primary. This competition will be an annual event.