The Rotary Club of Wynberg was very proud to hand over a certificate to the Wynberg Girl’s High School Interact Club in March to commemorate their 50th birthday.
The Interact Club has done sterling work for the community, especially during Covid, when they supported their communities through home-based soup kitchens.
The Rotary Club of Wynberg was honoured to commend the Interactors at a special Service Assembly where the school was informed of the structure of Rotary International, and learners were encouraged to join this family through the Wynberg Girl’s Interact Club.
The Awards evening for the bursaries funded by money raised by the Oddemarka School, Kristiansand, and the Haugaland College, Haugasund, was held at the newly built Perrivale Primary school in Lotus River.
The event was jointly hosted by the Principals of the seven schools that receive awards from this project and the Norwegian Liaison Committee of the Rotary Club of Wynberg. It is a project that began some 25 years ago when leaders in the Kristiansand Community and also, separately, in the Rotary Club of Kopervik collaborated with the late Are Hovstad, who was a member of the Rotary Club of Wynberg. This long-standing project, which is now much more like a relationship, has benefitted the schools and many of the learners of the schools of De Duine, Lotus River, Montagu’s Gift, Stephen Road, Perrivale, Zeekoeivlei, and Fairmont, and it is this relationship that was so clearly evident in the wonderful event of 7 March 2023.
Many of the schools’ principals had a strong relationship with Are Hovstad, who was so instrumental in getting the project going, and it was great to see their ongoing friendship with his widow, Wenche Hovstad, who was invited to hand out the certificates of award to all of the learners who were there.
It was wonderful to see the pride on the faces of not only the children but of their parents too, as they watched their children, who had been selected to represent their schools and to receive their awards.
But the thing that got our attention was the past recipients of these awards, who came back to tell their stories. There was a number who have recently matriculated and are now studying at tertiary institutions around Cape Town. There was the recipient, Kevin Jacobs, who had gone on to qualify and was now teaching at Stephen Road Primary where he had been a learner and giving back to the next generation. Donovan Nelson, who had received an award from this project a number of times while at school, both junior and high school, is now the Ward Councillor for that area. Stories such as these, that talk to the success of this project, are truly heart warming and for me the only reason required to continue these amazing relationships with such caring people so far away and so far removed from the lifestyle of the recipients, as our friends and supporters in Norway.
Members of the Wynberg Rotary Club aafter the event.
And so ‘Proms-Lite: Under our African Skies’ is over. We hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did – I know Richard Cock, our soloists, and the orchestra were all very pleased with the response.
All funds raised will go to our community projects:- currently, St. Michael’s Child and Youth Care Centre, Victoria Hospital, and the Thuthuzela Care Centre (Rape Crisis Clinic). We keep no money for ourselves.
Two beautiful evenings of music
Thank you to all who helped make this such a memorable event.
iThemba (Hope) Primary is going from strength to strength and Wynberg Rotary Club is proud to be with them on their journey.
On Wednesday 10th August, iThemba’s library was officially opened, in a joyful ceremony attended by the Principal and teaching staff and entertained by learners from the school. Rotarians from Wynberg attended and met representatives of various other organisations that have been part of iThemba’s journey.
Our initial contact was made at the beginning of lockdown when the school had a stationery drive. One thing led to another and we have now installed 20 library shelves. This has been followed up by book drives to help equip the library proper.
The school was built by Lufthansa, but is run by WCED. It is in a poorer section of town, and services Vryegrond and Capricorn Park areas. It opened in 2018 with 105 learners, 3 teachers, and a principal. There are now 19 classes, up to Grade 5 with 630 learners. The learners come from a diverse international background, with the majority having a home language other than English.
What is inspiring is the eagerness of all the staff to grow the quality of the schooling and the school, through libraries, veggie gardens, and, one day, a science and computer labs and a sports field.
EVANSTON, Ill. (June 29, 2022) – Jennifer Jones, member of the Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland, Ontario, Canada, will be the first woman to take office as Rotary International President in the service organization’s 117-year existence on 1 July 2022.
During her one-year term, Jones will focus on building new relationships and establishing collaborations with organizations that share Rotary’s commitment to driving impact through humanitarian service and to developing leaders around the globe. She has also made Rotary’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion a key part of her presidential platform.
