Africa

Hout Bay Bay Breezes Great Read

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Don Peters President Hout Bay RC and Trustee of Nonceba.

An excerpt from this weeks Bay Breezes the weekly bulletin of our twin club Hout Bay Rotary Club.

Watching the cricket reminded me of the importance of being in a team. Each individual, and we all are individuals, play a part.In cricket you have batsmen, bowlers and fielders together with a Captain, Vice Captain, Coach etc;  in Rotary its a little simpler,yes we have a team and a Board with a President. Where we fundamentally differ is that in cricket most of the roles played arethose played by individuals whereas in Rotary we really are a team, Yes of course we have “averages’ and frequently we getmoved up the “batting” order and have a magnificent “innings” but its the team that is the winner always.

We were very fortunate to have a team visit us from Australia and what amazing averages they all had, some were great batsmen and achieved great “heights” ( apology to the climbers) others magnificent fielders (further apology to those unsuccessfulclimbers) with one handicapped but able to achieve a memorable innings (thanks Mary). Our visiting Australians were actually more than amazing when you consider the very substantial personal sacrifices made by each of them to travel to Africa. This was a team of greats, it was a team of Rotarians who were just perfect team members and the amazing part of this whole story is that unlike cricket, where a team playing against a fantastic Australian bunch as we had would lose, Hout Bay Rotary WON.

This Weeks Bay Breezes

Don Peters President Hout Bay Rotary Club and trustee Nonceba.

My response is to say the feeling is very mutual and we will never forget the hospitality that these wonderful Rotarians showed us in Hout Bay in December.  We look forward to returning the favour one day Hout Bay.   You do remarkable work and epitomise what Rotary is all about; GOOD ON YOU.

 

Nonceba Project by Hout Bay Rotary

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One of the most heart wrenching places to visit in Cape Town is the Nonceba project. It is also a place of hope for the future of these young children who have been traumatised by the “virgin cure”. Please read the web sites below:

Nonceba Web Site

Ashley Kaimowitz

Here are some photographs taken during our visit there:

If any Rotary clubs or any other organisation reading this post wants to help maintain this wonderful and essential work in Cape Town please contact us and we will send you a DVD. If you need a talk to your club we will be very happy to be invited and explain what this centre is doing to help the most vulnerable and at risk children on this planet.

Hout Bay Rotary Club

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Cheers to Butch and Lyn

We visited our twin club Hout Bay at the end of the adventure and what a time we had with these wonderful people in Hout Bay.  Their South African hospitality was second to none and we wanted for nothing.  None of us will forget the way we were made to feel at home.  There was also serious business to attend to including visiting the Nonceba project and Operation Medical Hope and Coolamon House.   I will write more on these visit at a later stage.  In the mean time here are a few photographs of our remarkable time in Hout Bay with our centennial twin club members.

Snow on the Equator

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Coolamon Rotary

Summit day on Mount Margherita. Seven of us started out to climb this mountain for the children of Africa and two made it to the top. Here are some photos of the day Moses and Fred made it. Both Moses and Fred now want to join Rotary and I hope they will. Moses Kashumba and Fred Madden we salute you and thank you for taking the RFFA banner to the third highest mountain in Africa. It was tough and we are told that only 2-3% of those who attempt this climb achieve the summit.

 

Mathare Fashion Parade

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Probably the highlight of the trip for most of us was the welcome we received from the beneficiaries at Mathare.  The children, vulnerable and at risk children, orphans in the most part.  It was these children that we supported in 2007 by climbing Kilimanjaro through RFFA’s orphan Rescue project in conjunction with Hope World Wide.

It was heartening to visit them again and to witness their remarkable progress in this slum, one of the worst in the world, and to see how their light is shining through like a beacon of hope.  Our work is not done here and we would like to think that this coming year we will raise enough funds to see them into secondary school.  This project is highly sustainable and must be kept going at all costs.

Here is a video of the fashion parade one event in the day spent at Mathare and the Kidz Club that will never be forgotten by those of us who were privileged to be there.

ENJOY!

 

Climbing through rain forest

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The Mountains of the Moon Team going through rain forest. Hats off to the porters who carry 22 kgs with incredible strength up steep slopes of slippery rocks and mud. These are strong men who earn very little and are rewarded with tips from the climbers. I hope their lot improves as more people go to the Rwenzoris.

Bwindi Gorillas

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Part of the Mountains of the Moon adventure was a visit to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. The visit was arranged by the Rotary International Fellowship of Gorilla Trekking. This gorilla is a young black back.

 

Ruhondeza an old man of 40 years a Silver back and Silver Backs rule OK! He was that close to us and I have enormous respect for this old man of the forest. He belongs to the Mubare family group of 6. You can see their story here:

http://www.friendagorilla.org/

http://www.friendagorilla.org/default.aspx

At around the same time we were at Bwindi with the Rotary Fellowship of gorilla trekking this amazing encounter took place in Bwindi itself: