Saturday, April 18, 2009
Wonderful dinner with about 30 Rotarians at the Van der Lith home in Constantia outside of Cape Town. It was a wonderful braai and of course everyone was very welcoming and kind. The Van der Lith home is beautiful with wonderful gardens in a beautiful part of Cape Town.
On Saturday we had a great day as well. Traveled to Kirstenbosch Gardens with Di Thompson gave us a wonderful tour of the gardens. She arranged for a botanist to come in on her day off to give us a lesson on projects the garden is involved in throughout the townships. Tremendous gardening and restoration projects giving importance to beauty in the townships!
We then drove to HoutBay for a lunch at Fish on the Rocks – a quaint out door restaurant where you can have fish and chips or fish and chips. It was a wonderful afternoon – our tour guide was Biffy Dankwertz we took a charter boat to SealIsland – and then returned to HoutBay and drove to Groot Constantial Estate and toured the wine museum.
Saturday evening we (the team) was asked to join Bill and other Rotary members at the home of Kenny Van Aardt and Jenny to have a dinner. It was very nice the food traditional – it was a stew which the names escapes me. It is prepared in a three-legged pot over a slow burning fire. The meal was VERY tasty. We then played music. Kenny is a very good guitar play and singer. I played a few numbers as well and we held a sing along with those present. Shortly after we began singing they asked us to leave! No it’s not true – they were very kind and we had a great time.
I am writing this Sunday morning – preparing to leave for the day to Cape Point near where the Atlantic and IndianOceans meet. It is raining but we will have a great day anyway.
Sunday 19
I do not know what happened but my blog got messed up! I think I may have deleted part of it so will do a quick summary of these three days:
Sunday: Went to Cape of Good Hope escorted by Dr. Walter and Andy of the Point of Good Hope Rotary Club. Very nice men. We visited the land mark that marks the most southern/western point on the cape. It was vey cloudy and raining part of the time – but we walked to the light house anyway. What a great hike – I do love it. We had lunch near the headquarters of the SA navy and drove to KalkBay, Simons Town and Cape Point.
We visited an Abused Women’s Center, Library pre-school all supported in part by the Rotary Club of Good Hope. This is a great club.
We saw a few bus loads of people chanting for the ANC party – election in a few days. Most of the people we meet hope that the ANC does not get a 60% majority for fear that they will change the constitution of SA.
I took Andy and Liz out to dinner this evening. What a treat they like Italian so that what we got! I strolled the mall and found a few gifts.
Monday 20th
Cricket is over – the India team played there games here because of political unrest in their country. Traffic will now improve!
Visited the Sports science Institute of South Africa today and with a Dr. Tracy Kolbe-Alexander. She is very, very smart and kind! We toured the facility, met with a physician that is well known in the treatment of sports medicine and had lunch. Her story was very interesting to me. Her father is a very kind man that gives his time and limited income to those that are disadvantaged and in need of a spirit lift. She is a “colored” that wants no special measure of recognition. She feels that she must earn respect (and has) and would be upset if given anything because of her race.
She hoped that I would have time to meet with an industrial psychologist and her husband as well as children but it will not be possible.
This afternoon I had a few hours and have been working on photographs, (you will see them at some point) as well as working on my contact list.
I leave now to go to a Rotary Club of the Newlands to present with my team that has been out all day.
Addendum from Yesterday:
We had a great night with the Rotary Club of the Newlands. It was a long meeting – much longer than we have in the US – but what a great crowd of people. We received a warm reception and everyone seemed very interested about our district and the State of Arizona. At this meeting we had represenatives of the Newlands, Claremont, Kromboom and Table Bay Clubs. We also had a presentation by a city manager of Cape Town regarding musical and dance performances planned by disadvantaged children in the area. It is a great project to give these children self-esteem and confidence in many parts of their lives.
Tuesday – April 21, 2009
Today we were taken by bus from our host’s home to Melkbos and hosted by the Rotary Club of Melkbos. What a pleasant day – Angela and Joe escorted us to a museum that gave us the history of the Khewattu (Bushmen) natives. It is a sad history, not unlike what the Anglo’s did to the American Native Americans only perhaps more brutal. They were sold, slaughtered and taken into slavery. It was very sad.
After this tour we were taken to the home of Joe – a gentleman from England and his spouse. He served the best fish and chips ever! I was interested in moving in but saved him calling the police by leaving after lunch.
After lunch we were taken to the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station for an extended yet very interesting lecture on the plant, power, safety and hopes for the Reactor. The woman that presented was very knowledgeable, and kind. We also met one of the members of the outbound GSE team to Germany. She was very excited about her forthcoming trip to Germany.
It was sad to learn today that the president of the club and her spouse, Joe, are struggling with a daughter that had fallen from her wheelchair and is in the hospital this afternoon. Joe continued to show us a great time, irrespective of his pain and concern about the girl. We all wish the best to the family.
In the evening we attended the Rotary Club of Melkbos and presented to about 20 people. They too were very kind and receptive to our presentation. We arrived at a late hour back to our host homes and packed for our transfer tomorrow.
Wednesday April 22, 2009
We are now in Helderberg and I am being hosted by Trish and Barrie Smith. They are citizens of Great Britian and very kind. They have a lovely home on the side of a mountain which overlooks the downtown area as well as the Atlantic Ocean. After I unpacked they took me to a wonderful restaurant on the beach and then gave me a drive through the town and up the mountain.
Trish is now preparing food for a braai this evening at which Rotarians will attend but not the team. They are on their own with their individual host families tonight. I do understand that they may meet for dinner (a few of the families) but we will have a quiet evening at the house.
Tomorrow is a project day and I will visit about four or five projects dealing with hunger, literacy, AIDS. I will write about that tomorrow.
I am having a wonderful time – at times it is overwhelming – that is the extent of the need of the people in this country. However, I am heartened by the compassion and drive these Rotarians have to make a difference. They simply work harder and give more than we do in the US – at least in my district. It is not a value judgment – but they give more of their time and treasure to those that are struggling.
I wish that I could bring all of you here – to this place to help you understand the unbridled opportunity in this beautiful and struggling country.
Today is Election Day – The ANC will win again – and most of the people I have met (Anglo population) is hoping that enough voters turn out so that the ANC will not have enough votes to change the constitution. We visited a few voting booths today and found long lines (up to a block long) of people waiting to vote. I love Election Day – even in other countries!
Enough for today. I will write again soon.
Here is a photo with my new friends and Rolando the friendly ape we met at the Cape Town Botanical Gardens a few days ago:
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