GSE GOES WILD - South Africa 2006

Day 14 - 25; Sept 23-Oct 3rd -

2006-10-04T17:24:00.000+02:00

We apologize for the format change but we need to get this updated. We will fine tune it in a day or so. If there are errors or gramatical/spelling problems they belong to Bill.

September 23rd - Conference
About 300 Rotarians and partners attended the Conference. The programs were very well attended and speakers appreciated. Our GSE presentation followed the Team from Essex in the UK. This was their last weekend and they had had a fulfilling trip in the north of the province. We added one observation from each team member of our perspective of SA to date. This was a request of Gavin Harris the GSE Inbound coordinator.
· Bill -The tremendous personal involvement of Rotarians & Anns in your Clubs’ projects and your ability to use matching grants
· Kate - South Africa’s recognition of the underlying issues created by apartheid
· Kevin - Primary medical providers have been resourceful in treating the HIV epidemic
· Suzy - The diversity and educational focus of your projects show your proactive attitude towards economic development
· Nicky - Preserving the culture of the people and the environment
In addition to these presentations, we viewed the video of Sister Ethel’s, Mission Vale - Port Elizabeth, presentation to RI Conference in Denmark. I am certain DG Roin will remember this as it is truly a challenge to the world to focus on the global needy. Sister Ethel was to attend but she had a recurrence of the flu that she had almost shed when we met her last week. She is truly a God driven woman.
The evening program was a casual dinner with two SA "red-neck" comedians. Although the team only understood 50% of the presentation appears some humor is universal. Once this was finished one of the more irreverent clubs presented skits, mot of which would never be done at one of our conferences. Suffice it to say one of the tame ones was a "Full Monty" by two of the in-shape club members. Our team will never be able to hear the song "Jimmy Brown" again with out rolling in the floor. For this description you will have to ask.
September 24th - Conference
We started with the 8 AM church service followed by a full day of programs and the formal dinner. The Queenstown Rotary Club, an all male club, decided at the last minute to have a lunch braai for the GSE teams so we were wisk off for two hours and then back to hear the out brief of the District 9320 GSE team to Huston TX. Needless to say we were not certain which America they were reporting as they chose to focus on Texans need to be bigger and better.
There are two clubs in Queenstown. The Lukhanji Sunset Club and Queenstown. The Lukhanji club hoisted the conference. They are the smaller of the clubs, 19 members, and have woman and black members.
The closing dinner started at 7 PM and lasted until 11:30 PM a long but enjoyable event. The speaker was PDG Patrick Coleman an American that now lives in Zambia. He spoke of the Rotary Foundation but no statistics nor what it is - only what it does. Wonderful examples of how we make a difference. Great material.

September 25th - Transition to Sutterheim.
We were looking forward to this day as it is our rest day. After a 90 minute drive we were settled into our hosts’ homes for a day or rest. It is much needed as we have been on the go for fourteen straight days.

September 26th, Sutterheim
We again had the day to ourselves meting as a team at 4 PM and then a club braai. Sutterheim has 19 Rotarians three of which are women. The braai hosted our host families, the majority of which are or were farmers. Several now own local businesses.
If you visit South Africa, vegetarian is not a word used much in their vocabulary. This evening each guest had a "braai pack" a pre-packed meat tray with a steak, sausage, and bacon/pork rasher. For snacks we grilled part of the beef steak and the very thin pork steak, these were cut into bite size pieces and shared with our drinks. After that, the main pieces were grilled and then we had the side dishes.

September 27, Sutterheim
Today was a very special day - we were driven to Thomas River for breakfast and then a presentation on bushman rock paintings. The presenter, Victor Briggs, is a local businessman that has dedicated his retirement to the history and preservation of the paintings in this area. He and others have found 44 sites within a ten-kilometer radius. These paintings range in age from 9000 to 2000 years old. He explained the spiritual meanings of the various shapes and connecting lines as well as the meaning of the human and animal figures. He has a small museum where we listened to his presentation. The GREAT thing was, next, we got in the vehicles and drove to a site. We hiked from the cars about 500 meters, and then were able to climb up to three sites, WOW 9000 year old paintings as clear as when they were painted.
After this treat we headed back and had a late lunch and then home. That evening we had the Club meeting and made our formal presentation to about twenty-five people. The club meets in the Sutterheim Bowling Club (lawn bowling). Clubhouses are important to the society in South Africa, particularly in the smaller towns.

September 28th - transition to King William's Town
Up and out by 9 AM for our two-hour drive to King Williams Town (King). This is a lovely town much more bustling then the other smaller towns we have visited lately. Here we had lunch at the East Cape Province Legislature meeting with representative Trollop, the leader of the opposition party, Democratic Alliance. It was a very informative meeting. A Rotarian who is a Member of Parliament and the number three opposition party members at the National level scheduled this for us. We learned that rather then a representative democracy as we have, the SA’s have a "proportional representation". This means a party submits a list of candidates, the people vote for their party and then the Parliament is formed using the number of available seats, divided by the percentage of votes cast for each party and then they go down the list and seat the candidates from the party’s list. This means the Members are beholding to their party not necessarily the voters.
After this interesting meeting and lunch, we headed back to our hosts to prepare for our evening meeting and presentation. We had dinner in the King’s Club where Rotary has a designated room. This used to be a Gentleman’s Club but has transitioned into a public facility.

September 29th - King William’s Town
After breakfast with our hosts we were off to a Xhosa Village and to a woman’s home that is preserving the Xhosa culture. We were greeted by a number of smiling and singing children dressed in traditional costume. The singing and dancing were very good and the presentation by Mama Tofu was enlightening. It was really helpful to understand the tribal perspective of SA. We then bought a number of items which they sell in order to sustain themselves.
We were then off to a private game park for lunch and a three hour game drive. This is a huge reserve, almost 40,000 acres. The exciting thing here was the see the white lions close up but sill roaming free in a large, at least 20 acre area. These are not zoo animals but large, healthy and proud. A great day, followed of course with a braai of our host families. This braai was a bit different in that the main course was not grilled but a one-pot meal cooked in a traditional three-legged cast iron pot using a charcoal fire. The rice, pasta, cheese and meat (biltong which is dried beef in this case) was delicious, We have taken notes so be prepared at home.

September 30th - Transition to Port Alfred
After a two and a half hour drive we were greeted in Kenton-on-Sea, and upscale Indian Ocean resort for many retired folks and had lunch at the club’s GSE team coordinator. After lunch we went for a walk on the beach a rugged but magnificent stretch of sand and rocks not unlike Northern California. We swam in the ocean. A bit chilly but not ‘turning blue" cold. What a day! After this we had a dinner in one of our host’s home and made our formal presentation.

October 1st - Port Alfred.
After team members went to church (8 AM) and then a family breakfast we gathered for a boat ride on the Bushman’s River followed by lunch on the Sandbar Floating Restaurant. A large group of Rotarians were there to share the meal with us. It was wonderful to be among Rotarians the value fellowship as well as the more formal aspect of Rotary. This is one thing that Bill has noticed about each club we have visited - they are extremely social. Out of their personal relationships, they are able to build consensus on which projects they will undertake and develop and then go forward with great enthusiasm and energy. The Clubs have a great deal of "hands on" attitude about the projects. They are ably assisted or in fact lead by the Rotary Anns, a valued and still functioning organization.
After returning from our boat ride and lunch we returned to our hosts. A bit of rest and then off to a braai at Kevin’s host family - a good day all around.

October 2nd - Port Alfred
We started the day at our hosts for breakfast then off to Port Alfred, we are staying in Kenton-on-Sea, a resort like area 25 kms from Port Alfred. Meeting our Rotarian guide, David Hawkins, we were off to a historic drive and visiting some of the unusual shops. We are all overweight with our baggage but these things are very unique. Perhaps some of you will see these upon our return.
After this we visited several Rotary projects including a rural school, Shaw Combined School that needs to have one of its buildings refurbished in order to provide a library for the Grades 1-12 school. Crime here is not limited to those that have, when we arrived the headmaster, Leslie, was inspecting a broken window and bent security bars where local thieves had broken into the small living quarters and taken what they could pass through the window. As the Headmaster said, the people do not look at it a stealing just balancing what individuals have. Rotarian Davis wants to make this a self-help project where the Rotarians teach local parents to assist in the refurbishment project and instill pride in their school. Currently it costs a parent 50 Rand ($7) for a child’s school year. Only 25% of the parents have paid. Apparently it is not necessarily that they are too poor, as the Mayor of Port Alfred ahs not paid his school fees, rather the people to not place a value or priority on education. This is very sad, because the children are eager to learn.
We also visited a Port Alfred township school for the mentally handicapped, which is in need of a new roof. This is another Port Alfred Rotary project. There are no government funds for this type of school. There are 30 attendees ranging in age from 2-30 years old. When it rains the floor and children get wet. The "teachers" are untrained volunteers.
In the evening we were taken to a local shabeen, black township bar, in order that we might talk with the people whom live in the township. After meting and talking with men that ranged from illiterate non-workers to the local councilman and a chemical engineer we came away with a better understanding of South Africa. The sense of family and personal community is strong in the townships. Members of the community who have moved themselves up the economic latter often don’t move from the Township rather they add-on or build a nicer home. When ask their opinion of what will happen when Nelson Mandela passes on, they too say they are concerned and some frightened. The country faces a real fork in the road when he passes on.

October 3rd - Transfer to East London - sad day, our last home.
Six AM and once again the team packed and got our ever-heavier suitcases in the vehicles. We were then off to Port Alfred from our homes in Kenton-on-Sea to be formally introduced at the Rotary Club. The meeting began at 7 AM and we provide an impromptu presentation, we had already given the formal one on the 1st, of our reflections on SA. The twenty-fie club members appreciated our talk and our answers to their questions. As a breakfast club they seem to be a little lest formal then their evening counterparts.
Once again we headed for the vehicles and made just two shopping stops before being handed off to the drivers from East London. This trip of about two and a half hours took us through countryside not unlike Northern CA.
The rain began on the way and became a downpour by the time we arrived at our host families. After an afternoon of resting or being entertained by our hosts we gathered for a welcome dinner with representatives of the six East London area rotary Clubs and their spouses. The dinner was fabulous and the conversations good. After dinner we returned home and had a restful evening. Mean while the rain continues.

October 4th - East London
The rain continues and not just rain but a constant downpour. We compared it to the rather brief thunderstorm that unleashes rain but then goes away, this has been constant for 24 hours.
However we are not dissuaded as several of the members were off to vocational and Rotary project meetings at eight AM. They others were on their way at nine AM. Altogether we visited the School for Abused Children and the Isaiah 58 School for Street Children, which has a matching grant with our Reading Club. Once again the team is so impressed with the dedication of the staff in these places. Their only concern is for the children. It is amazing what can be accomplished with so little in the hands of dedicated people. District 7430 Rotarians, let’s get with the program and start communicating with District 9320 Clubs in order to have our money put to vital use in the most efficient way possible.
In addition we had the following vocational efforts:
Kate was off to a legal firm and the court; Kevin spent his afternoon at a chemist; Nicky, Suzy and Bill met with Daimler-Chrysler Training Group; and, Suzy and Nicky met with
Once this was finished we returned to our hosts for an evening of various activities.

Day 13 - September 22nd – Queenstown

2006-10-01T19:35:00.000+02:00

The next morning, Sept. 22nd, Marchel gave us a driving tour of Cradock, the local prison where he had been a Corrections Officer for 14 years and then the colored township where he grew up. He was able to give us a different perspective of the townships as he and his wife are both from this township. We also dropped into meet his 76 year old mother-in-law who owns and operates the township grocery store.
After this tour we had lunch of bobotie, a SA ground meat dish with an egg and milk custard on top. We were then off to Queenstown for the District Conference.
We arrived in the late afternoon and immediately had to change and go to the evening presentation. Although a bit tired this was a most informative speech by a SA author and professor Grahame Coddington. He writes and speaks on intergeneration transition and how our generations differ. This is critical to Rotary as we must address how to appeal too our younger generations. Apparently he has also spoken to several Rotary District in the US. The web site which contains his presentation is: www.tomorrowgroup.biz

Day 12 - September 21st Transition to Cradock

2006-10-01T19:29:00.000+02:00

Traveling to and through the Great Karoo is like being in our southwest, New Mexico, Arizona and West Texas. The mountain and plains are wonderfully beautiful in their starkness. We had a bit of a miscommunication in time of transfer but we had a delightful time with our Grahamstown president Pete Andrews who had taken time to drive us to a mid-way point, Bedford. Once we were met, we had a wonderful afternoon under the guidance of Rotarian Marchel West who owns and operates a white-water rafting company using the Great Fish river. Because we had to cut our visit to Cradock short by a day, our stay at the Grassridge Farm had to be replaced as it is located
60 Km from town and would take too much time to travel. We shifted into two Rotarian’s B&Bs for lodging and had a wonderful venison pie for lunch. Marchel is an outdoorsman and his tour of the National Zebra Park was super.
After our return from the Park to our B&Bs we had to get changed quickly into our uniforms for our club meeting and presentation. Cradock has only 14 members but the Mayor and several spouses attended. We were told this was the first Rotary event that the Mayor had attended. We were each given a bottle of SA wine in a nice bag with the challenge to auction/raffle it off and wire the proceeds to their club for charitable use. They did give us permission to share the wine here and replace it at home, but each of our club members will have the opportunity to have a bottle of SA wine – at a large price of course.
This club has three woman and six male Rotarians and is struggling but keeps going. They have not been able to put together any successful matching grants due to their size.
As another memorable item, we visited the graves of the Cradock Four, four black men who were murdered in 1994 for their political activities. There were two funerals in progress during our visit so we were concerned that we would be viewed as tourists, but one of the local men came up and shook our hands thanking us for paying respect to the Four. As whites, the local black populations viewed our visit as respect for the men. On a side note, one of the Rotarians is a local doctor whom spends a lot of his time with the HIV/AIDS challenges. He reported that approximately 5 people a week die in Cradock from HIV related issues (TB, pneumonia, organ failures) but the physicians are prohibited from putting HIV or Aids on the death certificates. In addition the families are hesitant to have a trained physician see the bodies as it may reduce their insurance payment if HIV is listed as a cause of death.

Day 11 - September 20th Grahamstown

2006-10-01T19:20:00.000+02:00

The morning began with a formal architect/historical tour of Rhodes University with one of the leading Economics faculty. This included a tour of the University’s historic botanical garden which houses the Grahamstown peace pool—better known as “cuddle puddle” project. After this we saw several Rotary projects; first of a township’s day care center for the elderly – Ethembeni Day Care. We met the director and had tea with the elderly folks including one 95 year old. They then sang some songs for us including several hymns. This center has had several matching grants with the Rotary Club of Bedford VA, District 7570. The folks make lovely handicrafts, a project of the Rotary Anns, which we were able to purchase. They have a potential to have 50 elderly, which are given breakfast and lunch but only have about 32-35 daily as they can not afford the 15 Rand ($2.50) a month fee.
After this we went to Siyanzama Pre-school. This is a model of how community organizations plus Rotary can in fact succeed. They have 120 pre-schoolers and five teachers and four staff including a cook and a community relations person. They have recently expanded their brick building and will be able to handle more students. In addition they will soon have their in-door bathroom facilities complete with waterless toilets. They have showers as well as the children do not have these facilities at home. We can see this as the end goal, perhaps with our help, for the pre-school we were shown in Uitenhage, which has no support yet except the Rotary Anns
From here we visited St. Mary’s for Needy School Going Children. This is a center for the most needy of the children. An absolutely wonderful young man who was trained as a youth counselor runs the Center. The School was started 24 years ago by a German NGO. Each child has a German foster parent, which provides the school uniform plus breakfast for the children ages 6-18 years old. They keep their uniforms in the school before as they would be sold if they wore them home. The children come here for breakfast and then are off to one of four public schools, after school they return here and stay until four PM when they are given supper and then off to home. Boston College has at least one student volunteering here who is attending Rhodes University for they have an additional four or five Rhodes students volunteering as well. They select students from a list recommended by the primary schools. The Director then makes a home visit to interview the parents. The parents must come to the school and ask for their child to be accepted. Once accepted most of the children will remain enrolled until they are 18.
Our final visit of the day was to a hospice center in the Settler’s Hospital. They rotary Club initiated this center for both cancer and AIDS patients. Rotary has provided several matching grants to equip this center. It is well run by professional staff and can care for 10 patients.
We concluded the evening with a Club meeting a our GSE presentation. Billy de Klerk, the District 9320 GSE Coordinator was able to attend as well. He is a Rhodes anthropology professor and discovered his own dinosaur! Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

Day 10 - September 19

2006-10-01T09:38:00.000+02:00

September 19th – Grahamstown – Vocational Day.
We all had very directed and fruitful vocational days. Kate went off to the court and Kevin went to a pharmacy and then to the Rhodes University Chemistry Department and the Pharmacy Faculty (School). Suzy, Nicky, and Bill met with the Rhodes University HR Director in the morning, then we toured the catering facilities with the Catering Director. We had lunch of ostrich steak and potatoes along with “fat” bread at the Nelson Mandela student-dining hall - A wonderfully different meal. In the afternoon Suzy and Nicky met with the Literacy Director and Bill met with the Director of Communications and Development. We found that although we have different systems the challenges we face are very similar. Rhodes is a public school of 6000 students. They receive government funding but like our state schools may charge additional fees. Rhodes is one of the smaller schools but ranked very highly in SA. The development office is just beginning to seek alumni (Old Boy) donations, not unlike our State System of Higher Education University System.

Day 9 - September 18th

2006-09-20T17:45:00.000+02:00

After a two and a half hour dive we arrived in Grahamstown, one of the original English settlements of 1820. It is a charming town which calls its primary industry, education.. There is a 6000 person public university – Rhodes University. Two private prep schools and a private College – St. Andrews. After a nice lunch with our hosts we were given a personalized tour, but the Director who is also a Rotarian of the 1820 Settlers Monument, a living monument to the English settlers. It is a living monument as it is really a large performing arts building and conference center perched on the hill overlooking the town. Each year they also host a SciFest attracting 20,000 students and an Artsfest (a la Musikfest) attracting many more thousands. It is a wonderful building, which was, dedicated Nelson Mandela.Speaking of Nelson Mandela, he is universally revered in South Africa. The question is what will happen when he dies. The politics here are very heated right now as opposition leaders vie with the power struggles within the ANC party for popularity and control.
We were returned to our hosts for dinner. Bill and Suzy prepared for a dinner party at Bill’s host of the leading Rotarians and other selected previous GSE team leaders. A very nice evening by all.

Day 8 - September 16th

2006-09-20T17:43:00.000+02:00

Addo National Elephant Park
What more is there to say, we enjoyed a wonderful day in Addo Elephant Park on a game drive (you ride in your own vehicle). Although we were cautioned by our host Rotarians that we may not see any game, we were overwhelmed with sighting at last 25 elephant, some as close as 10 yards, feeding and carrying on their life as if we were not there. We also sighted with the help of Kate’s binoculars, one of the six lions in the park. In addition we were close to warthogs, yes they are cute, kudus (a large antelope type) and zebra. What a day!

Day 7 - September 16th

2006-09-20T17:41:00.000+02:00

Jeffery’ Bay to Uitenhage
After a cold breakfast buffet at Leane’s, the club president and Bill’s host, we were off to meet our new club at Uitenhage. After a lovely day touring and resting we were hosted to a Club steak braai. The Rotarians played a joke on Bill for his birthday - saying his meal was really lion’s rump. A great gwoup of dedicated Rotarians and Rotay Anns

Day 6 - September 15

2006-09-20T17:28:00.000+02:00

Jeffery’s Bay.
Much fun during our visits for the day. We had a delightful drive with a local historian/anthropologist to visit the outlying areas of Jeffery Bay. We were driven to Hanky, the resting place of Sarah Bartmann, a local tribes woman that was exploited in England for her highly unique physical features and also the home of a major Rotary project for a home for abused and neglected children. The Jeffey’s Bay club and Rotary Anns have contributed funds and paint to make the home more friendly. Their local Interact clubs came and painted murals on the walls. One thing that we have noticed is the Rotary Clubs are much more hands on in their projects, contributing not only funds but labor as well. They adopt a project and put their heart and soul into it. A good reason for American Clubs to consider funding their projects – our money will be well spent with Rotarian oversight.
Later in the evening we gathered at one of the Club member’s home for a fish braai. Everyone brings part of the meals, plus their own drinks, which make the evenings much more hospitable for the hosts. No wonder they have a lot of gatherings, everyone chips in. The evening was completed with a rousing Happy Birthday to Bill.

Day 5 - September 14

2006-09-20T17:23:00.001+02:00

September 14 – Transition to Jeffery’s Bay
Up bright and early for our two hour trip to Jeffery’s Bay. We were met by a lovely contingent of Rotarians and spouses. After the transfer of our light luggage to our host homes we were taken to a lovely sightseeing spot – Seal Point Lighthouse. For those of us that prefer our heights to be in airplanes this was an adventure to climb the 200 feet to the walkway around the top. What a view of the Indian Ocean. We all enjoyed the view and the explanation of this major point of interest. We were then off to of course lunch but again a new sight – the harbor of Port St Andrews. This community was and still is a significant fishing port much like several we have seen in Cape Cod and Salem MA. We sat and watched the boats prepare for their trip to catch squid. Although still a working port the surrounding shore is being developed into lovely vacation/weekend homes and condos. A three bedroom condo on the sea front costs about $200,000 while the homes start at $400,000.After this we adjourned to our hosts to change and prepare for our evening club meeting and GSE presentation. Jeffery’s Bay is a very small club but highly active. They have only 14 members but a great social as well as community support activities As we are finding out, Rotary here combines charity and social activities. The clubs regularly get together for fun, about once a month they have a social outing which the majority attend.
After our presentation we were back home to rest. Tomorrow is another day and another party.

Day 5 - September 14

2006-09-20T17:23:00.000+02:00

September 14 – Transition to Jeffery’s BayUp bright and early for our two hour trip to Jeffery’s Bay. We were met by a lovely contingent of Rotarians and spouses. After the transfer of our light luggage to our host homes we were taken to a lovely sightseeing spot – Seal Point Lighthouse. For those of us that prefer our heights to be in airplanes this was an adventure to climb the 200 feet to the walkway around the top. What a view of the Indian Ocean. We all enjoyed the view and the explanation of this major point of interest. We were then off to of course lunch but again a new sight – the harbor of Port St Andrews. This community was and still is a significant fishing port much like several we have seen in Cape Cod and Salem MA. We sat and watched the boats prepare for their trip to catch squid. Although still a working port the surrounding shore is being developed into lovely vacation/weekend homes and condos. A three bedroom condo on the sea front costs about $200,000 while the homes start at $400,000.After this we adjourned to our hosts to change and prepare for our evening club meeting and GSE presentation. Jeffery’s Bay is a very small club but highly active. They have only 14 members but a great social as well as community support activities As we are finding out, Rotary here combines charity and social activities. The clubs regularly get together for fun, about once a month they have a social outing which the majority attend.
After our presentation we were back home to rest. Tomorrow is another day and another party.

Day 4 - Spetember 13

2006-09-20T17:13:00.000+02:00

We had a another delightful day particularly in the area of weather – it was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm but with very rough seas so our boat trip to observe whales and dolphins had to be cancelled. Rather the just lie around, our hosts picked us up at 9 AM and we were off to visit the school where Rotarian Gay Bess teaches the fifth grade. The Herbert Hurd Primary School, grades 1-7, is a public school which attracts a mixed group students to one of the best programs in the city. Uniforms are the standard as usual in SA. As we would enter a class room all the students would stand up and say “Good morning sirs and mams”. They are extremely well behaved, at least while we were there. We met with the Headmaster who explained that the government provides the salary for a certain number of teachers, 34 in this case, and the parents must provide any additional resources including additional teachers. They had a total of 54 teachers each with 34 children and no aides. The benefits are marginal and Gay informed us that for her to take a day off work, she has to pay the salary out of her salary.
After this delightful visit we were taken to the Catholic facility in one of the Townships, Wellspring. Here we saw the absolute poverty of the townships. Wellspring is the project begun by a solo Irish Catholic nun trained as a nurse and sent to SA in 1972. She came to Prot Elizabeth in 1986 and began to administer to the blacks in this township. Since this time she has built, with the support of Rotary and many other organizations and governments, a center that feeds 600 families a day, provides health and aids counseling and support and has a primary school for 180 children. Mother Theresa and Queen Elizabeth have both visited here. What a woman she is! She took time from her schedule to meet with us and provide a bit of background. This is certainly one of the projects we may want to look at supporting in our District. So much done with so little. Upon our leaving we provide to her some of the candy for the children JustBorn provided to us.
We were then back to our hosts for an evening with them.

Day 3 - September 12

2006-09-16T09:37:00.000+02:00

After breakfast we were taken for our vocational day. Each team member was matched with a person or persons in their career areas. A great day! We went to universities, medical laboratories, bed and breakfasts, and law offices. We returned to our hosts, changed and headed for a braai – BBQ – at one of the members homes. About twelve Rotarians and spouses were there in addition to our Team - Another great evening of conversation, food and dancing—with lots of new and exciting tastes! We finished at 10 PM, although some of the team members stayed to clean up (?) and left about 11 PM. Poor Kevin, this was his host home and he got to bed rather late. So for three days – two parties.

GSE GOES WILD - South Africa 2006: Day 2 - Travel

2006-09-14T22:25:00.000+02:00

GSE GOES WILD - South Africa 2006: Day 1 - Travel

September 11th - Day two – September 11th
We started the day amazed that we were actually in an African game park. What a wonderful place. After a big breakfast we had agreed to “spend the money” to have the park ranger take us on a two-hour tour. The Rotarians had left us a car, which we could use to drive around the park but we thought better of it. For 500Rand ($80) we had a most wonderful experience including being arms length from two rhinos. The photos will tell it all when we return. What a thrill. The ranger, an Afrikaner, was most knowledgeable and according to the girls handsome to boot.

After a nice lunch, we were picked up by the Rotarians and taken to our host families. We immediately changed into our uniforms and departed for the evening meeting. Five-- Port Elizabeth clubs had a joint meeting with about 70 in attendance. Before we started PDGs Mel and Trevor briefed us on our itinerary and protocol. As you may imagine all the Rotarians we will stay with have servants and it was a good idea for them to explain the system to us as it will save us from potential embarrassment.
We had a delightful dinner with each of the team members at a different table. After dinner we made our presentation and answered several questions. Once completed, we adjourned to the bar and chatted for about an hour. We departed for home.

Day 1 - Travel

2006-09-09T14:49:00.000+02:00

Hi everyone,
Well here we go. The team assembled at the Lehigh Valley Airport, along with our entourage, at 0500 hours. The picture of the day was Kevin stuffing 40 pounds of Ike and Mikes into his duffle bag in order to aviod a $180 charge for excess baggage. Just Born Candy was gracious to our team by donating these to us.
We are creating our Blog at Dullas airport as we have a 5 hour lay-over for our flight to Johannasberg. Thank you Suzy and Kevin for creating this neat vehicle.