Welcome to the home page of the Pretoria Sunrise Rotary Club (formerly the Rotary Club of Pretoria Silverton). The Club meets weekly on Saturdays for breakfast at a venue to the East of Pretoria, and undertakes a variety of community, vocational, and international service projects. Please look at the details below and on our linked pages, and contact us for further information.
- Rotary is a service association of business and professional leaders united worldwide who conduct humanitarian projects, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations and work toward world understanding and peace.
- Rotary is more than 1.2 million service-minded leaders belonging to over 32000 Rotary Clubs in over 170 countries.
- Rotary is compassion for the underpriviledged, the ill and disabled, many of whom are the beneficiaries of over 50000 service projects conducted by Rotary Clubs around the world each year.
- The Rotary Foundation spends more than US$60 million annually on a variety of educational and humanitarian programmes to promote international understanding.
Several projects are undertaken by Pretoria Sunrise each year, some of short duration, some stretching over a longer period. Some current and recent projects are described below. Longer-term projects may be viewed at Longer-term Club Projects.
Horizon Care Centre for the Profoundly Handicapped
In March 2005 the Club installed a glass sliding door on the North-facing verandah at the Horizon Care Centre for Profoundly Handicapped Children in Silverton to extend the space available - a recreation room for the children to watch videos and to dance to music. During the same month as part of the District 9250 Wheelchair Project, ten new wheelchairs were allocated to the Centre. The Club has been back at the Centre again, and in September 2008 month arranged for antiglare film to be fitted to the windows of the Centre's three microbuses which transport the children between their homes and the Centre each day – some of the children have to be in the vehicles for over an hour, and they became uncomfortably hot during the summer months. The project was financed from funds derived from the Club's fund-raising events. In 2009 the Club arranged for paving of the playing area in the grounds of the Centre, to make it more wheelchair-friendly. This too was financed from the Club's fundraising, and from a generous grant by one of the members.
Winter Warmth for Infants and Elderly in Lesotho
Wool provided by the Rotary Anns of Pretoria Sunrise was knitted into scarves, blankets, beanies and baby pullovers by ladies at a road construction site in Lesotho, and after a year and a half of knitting, distributed to infants and elderly villagers in Bobete, a remote area about one and a half hours away from Thabo Tseka in Lesotho, in time for the July Winter cold.
The children gathered in a line and their faces light up when a brightly coloured beanie was placed on each head. Elderly men and women were given knitted blankets and they immediately swung them around their shoulders (the men) or waists (the women).
Distribution of Blankets and Jerseys among the Urban Needy
During 2008, 2009 and 2010 the Sunrise Club has participated in the distribution of blankets and jerseys to provide Winter warmth for needy persons around Pretoria. This has been done together with other Clubs in District 9250, with the support of the Rotary Club of Quail Point, Oregon, USA, the Interact Club of Quail Point, and the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. Read more about this project by clicking on: Blanket Project
Feeding Scheme for Disadvantaged Pupils
The South African Government provides feeding for disadvantaged pupils in primary schools, but not for pupils in Pre-Primary or Secondary Schools, where the need is sometimes equally great. Pretoria Sunrise began a pupil feeding scheme in July 2006 after Rotarians from New York had visited some schools around Pretoria. The Matching Grant Partner was the Rotary Club of Pleasantville, New York, and with the Rotary Foundation Matching Grant, a total of US$ 53750 was avaiable for the project. The project ran for 33 months until it ended in April 2009 with the depletion of the funds. Five schools with severely disadvantaged pupils benefited from the project. At its peak, the project was serving over 500 meals per day, to pupils selected by their teachers after investigation into their home circumstances.
The original project has now been completed. The children who received the meals flourished, judged by reports from the schools. The schools have been asking Rotary to continue the scheme and the Club is doing so with limited remaining funds from its own fundraising and from the Rotary Foundation. There is a continuing need, and the Club would like to expand the project if it is able to put together another funding package. The Sunrise Rotary Club members responsible for controlling the project were PDG Chris Pretorius and PP Bebe du Raan.
Read more about this project by clicking on: School Feeding Project
Love Check AIDS Game
Our Club in partnership with Rotary 'Rotterdam Nieuwe Dag' provided 2000 boxes of the Love Check AIDS Games for distribution to schools in Gauteng North. With the assistance of the Gauteng Department of Education educators from Gauteng North were trained at six schools in the Bronkhorstspruit, Cullinan, Poort and Bapsfontein areas during two-day training sesions. Each teacher received a box of the games at the training and the balance of games was sent to the schools that were represented at the training.
This initiative, involving Dutch and South African Rotary Clubs and the Gauteng Department of Education, was a most successful partnership which DG Chris Pretorius referred to as “pre-emptive and pro-active instead of re-active”.
The photograph shows the cards which make up the Love Check AIDS game.
The Club has sponsored several international outgoing and hosted several incoming Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholars. Among the outgoing Scholars have been Pam Baber, Francis Moloi, and Sean Korff. Incoming Scholars have included Jill Howland, Annie Newell, and Lynsee Melchi from Illinois who studied Veterinary Science at Onderstepoort.
The Club has also sponsored an outgoing Peace and Conflict Resolution Scholar, Elsje Fourie.
Persons interested in finding out more about scholarship opportunities should contact the Club's Rotary Foundation Co-ordinator, Tony Godrich at 082 490 1438
The Club needs to raise funds for the projects it undertakes. Fundraising events have included bowls and golf days, opening gardens to the public, and winetasting:
Rotary Open Gardens of the Jacaranda City
The Pretoria Sunrise Rotary club hosts 'Rotary Gardens of the Jacaranda City' periodically. The public has the opportunity to experience the splendour of Spring and Autumn visits to exclusive gardens in Pretoria. The 2009 event featured 13 gardens with an entrance fee of R5.00 per person per garden and the proceeds of the project were donated to selected charities. Planning has begun for the 2011 event scheduled for 8 and 9 October 2011. Interested? For more information call Bebe du Raan at 082 492 1973.
Charity Bowls Tournament
A major annual fundraising event is a Charity Bowls Day. The anchor sponsors in past years have been the E G Chapman Group, Kia Daihatsu Menlyn, Tata Pretoria, and Engel and Volkers. The event has been organised by PPs Leith Polson, Dawie de Villiers, George Harrop-Allin and Alan Roets. They have been well supported by members of the club and their partners - in serving on the planning committee, helping with registrations and catering, obtaining sponsorships and selling hamper tickets and contributing prizes and the contents of the hamper. Some thirty teams of four participate, playing two games of 12 and one game of 15 ends. The winning team receives a cash prize of R2000 and all teams receive prizes of value exceeding their entry fees. Recent events yielded a net income of about R15000 to R20000 for charity.
Wine Tasting
Wine-tasting events were organized in November 2007 and September 2008. Some 15 South African winemakers displayed their products, and the public had the opportunity to sample them before placing orders. The events were in aid of several charities, including the Schoolchildren Feeding Scheme, Blanket Distribution Project, Danville Hulp Project, and ABBA House. Another event is planned for 17:30 on Thursday 5 May 2011, to be held at the Willows Country Lodge. For information phone Mo Puttergill at 012 361 4760.
Weekends Away
The Club arranges weekends away for members and partners from time to time. The most recent ones have been visits to the flowers in Magoebaskloof at Cherry Blossom time, to Biyamiti and Talamati Bushveld Camps in the Kruger National Park, Inyathi in Limpopo, Somabula in Mpumalanga, and to the Khatse Dam in Lesotho.
08:15 to 09:15 Saturdays
Willows Country Lodge
Lynnwood Road, Wilgers, Pretoria
The Club welcomes people who are interested in fun, fellowship and caring. Service opportunities include children at risk, disabled persons, health care, international understanding and goodwill. Rotarians make a difference. Interested? Call Bebe du Raan at 082 492 1973.
|
| Postal: | Telephonic: | e-mail |
The Secretary
P O Box 2896
Faerie Glen
0043
South Africa |
Phone one of the
Office bearers |
Mail to
Webmaster |
Return to top of page
Mail to Webmaster, Pretoria Sunrise Rotary Club, P O Box 2896, Faerie Glen 0043, South Africa
![](/cgi-bin/count.cgi?df=gdehlen.dat")
The Rotary name and logo are the exclusive property of Rotary International and are used here under Rotary International Internet Policy Guidelines
