Rotary Group Study Exchange

Wednesday 08 April

2009-04-09T20:56:00.004-04:00

A welcome sleep-in kicked off the day, followed by a exit interview with Ernie Bentley. The team attended their final Rotary lunch meeting with the Rotary Club of Woodstock, and were delighted to have their old friends Bill & Earline Orndorff of Salem surprise them to say a final farewell (although the team is enthusiastically penciling in dates for the Orndorff's visit early next year).

After brief vocational visits, the team members met for a reception with the Woodstock Rotarians. We are sad that our trip is coming to an end but we look forward to an enjoyable last day in Washington!

Tuesday 07 April

2009-04-08T07:48:00.012-04:00

The team met early in the morning at 05h45 to be greeted by a cheerful Cindy Soltis armed with coffee and breakfast goodie bags. We then departed for Washington DC in the company of Ellen Nash and Doug Harpine. After 92 minutes, or so, we arrived at the Vienna/Fairfax Metro to ride into DC. We had fun being crammed together on a crowded morning rush-hour train. We disembarked in Washington city-centre and had our first sight of the famed Capitol building.

We were taken on a guided tour of the Capitol and the Library of Congress with an interlude for lunch inside the Capitol (where Norah had the best Wrap of her life). After the Library of Congress tour the team split up and went to see places of interest.

The team reunited for dinner at The Old Ebbitt Grill, the oldest Saloon in Washington and 5th busiest restaurant in the entire USA. Amazingly delicious food was served and the Blondies were particularly dense and decadent. Whilst the team discussed their day they discovered that they had all done and seen the same things (and that they had ignored each other, or at least Norah and Anna had ignored the boys!)

Some of the places seen included Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, World War 2 Memorial, a host of other memorials and of course one cannot go to Washington DC without seeing the eponymous White House and famed Cherry blossoms.

Monday 06 April

2009-04-06T21:27:00.003-04:00

After a relaxing weekend, the team reassembled in Woodstock to be collected by the President of the Luray Rotary Club. We had a fascinating drive from Woodstock to Luray which included a meander on some side-roads hunting for the Bear and Raccoon (or at least a Bison) that Trevor was hoping to see.

The team then split up for Vocational day. Trevor and Grant spent the day at Luray Elementary school being quizzed on South Africa by intelligent Grade 7's. Norah-Ann visited the Page Memorial Hospital to see their food preparation and to talk with a Nutritionist! Annelize joined the Racey Engineers to talk about building projects in the area. PJ had lunch with the Luray Board of Supervisors and discussed law and governance with them.

After a fascinating few hours the team met up for a presentation and dinner with the Luray Rotary Club at The Vault (an old bank that has been converted into a meeting venue and bar). Our last presentation of our Exchange. A bittersweet moment as we are glad that the presentations are over but we have enjoyed interacting with the clubs and Rotarians.

Saturday 04 - Sunday 05 April

2009-04-05T22:08:00.014-04:00

The team enjoyed a leisurely morning with their respective hosts before assembling outside the YMCA in Staunton for more wrenching goodbyes as we bade farewell to our Area 4 friends.

On the trip towards Woodstock we stopped off in Newmarket for lunch with some of the local Rotarians there. We then split up to go different ways with our new hosts from Area 2. The rest of Saturday was spent getting to know our hosts and the new area.

Sunday was a welcomed rest day and most of the hosts and GSE members used the opportunity to tour the countryside, and enjoy the scenic beauty of the area, all except Grant who used the opportunity to get some ploughing done!

Sunday did have a serious aspect for a few hours as the team delivered its penultimate presentation to the Woodstock Rotary Club who were joined by some visiting Rotarians from nearby clubs.

A busy week in Luray and Woodstock lies ahead, with a long-awaited highlight being the trips into Washington DC on Tuesday and Thursday, which the team are most excited about and grateful for!

Friday 03 April

2009-04-05T22:08:00.012-04:00

Monticello, that we visited today, is a World Heritage Site, and the former home of Thomas Jefferson. It is indeed a beautiful place, the buildings dripping with interesting history, and the gardens a kaleidoscope of flowers, especially tulips. It is incredible to see how many people visit Monticello every day! Thomas Jefferson is known to have been a wise man, who surrounded himself with books and who loved his garden.

We had lunch, after our tour, at Michie Tavern, and have all agreed that we are getting far too comfortable with the large portions, which we complained so vociferously about when we first arrived five weeks ago.

The University of Virginia, envisioned and established by Jefferson, was our next stop, and we joined the Historic tour of the buildings and grounds. Having seen many fine academic institutions over the last few weeks, we were struck by the beauty of UVA.

We always knew that today was going to be a busy one, and by the time we met at Stonewall Jackson Hotel for drinks, we were starting to show signs of fatigue. Dragging heels were left at the door of the American Shakespeare Theater, however, as no-one could resist the contageous enthusiam of the members of the cast of "A Comedy of Errors". The Theatre is a wonderous "replica" of those in the days of old, the stage thrust forward so that the cast are amongst the audience. This troupe capitalise on the fact, and effortlessly include the audience in the chaos and confusion of Shakespeare's masterpiece. Sides sore with laughter, we retired for the evening, each knowing that we had not wasted a moment of the day.

Thursday 02 April

2009-04-05T22:07:00.006-04:00

Specialty Blades was a question mark for most of us on our itinerary, until we got there. We found our tour of this facility, which focuses on the production of blades for medical use, fascinating. The success to this company, in our opinion, lies in the vision of its leadership, and the dedication of its staff. It is impossible to say, after a visit, that this company "just makes blades". A large team of engineers constantly works to ensure that their product, if you'll excuse the pun, remains on the cutting edge of technology. The staff are all obviously proud of their work and one leaves with a sense that this environment, where the professional integrity of staff at every level is valued, is the recipe for success.

At 10:00, the team were taken to the birthplace of President Woodrow Wilson, and also to the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, both interesting tributes to a well respected national leader.

Although the morning was a good one, the afternoon's experience at the American Museum of Frontier Culture overshadowed all else. This "living" exhibit allows the visitor to explore life as it was for the people who would become the first settlers of America. In order to do this, the Museum literally bought and brought homesteads from Ireland, England and Germany.

Each brick and beam was numbered, the whole structure was disassembled, shipped to Virginia and then painstakingly re-assembled. To further create the sense of what life was like in these communities, a permanent staff "live" the life of these people, and later pioneers, by re-enacting cooking, weaving, farming, log cabin building, blacksmithing and so on, all day long. The team agreed that it is surely a sin to live anywhere in Virginia and not visit this amazing exhibit.

To top off a great day, the five of us took a little time-out from Rotary Group Study Exchange and ate together at the Depot Grill in Downtown Staunton. The opportunity to sit and chat amongst ourselves for a change, and laugh and reflect, was relished almost as much as the super food we enjoyed.

Fun at the Frontier Culture Museum:

Wednesday 01 April

2009-04-04T22:08:00.006-04:00

One can never fully appreciate the work done at the Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Centre or the extent of its facilities unless you visit it! The center's aim is to provide vocational retraining and skills for people who have been physically traumatized and disabled in someway or another. Students need to qualify and show potential for rehabilitation, and the center pushes students to take responsibility for their own skill acquisition. It is a 'tough love' environment where students are prepared to enter the workplace as competitors. The centre caters for over 4000 students a year and has more than 300 fulltime employees ranging from Occupational therapists and audiologists to carpentry lecturers and rehabilitation Engineers. They have accommodation facilities for about 350 students at any given time.

We ate at Basic City Luncheonette; a typical greasy spoon for the working class. Henry Ford famously said that one could purchase a Model T in any color as long as it was black. At Basic City you can order a variety of food but it will all be brown. Tasty but brown!

Only because we had some time, Jeff Ward, our host for the day, took us to Gassman Automobile Services, a company which restores classic cars. Some of the cars can spend as long as two years in his workshop before being completely restored. The owner obviously loves what he does and pays attention to every detail. This was every little boys (and girls) dream carshop!

The Virginia Wildlife Centre was the team's final stop of the day's tour before our presentation to Area 4 in the evening. The centre relies on members of the public to bring in injured indigenous animals. The team had hoped to see a few large mammals, a brown bear maybe. This was not to be but we were fortunate to see both a Bald Eagle (America's National Bird, which almost took second place to the wild turkey, if you can believe that) and a Golden Eagle.

The presentation was to our biggest audience, outside of district conference. Some say that it was the fantastic Barrenridge Wine Estate that attracted over 160 people, others suggested that it was the spirit of co-operation between the 5 clubs that had worked so closely together to organize the Homestead Weekend. However, we are convinced that our reputation precedes us! We thoroughly enjoyed presenting to our most responsive crowd thus far.

A major honor was the attendance of Staunton Mayor Lacey King who presented each team member with the key to the city - we will test them all tomorrow evening when we have a team night out!

Tuesday 31 March

2009-03-31T22:45:00.004-04:00

Vocational Day #4

PJ CLOETE

PJ met up with Janey Cleveland from CASA - Court Appointed Special Advocates - whose mission is to collaborate with other professionals, and to provide trained volunteer advocates to represent the best interests of abused and/or neglected children involved in the Juvenile courts of the area. From there they headed to Dave Metz the Vice-Mayor of Staunton who took PJ to lunch with the City manager, Steve Owen and City attorney Doug Guynn. An interesting discussion was had about the system of City Managers that started some 101 years ago right here in Staunton. A note from a nearby town of local politicians who visited to see this new fangled position was that a street sweeper was needed but not a town manager!! After coffee with Dave and his delightful wife Debbie we set off to the circuit court, meeting Grant on his way to the Barbershop for a haircut. A great day was rounded off in the office of Circuit Judge Victor Ludwig where matters judicial and legal were discussed. A really super day was enjoyed by PJ. (The pic below shows the mayor of Staunton).

NORAH-ANN DE WET HAYES

Norah spent her vocational day in Nelson county with Mike Lacanche, an extension officer for Virginia Tech. The day started off at Polack winery and included a chat with Jake Busching about Quality management and export markets. The next stop was at a Nelson County elementary school to see the cafeteria. Norah was surprised at how many children were choosing to eat salad! As a first timer to American schools, she found the facilities exceptional. After lunch, She and Mike meandered towards Democracy vineyards, a farm that is only just starting to plant vineyards. The poles were being knocked in with a small Cat (before you call PETA that is a machine not an animal), which was amusing as in South Africa you would have seen two men knocking in the poles. Lovingston winery was next on the list, where Norah had a chance to practice her Afrikaans while chatting to Riaan Rossouw, an South African now living in the US. She also had the chance to taste a pinotage, one of the few made outside of South Africa, and she was most impressed. The wineries in Virginia are still small in comparison to those of the South African Wine industry, but Virginia's Wine industry is growing. There are currently about 150 wineries, but more vineyards are being planted continuosly. It is great to see the amount of enthusiasm being shown by Vineyard owners so that they can improve the industry. Norah looks forward to hearing more about these wineries in the future.

GRANT BUTLER

Amber, from the USA GSE team to Brazil, picked Grant up at his host's and they drove to Fort Defiance, where Amber is on staff. The school draws largely from the rural area of the couty, and there are over 1 000 students at this impressive high school. The atmosphere of the school is a happy one, and many of the students gather socially in the foyer (halls) to chat before school. The principal, together with other staff, mingles amongst them on Hall Duty, so to speak, but you can see that the interaction with students is a pleasure for them. It was Grant's over-riding opinion that the staff obviously enjoy working at Fort Defiance, and that they have established excellent relationships with the students. Grant attended a Social Studies class and was immediately impressed by the complex social issues that the Grade 10 class was covering. Part of the period was spent at the bank of computers in the school library, where the students worked individually on an "intranet " of activities. The most moving (and inspiring) part of Grant's morning was the time that he was afforded with students in the Special Needs class. Some of these students have significant challenges, yet, surrounded by a staff of totally dedicated individuals, the these challenges are being met, to some degree. Grant's second stop for the day was at Stuart Hall, a private school in Staunton. This 150-something year old school caters for all three bands of education; elementary, middle and high school. Each phase has an administrative head, who fall directly under the principal. The school's strength is undoubtedly the small classes, as well as the emphasis on accelerated learning, and drama. As an example of accelerated learning, Mathematics is taught in sets, the stronger group focussing on pre-algebra in Grade 6. The difference in the level of the content covered was obvious. Grant attended the two Maths streams, and also an English and a Civics class.

Monday 30 March

2009-03-31T22:31:00.004-04:00

The weather was fresh as we met outside the YMCA to start our travels into Nelson County. It became even fresher about 10miles down the road in sight of Humpback Rock when we stepped out the car to look at the old wood cabins made by early settlers in the area. Norah's face was hard to see, hidden as it was deep in the folds of her scarf and jacket.

A picturesque drive along mountain roads ensued and came to an end at the Wintergreen Resort. Unfortunately for Grant and Trevor who had been hoping to ski the slopes had been closed 2 weeks earlier. However desperate as they were they still walked out onto the icy, browning snow for a photo opportunity. Wintergreen is a co-operative holiday resort where private individuals allow there houses to be leased to tourists within an 11 000 acre area which includes the aforementioned ski-slopes, 2 golf courses, 35miles of hiking trails, a spa and much more.

After a good lunch at The Edge restaurant the team headed down the mountain along gravelled back roads to Pharsalia. Pharsalia is a 40 acre wine and apple farm that was started in 1814. The current resident and our gracious guide is the great-great-grandaughter of the original farmer and she described to us a number of stories of their families early farm life.

On our return to Staunton we stopped off at an Apple-packing factory where we ate Red Delicious and Pink Ladies whilst having the packing process described to us by the amiable owner and demonstrated to us by capable Mexican Labourers. We then drove past Crab-Tree falls (the tallest waterfalls on the East Coast) before being delivered safely back into the arms of our waiting hosts.

Tuesday sees us all off on our vocational visits, before Wednesday is spent visiting the Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Centre and Virginia Wildlife Centre. In the evening we present to the Area 4 Rotary Clubs at a banquet on Barrenridge Winery.

Saturday 28 - Sunday 29 March

2009-03-31T22:23:00.004-04:00

Saturday started with a trip to Applebee's for Pancakes to support another local service club. Farewell's were then said to our Blacksburg hosts before we were transported to Lexington to meet up with our new hosts in Area 4. In Lexington, a delightful old-style town, we visited the Washington & Lee University and the Robert E. Lee Chapel where the great man is buried.

Later that afternoon we were introduced to our new hosts in Staunton. After an hour or so to settle in, everyone gathered for a potluck supper at 'The Oaks', a historic home where Trevor is being hosted. A good time was had as we all got to know our new friends. Sunday was spent with our host families experiencing real American weekend life.

Friday 27 March

2009-03-29T21:32:00.006-04:00

YeeeeeHaa! Today was spent in Floyd county, just South of Blacksburg. Floyd is reputedly known for it's 'alternative' (hippie/eccentric) community. Much has been done to maintain Floyd as a small traditional town and no influence of large chain stores could be seen as in other areas.

The team started off the day with Peter Ozolin, an architect who specializes in green architecture. We visited the Floyd hotel, a 14 roomed boutique hotel, where each room has been decorated by different artists of the area to a specific theme e.g. Writers room, Malawi room etc.

Next we visited the Wall Residences, an office block that is designed to be almost self sustaining. As such the building has 48 voltaic cells to provide electricity (estimated to contribute about 50% of the buildings power requirements) and 2 solar geysers. It also has a 8 8 000 gallon (32 000litre) tank underneath the building to capture water for the office's use. Other interesting features were skylights to provide lights to the offices, movement sensored lighting and recycling areas.

The rest of the morning was spent wondering around Floyd, looking at art, ceramics and other knickknacks. The girls managed to find a massive fabric store and spent much of their time in the old school house looking at fabric. Lunch was enjoyed at a Mexican restaurant in town with Ernie Bentley and Les Myers.

The team then proceeded up the Blueridge parkway to visit the Mabry mill (one of the most photographed mills in the world). By this stage the mist had enveloped us and it was rather eerie up on the mountain. Nancy's Candy Company provided a bit of comfort with their lovely confectionary such as pumpkin fudge, and peanut butter & cayenne pepper chocolate truffles. Anna & Norah also managed to do some Christmas shopping on top of the mountain at a Christmas shop.

Next it was wine tasting time, at the Chatteaux Morrisette. They took us on a tour of the winery, before the wine tasting, which was rounded off with a delicious dinner at the Chateaux's Restaurant. All the hosts joined us for this part of the day and it was fun having time to chat to everybody over good wine and food.

The evening was perfectly rounded off with a jamboree of Blue grass music back in Floyd. Different bands are given the opportunity to play at the old country store every Friday night, and during summer it becomes a real street party! The team had a chance to show off their skill (or their lack of it) by flat foot dancing. Some lessons were given by a range of people from 5 year olds through to 80 year olds who were only too happy to show us the steps. We loved it but don't expect us to introduce the Floyd 2-step in South Africa anytime soon!

Tomorrow we leave Blacksburg and our new friends here and we travel to Staunton to meet up with our new hosts. We look forward to the next set of adventures.

Thursday 26 March

2009-03-29T21:19:00.003-04:00

Anna and Norah ventured off to meet with an extension officer at the Human Nutrition, Food and Exercise Department who is doing work in nutrition education with lower income groups.

They found it enlightening as they realized that nutritional problems faced in the USA are essentially the same as those that South Africa is experiencing. People do not know how to make healthy choices and often healthy food is more expensive than unhealthy food. The strategy for intervention which they follow is to make small changes over the long term. This is a strategy that could potentially work well in our South African context.

While the girls were hard at work the boys took the opportunity to go shopping and eat some more Ben & Jerry's. Poor PJ missed out as he had to pay a visit to the doctor. No need to fear though, he'll recover from his bronchitis!

Wednesday 25 March

2009-03-25T20:45:00.011-04:00

Today was Virginia Tech day, all day, and it was a good day!

Our guides Greg and Josh made sure that we had the opportunity to see many varying aspects of Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech unfortunately sprung to Worldwide prominence on 16 April 2007 when 32 students and faculty where gunned down on the campus. There is much more to Virginia Tech that makes it a university of National and International importance and acclaim!

Highlights of our tour round Virginia Tech's campus included 'playing' with computer equipment in the CAVE. A computer aided facility using Virtual Reality that allows one to interact (or be emmersed) in another world or with an object. Although Norah didn't particularly enjoy being chased by a giant spider...

The 66 000 seater football stadium impressed us! And we were allowed into the president's suite (but just for a look-see)! The university has about 27 000 students and yet it routinely sells out the stadium!

Another fascinating visit involved walking inside a hollow bridge that is part of a 'Smart Road'. A road specifically constructed to conduct research upon. The road has varying types of surfaces and can replicate weather be it, rain, snow or fog.

In addition we also got to see the School of Veterinarian Medicine, visit the Centre for BioInformatics as well as have lunch in the adjoining Skelton Conference centre! The amount of research that is carried out in some many varying fields left us all feeling a little ignorant! Anyone want to sponsor a team member to study a Masters at Virginia Tech-applications are now open!

Tuesday 24 March

2009-03-25T20:43:00.005-04:00

Vocational day #3:

PJ CLOETE:

We broke away for our vocational visits on Tuesday following the previous days hike to Cascade falls. Waldon Kerns was PJ's guide for the day and together they observed the Local goverment in action and they learnt about Land usage and Zoning. PJ also spent some time with Marc Verniel the Town manager of Blacksburg. Marc was able to show PJ how the local town was run and the varying functions of his role. It is interesting that they have 7 Councillors instead of our 54! From there PJ went to the Virginia Tech Campus to meet with Leon Geyer and Jesse Richardson who both lecture law subjects to the Agri-Economics department. A valuable insight into land usage and land transfers was gained. Lunch was a date with Ron Rordan the Mayor of Blacksburg it was both interesting and insightful to see the political workings at play on both a local, state and national level. To top the day off, PJ then headed out to Montgomery county to meet with the County attorney and with Dan Berenato, of the Montgomery county School system. The manner in which Town, County, State and School Board all interact and interface was interesting. Waldon was a great guide and was a source of much information especially as he had served as a Councillor before. A wonderful, thought-provoking day was enjoyed by PJ.

NORAH-ANN HAYES

Norah spent her vocational day with her host, Janet Johnson. The day started with breakfast at Our Daily Bread in Blacksburg, breakfast included a tour of the restaurant kitchens, so it did count as a vocational visit (who's being defensive now?) The remainder of the day was spent on the Virginia Tech campus visiting various departments; including the Human Nutrition, Food and Exercise, and Food science department. A lot of information was gleened regarding regulations in the USA and general information was gained about the food industry. The most striking difference was that third party audits of Food Safety systems by international companies is relatively rare and most companies rely on government inspections. The most interesting part of the day was the time spent in the High Pressure processing plant in the food science department, a field that Norah has been interested in and researched, but has never seen in reality. As in South Africa, the barrier to wide-scale use of this technology is still the cost but the possibilities are large! Lunch was spent at the West End Market, one of the "cafeterias" at Virginia Tech. This cafeteria is set up in a market style with various food service stations: a pizza and pasta station, a wrap & sandwich station, a soup & salad station, a sports bar (with big screen tv's) and a fine dining hall. It was amazing! Each little area is decorated accordingly, so the more cafe style areas, looked like diners and the high end looked like a fine dining restaurant, with chandeliers. One can order anything from the menu and there are daily specials. The most entertaining aspect of the menu was the live lobster. One can pick a lobster and have it cooked to your liking. A dietician is also availible to advise students on eating plans based around menu items served according to any dietary requirements. Norah's head feels slightly larger than when she arrived, but luckily all this information has now been recorded for future use.
Thanks to all concerned for making this a wonderful day.

ANNELIZE CLOETE

Anna had a very interesting vocational day with Peter Ozolins - he is world famous for Green Building Design. This was fascinating as everyone is making a move toward building in a more environmentally friendly manner. It all has to do with minimzing the use of timber, electricity, loss of heat, and maximizing the insulation through sealing as well as making use of solar panels for heating of water. There is a movement back to older building practices, like wider overhangs - to keep out hot sun and allow in sun during winter. Peter showed Anna a research building being built on Virgina Tech Campus and she was impressed at the way Virginia Tech is introducing more and more technology and the manner in which they plan in advance for future expansion. They visited with numerous architects and engineers (Civil and Structural Engineers seem to work very differently to back home). It is interesting to hear that you can build your own house here - without an architect or engineer - as long as you adhere to certain building codes.

Monday 23 March

2009-03-23T23:48:00.005-04:00

Today the team headed into the Great American Outdoors. First, driving up to Mountain Lake (which should be called Mountain, no-more-Lake) to see the hotel where Dirty Dancing was filmed. All of us had seen the film. Most of us remembered scenes from the film. Some of us even recognised things at the hotel that were in the film. BUT only one of us lived the film; Norah: script, cast, moves, soundtrack, drama, you name it. The team would like to publicly apologise to Shaun for how many more times he is going to have to watch it now that Norah has been there.

Our excursion for the day was a hike to the Cascades waterfall. The 4 mile circular trail follows the fast-flowing creek up a steep gorge, through huge moss-covered boulders and under overhanging Mountain Laurel (Rhodedendrons). It was well worth the walk, and we enjoyed a trail lunch alongside the clear plunge pool of the picturesque falls before making our way back to the car park along a simpler route with no stairs (an answer to PJ's prayers).

We presented to a large group of Rotarians at the Blacksburg Country Club this evening and thoroughly enjoyed the company. Tomorrow we will have our vocational day followed by a meeting with the Virginia Tech Rotaract. Then on Wednesday we will tour the Virginia Tech campus, something which we are all looking forward too!

Friday 20 - Sunday 22 March

2009-03-21T17:13:00.009-04:00

The Homestead was every bit as luxurious as we had thought it would be! From the sprawling grounds, the majestic buildings and the uniformed bell hops, to the opulent interiors and tea at three; this place radiates class. Of course,as five South Africans, we soon discovered that our pockets responded by radiating dollars. Grant was forced, through sick obligation, to spoon the foam from his coffee cup when he calculated that it cost R55; it's not right for a grown man to cry.

The conference was very well run, and it was a real treat to attend. We found the GSE reports and presentations, by teams incoming and returning, varied and interesting. The returning team from Brazil impressed us as we discovered that they had done all their presentations in Portuguese! (Luckily nobody expected us to do ours in American English; it's just too much to ask!) The returning team from South Africa obviously held a special interest for us, and more than one team member confessed to being a little teary eyed when listening to The Scatterlings of Africa (except Grant, who was still upset over the price of coffee.) They did a good job and we all missed home because of it.

Overall, as with all things "Rotary", there was business, there was pleasure, but most important of all, there was the opportunity, within a community of people who put others first, to establish or renew friendships. We met some great people at the Homestead. Some we might never see again; others we will make deliberate efforts to stay in touch with, so that our paths might cross again.

PS: On Saturday night one of the employees at The Homestead shot and killed Two other employees (and people say crime and violence in South Africa are a problem). Have a look at the link below and it will take you to a video clip, from a local newstation, about the murder. If you look carefully at the point where there is about 1:30 seconds to go you will see 4 South African GSE team members sitting on the steps of The Homestead, on Sunday morning.

http://www.wsls.com/sls/news/local/article/shooting_at_the_homestead_suspect_missing/31189/

Thursday 19 March

2009-03-19T22:59:00.004-04:00

We have reached the end of our visit to Danville and the surrounding area. As we prepare to leave after our second week in the USA and Rotary District 7570 we look back with appreciation at the GSE Co-ordinators, the Rotarians and our hosts who have made the trip so special thus far.

It was great to be back together today as we were taken to the Danville Community College were we the guest lecturers for an Economics class. Then we moved onto Averett College where our charming guide Megan showed us around before a sumptuous meal in the Averett dining hall. It was a lovely surprise to meet up with Dean Loock from Grahamstown who is at Averett College on a Tennis Scholarship. That was followed by a walk along the Dan river on a trail developed by the resources and labour of the Rotary Club of Danville-Riverview.

The GSE experience has shown us how our hosts and guides put their lives on hold to fetch and carry us and to show us around. We are surely experiencing the famous Southern Hospitality at its best!

Wednesday 18 March: Annelize

2009-03-18T22:58:00.003-04:00

Vocational Day #2:

Anna visited Danville Community College's Draughting and Engineering Department, there she toured the new Medical Facility - designed by Dewberry Architects. She found it inspiring to see the amount of new technology being applied in new buildings - all the buildings (especially educational institutions) have high level technology. A huge drive is being made to educate and retrain a population that was previously a labour force. Grants are being made available to people so that they can take time off and study (paid for by the scholarships) and Anna met many draughting students on these programs.

After a good Southern meal of fried chicken, corn, creamed potatoes and biscuits, Anna visted Dewberry & Davis Inc. A company of land surveyors, architects, landscape architects and civil and structural engineers, all working together under one roof. Dewberry & Davis focuses on economic, industrial and commercial development. Anna sat in on a technical meeting where plans were being overviewed for a tender process. Thereafter she was shown around historical Danville -Anna met her match- someone else more passionate about oohing and aahing and photographing beams, windows, buildings and bricks...

Wednesday 18 March: Grant

2009-03-18T22:57:00.001-04:00

Vocational Day #2:

Grant visited Bonner Middle School today and was once again very pleasantly surprised by the creative approach to dealing with multiple intelligences within one school.

Pupils who prove gifted, academically, are grouped in an enrichment class and stimulated through more challenging content that far exceeds the Standards of Learning (SOL's).

A Grade 7 class that Grant visited, as an example, was dealing with Frankenstein, and Mr Salamon, the English Arts teacher for this gifted programme, was using the text to stimulate lively debate over ethical issues as controversial as genetic engineering. By playing 'devil's advocate' he was able to challenge the students to think more deeply and express their opinions more convincingly.

At the same time, Ms Ross, a gifted teacher in her own right, worked in an upstairs classroom with a teacher's aid and a therapist, with a group of students of very diverse academic ability.

Grant was made to feel very welcome at this incredible school and what struck him most was how interested Dr Cocran and the staff were about his own experiences in education in South Africa.

Wednesday 18 March: Norah-Ann

2009-03-18T22:40:00.005-04:00

Norah- Ann had the privilege of being allowed into the Nestle factory today- what a treat. The plant at Danville produces fresh pasta (plain and filled ravioli's and tortellinis), pasta sauces as well as Tollhouse cookie dough. For somebody that had never seen a bucket of cookie dough for sale the latter was a real treat.

The controls in place were all familiar territory, but it is always interesting to see them implemented in another facility. Not to get distracted in the technicalities, this is every kids dream: seeing enough cookie dough go by to last a life time and hoppers of chocolate drops big enough to swim in! A big thank you to Lacey, Jennifer and the rest of the Nestle team for organizing a well structured tour with an excellent tasting session at the end. (and for the couple of wine chats in between!)

After a great lunch at the Bronx boys bagels with Peter and the family it was off to the more serious stuff of Environmental health inspections. Linda Jones took Norah around for the afternoon to some of the restaurants the local department is responsible for. Although the department is over loaded with work, it is good to see a system actually working- hopefully it will eventually get to this level back home.

Norah's evening was spent with Bob and Wanda Vaughn in the nearby town of South Boston where they treated her to a wonderful dinner at Bistro 1881. A lovely little restaurant with great food.

So to all the rumor mills, Norah does in fact not spend her day shopping, but eating…

Wednesday 18 March: Trevor

2009-03-18T22:40:00.004-04:00

Vocational Day #2:

Trevor went to George Washington High School in Danville today and they really made him feel like a celebrity. He was given a tour of the school which included welcoming banners placed at the entrance to welcome him. He was then invited to lunch with the principal and assistant principals and Heads of Department. George Washington is a large school (1400 students and 140 teachers). It is very racially integrated and has a huge campus on which it offers a considerable variety of courses including: hairdressing, EMT, dentistry, car mechanics, robotics as well as the more traditional school subjects. Trevor had the opportunity to address a few classes of well-behaved, intelligent students. At the end of the school day a reception was held in Trevor's honour which was attended by a number of the staff and students of GW (as it is affectionately known). This was a fantastic opportunity for Trevor to share about South Africa, and it left Trevor feeling both humbled and grateful for the experience.

The other school Trevor visited was Galileo Magnet High School, an International Baccalaureate school. Funded and established in the last 10 years using a grant from NASA. The school is extremely advanced in terms of technology with each class equipped with a set of laptops as well as data projectors, smart boards etc. What we couldn't achieve with a little South African enthusiasm and a lot of American Technology!

Wednesday 18 March: PJ

2009-03-18T22:31:00.004-04:00

Vocational day #2:

PJ travelled out with Bob Vaughan, the President of the Rotary Club of Danville and a local attorney, to Rocky Mountain, where they attended the Circuit Court in Franklin County. While waiting for Bob's case to be called PJ observed the Local District Court in session on a matter of an assault in a barroom and then saw presiding Judge William Alexander send an accused away for 5 years for eluding the police! That seemed a bit harsh just for running from the cops until you heard his previous convictions. The moral of the story is: do not run from the cops in the United States of America.

Bob received a favourable judgment in his matter and to celebrate PJ and Bob enjoyed diner cuisine in the heartland of Southside Virginia at Carl's Diner. The day was rounded off by a visit to the Chatham Courthouse where the court room is kept locked when not in session so Pj was given a tour of the clerks office. It was interesting as all deeds and documents are kept at each County or City Courthouse and not at a central Deeds Office as is the case in South Africa. A most enjopyable day was made extra special by a knowledgeable and gracious host and guide. Thanks Bob!

Tuesday 17 March

2009-03-18T17:10:00.013-04:00

Today we did our Rotary Presentations. Firstly, to the Danville clubs, around 100 people. Secondly, to the Martinsville clubs: where someone forgot to organise a projector so we had to do our presentation without powerpoint slides-I think it went off quite well under the circumstances.

We also visited the house where Lady Astor grew up (the first female parliamentarian in the UK.) that was followed up by a visit to the Danville Museum in the Sutherlin Mansion and a walk down Millionaire's row to look at the architecture of houses built in the late 1800's. In the afternoon after our presentation to the Danville clubs, we explored the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville and for a relatively small town of about 40 000 people it was fascinating to see the extent and technological resources of the museum. You wouldn't find anything like it in SA outside of Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. The interactivity was enough to keep, even Trevor, out of mischief!

After our stressful evening of pictureless presentations some "horseing around" and ice-cream was much needed and received to put us in a good mood before going home to our hosts after another full day.

Monday 16 March

2009-03-18T17:10:00.012-04:00

We all met at the institute for advanced learning and Research for a tour of this state-of-the-art facility conducted by Julie Brown. What impressed us most (other than the fact that the architecture creates the impression of standing on the flight deck of Star Treks USS Enterprise) was that the centre draws pupils from the surrounding areas' high schools every day to 'fast-track' their development in areas such as Mathematics and Science. This progressive model is recognised and accredited by local colleges, too. These young Einsteins are then bussed back to their own High Schools for the rest of the day's academic, cultural and sporting programme.

We were then driven to RCATT, the Regional Center for Advanced Technology and Training, which offers manufacturing technical career studies. We liked the 'growing machine' which can produce 3D objects from digital images.

After enjoying lunch at a diner called Short Sugar's and, because we heard that this was where President Obama dined when he was in Danville not so long ago, we thought, "Yes, we can!"

The afternoon was spent at the Tank Museum and, other than seeing a vast variety of war machinery, artillery as well as many different uniforms, we also learned that tanks need to be kept in a refrigerator after opening, because it was absolutely freezing in the museum.

We were then rushed through to Reidsville where we were to appear on live TV! Having had to get changed on the pavement because the station is really no more than a shop window, we impressed the one Rotarian that happened to be watching at the time.

Sunday 15 March

2009-03-15T23:00:00.003-04:00

It's STILL raining (three days straight, now). The team have decided that, when we get back to South Africa, we are going to tour drought-stricken areas for money - Angus Buchan x5 - because it rains whenever we are together.

PJ's sermon was warmly received by the congregation of Trinity United Methodist Church of Danville, and after lunch we made our way to VIR, Virginia's International Raceway. Because of the inclement weather, races were cancelled for the day, and although we were disappointed not to experience the rush of adrenalin that NASCAR is said to cause, the good people of VIPER had something even better in store for us. We were taken to their very technologically advanced centre at VIR and given the opportunity to "play" on their simulator that replicates the sensation of driving a real race car.

Three thing we learned: (1) High speed racing is even more difficult than it looks on ESPN, (2) If you ever race with Trevor in an off-road event as a navigator, you WILL die, and (3) Driving with Norah is your safest bet - even if it takes a little longer and you don't mind the sound that a high performance engine makes in first gear.

Saturday 14 March

2009-03-15T21:38:00.002-04:00

The drive from Salem to Danville seems long for most, we are told, but not when travelling with people like the Orndorffs. Their to-and-fro commentary on their two way radios had us laughing all the way, and we will miss them like family! We met with our new hosts, with whom we will be staying until Friday, and after settling in, all met for supper at Bob and Wanda Vaughan's. It was a most enjoyable evening and we left knowing that this will be another good week.

Friday 13 March

2009-03-15T07:12:00.005-04:00

Today started off with some excitement and disappointment. It snowed (lightly) which caused great excitement for us sun-accustomed South Africans. Sadly, Norah-Ann's cold has developed into Bronchitis which is disappointing for her-we hope she gets better soon.

WDBJ7 is a local TV news station. We were invited to tour the TV-station, which included a pretending to be news anchors and playing around in front of the green-screen as weathermen, as well as discovering some of the more serious methods involved in producing, directing and recording the news so that it actually gets to the viewer every day.

With Norah being confined to the house, Anna decided to take a break from the boys and prepare (with Norah's help) Chicken Breyani, for our Roanoke Valley hosts as a farewell dinner. While the girls were doing a great ambassadorial job for South African cuisine, we boys headed off to meet the Sheriff.

Grant's host, Mark Henricksen had been threatening since we arrived to have Grant locked away. He organised with the local sheriff that we be given a tour of the town courthouse and holding cell facilities. An excellently managed facility, which South African judiciary officials could learn a lot from. The sheriff played along with Mark and asked one of the deputies to arrest Grant. The deputy not realising, it was all a joke, grabbed Grant by the arm and started to roughly drag him off, fortunately Sheriff Atkins intervened and so Grant was more genteely patted down, cuffed and chained before being placed in the cell. Unfortunately for us, fortunately for his family back home, he was allowed out.

The day ended with a delightful dinner party, including many of the people of Roanoke who had really had an impact on us during the week.

Thursday 12 March

2009-03-12T21:24:00.003-04:00

We all met again at Bill and Earline's house and drove to the RR Donnelley printing plant in Salem to tour the facility. Bill worked for the company for 28 years and was our window of opportunity into this fascinating industry. The plant is high tech and state of the art and fully focussed on efficiency; yet we were shown around by two senior staff members as if they had nothing else in the world to do. We followed the printing of a hard-cover book from stock paper to coffee table, so to speak, and, from now on, we have all agreed that we will have a deeper appreciation for the work and craftmanship that went into producing it.

We presented to the Rotary Club of Salem at noon, and were warmly received. The club is the second largest in the district, and has a very active membership.

After lunch, we were taken to the Taubman Museum of Art. The architecture is futuristic and 'divisive', in that you either love it or hate it. (We were impressed!) The museum currently hosts several collections and the works range from classic in style to what appears to be the hallusonogenic scribblings of psychiatric patients during therapy sessions. Of course, art is a matter of opinion, and even in the wrtings of the Spanish poet, Miguel De Cervantes, we read: "Good painters imitate, bad ones regurgitate."

The evening was spent at the Rotary Club of Roanoke, one of the oldest in the district, and quite "posh" to say the least. Dinner was delicious and the guest speaker (not us) addressed the issues around the financial bank crisis in America and concluded by saying that economists are positive because the majority of the financial institutions in America are "just too big to fail". Funny how familiar that sounds: from David and Goliath to the Titanic, we hear echoes...

Wednesday 11 March

2009-03-12T21:23:00.010-04:00

Vocational Day #1:

We all split up and visited our respective locations. We admitted later to suffering from separation anxiety, a good sign, hopefully we'll still feel the same in a few weeks time!

Lawyers jokes, the world over, are all the same. PJ had an amazing morning learning about Legal Aid and then visiting a Large law firm in downtown Roanoke. Although the Countries may differ we have the same problems and aspects of the Law to deal with. It was interesting to listen to how similar our approaches are in dealing with matters. From the Law-firm we headed off to the Roanoke Rescue Mission-WOW is all that can be said for what Mary Ellen and her team do. Lunch with those in need was a wonderful experience The facility is multi-faceted and privately funded feeding up to 900 people a day. The care for the homeless, the abused and for those in need with addictions, all centred around a Christian base, was an eye opener.

Anna visited Balzer & Associates Inc (a company complete with Land surveyors, architects, landscape architects, civil and structural engineers). She was introduced to the team and taken to various projects. The company developed a Mall called Keagy Village. Construction methods are totally different to those used in SA - no brick and mortar buildings are built due to price and labour. It is quicker to construct timber frame homes that are clad. Anna then had lunch with the Balxer employees and attended their "Lunch and Learn" - where a sales representative was doing a presentation on GEOTECH fabric. Anna also visited Timber Truss - a plant where timber frame homes are built; roof trusses, floor trusses and more are manufactured here too. Here one can choose a floor plan - have the house built and delivered to site, and choose windows, doors, kitchen and bathroom fittings under one roof - Very convenient - HOUSE IN A BOX! The highlight of the day though was the chance to drive heavy machinery!!! Mark Henricksen ( a local Rotarian) put Anna onto a Bobcat Scid Loader and a JCB Back Hoe - Contractors beware... Girl driver coming through!

Norah went shopping for her vocational day (as far as the boys were concerned) but Norah wishes to refute that rumour... Norah, in addition to doing Food safety management systems, is also a consultant in product labelling, hence she spent her vocational day in a Supermarket, Natural food store and speciality store doing research. The product range in the US is amazing and everything comes premade; from the chocolate milk (or any other flavour you desire) to pastry and biscuit cases (that is if you choose not to buy the tart ready made!). Even if you buy the pastry cases you are still not expected to make a filling: as you could buy that ready made too. The ice cream aisle would be most children (and adults) heaven, the Kroger Norah visited had aisle (about 100m long) full of ice cream, in every flavour imaginable- 5 weeks is just to little time in which to try it all. The biggest eye-opener has definitely been the convenience factor and the variety. Do not assume this is only a good thing as people do not know what goes into their food anymore. Another aspect of Norah's vocational day included visiting the Home depot- for those at home, this is like a Builders Warehouse on steroids. Home Depot is large! And fun! The point of the exercise was to look at what is happening in the kitchen market, which interestingly enough is skewed towards solid wood kitchens unlike South Africa's prefab melamine kitchens. Norah admits that the whole exercise did include shopping... but... with a purpose.

Grant visited Andrew Lewis Middle School and sat in on the Social Studies classes offered by Grade 6 teacher, Deborah Turner. The day begins with admin and the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, after which he was introduced. Grant came away filled with enthusiasm; Deborah Turner's style and passion had been inspiring, and the pupils' questions had been insightful. What a wonderful school. He said that he felt like a sponge that had been saturated. It is experiences like these that make GSE worthwhile!

After seeing Grant off at Andrew Lewis Middle School, Trevor was taken to Salem High School. One of the premier high schools in the region. Principal John Hall and Assistant Principal Scott Beleeb made him most welcome. Trevor started off with a grade 12 English class, where he shared some of the distinguishing features of South African schools with some very intelligent students. The rest of the day proceeded in a similiar vain with visits to various grade and subject classes and opportunities to talk about South Africa and South African Education. The Facilities of the school made Trevor drool and dream: Resources are wonderful but it was the people, the faculty (staff) and the students who really impressed, ultimately enthusiastic people trump advanced technology everytime. Below can be seen a picture of some school buses from Trevor's visit to Salem High School.

The day was topped off by sharing in a outreach program at Maryanne's (PJ's host) former church where the whole team went out in Church vans to load up the kids, share a meal with them and work with them in their groups. This church program operates 3 times a week and is supported by volunteers so that it can help these kids, from difficult circumstances, to do homework and receive a decent meal. We had fun and many of us lost our hearts to these precious kids!

Tuesday 10 March

2009-03-12T21:22:00.005-04:00

We presented our program today at the Rotary Club of Roanoke Valley, which meets at the Roanoke Country Club. It went very well and stimulated some interesting discussion, especially around the topic of education. We were treated to a good breakfast and enjoyed watching the sun come up over the golf course.

The highlight of Tuesday was a visit to the Roanoke Higher Learning Centre where we had the opportunity to talk with the director of the centre, which co-ordinates co-operative studying facilities contributed to by 14 different universities. The heads of the programmes from Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia both joined us and contributed to a fascinating discussion about education in our respective countries.

Our afternoon was spent at the Virginia County Administration building, the seat of local government. We were formally introduced to the Board of Supervisors (which you can actually watch on their website, as it is recorded and televised). We had been led to believe that it would potentially be a bit of a 'yawn', but this proved not to be the case at all. We found the manner in which the meetings are run fascinating, and, as usual, were made to feel very welcome.

Grant's hosts are members of Salem's Choral Society, and he attended their dress rehersal at the Sholoh Baptist Church in the evening. The team are not convinced whether it was the amazing soloists or the cup of Mill Mountain coffee that brought tears to his eyes.

Monday 09 March

2009-03-10T18:20:00.003-04:00

This morning, we met early at Bill and Earline Orndorff's house and they took us on an amazing sight-seeing drive through this breath-taking part of the world. We drove to Natural Bridge, said to be one of the seven wonders of the new world. The solid limestone arch is very impressive, to say the least, and the team enjoyed the tranquil walk along Cedar Creek Trail. Spring is definitely in the air, and every dogwood, poplar, red bud and beech threatens to burst into full colour at any moment.

After lunch, we drove to the Natural Bridge Caverns, deepest on the East Coast at over 34 storeys below the surface. The caves are cold (10 degrees C) and wet, but well worth the trip; the water-sculptured rooms and colossal flowstones mirrored in pools of crystal clear water.

[SIDE BAR: The 7 of us walk into the small gift shop and reception to the Caverns with our tickets in hand, which we exchange for tokens issued by Phyllis, the manager standing behind the counter. The shop is one-roomed, and we are the only ones there, except for a young girl, Tiffany, who would turn out to be our guide. Phyllis tells us that the next tour leaves in 4 minutes, and so we basically just stand around and wait. 3 minutes later, Tiffany makes her way from behind the counter and Phyllis raises a microphone to her mouth. She announces (as if we are not standing right there) that the tour group must please make their way to the entrance of the cavern (in the shop!) and hand in their tokens. She then comes out from behind the counter, too, and stands at the door to collect the very tokens that, not moments before, she had handed out to us. DAFT!]

The drive back to Salem along the Blue Ridge Parkway was spectacular. The ridge road affords one the opportunity to take in the vista of forests and valleys, and we could only imagine what it will look like in a few weeks time when the trees are once again covered in foliage. We are working on our dialect and have practised saying Peaks of Otter, which is said, "Peaks-av-odder" with an exaggerated 'odder'.

In his essay on American scenery, George Coleman wrote, "Over all, rocks, woods, and water, and the silent energy of nature, stirred the soul to its inmost depths." He must surely have been standing on the lue Ridge Mountains in Virginia when he thought that!

Sunday 08 March

2009-03-10T18:10:00.006-04:00

Today we met Earline Orndorff, the co-ordinator of this part of our itinerary. She took us through the details briefly, and then Ernie introduced us to our first host families. We are all overwhelmed at the hospitality of these wonderful people, who have so willingly allowed us into their homes.

Earline and Bill (her husband) presented an early challenge to the team when Bill invited Anna, Norah-ann and Trevor to go cycling with him. Bill is an avid cyclist who has a certificate to prove that he has cycled all of Switzerland's cyclable mountains, including the famed Alps D'Huez. It was a super way to see a little more of Roanoke. While those three were being put through a strenuous workout, Grant enjoyed a visit to Smith Mountain Lake and PJ participated in a local church service, courtesy of their respective hosts!

Saturday 07 March

2009-03-10T00:01:00.012-04:00

Arrived at last! We rushed to Starbucks as soon as we had passed through customs (with our bags, if you can believe that they got here without incident) and, even though the fact that a Grande Cuppachino cost us $3.35 (sob), it was SO worth it. (And Grant publicly thanks the Drinkwaters for treating him to his first cup of America's favourite.) Printed on Grant's cup of brew was The Way I See It # 21: "People need to see that, far from being an obstacle, the world's diversity of languages, religion and traditions is a great treasure, affording us precious opportunities to recognise ourselves in others." We trust that it will prove true for this trip and for the people we meet.

As far as the flight was concerned: if any of us are ever given the news that we have 24 hours to live, we will ask to fly SAA to the USA, because it will surely be the longest 24 hours possible, and by the end, we know that we will be quite looking forward to death! Those planes must be bigger than they look, because we couldn't find a flight attendant anywhere. After settling in at a motel, we were treated to lunch at Applebees, a great little spot that was packed with a victorious junior high basketball team and entourage.

Sue and Ernie Bentley took us to Downtown Roanoke for supper. This older part of the city has a fantastically first-world atmosphere to it, and in parts, restaurant seating spills out onto the pavements. We ate at "Corned Beef&Co.", and all ended up ordering the same thing; smoked pork and pecan salad, which was monstorous in its proportions, yet so delicious that no-one failed to finish.

After dinner, we took a walk over the "Glass Bridge" to the historic Roanoke Hotel, a tudor-style beauty that, along with the ultra modern art gallery, dominates the area.

Friday 06 March

2009-03-08T09:24:00.012-04:00

It is 23:30 and the (dream) team are mostly dreaming (behind very stylish blindfolds courtesy of SAA). According to the flight path indicated on the screen, on the headrest in front of me, we are just over halfway to Dakar (Senegal), our one stop on the way to Dulles airport, in the USA. We are 38000ft above sea-level and the temperature outside is -23C (looks like my 3-in-1 jacket from Excelsior will come in handly if I decide to step outside).

Today has been long and difficult. Long, because it has been spent almost entirely in planes and airports. Difficult, because the reality of leaving home for 6wks has finally sunk in for some. Of course the pull of the promise, of new things excites us all, and all the work we've put into being prepared is starting to make sense. In truth I think we are all a little apprehensive about what to expect (from the USA and from ourselves) but as someone once said "it is better to know those with whom you travel than to know the path upon which you travel".

That is the biggest bonus for us; actually enjoying each others company and learning to trust eachother as our friendships deepen.

We're taking off for the USA!!!

2009-03-05T02:17:00.010-05:00

The time has finally arrived! After 9 months of planning and preparation (something parents might be used to but not the singles amongst us) we are leaving from East London at 11:30am South African Time and we will arrive in Roanoke, the following day, at 7:30am Eastern Standard Time. There is a 7 hour time difference.

We have completed our final presentation to the Rotarians of East London, kindly hosted by the Rotary Club of Beacon Bay. No more South Africans need to suffer through our presentation, it is now Virginians who will be afflicted.

All the team members have suffered from sleep deprivation the last week or so, what with late nights of marking, packing and early mornings for travelling. Between PJ and Norah-Ann most of the country has been criss-crossed in the last week, due to business and family commitments (they insist) not because they were holidaying.

It is safe to say that it is time, the labour pains are behind us. Come on team, let's GO!

Predeparture Roadtrip

2009-02-22T04:10:00.008-05:00

Our first week of presentations in South Africa has passed successfully. We got some valuable feedback from all four of our presentations: in Queenstown, Port Alfred and twice in Port Elizabeth. It has given us the opportunity to iron out some flaws and get used to the nerves, and it has allowed our sponsoring clubs to share an aspect of our GSE experience.

(Pic1: Trevor & Norah-Ann working)

(Pic2: The Team, with Etienne, the President of RC Port Alfred)

Queenstown also allowed us the opportunity to spend time with PJ and Grant's families.

(Pic3: Three of Pj's beautiful daughters - they take after their mother)

(Pic4: Grant's mischievious sons - they take after their father)

Final Planning

2009-02-12T13:36:00.004-05:00

The Team is meeting in Queenstown this weekend for our final planning meeting and for our first presentation. We will be accommodated by Rose Lodge B&B for the weekend. We look forward to seeing our newly printed brochures and our corporate clothing. In addition we will do a presentation for the Lukhanji Sunset Rotary Club which will provide us with good practice before a week of presentations to the Port Alfred Rotary Club on Tuesday morning, 17 February; followed by a presentation with the Sunrise and PE West clubs in Port Elizabeth on Thursday evening, 19 February; and finally to the King William's Town Rotary Club on Thursday night, 26 February. Our final SA presentation prior to departure will be to the East London Rotary Clubs on Thursday, March 05, the night before we fly out. The trip and GSE experience are starting to become a reality after 9 months of planning. Everyone is very busy tying up loose ends for the GSE trip, and attempting to complete our usual work responsibilities in a manner that will leave our colleagues glad to see us upon our return in April.

More about us...

2009-02-03T16:09:00.019-05:00

PJ CLOETE

My name is Peter John Cloete and I am known as PJ. I live in Queenstown in the Eastern Cape where I was born as the 4th son of six children. I am a third generation Rotarian. My life centers around my wife Rensie, to whom I have been married for 20 years, and our 5 children, Rosemary (17), the triplets - Jennifer, Mariska and Jonathan (12) and the baby of the family Amy (8), together with our 4 dogs, 3 cats, and Charlie, the African Grey Parrot.

I was educated at Queens College Boys High. After School I spent 8 years in the South African Defence Force obtaining my Bachelor of Military Science from the University of Stellenbosch in 1984. In 1987 I resigned my commission as a Captain and Squadron Leader of an Armoured Car Squadron receiving the Southern Cross Medal for Distinguished Service. I returned to University to attain a Post Graduate Degree in Law (LLB) at Rhodes University. I am a qualified Attorney at Law, Notary Public and Conveyancer and currently practice law at Smith Tabata Inc one of the largest legal firms in the Eastern Cape, as a Director and head of the Queenstown Branch. I am also a local preacher in the Wesley Methodist Church in Queenstown. I served as a Local Government Councillor within Lukhanji Municipality until 2006 on a full time basis being appointed to the Mayoral Committee as Head of the Finance Portfolio. I have a passion for serving those less fortunate and I served as a member and Chairman of Queenstown Child Welfare and on the Regional Council of Child Welfare of South Africa as well as being a National Board member. Currently I am the Patron of both the Queenstown Child Welfare Society and Tsolwana Child Welfare Society and Sparrows Children's Home. In addition I serve as Chairman of the School Governing Body at Balmoral Girl's Primary School.

I am a Paul Harris Fellow and a Past President of the Rotary Club of Queenstown and Charter President of the Rotary Club of Lukhanji Sunset. I have served on all the Club Committees as Chair; and at District level have been D9320 Membership Chair for 3 years; Convener and Chairman of the District Conference in 2006/07; and I currently chair the District Youth Exchange Committee and serve as secretary of the D9320 Youth Programmes Association. The Exchange promises to be a highlight in my Rotary Career.

NORAH-ANN DE WET

I was born in the small town of Montague in the Western Cape in 1981. I grew up on a sixth generation farm just outside of Robertson. The farm, Excelsior, is known for its wine. My early school years were spent at a small school in Ashton and at the age of 13 I moved to a boarding school in Cape Town, St Cyprian’s. Upon completing my schooling, Stellenbosch University was my next port of call where I completed a BSc Consumer Science Foods. Whilst at university I met my future husband, Shaun Hayes, a structural engineer.

After university I started working for The Cape Herb & Spice Company that specialised in retail spices for the local and foreign market. It was here that I became interested in International food legislation and I subsequently completed my certificate in International food law via correspondence from the University of Michigan, USA. After 3 years at The Cape Herb & Spice Company, I started my own consultancy, Focal Food, dealing with: Food legislation, new product development and Food safety management system implementation. The consultancy has since extended its services to include grassroots level training in hygiene in factories.

Two years ago my husband and I moved to Port Elizabeth from Cape Town. When not working, I can be found running along the seafront in Port Elizabeth, travelling to small towns in the Eastern Cape or in the kitchen with my husband and preferably a glass of wine!

TREVOR HARBOTTLE

My name is Trevor Harbottle. I am 30 years old and I am the guy in the middle being tickled by my younger siblings. My brother, Bruce (24), is an industrial designer and my sister, Wendy (26), is a TV producer. I live in King William’s Town which is well known for the excellent school located there. I teach at this school: Dale College. Dale College is 148 years old, educates around 500 boys a year and has a reputation for the fine sportsmen that it produces. I teach English and Business Studies to the seniors in grades 10–12. I moved to King William’s Town in 2007 and much of my motivation for moving was to be nearer to my parents in Hogsback.

Hogsback is an hour’s drive from King William’s Town. I lived in Hogsback for 4 years whilst I managed the local petrol station and supermarket. Later I moved to Port Elizabeth where I completed a Bachelor of Arts degree with majors in Business Management and Sociology. Following that I completed my Post Graduate Certificate in Education and in 2005 I began my teaching career at a co-educational high school in Kwazulu-Natal.

My parents live in Hogsback and I enjoy close relationships with them. My father, David, is an accountant and lectures at the nearby University of Fort Hare, whilst my mother, Jeannette, is the administrator for a local Non-Profit Organisation, HIVHope Project. HIVHope assists with the supply of medicines and food to people affected with HIV/AIDS, Rotary supports them in this work and together they are making a difference in the lives of many people.I love meeting people and conversing with them, especially over a good cup of coffee, and I thrill at learning new things. I hope to meet you soon on our GSE to district 7570, and I am very excited about this opportunity afforded to me by Rotary International.

GRANT BUTLER

My name is Grant Butler and in the picture above you can see my wife, Sonya and our two boys, Luke (8) and Daniel (6). We spend most of our family holidays together at the beach; reading, relaxing, fishing, surfing, camping and ‘exploring’. We live in Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape, South Africa, where I was born and raised. I completed a Diploma in Education through the Port Elizabeth College of Education as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Psychology at the University of Port Elizabeth. Because of my involvement in the Methodist Church, I studied part-time to complete a Diploma in Theology and I am currently a local preacher with the Methodist Church of Southern Africa.

I have taught for fifteen years, I accepted my current position at Grey, a well-respected school for boys established in 1856. The school presently caters for over 1 700 boys from Grade 1 (Age 6 – 7) through to Grade 12 (Age 17 – 18). I am Head of English at Grey Junior School, and teach both English and History to Grade 7’s (Age 12 – 13), as well as being part of the school’s Leadership Team.

The Xhosa people of the Eastern Cape have a saying: “Ndinohlaba weAfrika phakathi Kwenzwane”. It means, “I have the African soil between my toes”, and it is true for me. Although South Africa will always be the place where my feet are firmly on the ground, I am tremendously excited at the opportunity to meet and learn from people whose social and professional experiences are different from my own.

ANNELIZE CLOETE

I am Annelize (Anna) Cloete (28). I live and work in Port Alfred as a Draughtsperson for a Structural and Civil Engineer. I have been in the Building Industry for the past seven years.

My family is a very important part of my life - I'm the eldest of three children. We enjoy spending time together outdoors - most of our holidays are spent on the family farm or on the beach. My brother and I live together, with our three dogs. I am a sports enthusiast and participate in field hockey, swimming, squash, tennis and cycling. Rotary plays an important role in my life and I am currently the Treasurer of the Port Alfred Rotaract Club. Cooking and entertaining family and friends are also favourite pass times, along with anything outdoors and adventurous.

I am excitedly looking forward to my GSE experience – to discover a whole new world and to make many new friends in Virginia, through Rotary. A new Rotary Adventure... a new Life Changing Experience!