The Paarl town hall is packed with 400 senior citizens every year for Paarl Rotary’s annual free variety concert. The annual concert was launched 40 years ago as a service to the community The artists perform songs that take the audience back to their favourite memories, with many of them singing (and dancing) along to the tunes. All role players offered their services free of charge, while transport and refreshments are provided by Paarl Rotary. Performers in the Rotary variety concert have included marimba players, dancers, singers and musicians.
Fighting cataract blindness
The Vredendal provincial hospital made its theatres available to this medical team. With the three ophthalmologists came an optician and two theatre assistants as well as ten suitcases of equipment. They are sponsored by a Belgian NGO, See & Smile. After the operations, the team also verified what spectacles the patients need to improve their vision. These surgeries enable patients to regain their vision, stay economically active and function independently. Many of these patients are the only breadwinners and lose their jobs due to cataracts.
The project was undertaken with the assistance of the Department of Health (Western Cape), while Paarl Rotary provided transport, meals and accommodation for the team
On World Sight Day, Paarl Rotary launched a project to reduce cataract blindness. In South Africa, 250 000 older people suffer from this affliction in which the lens of the eye hardens and obscures sight. The deterioration is exacerbated by our harsh sunlight. Rotary Club of Paarl brought in a Belgian medical team that on a voluntary basis over five days operated on nearly 100 financially needy persons from the rural area of Vredendal. The patients could not be helped previously due to limited government resources and many of them had gone completely blind.
The Vredendal provincial hospital made its theatres available to this medical team. With the three ophthalmologists came an optician and two theatre assistants as well as ten suitcases of equipment. They are sponsored by a Belgian NGO, See & Smile. After the operations, the team also verified what spectacles the patients need to improve their vision.
The project was undertaken with the assistance of the Department of Health (Western Cape), while Paarl Rotary provided transport, meals and accommodation for the team.
Alzheimer seminars a success
YOU have a family member diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease (which is a form of dementia). What now? Paarl Rotary has developed the Labyrinth Circle seminar, to help family members caring for a dementia patient to cope with this situation (which may feel like being lost in a labyrinth). At the seminar, next-of-kin carers learned more about caring for a dementia patient. The seminars are being rolled out in the local community in surrounding towns with the support of Dementia SA and True2you so that more people can benefit. The founder of this project is Paarl Rotarian Rudy Dupont, who is originally from Belgium where a similar project known as “Dementia and Now?” for next-of-kin carers (mantelzorgers) has been run by Dementia Vlaanderen for a number of years. The course material was obtained from the Belgian organisation and paid for by Paarl Rotary and a donor. The club has applied for a Rotary International global grant to obtain funding with which to launch a day care centre for patients at a local old age home. For more information, contact rudy.dupont@telenet.be.
Brighter sight
For the past few years Paarl Rotary has annually facilitated the provision of spectacles to needy children. Although there are many children who need glasses due to poor sight, the state waiting list is long. Paarl Rotary now provides spectacles to about 100 children per year. Each year we target a different school, which is visited by a qualified optician who tests the eyes of those children who were recommended for assistance after preliminary testing by the Department of Health. Paarl Rotary sponsors the tests and the spectacles.
The Royalty Project focuses on female health
The Royalty project in Paarl focuses on preventing teenage pregnancy and teaches teenagers about their rights over their own bodies.Talks by a local general practitioner, Dr Nelmarie Pitout are in high demand at local schools. Says Dr Pitout: “We have a passion to change young peoples’ lives through candid and uncomplicated presentations. We believe that thorough understanding of this topic can help them make wise decisions that not only impact their own lives greatly, but will also change the future of their children and ultimately this community for many generations to come.”“We love working with the teenagers. During our time with them we have become aware of shocking myths and misperceptions which we can address and dispel. That is why we plan to continue to educate them, thereby empowering them to choose a bright future for themselves and their children.”There had been a marked decline in pregnancy rates in the classes she had visited (in fact there had been no pregnancies in these classes since).
Path onto Prosperity
The Rotary Club of Paarl has upgraded the Path Onto Prosperity educare centre with a Rotary global Grant. Its focus is on helping rural children and youth to break free from the cycle of generational poverty. Its innovative POP programme takes a multi-faceted approach and is based on the premise that appropriate early intervention in education, health care, personal development and environmental awareness can transform rural communities and provide the next generation of children the opportunity to become healthy, self-confident, educated young people able to take up leadership roles in their own communities.
The Paarl POP centre is located on Just Trees farm in Nuwedrif, where owner Carl Pretorius donated land and structures. The centre has limited resources, and Paarl Rotary has utilised the Global Grant to elevate the centre to a level where it can be much more effective in benefiting farmworkers' children from surrounding farms. This includes the construction of a water-borne sewage system for the centre in 2017, refurbishing the kitchen in 2018, as well as purchasing a shipping container for storage.
The Paarl POP centre is located on Just Trees farm in Nuwedrif, where owner Carl Pretorius donated land and structures. The centre has limited resources, and Paarl Rotary has utilised the Global Grant to elevate the centre to a level where it can be much more effective in benefiting farmworkers' children from surrounding farms. This includes the construction of a water-borne sewage system for the centre in 2017, refurbishing the kitchen in 2018, as well as purchasing a shipping container for storage.
The annual Winelands cycle race, organised by Paarl Rotary, draws large numbers of cyclists. Here the first group starts on the route of 102 km to Riebeek Kasteel and back. The next race will be held in January 2027 and starts and ends at Hugenote Primary in Wellington. To enter, visit www.winelandscyclerace.co.za.