Sikorsky: the man and his machines

Stratford, CT - 28 April: Our afternoon was spent in the company of a veteran employee at the Sikorsky helicopter factory, learning about the history of the eponymous founder, and visiting the assembly lines on the factory floor. Today 13000 people work for the company, a highly sophisticated production facility that had humble beginnings in Tzarist Russia more than a century before. A 1909 photograph shows the founder of the company, Igor Sikorsky, sitting in a rudimentary helicopter constructed in his back garden in Kiev. He grew up as an auto-didactic, a self educated individual, who read Jules Vern and applied intuition and reason to feed his fascination with Leonardo da Vinci’s Renaissance sketches of rotary wing aircraft. The tumultuous Bolshevik Revolution forced an emigrated to France, then to the US, where he taught Mathematics and Astronomy briefly before diverting his interest away from helicopters towards building a variety of fixed wing aircraft. In the early days Sikorsy became best known for his large amphibious aircrafts. In 1928 he sold his company to United Technologies Corporation but stayed on as their Chief Engineer, and turned his humble genius towards the challenges of producing viable lines of helicopters. He has 66 recognised patents in the US. Although the contemporary Sikorsky icon, namely the Black Hawk, is primarily a military aircraft, Sikorsky himself valued the helicopter as a life saving instrument. In the lobby of the visitors centre, it is this statistic, the number of people across the world whose lives has been rescued thanks to Sikorsky helicopters, that the company chooses to celebrate.

Robben Island's audacity to hope

Educational Icebergs - toe dipping across the Atlantic

My vocational visits this week allowed brief exposure to two extremes of educational opportunity in New London county: Pine Point School and the Waterford Country School. The educational landscape in this part of the world is very diverse, and much like an iceberg, I suspect my surface insights fall far short of the nuances of terminology, structure and pedagogical approach that I am noticing.

One underlying theme, certainly in these two schools, is the way in which children are met where they are at, or to put it differently, treated as individuals. Brighter students from more affluent backgrounds such as Pine Point are stretched to excel, but equally, youngsters who have faced a variety of traumas and who cannot operate within mainstream schooling at Waterford, are helped to function as best they can.

Both schools are small by South African standards and well resourced, yet the value of each school cannot be measured by the tangibles, the material resources. Rather, it’s the people who operate in the schools who are so astute at connecting with young people, who strike me the real champions of the system. In Pine Point there were a slew of staff working after-hours, again by South African standards, tailoring lessons to meet and stretch kids in their care. At Waterford, Walter and Nancy, who I guess had interesting upbringings themselves, struck me as intuitively smart at reaching out and connecting.

I remember once hearing a definition of good education as being a “conversation between the generations”. Conversations require an ability to listen to one another. Some conversations require tough things to be said straight up. How often do South African teachers truly listen to the heart beat of our nation? How often do we as teachers listen to each other? How often do we move the conversation between ourselves as educators away from petty gripes about state failures or union issues, and instead ask how is this kid in front of me actually doing? What’s happening in their life that I need to understand and with which I can engage?

I cannot understand how our entire teacher corps can accept only half out of every year cohort making matric in the requisite 12 year schooling period. Do enough of us really care? So far I have met a number of humble, astute professionals, who are a credit to the communities they serve in New London County.

Dispute Resolution 101

Orientation Weekend #1: 14th- 15th November 2009

Our Team members gathered for our first weekend orientation outside the town of Bela Bela. This bushveld haven lies 100km north of Pretoria and is well known for its natural springs, numerous game farms and other attractions. It is a popular getaway destination for weekenders from the metropoles to the south.

Rotary District 9250 is a bit unique in that it straddles four countries: Botswana to the west; Swaziland and Mozambique to the east; with the northern provinces of South Africa sandwiched in the middle. Given the vast distances between our home towns we needed to choose a convenient rendezvoux somewhere in the middle..

Forgive me for the digresion that follows... If you imagine a generously curved upside-down ‘T’ with Pretoria in the centre, we had Ishoo off to the far left travelling from Gaborone, Murray and JL came from Rustenburg, via Pretoria, Andre from Middleburg on the right, Shaakira from Mogopane situated along the upright axis, and Sean even further above the same line, travelled down from Polokwane.

Needless to say we arrived in Bela Bela over Friday night and Saturday morning. JL had arranged accommodation in a stunning house on a Game Farm called Marulani, 7km north of Bela-Bela. The natural stone facades and symmetry of several thatch roves cut through the bushveld treetops, and pointed northwards over a shallow valley in front of us. On arrival we were greeted by a lone Nyala bull moving calmly towards the house. This seems to be a weekend habit amidst handfuls of food and admiring banter from the houseguests. Perched on the ‘stoep’ (veranda) the previous night, some of the Team were entertained by an impressive display of lightning on the horizon. During the day, from the same vantage point, but much closer and less intimidating, we saw a couple of ‘warthogs’ (bush pigs) drinking and sunning themselves a few meters from the house. South Africa is indeed a special place, particularly when a healthy dose of bushveld appreciation allows us to reconnect with nature.

The weekend was far from idle. Andre Redman led us through a short number of team building exercises. The last time we met Andre was at our Middleburg Interview Weekend, and together with Chris Botha these two gentlemen had set us a number of interesting challenges. Who will forget the 'mampoer' (moonshine?) toast or the water bomb juggling contest? Our blindfolded blue rope activity left us knotted, in more ways than one. So when Andre rigged up a web of rope between two trees, dangled a number of oversized ‘gogas’ (insects) between them, and told us to “Get your Team through”, we needed to lift our game once more.

The richness of the debrief discussions were once again where the real value of these antics lay; and for Andre’s insights and advice we are all very grateful.

After a hearty brunch, we sat down for the rest of the day to work through a range of practical and administrative matters. Application forms have been signed and sent to Rotary International. Once the invitation letters have been received, Team members will begin their visa application process via the US consulate in Johannesburg. Arrival and departure dates need to be finalised as Team members prefer, adding a few days either side for other business or private travel. Thanks to SABs (South African Breweries) genererous sponsorships of branded clothing, our Team wardrobe will soon be buttoned up. Gifts for our hosts, a well crafted multi-media presentation with information alligned to profesional interests, and our song/dance finale to say "Thank you", were discussed at some length and first steps are underway.

One of our key hopes is that we, the Team, get to know each other well before our departure. Part of this involves learning to handle one another's quirks, but more importantly to appreciate the many experiences, interests, ideas and life stories that make us unique. Who could forget the richness of our 'Potjiekpos' (stew made in caste iron pots) conversations?

Middleburg Selection Weekend 16-18 October

Many thanks to all Rotarians, Annes and fellow applicants for an enriching weekend spent at the Middleburg Care Village. Although there was a natural level of stress for the applicants, the abiding sense of fellowship and good humour on the part of the Selection Committee helped us to relax and enjoy the various simulations and exercises. The process was well designed and extremely thorough. Irrespective of the need to select five applicants from a talented pool of young professionals, the weekend gave each of us an opportunity for personal growth and reflection.

The members for the April-May 2010 GSE to Connecticut are:
André Brandmuller (Team Leader)
Murray Thomas
Shaun Francis
Jeanne-Louise Liebenberg
Shaakira Chaya
Moiseraela Motimedi

Rotary Group Study Exchange

For some background information on Rotary International's GSE Programme, try the following link: http://www.rotary.org/RIdocuments/en_pdf/160en.pdf