Rotary club honours extraordinary service

The annual Paul Harris Fellowship Awards Evening was hosted by the Rotary Club of Benoni Aurora on Wednesday, February 25. This event, one of the most prestigious on the club's calendar, was held at the Benoni Country Club, in Morehill .

PRESTIGE: Some of the awardees pictured with several Club members. From left: Rotary Club of Benoni Aurora president Denis Brandjes, Elaine Stathacopoulos, Fred Swaniker (recipient), Cheryl Kindon (recipient), Annie Steijn and Rex van Olst (recipient).

Recipients are honoured for their extraordinary service to the community, the country and the continent.

Three Paul Harris Fellowship Awards and one Paul Harris Sapphire Award, which entails being awarded a second Paul Harris Fellowship Award, were presented to deserving Rotarians.

Cheryl Kindon (Paul Harris Fellowship Award) for her extensive work in the educational field, where she has been involved for almost her entire life in improving all levels of education. She was also commended for her charitable work as a Rotary Ann (a division of the Rotary Club), helping out in poor communities.

Chris Bradford (Paul Harris Fellowship Award) is the co-founder and dean of the African Leadership Academy, an institution that aims to cultivate future African leaders. Bradford has consulted for various organisations and his work in educating the future leaders of Africa has been recognised the world over. Bradford was not able to attend the event.

Fred Swaniker (Paul Harris Fellowship Award) is the co-founder of the African Leadership Academy (ALA). He is also the founder of four other successful ventures, including two which are directly associated with ALA. He has been recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and was listed by Forbes Magazine among the top 10 young ”power men” in Africa, in 2011.

Rex van Olst (Paul Harris Sapphire Award) for his commitment to the club, with 100 per cent attendance in his 23 years as a member. He served as Scholarship Chairman for six years, convened the Charity Walks for eight years and showed above average involvement in several charitable projects.

Hilary Green and Tanya Bester each received a Vocational Award for their service to the Rotary Club. Green is the editor of the Benoni City Times and Bester was a journalist at the paper, until recently.

Denis Brandjes, president of the Rotary Club of Benoni Aurora handed over 110 solar lamps to Joe Barbarovich, for the school in the Barcelona Informal Settlement. The lamps formed part of the dècor for the evening.

The event included the celebration of the 110th year since the founding of the Rotary Club. For more on this click here.

After the presentation of the awards fellowship was enjoyed.