Life begins after retirement
JOBURG – Pensioners grasp the opportunity to exercise their skills.
Motivational speaker Patricia Glyn will speak at one of the University of the Third Age’s (U3A) monthly gatherings that will be held at Randburg Gereformeerde Kerk in Northworld on 5 August.
According to U3A’s Johannesburg North publicity manager Margaret Britz, Glyn will present a talk at 10am about Dawid Kuiper from the last of the San Bushmen.
She says the U3A started in France in 1972 and expanded to other countries. This branch, in particular, covers suburbs like Roodepoort, Honeydew, Randburg, Melville and Northchliff – to name a few.
“In South Africa it started in 2000 in the Western Cape and expanded to Johannesburg in 2004,” Britz explains.
U3A is a post-retirement age learning co-operative for ‘Third Agers’.
“[Third Agers] was coined to refer to what we in South Africa tend to call senior citizens. It is for older people from all walks of life who are no longer in full-time employment. Among the activities that members participate in, are walking, chess, Spanish lessons, opera, line-dancing, scrabble or card games, photography, art, embroidery and ballroom dancing.”
They have meetings once a month with various speakers.
“Once they have joined for R50 per annum, members are able to join any of the interest groups for which they pay about R5 per session. We also have a bi-monthly luncheon, whereby those interested go to different restaurants for lunch,” she adds.
They publish a quarterly newsletter which is sent out to members via email, and those without access to email get theirs by post.
“There are many elderly folk who, once retired, do not know what to do with themselves and joining U3A, would open up a whole new world for them. The objectives of the Joburg North branch of U3A – a non-profit organisation that comprises mature persons in partial or complete retirement – [are] to provide intellectually-stimulating programmes of learning and social contacts arising from them.
“We deliver these programmes through a voluntary, self-help community in which all members enjoy equal status. We also promote improvement in the quality of life of members and to demonstrate that intellectual capacity can be maintained well into the third age.”
According to Britz, U3A Joburg North’s membership currently stands at 319. An attendance fee of R20 per meeting applies to visitors who do not wish to become full members.
