Rotary Club of Century City Cape Town Community Projects
Tribune Connect Community of Mothers
Tribune Connect is goal is to reduce social isolation in mothers while upskilling them on the importance of good mental and physical wellbeing and in doing so building belonging spaces for mothers within their communities. Tribune Connect aims to do this by focusing on the impact of connecting those who should be connected in applying and learning from interventions that are already in place in local communities while facilitating activities that can be shared and easily relatable to their communities of mothers. This will then bring mothers together naturally in a way that is appropriate to their individual needs, their children, and the well-being of their communities as a whole.
Mother’s Day 2020
With Support from the RCCCT Club and other organizations Tribune Connect Team was able to show up for mothers and their children this Mother’s Day despite the Covid-19 Pandemic and Lockdown’s restrictions.
Mother's Day Connect was started by Embrace, a project incubated in the well-known NPO and PBO, the Douglas Murray Trust. Launched in 2016 in Cape Town, Mother's Day Connect is a national celebration of Mother's Day honouring and celebrating ALL mothers. We acknowledge that the complexities of life mean that many mothers are not celebrated or even acknowledged on Mother's Day. We believe that this day has the potential to highlight the different experiences of Motherhood. Calling on for ordinary women to champion the celebration of fellow mothers. Teams of women are encouraged to share one hour of their Mother's Day with new mothers at maternity wards in hospitals and birthing facilities around the country. The visit is meant to be encouraging, supportive and a celebration of what it means to be a mother.
Each team is tasked with deciding how to make their visit special. Many teams wish to bring gifts for the mothers that will help them and their babies. Teams are encouraged to include the nurses and other staff in their planning, as many of them are mothers too.
The idea of the Sundial Project was born in August 2020 after being inspired by the sundials erected by Hermanus Astronomy Centre along the beach promenade. The sundial is the oldest known instrument for telling time, allowing us to track the position of the sun more accurately.
After some research it was established that the Rotary club of Whyalla in Australia had also embarked on a sundial project which was part of a larger project they at their foreshore, known as Rotary Park. Like Whyalla, The Rotary club of Century City Cape Town (RCCCCT) wanted to provide a visible long-lasting image of Rotary's contribution. But it also had to be an informative and useful structure for all visitors in the area that creates interest and also serves to educate.
Honorary Rotarian Tatum Sieni who is also the Brand and Marketing Manager from Century City Property Owners Association (CCPOA) was contacted to see if and where a sundial could be placed. Century City is combination of office, retail, residential, and leisure components in an integrated, stimulating and aesthetically pleasing urban environment. CCPOA immediately embraced the idea as they had been looking to place benches to make a little hub where people could sit and relax and the sundial project became the inspiration. A spot was allocated at Intaka Island.
Intaka Island hosts school projects and have a foot traffic count of around 4000 (pre COVID). Intaka Island is only 12 km from, the centre of Cape Town. It is in the heart of built-up Century City. Intaka Island is a series of natural wetlands and manmade islands that emerged as a result of an Environmental Impact Report suggesting the preservation of a portion of the area when building, then heavily inundated with alien vegetation wetlands and fynbos.
Further research put us in touch with Sundials Exclusive A member of The British Sundial Society. Sundials Exclusive blend creativity with science and designed a granite sundial 500mm diameter with an 8mm thick stainless-steel gnomon (the vertical shadow casting element). Granite being the best sundial for a public space to protect against both theft and vandalism
CCPOA completed the project by building a pedestal and placing a brass plaque cementing the partnership of a common vision of supporting and promoting education. In addition, the sundial enhances Rotary’s visibility and public image in the community.
In closing RCCCCT branded sundial “Time passes Rotary remains” unveiling which was a great opportunity for the club to enjoy some much-needed fellowship at a nearby outdoor restaurant. In addition, there was an amazing buzz of activity on our social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram following the unveiling.
The official unveiling of the Sun Dial donated by Rotary Club of Century City - Saturday 20th March 2021!
