Rotary Club donates a wheelchair to woman
Rotary International boasts some 1,2 million members worldwide and it all started with the vision of one man: Paul P Harris.
POLOKWANE – Rotary International boasts some 1,2 million members worldwide and it all started with the vision of one man: Paul P Harris.
Harris was a Chicago attorney who formed one of the world’s first service organisations, the Rotary Club of Chicago, on February 23 1905, as a place where professionals with diverse backgrounds could exchange ideas and form meaningful, lifelong friendships.
The wheelchair project is one of Rotary International’s projects and Rotary Clubs all over the world participate, including the Rotary Club of Polokwane. The project entails “loaning” wheelchairs to people who need them but can’t afford them.
One of the people who have recently been assisted through the project is Annatjie Venter (68), who had a stroke in 1997 and has been wheelchair bound ever since.
“While she does receive a disability grant, and her husband, Johan, who is in his 70’s, still works, a new wheelchair was unaffordable for them.
“I am really grateful towards the Rotary Club for giving me a new wheelchair. My old wheelchair had a lot of wear and tear, with the seat eventually tearing and one of the wheels not working,” Venter said.
The wheelchair was handed to Venter by Rotary Club of Polokwane president, Rob Williamson and his wife, Avril Mueller.
Mueller was one of the Rotarians to be awarded the prestigious Paul Harris Award earlier this year. Mueller spends a lot of her free time and money collected from her friends in Germany on Ngwana Baby House. Previously, she was also involved with the Ikageng Drop-in Centre.
Mueller lived in Germany for 28 years, and the neighbourhood she lived in in Cologne also participates in the annual Karneval, with some of the proceeds going towards Ngwana Baby House through the Rotary Club and Mueller.
