JULY 2008

NEWSLETTER

UNIVERSITY OF THE THIRD AGE - CAPE TOWN



FORTHCOMING GENERAL MEETINGS

CAPE TOWN 10h00 for 10h30, Baxter Theatre

31 July: Prof Mike Bruton A Thousand Years of Islamic Science - Rediscovered

28 August: Prof Solly Benatar The Changing Nature of the Doctor/Patient Relationship

25 Sept: Dr Shamil Jeppie The Timbuktu Story

ATLANTIC SEABOARD 10h00, St Peter's Anglican Church Hall, Camps Bay

14 August: Dr John Rogers Volcanoes: From Santorini to Pompeii & Krakatoa


TYGERBERG 10h00 for 10h30, Bellville Civic Centre Theatre

14 August: Anlen Boshoff A Tale of Two Cities - Sexy Pompeii versus Genteel Herculaneum

FALSE BAY 09h30 for 10h00, Muizenberg Pavilion

7 August: Lewis Walter The Amazon Basin



U3A CAPE TOWN AND GEORGE IN CENTRAL EUROPE JUNE 2008


Dana Steinova of U3A Prague invited Grace Smith of U3A Cape Town to recruit a group of local U3A members to travel to Central Europe for 21 days in June 2008. Twenty members of the Memory Training Group and 24 participants from the Reciprocal Tour have just returned after a unique and memorable trip.


Each participant was involved in a Cultural Exchange, whether in the form of receiving home hospitality or undergoing a Memory Training Course. Many opportunities were given to the Cape Town and George members of U3A to interact on a social level with members of the Prague U3A and learn about how U3A operates in Europe. In the Czech Republic university lecturers run courses which last for eight months of the year, and participants study for a three-year period.


Whilst the trip to Central Europe included many of the traditional visits to castles, art galleries and churches, we also were taken to visit a number of UNESCO villages. These small villages in the Czech Republic were desecrated and deserted during World War II, and have been beautifully restored to their former glory. They are replete with traditional charm and we were delighted to have free time to imbibe the old world atmosphere of Cesky Krumlov, Trebon and Holosovice.


Other highlights included a trip to the High Tatras mountains, an impressive range in the Slovak Republic, rising to 2600 m above sea level, where we did a scenic walk around a glacial lake. A memorable dinner was spent in a popular wine cellar in Budapest where we were entertained by such a lively gypsy band that we all spontaneously joined in with singing, clapping and dancing. In the Moravia Karst we heard classical music in a series of underground caves displaying stalactites and stalagmites formed over many thousands of years. This culminated with an underground boat trip down the river Punka.


A visit to a school and a residential home for seniors gave us an idea of the advanced social services available. At both these institutions we were entertained with beautiful folk songs and lively dancing by young and old. We were invited to three Mayoral Receptions, we visited the Bata Shoe Museum, saw the manufacture of hand-blown glass Christmas decorations, and toured a large Budweiser brewery that supplies beer to the whole of the Northern Hemisphere as well as Australia.


We arrived home enriched by the social interactions and historical knowledge of the area, whilst we gained an insight into the contemporary challenges of the modern Czech Republic, Slovac Republic, Vienna and Budapest.


Twenty-four members of Prague U3A will be in South Africa in July for their 21-day reciprocal tour. They will receive home hospitality from members of U3A in Cape Town, George and Hermanus. They will be travelling to the Grahamstown Festival and the Addo Elephant Park, as well as spending a couple of days in the Tsitsikamma Forest, followed by an exploration of the Garden Route as guests of U3A George.

Grace Smith

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RECENT SPEAKERS at the Baxter Theatre


APRIL: Martin Weltz explained that, whereas all the major newspapers are dependent on income from their advertisers and therefore have to produce editorials that support their advertisers’ ideology, the alternative press is totally independent. He explained that the production of Noseweek in the 1980s evolved out of the political crises of those times. Throughout the talk Mr Welz presented anecdotes with the same satirical humour for which the magazine is famous.


MAY: Tim Hughes discussed the fact that De Beers mopped up conflict diamonds from Sierra Leone, Congo, Angola and Namibia, the proceeds of which kept illegal regimes going. As a result of a report in the ‘Global Witness’ in May 2000, the protocol of the Kimberley Process was signed by 70 countries in 2003, guaranteeing that all diamonds would only change hands with certified origin and routing. This has caused the trade in conflict diamonds to drop from 4% to less than 1%, though retailing still presents problems.


JUNE: In his forensic consultancy, Dr David Klatzow found that there is a tendency for people to be evaluated rather than ideas, and that there is a philosophy in modern society that truth is a ‘movable feast’. He spoke of the present situation in South Africa where it is a different order of wickedness when those in business and government who are supposed to be our protectors, are defrauding us. Dr Klatzow made the point that if there is a failure to adhere to the truth, there is a threat to the constitution. The seeds of anarchy are being sown in SA and he believes that the citizens must take a stand on what they believe is right.


MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION