Friends Programme, April 2008For the April Friend’s meeting we were very pleased to welcome John Stafford from the Rotary Club of Burnham Beeches who talked to us about “Rotary Hand Up for Africa - Micro Credit in Malawi”. Micro-loans received considerable publicity when a University Professor in Bangladesh received international acclaim for his work in raising the living standards of many poor persons who had initiative but lacked access to funds. The scheme has now spread worldwide and the current Rotary District 1090 aim is to raise £100,000 over three years and channel it, via ‘Opportunity International UK’ in Oxford, to Malawi. John’s talk produced a very interesting Q&A session. For the May Friend’s meeting we are very pleased to welcome back for the third time David Duff whose previous talks were the Sea Battles of Trafalgar, Jutland and Midway, the Waterloo Campaign – the three days leading up to the famous battle and now David has kindly agreed to speak on the actual Battle of Waterloo itself. The Battle of Waterloo, fought on 18 June 1815, was Napoleon Bonaparte's last battle. His defeat put a final end to his rule as Emperor of France. The Battle of Waterloo also marked the end of the period known as the Hundred Days, which began in March 1815 after Napoleon's return from Elba, where he had been exiled after his defeat at the battle of Leipzig in 1813. After Napoleon returned to power, many countries which had previously resisted his rule began to assemble armies to oppose him. The principal armies of Napoleon's opponents were commanded by the United Kingdom's Duke of Wellington, and Prussia's Gebhard von Blücher. These armies were close to France's north east frontier, and Napoleon chose to attack them rather than wait for them to cross into France. While the campaign hung in the balance for most of its duration, the decisive battle became the Battle of Waterloo. As previously David’s brief CV shows he could be a ‘Jack of all trades and master of none’ – modesty having met him for the last two years. Apparently in his life he has been an art student, a building-site labourer, a soldier, an insurance salesman, a long-distance lorry driver and when all else failed he fell amongst rogues and villains in that final refuge for rascals and second sons, the second-hand car trade. However information from his friend and former Friend of the Rotary Club of Ascot, Roy Towndrow, now living in Sherborne, reveals that David is also Director of the local Sherborne Amateur Dramatics Society and as last time we are in for a quite a presentation. We look forward to greeting David again, coming from Dorset, bringing his Whiteboard and all this varied background to present one of his passions – the Battle of Waterloo. Format for the evening 1900 - 1930 - Meet in the bar Kind regards Peter |