The Chronicle | October

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The Chronicle October 2015

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1 The Chronicle, October 2015

IN THIS ISSUE 1. October and November events 2. From the Director of Administration, the MIL website 3. Call for more SIG information 4. LEAPers go to Louisville 5. Mensa in Africa Needs your help 6. Mensa International Scholarship 7. How to clear your mind 8. Tech Picks

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Hi Mensa This version of the Chronicle is available as a pdf and as a Google slide presentation.

Both formats should be email and smartphone friendly.

This issue includes a Tech Picks. Next issue Iâ€&#x;d like to add an Art Pics and Music Picks. All you have to do is send me a one sentence review about your three choices and a link to share, either to listen or see why it made your list.

Also, please let me know if these formats are moving in the right direction where would you like to see the digital version moving.

Should we choose utility over style? Can we have both and solve the all things to all people format issue?

Till the next issue, Donna

Mensa Contacts and Committee SimonĂŠ Deyzel-O'Brian Amanda Horn Annette Badenhorst Yvonne Steyn Schalkwyk van der Merwe Donna Stephen

National Chairperson PR & Membership National Secretary National Administrator National Treasurer Editor

chairperson@mensa.org.za marketing@mensa.org.za secretary@mensa.org.za admin@mensa.org.za treasurer@mensa.org.za st.donna@gmail.com

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OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER EVENTS http://www.mensa.org.za/events.html Saturday, 3 October 09:45 Mensa SA - DURBAN TESTING 10:00 Mensa SA - EASTERN CAPE TESTING 19:00 Mensa KZN: Speaker evening Andrew Dumbris Wednesday, 7 October 19:00 Mensa Pta: Annual General Meeting Saturday, 10 October 09:30 Mensa SA - HELDERBERG TESTING 19:00 Mensa KZN: New members' evening Thursday, 15 October 18:30 Mensa Jhb: Speaker evening Saturday, 17 October 09:00 Mensa SA - CAPE TOWN TESTING 10:00 Mensa SA - JOHANNESBURG TESTING Saturday, 31 October 10:00 Mensa SA - PRETORIA TESTING

Thursday, November 5 6:00pm Mensa Jhb: Networking with Mensans Saturday, November 7 10:00am Mensa SA - JOHANNESBURG TESTING 7:00pm Mensa KZN: Speaker evening - Klaus Schoeman Wednesday, November 18 7:00pm Mensa Helderberg: Speaker evening Thursday, November 19 6:30pm Mensa Jhb: Annual quiz night Saturday, November 21 9:00am Mensa SA - CAPE TOWN TESTING Saturday, November 28 10:00am Mensa KZN: Young Mensans puzzle morning 10:00am Mensa SA - PRETORIA TESTI 4

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MENSA SIGS Pretoria's Charity SIG, email Kate at

lady.ladybug2@gmail.com

Pretoria Charity SIG featured in last month's issue

SIGs, please send your info to marketing@mensa.org.za and any contact information you want to share with everyone.

All contact details and social media details will be listed here.

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'the first testing session in the Helderberg was conducted on Saturday 10 October, with nine candidates testing, six of whom passed'

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From the Director of Administration We need your ideas

The MIL site is MIL’s major

interface

with both members and the public; its welfare should be paramount and its L a s t m o n t h , The MIL site is MIL’s major interface with both members and the public; its welfare should be paramount and its development should be in the forefront of the IBD‟s priorities.

Yet the world has changed enormously in the eight-odd years since the current website was installed and members of the IBD have different ideas of what it „should be doing‟, and the members at large certainly have wildly-varying expectations. Is it realistic to aim at its being „all things to all men‟? Should we let the established social media take over parts and concentrate our skills and budget on what only Mensa can provide? And what exactly is that?

development should be in the forefront of the IBD’s priorities.

I asked whether there was anything you would like, or expect to see on the website that was not there; whether there was anything that would make the site more interesting and encourage you to visit more often, or to hang out there - because we want this to be your website, designed to satisfy your wants and needs!

The immediate aim is to broadly redefine the concept of what the ideal site would provide, and to identify which of those aims Mensa can realistically fulfil within the next few years - and which can be better fulfilled elsewhere or off-site. Let me or your IBD representative (your chairman or his/her proxy) know this month (September), and we can discuss an overhaul at the IBD meeting in Novi Sad, Serbia, in early

October.

We need your expertise!

This month, I am asking for volunteers. Do you think you can be of practical assistance anywhere? Are you a graphic designer, for example?

Did you design your own website? Do you make your own amendments, content changes, uploads etc? If so, would you volunteer to take over a part of the international website to make it a happier and friendlier place?

As an example, the members‟ only section has an area for the MIL Photographer of the Year Competition.

In this section we have the rules, and the finalists and winners for some (but not all) years. This basic information is updated twice a year – with the winners of the current competition and a few months later with the rules for the following year. Let your imagination run amok for a moment.

What information should be there in this section, and most importantly, how should it be presented? Could we add interviews with photographs of the winners; a Hall of Fame, a history section, a list of themes? Should we include information about the judges, information about the organising committee? Boring? Or perhaps not, depending on its presentation!

Therese Moodie-Bloom Director of Administration

1.

If this sort of thing interests you, browse through www.mensa.org and let me have your ideas on what you would do to enhance one or more areas, and whether you would volunteer to be actively involved on an ongoing basis.

Speed up log-ins!

If you would like to speed up logins for members on the International Website, offer your services as a „country approver‟ (CA) to your chairman and membership secretary. Data held by national Mensas is not automatically transferred to Mensa International.

Each country has one or more CAs who, by a variety of methods, confirm that member x, who is attempting to login on the international site, is actually a current member of the relevant national Mensa.

We can help you advertise events!

Is there a big Mensa event in your country coming up that might be interesting for Mensans in other countries too? Let the world know about it and publish it on the international event calendar on mensa.org! Just send the name of your event, the date, the location, and the URL of a web page that contains further information to Mark Dettinger events@mensa.org.

admin-mil@mensa.org

Reproduced from Mensa World Journal, issue #033, October 2015, Editor Kate Nacard 8 The Chronicle, October 2015

LEAPers go to Louisville, USA A special report by Elissa Rudolph

Reproduced from Mensa World Journal, issue #033, October 2015, Editor Kate Nacard

After I met the five participants for 2015, I thought of them as the Wanderer, the Street Performer, the Innovator, the Actor, and the Educator. Diverse in experience, culture, language, and personality, they added global colour to American Mensa’s recent Annual Gathering.

The Wanderer. Stefano Lodola from Italy invited his audience to “See the World with Mensa” and shared his wandering experiences utilizing “couchsurfing” as well as Mensa’s SIGHT program. A tenor and translator, Stefano is working on his seventh language so he feels comfortable anywhere in the world, sharing and learning as he goes. Stefano stated that he had no plans past the AG having purchased a one-way ticket to Louisville – where are you now, Wanderer? Connect with Stefano at info@stefanolodola.com or visit www.stefanolodola.com.

The Performer. Interpretive displays are Roberta (Bobbie) Kehler’s special talent, the art and psychology of how the passers-by decide to stop and look… or not. Bobbie’s keen observations as a street performer and magician led this Canadian to design displays that engage people and compel them to consider the 9

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message and perhaps make a purchase.

Find out if Bobbie can help you with your outreach attempts – contact her at light_traveler@telus.net. Ask her about experiences as a museum interpreter and blacksmith.

The Innovator. Gifted Education Specialist Charlotte Hoyng designed a quiz involving sixth graders throughout The Netherlands.

The SlimmerIQuiz is a competition based on higher levels of reasoning for both students and teachers. During her presentation, Charlotte displayed a number of quiz examples that were sufficiently intriguing for her Mensa audience and left them wanting more.

Charlotte is a consultant for a television series about gifted children and adults, designer of learning materials, and a coach for gifted children. Contact Charlotte at eureka@casema.nl or visit www.slimmeriquiz.nl.

The Actor. Teekay Kreissig was instrumental in developing an

interdisciplinary reach-out in his native Germany that provides professional networking opportunities for Mensa members and diverse leaders in civil society. He has enjoyed multiple careers as dancer, actor, singer, choreographer, storyteller, and more, which gives him the ability to connect with just about anyone about anything. It was Teekay who had the brilliant idea of producing all five LEAP presentations as “Speed LEAP” (15-minute condensations) for those who could not attend the hour-long regular sessions.

Contact Teekay at mensa@kreissig.net or www.kreissig.net.

The Educator. Phenomenal growth in the Czech Republic happened because, as Hana Kalusova demonstrated, the group employed novel methods and approaches.

In six years, this Mensa group added more than a thousand members! Hana’s experience in monitoring media and data analysis helped in finding ideas that worked for the Czech Republic. Contact Hana at hana.kalusova@mensa.cz

Interested in LEAP for 2016? Go to www.mensa.org and click on “LEAP” in the sidebar. '

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Mensa in Africa needs your help writes Alain Seris

When I first arrived in Africa, I felt embraced by the warm and friendly atmosphere. African culture is warm – it‟s not just the heat of the sun, it‟s more the warmth of human friendship.

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But after a few weeks, you get to see the suffering underneath, the suffering of too many Africans. The causes are countless – poverty, malnutrition and lack of healthcare being the foremost.

Many of the world‟s least developed countries are today experiencing unprecedented change and growth, but one continent – Africa – is missing out. And, paradoxically, one of the reasons for this is that it is so rich. Often, the most developed countries are interested in Africa only for its natural resources, both above ground and underground. At the same time, many associations have set up in the „charity business‟ – unfortunately more often business than charity. What I find unacceptable is the frequent failure to show any interest in Africans‟ own qualities. Mensa, concerned as it is with intelligence, is by definition interested in human beings. In order to change the way Africa is viewed and to enable Africans to seize their opportunities, Mensa must move ahead rapidly. With the exception of South Africa, there are no national Mensas on the continent. The role delegated to me involves action throughout the whole area, including Madagascar and Mauritius.

The initial phase involves developing Mensa in as many countries as possible in Africa. A good way of doing this is to arrange test sessions in universities, with the prior approval of the relevant authorities. Then, in order to offer these young people future prospects, it is essential to have a pool of university bodies in Europe, North America and Asia open to the idea of both welcoming African students and promoting exchanges with their own students.

There are many non-government organisations (NGOs) providing humanitarian aid. Sometimes they bring relief, but I haven‟t always liked what I‟ve seen.

The first time I went to Dakar, I stayed with Stéphane, a young member of Mensa France who was there with his family. He was manager of a factory with 500 employees. In 2011, the rent for his apartment was €2000,

while Africans were earning no more than €80 or €100 a month.

He had an SUV. The eight-apartment block he lived in with his family had seven other SUVs outside. I asked Stéphane if there were that many management jobs in the neighbourhood. „No,‟ he said. „The others are all in humanitarian work. English, German, Japanese. You can have a great career in a humanitarian NGO, you know.‟ Humanities university education is primarily chosen by the students of Ziguinchor because “there are jobs in this field, in humanitarian organizations.”

Once, in Casamance, at night out in the country near Ziguinchor, I was coming back from a dinner with some African students who had newly joined Mensa. Coming the other way was a girl holding a boy of about five by the hand. I said hello, and added that she seemed to be looking after her little brother very well.

She told me that little Juan was her son, not her brother. She was 20 years old, and the father was Spanish and worked for an NGO. „He‟s very nice,‟ she said. „He gave me a lot of help the first two years, but then he was transferred, and I don‟t see him anymore.‟ When I was helping to fund water-wells in Togo with an association in Lorraine, the amount we had to pay was five times the amount that went to the well-digger. Our „partners‟ in the local bourgeoisie took 80% commission.

The basement disco in our hotel was full all night, with „humanitarian‟ workers in the company of very young-looking African women. I could keep on with the examples, but I‟d like to tell you something of what came of my thoughts.

The fledgling Mensa I‟ve set up in subSaharan Africa is very fragile. Over the course of five visits, I‟ve used preliminary tests to select candidates for the tests provided for me by international Mensa. But these supposedly „culture-free‟ tests are clearly not suited for Africa or for Africans. I must have

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given preliminary tests to hundreds of students, but finally only 13 succeeded: Aladji Amath BA, Marie GUEYE, Khady NDIAYE, Mame Khoudia SENE, Aby TRAORE, Bernard GBETOME, Banady SAMBOU, Moussa SANE, Oumar SANKHANE, Abdoul Aziz SY, Néné Aminata THIAM and Mariama WANE. What I proposed was that if they got into Mensa and were accepted by a university in France, then French Mensans would help to find accommodation, internships and so on, if needed. Once they graduated, it would be up to them whether they stayed on in France or returned to Africa – they were in charge of their own lives and their own future.

Of the 13 I‟ve mentioned, four (three women, one man) are now in France. Two of them haven‟t asked for help, but we give

whatever help we can to two students from Senegal, including Aby Traore, who really has the makings of a future president. Africa will only be able to relieve its suffering when Africans themselves take charge of development.

I‟ve paid for all my trips to set up Mensa in Africa out of my own pocket. I haven‟t taken any funding from Mensa France, even though I was president of it for ten years, because I don‟t want to see any sort of colonial Mensa in Africa.

This is a great challenge for Mensa. That‟s why I‟m so happy that the Mensa Educational Research Fund (MERF) should recognise this project for student exchanges between young Mensans from our industrialised countries and those throughout Africa.

But this project needs YOU!

So, if you can help, please hear what I say: Get in touch with me; this is an appeal for help.

Alain Seris Former Chairman, Mensa France alainseris@yahoo.fr

Reproduced from Mensa World Journal, issue #033, October 2015, Editor Kate Nacard

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HOW TO CLEAR YOUR MIND

by Lana Beaumont

Stress is a normal occurrence in one's life. It is impossible to avoid it in today's busy world. And due to stress, anxiety kicks in. More often than not, anxiety can make even the simplest things more difficult.

When there's anxiety in your system, your decision-making will be clouded. That's why there's a need to clear your mind and deal with stress in a healthy manner.

But not a lot of people know how to deal with anxiety and stress the right way. Below are some of the ways on how to clear your mind.

Expressive Writing When you are experiencing stress, the mind is full of thoughts that must be vented out. One way to do so is by writing a journal.

The activity allows you to analyze the topics that are within your brain and find solutions. It lets you see the topics from various perspectives. Just make sure that you set a time limit so that you will not be stuck in reflection.

Find Distractions There are times when the best way on to clear your mind is to change your focus. You can go out and do a hobby, or exercise in the gym. Other activities that can help you get rid of anxiety and stress are reading a book and learning karate. The activities will help you become worry-free.

Meditate Your Worries Away Studies have showed that meditating at least a couple of 14

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minutes a day can help in getting rid of negative emotions and rumination, as well as leading to forgiveness. Aside from clearing your mind from stress and anxiety, meditation can also bring a lot of benefits. It promotes longevity and builds a barrier against future sources of stress. Meditation has a calming effect that can reverse stress and make you feel good.

Meditation requires no special equipment, and you can easily learn how to do it.

One way to meditate is to find an area in your house where you can relax. Then you should just observe your thoughts and let go of the negative ones. This is an effective method on clearing your mind.

Nurture Mindfulness Mindfulness is a method of becoming immersed in an activity, instead of your thoughts about other stuff. It is a great meditative alternative for people who are too busy to meditate. While it still involves slowing down and focusing on a single activity, it doesn't involve not doing your other activities. In simple terms, mindfulness is being aware of what's going on around you and what's inside your mind. With increased mindfulness, you become more creative, focused, healthier, happier and more relaxed. It doesn't happen right away. You need to practice it regularly in order to become an efficient way on how to clear your mind.

Source: www.howtopracticemindfulness.net

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FROM VICKI HERD, PRESIDENT MENSA CANADA & CHAIR, MENSA INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM Greetings fellow IBD Delegates:

I greatly enjoyed my time in Serbia both at the IBD festivities and on the post-IBD tour of Serbia.

Serbian Mensans, led by Aleksandra Borovic, were so welcoming and hospitable. I greatly look forward to returning to Serbia some day.

On Sunday, October 4, I mentioned the new Mensa Foundation's International Scholarship program which generated a lot of interest among Mensan delegates. Four IBD delegates volunteered to be judges in next year's program.

I promised to send details of the program so all Mensa countries can advertise the scholarship program open to international (non-US) Mensans. The current scholarship program opened September 15, 2015 and closes January 15, 2016. Winners will be announced in June 2016.

Please find attached a link with details of the program:

http://www.mensafoundation.org/what-we-do/scholarships/internationalscholarships/mensa-international-scholarship/

Please contact me if you require further information or if you would like to publish the winning essays announced in June 2015.

Vicki Herd, President Mensa Canada & Chair, Mensa International Scholarship Program

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