BKS Iyengar Yoga Institute of Southern Africa
WESTERN CAPEREGION
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 9thth February 2008
Time: 14h00
Venue: Snail’s Pace, 20 Klaassens Road, Bishopscourt.
Action
1. Present and Apologies for Absence:Welcome: Arleen Francois who has moved to the Cape and will be setting up in the Simonstown area.
Present: Pat Deacon (Chairperson), Judy Farah (Treasurer) Stratford Canning (Secretary), Diana Sellmeyer (Vice Chairperson)Gillian Bacon, Yvonne Brodie, Midge Dods, Carol Francis, Arleen Francois, Madeleine Househam, Pam la Grange, Jackie Sinek, Brigitta Tummon, Manuela Waller-Schroeder, Eileen Weinronk.
Apologies:Dimitra Babaletakis, Joan Bruce, Kay Daneel, Ettie Flax, Anne Friedlander, Jeanne Gamble, Ina Gerber, Tanya Glazer, Jeannie Hitchcock, David Jacobs, Jurgen Meusel, Bets Smith, Alexandra Speiser, Magda Stander, Meryl Urson, Wendy Williams, Gaenor Ziegelasch.
2. Minutes of the AGM held on 18th February 2007:
Minutes of the AGM held in Feb 2007, were read by Pat Deacon, proposed by Gillian Bacon and seconded by Carol Francis and accepted as correct by the meeting.
3. Matters arising from the AGM held on 18th February 2007:
a)Office Bearers – Judy Farah stayed on in 2007 and will continue into 2008. Hopefully Wendy Williams will take over later in the year.
b)Yoga Clothing – all Central stock has been either sold or donated to charity.
4. Chairperson’s Report
Presented by Pat Deacon as read, proposed by Brigitta Tummon and seconded by Judy Farah. See attached. Salient features were:
a)Welcome to all.
b)Membership stood at 142 at the end of December 2007.
c)Highlight of the year was Faeq Biria’s visit.
d)Lois Steinberg also presented a seminar.
e)Birjoo Mehta spent a few days in Cape Town.
f)We will have Stephanie Quirk and Dean Lerner visit us in 2008.
g)Student Teacher training continued to be very busy.
h)Congratulations go to Esmé de Wet and Tanya Glazer who passed their Introductory level assessments and are now qualified to teach.
i)Thanks to all the teacher trainers.
5. Treasurers Report
a)The accounts for 2007 were presented which were audited by Corné Knox. An abridged copy is attached. The accounts will be adjusted to the required standard format by Stratford Canning.
b)The year produced a surplus of R8600 for the year and our capital account now reflects a healthy R60279. Total expenses amounted to R17660 of which advertising in magazines came to R8213.
c)Assistance to teacher trainers was discussed. Madeleine Househam proposed that the daily fee be increased to R600.00, up from R500.00 and that any shortfall be subsidised by the Region. This was seconded by Diana Sellmeyer and unanimously approved.
6. Workshops 2008
a)Our half day workshops were not supported in 2007 leading to the cancellation of one of them and poor attendance at the other. The full day country workshop was well supported.
b)It was proposed and agreed that we only hold two full day workshops on the following dates decided are 24th May 2008 and 22nd November 2008.
c)It was also proposed that a Senior Teacher lead the day.
d)Brigitta Tummon, subject to her being available, and Gillian Bacon have agreed to teach at the May class.
e)Carol Francis has agreed to teach the class in November and will confirm if Gaenor Ziegelasch is available to assist..
f)The issue of venues was discussed. Judy Farah will investigate a venue in Riebeeck Kasteel, while Eileen Weinronk will do the same for a potential venue in Darling.
g)Carol Francis will follow up with Leina Sank as to the availability of her premises.
7. International Teachers 2008
(i) Stephanie Quirk
a)A Yoga day open to all will be held on 15th March followed by four days of Remedial Training. Introductory level teachers are only eligible to attend on 16th & 17th while Intermediate Junior level upwards can attend all four days.
b)The venue is at Picardie Guest Farm for the first three days and Gillian Bacon’s studio the last two.
c)So far we have 23 teachers and 18 Associate members registered.
d)A reminder will be sent out with Brigitta and Stratford putting a letter together which will be sent to those teachers who have not registered.
(ii) Dean Lerner:
a)Will be presenting a seminar from 24th September to 28th September 2008.
b)The venue, Nico Malan Hall , Groote Schuur, has been booked and confirmed.
c)Caterers have also been booked.
d)Further arrangements will be handled by Pat, Judy, Stratford and Diana.
8. International Teacher 2009 & 2010
The following teachers are scheduled to visit South Africa in 2009, subject to CC agreement:
a)Jawahar Bangera from Mumbai will run courses coordinated by the Central Committee in the second and third weeks of March 2009 in both Gauteng and W. Cape.
b)Stephanie Quirk – Previously booked for October 2009 but this will be reviewed by the Central Committee subject to the success of her course this year and other teachers also pre-booked.
c)It was proposed that the W. Cape invite Birjoo Mehta to run a course. Brigitta will approach him as Central Committee Chairperson subject to other bookings.
d)Faeq Biria will be coming in 2010. Brigitta will establish the dates he will be here. Consideration must be given to the impact of the 2010 World Cup as accommodation and venues may be a problem if our dates clash.
e)Brigitta reported that Central Committee would be considering an invitation to John Schumacher and Patricia Walden for 2010
9. Membership
a)The majority of members have paid their subs for 2008. A reminder to be sent to the teachers for them to follow up with their students.
10. CPR Training
a)Refresher courses are required to be attended by all teachers (every three years) and new student teachers need to obtain the qualification.
b)A date, the 23rd February has been booked with Rob Erasmus. We need a minimum of five delegates to attend. Cost will be R400.00 per delegate, but if we get ten to attend the cost will be R350.00.
c)Notice to be sent out to all involved to ensure numbers are met.
11. Certification Mark 2008 - 2009
a)All teachers should have received papers for their 2008 Certification Mark agreements.
b)Pat Deacon suggested that teachers should establish a diary of their activities covering 2004 onwards including classes taught, workshops and courses attended etc. which will be required for the validation of certificates exercise in 2009.
12. Clothing
a)Brigitta has placed an order for 100 tights in various colours and sizes as well as T-shirts for the W. Cape.
b)Once delivered control of clothing and sales will be handled by Judy.
c)It was noted that the prices for the garments available through the Institute sell for almost half of the items available in dedicated shops.
13.Items to be presented at the Institute AGM or Central Committee.
a)Propose that International teachers be asked to return to provide continuity of instruction.
b)Propose that Birjoo be asked to make an official trip to teach one week courses in W. Cape and Gauteng.
c)Propose that John Schumacher and Patricia Walden be invited
d)Propose that website needs more regular updating with items sent in by the regions and other committees. Teachers to be encouraged to make use of it as they largely pay for it.
e)To report on the general unhappiness at the content of the last magazine in this region. It was felt that more yoga specific articles could have been included.
13. Confirmation of Office Bearers
a)Pat Deacon continues in the Chair.
b)Diana Sellmeyercontinues as Vice Chairperson and will take over as Chairperson in February 2009.
c)Judy Farah continues as Treasurer for 2008until Wendy Williams is in a position to take over.
d)Stratford Canning will continue as Secretary.
14. General
a)Midge Dods handed out a list of yoga furniture that her husband Graeme still has in stock. She also advised the meeting that should there be a need Graeme could find someone to make new furniture. Teachers to continue to make their own arrangements with Midge.
b)Gillian thanked the committee for their efforts in 2007.
c)Jackie Sinek enquired as to the availability of a teacher in Barrydale. She was advised that Derek Joubert could be contacted.
d)Pat thanked Gillian for the use of her studio yet again.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 15h45
Proposed by: …………………………………………………………
Seconded by:…………………………………………………………
Signed by: ……………………………………………………………
Date:…………………………………………………………………. / Judy
Stratford
Carol/Judy
Gillian/Brigitta
Carol
Judy/ Eileen
Carol
Brigitta/Stratford
Pat/Judy/Diana
Stratford
Stratford
All teachers
Brigitta
Judy
)
)
)
) Pat
)
)
)
All teachers
B.K.S. IYENGAR YOGA INSTITUTE OF SOUTHERN AFRICA
WESTERN CAPE REGION
CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT FOR 2007
Welcome to the A.G.M of the Western Cape region of our Institute and thank you for taking the time to attend.
Our membership for 2006 stood at 116 members and we now stand at 142 for 2007. The strength of the Institute is in its members so please encourage others to join, attend and enjoy our events, which benefits both them and puts back something into Iyengar yoga.
International Teachers.
Probably the highlight of the year was the Faeq Biria Retreat held at Goudini Spa near Worcester in May. This was the first time the Western Cape has run a residential course of this size and I am pleased to say that it was very successful and will hopefully be repeated in the near future. The peace of the venue, Faeq’s unique teaching and the company of so many yogis all combined to make it a very memorable week.
We also enjoyed a wonderful 5day course with Lois Steinberg at Groote Schuur in Cape Town which was also well attended and thoroughly appreciated by all but I do find travelling to and from the venue in heavy traffic does not leave me feeling as vibrant as I’d like after a day’s yoga.
Some of the teachers were able to enjoy a weekend during November with Birjoo Mehta, a student of Guruji’s who lives and teaches in Mumbai. He visits South Africa on business and has taught in Johannesburg a few of times and this time combined his visit with a brief holiday with his family in Cape Town including two days of yoga for us. This was another enjoyable occasion for those who were able to join us. We hope he will return and we will be able to offer general classes for all.
During March 2008 we will be hosting a day of general classes and the annual Teachers’ Training Seminar with Stephanie Quirk which this year will concentrate on remedial yoga. Then in September we have Dean Learner from the USA coming to run a 5 day course probably at Groote Schuur.
Local Workshops.
Due to the number of international teachers as well as the workload of teacher training weekends and assessments, all our regular workshops were cancelled except the last one of the year run by Judy Farah and I, when we had a well attended “Yoga Day in the Country” at Picardie Farm in Paarl. It seems that the full day workshops are more popular than the half day ones which we will bear in mind when working out our programme for the year.
Pam la Grange and Jackie Sinek are still running the Pranayama workshops in Somerset West and have a programme ready for 2008. These keep growing in popularity so I hope Pam and Jackie can still find the time and energy to continue.
I wish to thank all of those involved in arranging and running the workshops as well as all who took the time to attend and hope you will all continue to support them in future.
Teacher Training
Our teacher training programme continued to be very busy with 1st, 2nd and 3rd Year Introductory groups totalling 11 student teachers; I wish them all success with their studies.
Congratulations to Esme de Wet and Tanya Glazer who have recently passed the National Assessments to become certificated Introductory level teachers and to Lawrence Batchelor and Graham Weir who only have to pass one assignment before they too are fully qualified at Introductory level.
My thanks to the teacher trainers, Gillian Bacon, Carol Francis, Pam la Grange, Ysette Myers and Brigitta Tummon (and myself) who between them conducted a total of 21 days of training for the student teachers throughout the year. I must also thank the Western Cape region that has given its full support to the teacher training effort both physically in providing volunteers and coordinators for the Mock and National Assessments and financially by subsidising the payment of the teacher trainers.
Some of the Western Cape teachers took the opportunity to travel to a retreat on the Vaal River where Lois Steinberg ran the annual Teachers’ Training Seminar. These seminars are proving very popular and definitely assist teachers to further their knowledge as well as benefiting through the interaction with teachers from other regions.
General
As usual we finished the year with a lunch at the Bukhara Restaurant where we celebrated the birthdays of Guruji and Geetaji as well as the end of another successful Iyengar yoga year. While the company was as enjoyable as ever, the food and service left a lot to be desired so I expect we will be changing at the end of this year. Given the power outages and gas shortage perhaps the South African Institute of Significant Insignificant Others will manage a braai for us!!
During 2008 my Vice Chair, Diana Sellmeyer will be preparing ‘with a little help from her friend’ to take over my position in 2009. I am sure she will be able to rely on your support during this year of preparation and more importantly when she takes over as Chairperson.
A collective thanks to all of you who have supported the Institute this year, I hope you will continue to do so for many years to come. In particular I wish to thank our efficient and effective Secretary and Treasurer, Stratford Canning and Judy Farah without whom I’d get little done. Finally and once again, thank you Gillian and Brian for allowing us to invade your home for the meeting as well as hosting our visiting teachers, training sessions and other regional meetings throughout the year.
Pat Deacon
February 2008
BKS Iyengar Yoga Institute
Region: Western Cape
Income and Expenditure Account for the period
1st January 2007 to 31st December 2007
RAND
Balance Brought ForwardRetained Income51,672
Income:
Donations 4,020
Interest on investments 5,939
Sales: Clothing, Books & CD's 44,815
Seminar Income391,602
Subscriptions 9,150
Sundry Income 25
Total Income455,551
Expenses:
Accounting Fees 1,500
Advertising 8,213
Bank charges 1,265
Catering 160
Cost of Sales: Clothing, Books & CD's 42,036
DVD's for WC Library 250
Gifts 646
Post & Petties 535
Seminar Expenses 387,247
Subsidy - Year End Lunch 2,392
Teacher Training Fees 1,200
Telephone 1,500
Total Expenses446,944
Net profit(loss) 8,607
Closing BalanceRetained Income 60,279
Represented by:
Current Assets:
Funds at Bank 60,759 Stock 400
Loan – J Blumberg 640
61,779
Current Liabilities:
Accounting Fees Payable 1,500
60,279
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