ADSA Kwazulu-natal: Who we are

Hi! We are ADSA KZN! 😊

Hi fellow dietitians, our lovely Exec PR lady Mrs Retha Harmse has kindly requested that we share some information about the branches with you guys, what a pleasure. My name is Megan Clarke and I am the ADSA KZN secretary, as such I feel it is my duty to rise to the challenge here (the other branch committee members are all very busy and important and killing it in their fields to have enough time).

Let’s start by introducing ourselves, we are a smallish committee of six members (although I know we are lucky to have even this many) established in our current form in May 2019. I think we work well as a group because we are all so different and we work in such a variety of different areas within the Dietetic profession that we can relate to many Dietitians in our province and hopefully beyond. I believe we are all enthused about what we do in our own ways and we enjoy spreading that to others when we can.  As a newbie to this committee, I have honestly enjoyed how it has challenged me in a personal and professional capacity and I am thrilled that I get to work with a very cool bunch of women from so many different walks of life, plus too we get to pay only half the annual ADSA fee (a lesser-known perk of being on the committee).

So, here we go, in no specific order, but maybe by rank, we have:

Julie Perks (Jules), our amazing Chairlady. Julie is lucky to have the best of both worlds and works in both the private and public sector and brings new meaning to the word passionate (she picked a good new Surname, haha!).  She is perfect for her role on the Branch Committee and loves to challenge and push us to be better and better. She is a woman who knows how to get things done! Julie is also a newish mom to a beautiful little breastfed bundle called Hannah.

Joanne Lerwick (Jo), is our wise Treasurer (an under-appreciated job) and has been on the committee forever (since well before I got involved at least). Jo is really a ‘Jack of all Traits’; she does Food Service, tutoring at UKZN, private work and lactation consulting specifically. Amongst all this she has also managed to raise two beautiful daughters.

Kelly Francis (Kels), holds the PR and Communications position, and she is our private practise guru with more than a few projects on the side. If I could sum her up in a word it would be #Kind. 😊 Kelly is also our newest mom to beautiful baby Paige and she brings a good balance to our lot. Kelly is on the Exec committee too!

Jandri Barnard (or Jan3 as her number plate says) is our overachieving CPD portfolio holder, she does mostly private work and Food Service consulting AND is busy with a PHD! Jandri is a quieter soul so I’ve not yet discovered all there is to know, but I do know she has a passion for quilting and brings a bit of Afrikaans culture to our group. She has been an ADSA spokesperson since 2017 and does freelance writing in-between for publications such as Media24 and On Tap magazine, amongst others!

Laurencia Govender (Lau) is our ever-trusty Sponsorship and Student Liaison holder and she is so so good at this job! Sometimes she gets us too many sponsors and we need to reign her in! My word for her must be #enthusiastic! She also finds time to be a lecturer at UKZN and has a real passion and way with her students. AND she has recently just completed her PHD 😊 Plus she brings some awesome Indian culture to the table. PS: She’s about to have a modern Zoom wedding to her hubby to be and was generous enough to invite our Committee to share in her joy!

And lastly there’s me, Meg, the one who gets to write it all down. I work in public service at a little hospital that really gets a bad rap. I have only recently learned to appreciate the work I do, and it is an amazing feeling. I’ve completed my Master’s through Stellenbosch University (whom I can highly recommend, sorry UKZN fans!) and ADSA really helped me to achieve this goal, which is what brought me to this committee, to give back and pay it forward.

Being on the ADSA committee has given me the chance to interact with some amazing women and I have learned so much in such a little time. The only drawback I can think of, of working in KZN is that we truly are blessed with a great climate and we must work when we would rather be outside enjoying it all!

Now, what to say about ADSA… In a word #Inspiring. Thank you ADSA for inspiring me and so many other professionals to love, appreciate and enjoy what we do, because that truly is EVERYTHING. I was lucky enough to be on the committee last year when our talented President Mrs Christine Taljaard-Krugell gave a speech at the ADSA Exec Road Show about Leadership in Nutrition, and wow that really opened some new doors for me. One of the things that stuck with me was when she said: “Be willing to do the jobs that nobody else wants to do” (Even if it means emptying the filter of the ‘Moerkoffie’ machine haha!) So now, and especially after 2020 with Covid, I have nothing but love for ADSA.

AND at the risk of rambling: My advice to us Dietitians “Learn to Love what you do, Get Excited, Learn more, Do more, Be more! Don’t compete but Build Each Other Up! Challenge yourselves, our work really is so so important and it’s our job and duty to show people that through doing 😊”

Happy 2021 y’all (as we say in Durbs).