Smyrna Clayton Rotary Club Blog

International Rotary Day

2012-02-23T06:53:00.000-08:00

Wednesday 22 February 2012

International Rotary Day

Local Rotary helping ShelterBox in the Philippines, January 2012.

ShelterBox began in 2000 as one UK Rotary club’s adopted project and soon gained the support of Rotary clubs worldwide. They have been key in the charity’s international growth as many set up some of ShelterBox’s affiliates. ShelterBox would like to use International Rotary Day today to thank them and reflect how its global Rotary community has been helping the charity.

Rotary clubs across the world have supported ShelterBox in countless different ways, one being their fundraising efforts that make up a significant proportion of donations received by the charity.

The first Rotary E-Club in Australia chose to raise money to sponsor a ShelterBox as its first project. Last January, the E-Club of Greater Sydney raised AU$1,000. E-Club Chairman Tony Castley personally handed the cheque to ShelterBox Australia Director and Response Team member Peter Pearce. E-Clubs are designed for people who cannot meet the weekly attendance requirements of a traditional Rotary club. Instead members meet to exchange ideas and project information and do their Rotary business online.

Peter Pearce recieving cheque from Tony Castley, Greater Sydney, Australia.

‘It was so rewarding and refreshing to meet with such a group of excited and motivated Rotarians,’ said Peter, also a Rotarian. ‘Thank you Sydney ‘E’ Club. Your contribution of a ShelterBox will make a major difference to a family in real need somewhere in the world. It’s great to have a new club’s first project engage with Rotary’s largest global club project, Shelterbox.’

Hell’s Kitchen

The Rotary Club of Tauranga Sunrise in New Zealand organised its own version of Gordon Ramsay’s popular television series Hell’s Kitchen for the second year running to raise money for ShelterBox.

140 dinner guests turned up at Tauranga Girls’ College to taste the culinary treats from the 14 volunteer chefs whom had each created a three-course menu for them. Each guest selected a starter, main course and dessert and then had to critique each dish.

Rotary club member and event organiser Tess Ahern said none of the chefs were professionals:

‘The chefs were members of the Rotary club and were joined by our local MP Simon Bridges. Everyone was really positive and tried really hard but there were some better than others.

‘Each guest sat at a different table for each of their courses so they got to meet lots of different people and that is part of what the event is all about.’

Local Rotarians in Japan helping ShelterBox after the tsunami, March 2011.

Tickets to the event were NZ$50 and enough were sold to purchase three ShelterBoxes at a cost of NZ$1,500 each. The club also purchased four ShelterBoxes from the previous year’s event.

Rotarians in Hawaii

Following the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March last year displacing hundreds of thousands of people, Rotarians in Hawaii worked with ShelterBox USA and ShelterBox International to raise awareness and money for ShelterBox.

Ann Goody, a Rotarian and ShelterBox supporter, contacted her Rotarian friends asking them to help fundraise for ShelterBox after the disaster struck Japan. Three Rotary clubs of Kona in Hawaii responded to Ann and they all set up the ‘Kona Aloha for Japan Project’. In just three days they raised over US$40,000 and overall more than US$65,000.

Some displaced families in Japan also contacted Anne through her Rotarian friends and indicated a need for emergency shelter to help 300 people in Minami Sanriku, a town on Japan’s north east coast that was 95 percent destroyed after the disaster. Anne informed ShelterBox Operations who contacted a ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) already on the ground in Japan. They headed to the coastal town to assess the need for emergency aid and found a need there. Consequently, thirty ShelterBoxes were distributed bringing shelter, warmth and dignity to hundreds of people.

Minami Sanriku in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami, March 2011.

Hope

This is one of the many examples of how Rotarians also provide invaluable logistical support on ShelterBox’s deployments, helping bring hope to the lives of many families made homeless by disasters around the world.

More recently, local Rotarians helped SRTs set up ShelterBox camps on its latest deployment in the Philippines, following floods and mudslides that began in December.

‘Since day one of the deployment Rotarians from the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan have been vital to our work in the field,’ said SRT volunteer Abner Tayco (PH). ‘They have provided much needed logistical support like transport, storage facilities for ShelterBoxes, manpower and security.’

ShelterBox would like to thank the global Rotary community for its continuous support that has been instrumental in the work that ShelterBox does around the world.

ShelterBox sends emergency shelter to Madagascar

2012-02-22T07:16:00.000-08:00

ShelterBox is sending emergency shelter to Madagascar for families who have been made homeless by Cyclone Giovanna that struck on 14 February.

A ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) has been working closely with the National Bureau of Risk and Disaster Management (BNGRC), the national disaster relief agency, to carry out a needs assessment in the most devastated areas of the island.

'The eastern town of Brickaville and the capital Antananarivo as well as their surrounding villages are the worse hit regions,' said SRT member David Webber (UK). 'Schools have been destroyed, homes flattened and the main hospital damaged.'

ShelterBox is sending midi tents from its headquarters in Cornwall, UK, as opposed to ShelterBoxes, as people have lost their homes from the high winds but still have their personal belongings. The midi tents are ideal for responses like this where temporary shelter is required for a shorter time while families rebuild their homes with dignity. Mosquito nets and hammers to help families put up the tents will arrive with the tents.

SchoolBoxes are also being sent to the damaged schools packed with activities for children, bringing them hope at the time when they need it the most.

Cyclone Giovanna caused most destruction on the eastern part of Madagascar displacing almost 152,000 people.

India prepares for Polio Summit 2012

2012-02-20T10:32:00.000-08:00

A Rotarian immunizes a child in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. The country has not reported a case of polio in more than a year.Photo by Allison Kwesell

In the wake of India achieving one year without a case of polio, the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in partnership with Rotary International, is organizing Polio Summit 2012. It will be held 25-26 February in New Delhi.

The summit is aimed at sustaining the country's momentum toward eradicating polio by increasing awareness of the disease, securing strong support from governments and other partners, and promoting routine immunization. The meeting also will create a platform for government and health officials to develop a strategy for ending the disease in the three other countries where it is endemic -- Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan -- and throughout the world.

More than 1,000 government leaders, health officials, and Rotarians from India and neighboring countries, along with representatives from Rotary International, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, are expected to attend the event.

“The Polio Summit will help greatly in continuing advocacy with political, bureaucratic, and religious, as well as corporate and social, leaders and other organizations,” says RI President Kalyan Banerjee.

Before the summit, on 19 February, more than 200 Rotarians from several countries will participate with their Indian counterparts in the country’s National Immunization Day. About half of the visiting Rotarians also plan to attend the Polio Summit.

Afterward, on 27 February, the annual National PolioPlus Orientation and Planning Meeting for RI governors-elect and district PolioPlus chairs will be held in New Delhi, hosted by the India PolioPlus Committee.

“India is tantalizingly close to eradicating polio,” says Past RI President Rajendra K. Saboo, chair of the summit. “Rotary International has committed to be the torchbearer until India and the world become polio-free.”

Ghulam Nabi Azad, India's minister of health and family welfare, credited Rotary with helping his country near the goal of polio eradication when he spoke at RI World Headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, USA, in September. He cited “not only the mobilization of funds, but the active participation of Rotarians in the field,” and said, “My country has benefited greatly from your support, and I thank all of you.”

For more information:

Read "Rotary celebrate's India's first polio-free year"
Learn about Rotary's efforts to eradicate polio
See a video about what it takes to eradicate polio
Check out the new Rotary Voices blog and get insider details from India National PolioPlus Committee Chair Deepak Kapur and Bill Gates of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Help End Polio Now

By Dan Nixon
Rotary International News -- 16 February 2012

Looking back at RI conventions past

2012-02-17T10:35:00.000-08:00

On 15 August 1910, Paul Harris convened the first National Convention of the Rotary Clubs of America.

“This is going to be a convention in which we will get down to business and endeavor to launch the National Association of Rotary Clubs. We need the best thought and cooperation of every single man who is here," Harris told the 60 registrants assembled at the Congress Hotel in Chicago.

At the time of the 1910 Convention, Rotary had 16 clubs and more than 1,000 members. In 2005, more than 39,000 people attended the RI Convention in Chicago to celebrate Rotary's centennial.

Rotary has held conventions throughout the world ‑ including Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1921; Mexico City in 1953; Lucerne, Switzerland, in 1957; and Tokyo in 1978. These yearly meetings combine Rotary business with fellowship and feature guest speakers, workshops, meetings, and exhibits.

The International Fellowship of Rotarian Convention Goers, a group of Rotarians dedicated to promoting and attending the RI gatherings, encourages all Rotarians to attend at least one convention, where they will form new friendships and learn how Rotarians worldwide carry out humanitarian efforts and promote ethical service through their vocations.

For more information about Rotary history, visit Rotary History and Archives or the Rotary Global History Fellowship.

Seven ways to get more out of Rotary in 2012

2012-02-16T08:09:00.000-08:00

A teacher prepares a lesson for first graders at École Ste.-Famille in Les Cayes, Haiti. The school was rebuilt with support from a Rotary Foundation donor advised fund after the 2010 earthquake. Resolve to support the Foundation's work in the six areas of focus in 2012. Rotary Images/Alyce Henson

Try something different in 2012 to attract new members and keep existing ones. Here are a few ideas to help you do more with Rotary in the new year.

Be part of Rotary's efforts to End Polio Now

Consider planning a fundraiser for polio eradication, or having your club or district light up a landmark as part of Rotary’s anniversary celebration on 23 February. Rotarians have made great progress in the push to end the disease, but the job isn’t finished yet. As little as US$0.60 can help immunize a child against the incurable disease. Contribute to PolioPlus, and learn more about Rotary's eradication efforts.

Think strategically and set club goals

A new online assessment tool will be launched in July to help clubs set goals and track their accomplishments, such as contributions to The Rotary Foundation. Available inMember Access, it will replace paper-based tracking methods and help RI measure Rotary's global impact. Help your club work more efficiently by using the tool to set and measure club goals.

Help the Foundation fulfill its mission

Make a resolution to donate to the Foundation’s Annual Fundin 2012. Skip one latte a week, and you'd have US$100 or more to contribute to your club's Every Rotarian, Every Year effort. You can make a one-time contribution or a recurring gift. Learn how your club or district can make a difference in one of Rotary's six areas of focus with a Foundation grant.

Get inspired at the RI Convention

The 2012 RI Convention in Bangkok, Thailand, 6-9 May, will feature speakers including Nobel Peace Prize recipient Muhammad Yunus and Global Poverty Project CEO Hugh Evans. And, along with thousands of your fellow Rotarians from around the world, you’ll be able to attend workshops on topics such as membership, leadership, and Future Vision. Register today.

Celebrate 50 years of Interact

Interact will celebrate its 50th year in 2012. Since the first club was established in 1962 at a high school in Melbourne, Florida, USA, thousands of communities worldwide have benefited from Interactors putting Service Above Self. The program has helped countless youth develop leadership skills, meet new friends, and become more familiar with Rotary. Rotary clubs that sponsor an Interact club gain fresh insight into service and help develop future Rotarians. If your club isn’t already involved in Interact, consider sponsoring a club.

Publicize your good work

PR grants enable districts to raise Rotary’s profile and promote the global and local work of Rotarians by placing public service announcements on television and radio, in print media and on billboards, and on the Web. Help your district apply for a grant by 4 March. To further promote your club’s signature activities, be sure to update your website with information about your projects and meetings. Also, start a social media page, and follow what Rotary is doing on sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn.

Connect with alumni

Rotary Foundation alumni can be effective speakers at club meetings, and many are potential club members. Reach out to them.

Former Peace Fellow pursues human rights

2012-02-15T09:40:00.000-08:00

Francesca Del Mese, 2002-04 Rotary Peace Fellow

A barrister for the British government, Francesca Del Mese sought a Rotary Peace Fellowship in order to pursue international work.

Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Watford, England, she applied and was accepted into the 2002-04 class at the University of Queensland in Australia. For her applied field experience, she worked in the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone, and later prosecuted war criminals of the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. As a consultant at The Hague, she trained judges from Jordan on international criminal law.

Del Mese is one of more than 600 former peace fellows who have gone on to build peace in their communities and nations after completing their Peace Centers studies. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Rotary Centers for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution.

In 2007, Del Mese traveled to Uganda to advise a London-based nonprofit concerned with human rights violations stemming from the country’s 20-year civil war. Del Mese interviewed dozens of the some 30,000 Ugandan children who survived abduction.

“I typically would hear that they had been taken in the middle of the night by rebels, their families were murdered in front of them, and they were beaten and forced to fight for several years before either escaping or being released,” Del Mese said.

Having missed the chance to receive an education, those who returned home found only menial jobs with meager wages, such as picking up garbage or digging holes.

“Without education, their chances of getting better jobs were hopeless,” said Del Mese. “Many [interviewees] were specific about what they wanted to be: teachers, tailors, builders, accountants.”

Last year, Del Mese became the legal adviser, based in Geneva, for the UN Commission of Inquiry into atrocities committed in Syria. She has since moved back to the London area, but some dark memories have been difficult to escape, such as reviewing multiple torture cases.

“Now I bank well-being,” Del Mese says, explaining why she spends much of her free time walking her dog, Sadie, in the quiet woods near her home.

Current and former Rotary Peace Fellows, other Rotary Foundation alumni, and Rotarians will have an opportunity to hear the latest developments in peace and conflict resolution and learn practical skills from experts in the field during the Rotary World Peace Symposium in Bangkok, Thailand. The symposium, together with the Rotary Alumni Celebration, will be held 3-5 May, immediately preceding the 2012 RI Convention.

For more information:

Read a profile of ten peace fellows in the February edition of The Rotarian
Read more about the 2012 Rotary World Peace Symposium
Learn more about the Rotary Peace Centers program

By Kate Nolan
Rotary International News -- 14 February 2012

Canadian vocational project seeks employment opportunities for the disabled

2012-02-14T10:40:00.000-08:00

Several Rotary districts in Ontario, Canada, are helping to expand employment opportunities for people with physical or developmental disabilities by educating business leaders on the benefits of hiring them.

Districts 6290, 6400, 7070 and 7090 partnered withCommunity Living Ontario, a nonprofit association that advocates for people with disabilities, to create a vocational service project that provides resources and training for business owners interested in hiring people with disabilities.

By working with employment agencies, the project connects disabled individuals with job openings. Since its launch in 2009, the program has helped more than 130 disabled people find employment.

Project manager Joe Dale, a member of the Rotary Club of Whitby, says about 16 percent of the province’s population has some kind of mental or physical impairment; of those, 49 percent are unemployed. It’s one of the largest minorities in the country and a significant labor pool for businesses to tap into, he says.

“This project has helped a growing number of employers dispel the myths about the disabled by connecting them to [potential] employees with disabilities,” says Dale, executive director at Ontario Disability Employment Network. “We go around the province encouraging Rotarians and other businesses to hire those with disabilities and inform them of the benefits that come with it.”

Studies conducted by Community Living Ontario and surveys of employers have shown that employees who have a disability demonstrate average or above average work performance, are willing and able to work many different types of jobs, and improve staff morale.

Whitby club member Mark Wafer, who helped launch the project, says hiring people with disabilities gives him a competitive edge. An owner of six Tim Hortons, a Canadian-based coffee and baked goods chain, Wafer has employed more than 80 people with disabilities over the last 16 years for positions ranging from customer service to management.

Wafer says the benefit is “substantial." People with disabilities tend to stay with an employer longer, he says, because it has taken them such a long time to find a job. That reduces the cost of having to interview, hire, and train replacements. “Turnover is expensive.”

Wafer says his overall turnover rate remains low because all his employees "want to be a part of something special, they feel good about the inclusive workplace. It changes the nature of the work force.”

Expanding the project

Dale hopes to see Rotary clubs and districts across Canada take part in this vocational project.

Rotarians can use their influence in the community to demonstrate leadership when it comes to hiring people who have a disability, he says. “If business owners hear that this hiring won’t be a deterrent to profitability, then that’s a strong message.”

Participating clubs can use connections in their community to conduct informational sessions for business groups, chambers of commerce, and trade and professions associations.

David Onley, Ontario's lieutenant governor, who contracted polio as a child and remains partially paralyzed, says the project “reflects an important partnership between Community Living Ontario and Rotarians to assist Ontarians with disabilities find appropriate employment by forging relationships with businesses.”

The hiring of people with disabilities is one of the last frontiers of discrimination, says Wafer. “Rotarians, as business owners and professionals are well positioned to break down this barrier and open the doors to a more inclusive community.”

Download An Introduction to Vocational Service
Sign up to receive the Vocational Service Update

Major donor's gamble benefits school children in China

2012-02-13T12:12:00.001-08:00

By Bill Benter (as told to Stephen Yafa)
Rotary International News -- 1 February 2012

A young scholar studies in an old primary school in Du'an County, China. Photo courtesy Bill Benter

Iwas about to turn 40 when I joined Rotary. The timing was perfect. I’d wandered into a profession, computer software development, where I was disconnected from any community.

I was developing a somewhat complex database program for betting on horse races, based on 70 variables for each horse that enabled me and my colleagues to determine its true odds of winning in any race, once we entered all the data and did our modeling.

My interaction was entirely with a computer screen. We didn’t have customers or clients, so I had little opportunity to connect with other humans. And I was living in Hong Kong, a long way from Pittsburgh, my home. Our goal was to handicap every Hong Kong racehorse based on past performance, track conditions, and so forth, and place strategic bets based on the results. It was a huge amount of work – but profitable and perfectly legal.

Our business lawyer, Gilbert Collins, invited me twice to join the Rotary Club of Kowloon North before I accepted. I must have had some trepidation; I’m not a joiner by nature. But before I knew it, I was on my way to becoming a member.

Rotarians respect the dignity and usefulness of all professions. There was no service component to mine, so I felt immensely honored to have been asked. In the first year after I became a member, I learned more about the Hong Kong community than in all the time I’d been living there. Looking back, it’s not surprising that I would become deeply involved in the club’s service projects.

Crumbling schools

I have a fondness and an aptitude for numbers, which helps – and, as I discovered through Rotary, a passion for putting my skills to work for causes I believe in. As the club’s international service director, I was charged with reaching out to join forces with clubs in other countries.

Bruce Stinson, past president of the Kowloon North club, had already made friends with Sai-Hong Choi, past president of the Rotary Club of Macau, and had visited impoverished Du’an County in southeast China in 1999. He’d been moved to tears by the condition of many of the area’s rural schools – the roofs and walls had collapsed, and there were no desks or seats, he reported. The Macau club lacked funding, and that’s where we stepped in.

I knew that it would be something of a gamble to make our way through the Chinese regional bureaucracy and ensure that the money we raised went where it was intended, but I’d been gambling successfully for most of my adult life. As I got to know the Chinese government officials in Du’an, my level of trust increased. They turned out to be sincere and honest and grateful for our help.

The government agreed to put up half the money if we put up the other half – a total cost of about $60,000 to rebuild each school. To me, this seemed like a slam-dunk, and thanks to the success of my business, I was able to donate a substantial amount of those costs on my own.

The Kowloon North club teamed up with the Macau club to build the first three schools in the region, and since then, our district’s clubs have been able to fund many more. Putting the money into bricks and mortar assured us we were creating something of lasting value, that the money wasn’t being frittered away. It was my kind of gamble.

For me, one of the most rewarding results of these service projects is to watch my perceptions bump up against reality. I expected China to be a tyrannical place, even brutal.

Noticeable change

But my Rotarian colleagues and I learned a few things as we watched the Long’an middle school in Du’an being transformed from a dilapidated building into a functional structure. I asked the headmaster about discipline. “Do you spank students?” I wondered. He looked at me incredulously. “ Spank students?” He was shocked at the suggestion. Teachers and administrators are forbidden to employ physical punishment, he explained. “They do that in your country?” It was inconceivable to him that we could even think that was possible. So much for my concern about social protectors.

Now, about 11 years after the first schools were rebuilt, Du’an has become a thriving region. When we visited in 2008, schoolchildren no longer looked at our cameras in awe; they snapped digital photos of us with their smartphones. There had been an amazing upsurge in prosperity. Our first school project was dwarfed, in a good way, by high-rises all around.

Did I ever expect to become involved in so many projects, or to meet my wife, Vivian, in the Rotary Club of Kowloon North – she is a past president of the Rotary Club of Peninsula Sunrise, Hong Kong – and to marry for the first time at age 53? I wouldn’t have laid odds on any of those things happening.

But computer programs, even mine, have serious limitations. They couldn’t have predicted the adventures I’ve had or the personal rewards that have come my way through Rotary. I donate to The Rotary Foundation because I believe in its mission.

Read the full article in the November 2011 issue of The Rotarian

Past RI President Glenn Estess Sr. dies

2012-02-09T07:59:00.000-08:00

Glenn E. Estess Sr., 2004-05 RI president

By Ryan Hyland
Rotary International News – 8 February 2012

Glenn E. Estess Sr., who served as 2004-05 RI president during Rotary’s centennial year, died on 7 February. He was 84.

In 1993, Estess retired as chief executive officer of Glenn Estess Associates Inc., a sales and marketing personnel consulting firm, to devote himself full-time to Rotary.

“I am sure the word most often used to describe Past President Glenn is ‘gentle,’” says Rotary Foundation Trustee Chair William B. Boyd. “He was strong in his beliefs but always gentle in expressing them and treated all people with respect and courtesy. He served the world through Rotary in many ways and always with a smile. The Rotary family will miss him. Our hearts go out to his wife, Mary.”

Estess, who joined Rotary in 1960, was a member of the Rotary Club of Shades Valley, Alabama, USA. In addition to his term as RI president, he served in numerous capacities including Rotary Foundation trustee chair, RI vice president and director, president’s aide, PolioPlus national coordinator, RI Audit and Operations Review Committee chair, International Assembly group discussion leader, and district governor.

He was a recipient of the RI Service Above Self Award and The Rotary Foundation’s Citation for Meritorious Service and Distinguished Service Award. He was a Foundation Major Donor, a Paul Harris Fellow, and benefactor.

Through the RI theme Celebrate Rotary , Estess encouraged clubs to implement a Rotary centennial community project, form twin club relationships, and support the Every Rotarian, Every Year effort, which aims to achieve an annual US$100 per capita contribution level for the Foundation’s Annual Fund.

“Glenn Estess had an uncomplicated but effective theme for Rotary’s centennial year,” says RI President Kalyan Banerjee. “He celebrated Rotary so aptly and simply during that year. It was amazing. Glenn was always humble, courteous, straightforward, and always doing the right thing.”

Estess served as president of the Birmingham Sales & Marketing Executives Association and the Alabama Association of Personnel Consultants.

Estess’ other accomplishments included director of Central Alabama Better Business Bureau; trustee chair of Baptist Medical Centers; chair of YMCA in Florida, the American Chemical Society, and the American Arthritis Foundation; and regent of the National Association of Personnel Consultants.

"The Four-Way Test was never a challenge for the lifestyle Glenn lived by. He embodied those values and set an example for so many Rotarians," says Donald E. Osburn, aide to the president during Estess’ term. "He always said Rotary is about making friendships for life and that’s exactly what he did all over the world."

He is survived by his wife, Mary; son Glenn Estess Jr.; and daughters Elizabeth Wilson and Nancy Martin.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, 10 February, at 1 p.m. at Brookwood Baptist Church, 3944 Overton Road, Birmingham, Alabama, 35223. Visitation will be held Thursday, 9 February, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the church.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Glenn E. Estess Sr. Endowed Scholarship Fund at The Rotary Foundation, either online or through an RI international office. Contributions may also be directed to the Glenn E. Estess Sr. Endowed Scholarship Fund, under the Foundation’s Permanent Fund.

In this clip from a 2009 interview, Estess talks about the value of Rotary and the strength of Rotarians.

Former Sudanese child soldier to speak at Rotary peace symposium

2012-02-08T07:48:00.000-08:00

Emmanuel Jal has an extraordinary story to tell. A former child soldier in Sudan, Jal is now a hip-hop artist, author, and actor, as well as a spokesperson for Amnesty International and Oxfam. He also has worked on behalf of Save the Children, UNICEF, the World Food Programme, and Christian Aid.

“I believe I have survived for a reason: to tell my story and touch lives,” Jal says. “If I testify, I might prevent another kid from losing his childhood.”

Jal will share his experiences as a featured speaker at theRotary World Peace Symposium in Bangkok, Thailand. The symposium, together with the Rotary Alumni Celebration, will be held 3-5 May, immediately preceding the 2012 RI Convention. The symposium will offer current and former Rotary Peace Fellows, other Rotary Foundation alumni, and Rotarians an opportunity to hear about the latest developments in peace and conflict resolution and to learn practical skills from experts in the field.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Rotary Centers for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution. The seven centers, located at universities around the world, offer future world and community leaders the opportunity to pursue a master’s degree or professional development certificate in international studies, conflict resolution, or a related area. Of the more than 600 peace fellow alumni, about 62 percent now work for governments, nongovernmental organizations, or multilateral organizations like the United Nations and World Bank.

Among the alumni is Josephus Tenga, who shares Jal’s great hope for lasting peace in the world. In 1999, Tenga and his family fled for their lives during the civil war in Sierra Leone. Later, at the urging of a Canadian Rotarian who heard him speak about the experience, Tenga applied to become a Rotary Peace Fellow. He studied at the peace center at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in North Carolina, USA, in 2004-06.

Tenga has served as technical adviser to Sudan’s Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration Commission, which helped pave the way for the establishment, last July, of the Republic of South Sudan.

“Violence . . . is an industry,” he says. “People are making money off it, and we cannot ignore it.”

For more information:

Learn more about the 2012 Rotary World Peace Symposium (PDF)
Register for the 2012 RI Convention
Read a profile of ten peace fellows in the February edition of The Rotarian

U.S. Rotarians join counterparts in Pakistan in polio eradication effort

2012-02-07T11:48:00.001-08:00

Top: Lori Pratt administers oral polio vaccine to a child in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, with the help of her husband, Joe Pratt, past governor of District 7870. At right are Deb and Steve Puderbaugh. Bottom: The U.S. group joins in a polio awareness rally in Lahore. Photos courtesy of Steve Puderbaugh

Two U.S. Rotarians and their wives got a firsthand look at Pakistan’s effort to eradicate polio when they participated in the country’s National Immunization Days (NIDs) in October.

“It was a moving experience to work alongside our Rotarian friends and hosts in giving the polio drops,” says Steve Puderbaugh, a member of the Rotary Club of Raymond Area, New Hampshire. “It was easy to see that the children we were trying to save from this disease could be our children and grandchildren.”

Puderbaugh chairs Rotary District 7870’s Group Study Exchange subcommittee and led a GSE team to Australia in 2008. He and his wife, Deb, and Past District Governor Joe Pratt and his wife, Lori, took part in the NIDs in response to an appeal from a District 3272 GSE team that visited the U.S. district in May.

The four, who made the trip at their own expense, helped immunize children at a hospital in Lahore, Punjab, and at a “polio camp” run by the Rotary Club of Lahore Jinnah. They also joined in a polio awareness rally sponsored by the Rotary Club of Lahore Shaheen. Puderbaugh says the rally featured about 150 people who had colorful banners and placards, along with decorated vehicles and a police escort, and “certainly got attention from people on the street and several media outlets.”

In addition, the U.S. group participated in a World Polio Day seminar in Lahore, which included Aziz Memon, Pakistan PolioPlus Committee chair; Pervez Ahsan Khan, governor of District 3272; and representatives from the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

“We were honored to be there alongside the Pakistani Rotarians in the battle to control polio,” Puderbaugh says. “We were also able to share information on how our American clubs and districts are still working to raise funds and awareness of polio, in spite of not having it in our country since 1979. It was very moving to meet people with polio.”

In Faisalabad, the group immunized children at a hospital, and Puderbaugh was interviewed by a local TV station about his group’s visit to Pakistan. They also saw a skit staged by university students on the challenges facing those working to immunize all Pakistani children against polio in the face of many challenges.

Swim marathon, landmark lightings to mark Rotary's anniversary

2012-02-06T08:53:00.000-08:00

Top: The Rotary Club of Grantham, Lincolnshire, England, will be attempting to set a world record with a global swimming event 25 February. Photo courtesy Rotary Club of Grantham Bottom: A new "This Close" print advertising campaign will feature Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, Pakistan's ambassador for polio eradication and the president's daughter, seen here administering the polio vaccine. Photo courtesy Aziz Memon

Thousands of participants around the world plan to swim 100 meters or more on 25 February in an effort to set a new Guinness World Record and to raise money for Rotary's polio eradication campaign.

It's just one of many events being planned by Rotarians the week of 23 February to celebrate Rotary's 107th anniversary.

The global event is being organized by the Rotary Club of Grantham, Lincolnshire, England, which has held an annual swim fundraiser since 1990 to support local charities. Participants swim laps in a pool to raise pledges during the "swimarathons."

This year, in addition to their local event, the Grantham Rotarians decided to spearhead a worldwide swim the week of Rotary’s anniversary. In order to set a new one-hour swimming record, they need 2,355 swimmers to complete more than 100 meters between 12:00 and 13:00 GMT.

So far, 78 clubs have registered to participate by holding their own swimming fundraisers for polio.

"The idea of setting a world record started as a bit of a joke," says Roger Graves, event chair. "But now that the reality has set in, we hope to set a new world record, raise funds toward eliminating polio, increase awareness of Rotary, and encourage more people to swim and stay fit."

Other events

Among other events being planned around the world to mark Rotary’s anniversary, teams of Rotarians from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and the United States will volunteer during National Immunization Days in India, 19-22 February, in advance of a polio summit 25-26 February in Delhi, India. In Pakistan, a new "This Close" print advertising campaign will be launched featuring Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, the president’s daughter and the country’s ambassador for polio eradication.

Also, throughout the week of 23 February, Rotary clubs and districts will be illuminating landmarks around the world with the End Polio Now message.

This year, the landmarks include the Water and Power Development Authority building in Lahore, Pakistan, and Frere Hall in Karachi; the Roppongi Hills skyscraper in Tokyo; Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia; and City Hall in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Ways to celebrate

Honor Rotary's anniversary by planning an event in your community. Here are some resources to help your club or district join the celebration:

Learn how to plan an End Polio Now lighting.
Check out a list of ways to celebrate.
Download a Rotary Day proclamation.
Use Rotary Images to help tell Rotary's story.
Find out how to contact your Rotary public image coordinator.
Download "This Close" campaign resources.

Major donor's gamble benefits school children in China

2012-02-03T12:53:00.000-08:00

By Bill Benter (as told to Stephen Yafa)
Rotary International News -- 1 February 2012

A young scholar studies in an old primary school in Du'an County, China. Photo courtesy Bill Benter

Iwas about to turn 40 when I joined Rotary. The timing was perfect. I’d wandered into a profession, computer software development, where I was disconnected from any community.

Crumbling schools

For me, one of the most rewarding results of these service projects is to watch my perceptions bump up against reality. I expected China to be a tyrannical place, even brutal.

Noticeable change

Read the full article in the November 2011 issue of The Rotarian

Sister clubs encourage international service connections

2012-02-02T08:38:00.000-08:00

Nancy Wright Beasley accepts a club banner
from Arvydas Sabrinskas, past president of the
Kaunas Rotary Club during a visit in
2009.Photo courtesy of Nancy Wright Beasley

By Megan Ferringer
Rotary International News -- 13 January 2012

A sister club partnership between two Rotary clubs in the United States and one in Lithuania is expanding the international reach and service of Rotarians in both countries.

Author and polio survivor Nancy Wright Beasley joined the Rotary Club of Brandermill (Midlothian), Virginia, USA, shortly after speaking to the club about her book on Lithuanian families during the Holocaust. Following visits to Lithuania in 2009 and 2010, she inspired the Virginia Rotarians to pursue service projects with the Rotary Club of Kaunas, Lithuania, which she had visited.

While in Kaunas, Beasley had also been introduced by telephone to the founding president of the Rotary Club of Chicagoland Lithuanians. The club’s members, all Lithuanians living in the Chicago area, expressed an interest in joining with the Brandermill club to carry out projects in Lithuania. So the clubs turned to Rotary Service Connections to facilitate that partnership.

“Rotary Service Connections helped us with some of the criteria, so we began discussing a feasible project,” says Don Vaught, president of the Brandermill club. “Our two boards approved the idea of the partnership, and the proposal was eventually accepted by the Kaunas club as well.” The arrangement was made official in November.

“The goal of forming a sister club relationship was to establish a long-term relationship with other clubs that would lead to ongoing projects -- both locally and internationally,” Vaught says. “It’s also a way to further international understanding and foster goodwill.”

Vaught says Beasley’s contacts with the Kaunas club were instrumental in getting the idea started, and adds that it seemed only natural to invite the Chicagoland Lithuanians club to participate.

“We see building a relationship through both leisure and business travel visits by members of each club,” Vaught says. “We will be working together on joint projects in Lithuania, but also supporting each other’s projects when possible."

The sister clubs are launching their first project in Lithuania soon, to help obtain medical equipment for an orphanage in Kaunas.

“This sister club relationship is bringing together three clubs that were never aware of each other’s existence,” Vaught says. “This reflects the far-reaching arm of Rotary, and shows how you can expand relationships around the globe. This project is proof positive that Rotary truly is international.”

For more information:

Learn more about Rotary Service Connections
Connect with partners to serve communities worldwide through ProjectLink
Get information about hosting a project fair

Rotary is 'well on the way' to a new Foundation

2012-01-31T09:26:00.000-08:00

William B. Boyd, Rotary Foundation trustee chair,
gave incoming district governors an update
on the Future Vision Plan. Rotary Images/Alyce Henson

By Megan Ferringer
Rotary International News -- 18 January 2012

Halfway through the three-year pilot of the Future Vision Plan, Rotarians are designing innovative projects and providing valuable feedback that will help improve The Rotary Foundation's new grant-making model.

Rotary Foundation Trustee Chair William B. Boyd shared these and other highlights from the pilot during the International Assembly -- an annual training meeting for incoming district governors -- this week in San Diego, California, USA.

"We are on a Future Vision journey that will lead us to a new Foundation," said Boyd, noting that "we are well on the way."

Boyd said Future Vision is built on the principles of simplicity and sustainability, and a desire to involve districts, clubs, and Rotarians more in spending and stewardship.

Under Future Vision, the number of grant types is being streamlined from 12 to just two: global grants and district grants. Global grants support large international activities with sustainable impact in one or more of the six areas of focus. District grants can be used for a wide range of activities that align with the Foundation's mission.

All districts will begin using the new model on 1 July 2013. Boyd said that concentrating on the six areas of focus has been one of the chief advantages of the plan.

“We needed to lift ourselves above the multitude of little projects that felt good but addressed symptoms, not causes, and were too short-term in their benefits," he said. "We have finite resources and cannot do everything for everybody, but these are key areas in which Rotarians can make a difference. We can change the world."

Boyd described the service activities of District 5020 (parts of British Columbia, Canada, and Washington, USA), one of the 100 districts participating in the Future Vision pilot. Through a dozen global grants, district Rotarians have supplied schools in Kenya with books in English and Swahili, installed solar panels at schools in Peru and the Philippines, and furnished classrooms and washrooms at a vocational and literacy school in Honduras.

"We are seeing Future Vision re-energizing clubs, so that they are breaking from the cycle of doing last year’s projects this year and again next year," Boyd said.

Boyd told incoming district governors that they can prepare for the global launch of Future Vision by closing old Matching Grant reports so they can focus on new projects, and by tapping resources like the regional Rotary Foundation coordinators. He also encouraged them to think big, to keep pushing boundaries, and to avoid trying to fit old procedures into the new model.

"We are here to serve, and each one of us is a Rotarian because we know that our lives are measured by what we do for others and not by what we do for ourselves," he said.

During the assembly’s third plenary session, Trustee Chair-elect Wilfrid J. Wilkinson also set out the Foundation's goals for 2012-13, which are eradicating polio, achieving Peace Through Service , strengthening the Foundation through the Annual Fund, and providing good stewardship of Foundation funds at the district level.

For more information:

Rotary celebrates India’s first polio-free year

2012-01-30T10:34:00.000-08:00

By Dan Nixon and Wayne Hearn
Rotary International News -- 12 January 2012

Watch a video message from RI President Kalyan Banerjee

Rotary club members worldwide are cautiously celebrating a major milestone in the global effort to eradicate polio. India, until recently an epicenter of the wild poliovirus, has gone one year without recording a new case of the crippling, sometimes fatal, disease.

Rotarians and state government leaders in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, vaccinate children against polio during a National Immunization Day in 2011. Photo courtesy of the India PolioPlus Committee

India’s last reported case was a two-year-old girl in West Bengal State on 13 January 2011. The country recorded 42 cases in 2010, and 741 in 2009.

A chief factor in India’s success has been the widespread use of the bivalent oral polio vaccine, which is effective against both remaining types of the poliovirus. Another has been rigorous monitoring, which has helped reduce the number of children missed by health workers during National Immunization Days to less than 1 percent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Rotary has been a spearheading partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative since 1988, along with WHO, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is also a key supporter of the initiative.

Sporting their signature yellow vests and caps, the nearly 119,000 Rotarians in India have helped administer vaccine to children, organize free health camps and polio awareness rallies, and distribute banners, caps, comic books, and other items.

“With the support of their Rotary brothers and sisters around the world, Indian Rotarians have worked diligently month after month, year after year, to help organize and carry out the National Immunization Days that reach millions of children with the oral polio vaccine,” says RI President Kalyan Banerjee, of the Rotary Club of Vapi, Gujarat.

“The achievement of a polio-free India for a full year is a significant step towards a polio-free world -- an example as to what can be accomplished no matter what problems need to be overcome,” says Robert S. Scott, chair of Rotary’s International PolioPlus Committee. “Rotarians of India are and should be proud of the key efforts they have made at all levels, without which the world would not be marking this milestone.”

Deepak Kapur, chair of the India PolioPlus Committee, also credits the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for its commitment to ending polio. To date, the Indian government has spent more than US$1.2 billion on domestic polio eradication activities. “Government support is crucial if we are to defeat polio, and we are fortunate that our government is our biggest advocate in this effort,” Kapur says.

“Marching ahead, the goal is to sustain this momentum,” he adds, describing as potentially “decisive” the upcoming immunization rounds this month and in February and March.

If all ongoing testing for polio cases recorded through 13 January continues to yield negative results, WHO will declare that India has interrupted transmission of indigenous wild poliovirus, laying the groundwork for its removal from the polio-endemic countries list, which also includes Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria. However, because non-endemic countries remain at risk for cases imported from endemic countries, immunizations in India and other endemic and at-risk countries must continue. Neighboring Pakistan, which has reported 189 cases so far for 2011, is a major threat to India’s continued polio-free status. Last year, an outbreak in China, which had been polio-free for a decade, was traced genetically to Pakistan.

“As an Indian, I am immensely proud of what Rotary has accomplished,” Banerjee says. “However, we know this is not the end of our work. Rotary and our partners must continue to immunize children in India and in other countries until the goal of a polio-free world is finally achieved.”

For more information:

Learn about Rotary's efforts to eradicate polio
See a video about what it takes to eradicate polio
Check out the new Rotary Voices blog and get insider details from India National PolioPlus Committee Chair Deepak Kapur and Bill Gates of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Help End Polio Now

Rotary's areas of focus

2012-01-27T08:13:00.000-08:00

Rotary clubs serve communities around the world, each with unique concerns and needs. Rotarians have continually adapted and improved the way they respond to those needs, taking on a broad range of service projects. The most successful and sustainable Rotary service tends to fall within one of the following six areas:

Peace and conflict prevention/resolution
Disease prevention and treatment
Water and sanitation
Maternal and child health
Basic education and literacy
Economic and community development

Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation recognize these six areas of focus as organizational priorities, and there are countless ways that Rotarians can address these needs locally and internationally. For ideas, consult the publication Rotary’s Areas of Focus .

Clubs and districts participating in the Future Vision pilot can apply for Rotary Foundation Global Grantfunding by targeting specific goals for one or more of the areas of focus. Learn more about these goals.

Areas of focus resources

Peace and conflict prevention/resolution
- Rotary Centers for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution
Disease prevention and treatment
- Rotarian Action Groups specializing in this area
Water and sanitation
- Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group
- RI/USAID International H20 Collaboration
Maternal and child health
Basic education and literacy
- Rotary's partnership with the International Reading Association and the Dollywood Foundation's Imagination Library
Economic and community development

Historic Moments: Firsts and other fun facts

2012-01-26T11:22:00.000-08:00

By Susan Hanf
Rotary International News -- 26 January 2012

Chesley R. Perry, Rotary’s The first four Rotarians: Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, Hiram Shorey, and Paul P. Harris, sometime between 1905 and 1912 first general secretary.

Did you know that Rotary founder Paul Harris wasn’t the first president of a Rotary club?

That distinction is actually held by Harris’s friend Silvester Schiele, who served as the first president of the Rotary Club of Chicago. Harris deferred his club leadership duties until February 1907, when he was elected the third president of the Chicago club.

In honor of Rotary Awareness Month in January, here’s a collection of facts and firsts to expand your knowledge of Rotary. Get the new year off to a good start by sharing a few of these at your next club meeting:

Club firsts

On 23 February 1905, Paul P. Harris, Gustavus Loehr, Silvester Schiele, and Hiram E. Shorey gathered in Chicago for what would become known as the first Rotary club meeting. A second club was formed in San Francisco in 1908, and soon after, clubs began to pop up across North America.

On 1 August 1912, the Rotary Club of London became the first club chartered outside of North America. The Rotary Club of Dublin, Ireland, had been organized earlier, but didn’t receive its charter until 1 May 1913.

Presidential firsts

Paul Harris was elected as first president of the National Association of Rotary Clubs (which later became Rotary International) in 1910, and is the only president to have served two terms.

Other firsts: Canadian E. Leslie Pidgeon (1917-18) was the first Rotary president from outside the United States, Sydney W. Pascall (1931-32) was the first from Great Britain, and Maurice Duperrey (1937-38) was the first from continental Europe. Learn more about past Rotary presidents.

Foundation firsts

In 1929, The Rotary Foundation gave its first gift, US$500, to the International Society for Crippled Children (later Easter Seals), which was founded in 1921 by Rotarian Edgar F. Allen, of the Rotary Club of Elyria, Ohio, USA. Read more about Allen and Easter Seals.

Paul Harris Fellow recognition was established in 1957 to show appreciation for contributions, and to encourage substantial ones, to what was then the Foundation’s only program: Rotary Foundation Fellowships for Advanced Study, the precursor to Ambassadorial Scholarships. Today, the recognition acknowledges individuals who contribute, or who have contributions made in their name, $1,000 to The Rotary Foundation. Learn more about donor recognition.

Convention facts

Edinburgh, Scotland, hosted the first convention outside North America in June 1921.

Rotary’s first convention in Asia was held in Tokyo in 1961. Among the record-setting 23,366 paid and unpaid registrants was the emperor of Japan.

The largest convention to date, based on the number of paid registrants, was the Rotary centennial convention, held in Chicago in 2005.

Read more convention history and learn about the 2012 RI Convention in Bangkok, Thailand, 6-9 May.

Hewko outlines five priorities for strengthening Rotary’s image, reach

2012-01-25T07:36:00.000-08:00

By Arnold R. Grahl
Rotary International News -- 24 January 2012

RI General Secretary John Hewko spelled out five priorities for strengthening the organization during the fifth plenary session of the International Assembly. Rotary Images/Monika Lozinska

A number of major initiatives are underway that will help Rotary International’s professional staff, the Secretariat, be a more effective, efficient, and useful resource for clubs and districts.

Addressing the fifth plenary session of the International Assembly, an annual training event for incoming district leaders, RI General Secretary John Hewko spelled out five priorities for strengthening the organization, ones he said would put Rotary on the best footing possible as it begins its second century. (Watch a video of the speech )

“Rotary is an organization with an incredible history and there is no question that its best years are yet to come,” Hewko said. “These five priorities, as well as many others, will strengthen our great organization and have a significant, positive impact down to the level of the club and individual Rotarian.”

Eradicating polio

Hewko said the first priority is the eradication of polio, Rotary’s signature global initiative since 1985. Eradication of polio will save hundreds of thousands of children from suffering from the disease, and save the world between US$40 billion and $50 billion in health care costs over the next 20 years.

A robust public relations campaign is underway to publicize Rotary’s work in polio eradication.

“Our success in polio eradication will set the stage for the next global initiative that Rotary chooses to tackle, whatever that may be,” Hewko said.

Future Vision

The second priority is implementing RI’s Strategic Plan and the global launch of the Future Vision Plan, The Rotary Foundation’s new grant making model. Hewko said Future Vision is the second most important Rotary initiative, after polio, and it will be important to get district leaders on board to support the launch.

“Successful implementation of Future Vision will lead to projects and programs in the six areas of focus that are better designed and more sustainable and scalable, and that will lead to greater impact,” he said. “This, in turn, will increase our profile, reputation, and public image and will make Rotary more attractive to outside funding sources. Future Vision will bring considerable and tangible positive benefits to clubs and districts.”

Rotary Club Central

The third priority, developing a new tool called Rotary Club Central, will help Rotary place a value on the thousands of service projects clubs do each year. The online resource will help clubs maintain a record of past activities; set and track strategic goals and initiatives; and allow reporting of the global, collective impact of club, district, and zone activities.

“We know how much funding passes through The Rotary Foundation -- approximately $100 million per year excluding polio [funding] -- but we have no idea of the total value of all of the money raised, in-kind contributions made, and volunteer hours spent by clubs worldwide on service projects,” Hewko said. “Having a credible number would enhance our reputation, help with membership, and make us more attractive to potential strategic partners.”

Membership

The fourth priority is membership, including making Rotary more appealing and relevant to younger members. The RI Board has launched an initiative to develop three-year regional membership plans tailored to specific regional needs and challenges. Achieving this priority will also require revamping the website to improve performance and make it more user friendly, increasing use of social media, looking at expanding e-clubs, and giving clubs greater flexibility with attendance requirements.

The board is also working with an international agency with a track record of success to provide a fresh global perspective of Rotary’s brand, its membership, core strengths, competition, and operating philosophy.

“Ultimately, I believe, this process will more than revitalize a brand. It will revitalize Rotary -- ensuring that Rotary is recognized the world over for what it does,” Hewko said. “And make no mistake: what Rotary does is nothing short of amazing.”

Humanitarian assistance

The fifth priority is positioning Rotary more fully as a major player in global humanitarian assistance and development.

“Here we have Rotary, with its incredible platform of 1.2 million engaged, active, and motivated members, drawn from the business and professional networks of tens of thousands of communities,” Hewko said. “In short, a private-sector platform that is unmatched in the world today.”

“I re-pledge to you today that I will invest every ounce of my energy to ensure that the Rotary flame burns ever brighter, so that working together we can continue to make the world a better place,” he said. “For our families and friends, for our communities and countries, and for future generations to come.“

For more information:

Download Hewko's speech (PDF)

'Peace Through Service' is 2012-13 RI theme

2012-01-24T10:16:00.000-08:00

By Megan Ferringer and Arnold R. Grahl
Rotary International News -- 16 January 2012

RI President-elect Sakuji Tanaka unveiled the 2012-13 RI theme, Peace Through Service,during the opening plenary session of the 2012 International Assembly, a training event for incoming Rotary district governors. Rotary Images/Alyce Henson

RI President-elect Sakuji Tanaka will ask Rotarians to buildPeace Through Service in 2012-13.

Tanaka unveiled the RI theme during the opening plenary session of the 2012 International Assembly, a training event for incoming Rotary district governors.

"Peace, in all of the ways that we can understand it, is a real goal and a realistic goal for Rotary," he said. "Peace is not something that can only be achieved through agreements, by governments, or through heroic struggles. It is something that we can find and that we can achieve, every day and in many simple ways."

Peace has different meanings for different people, Tanaka said.

"No definition is right, and no definition is wrong," he said. "However we use the word, this is what peace means for us.

"No matter how we use, or understand the word, Rotary can help us to achieve it," he added.

Tanaka, a businessman from the greater Tokyo metropolitan area, shared how becoming a Rotarian broadened his understanding of the world. After joining the Rotary Club of Yashio, in 1975, he said, he began to realize that his life's purpose was not to make more money, but to be useful to other people.

"I realized that by helping others, even in the simplest of ways, I could help to build peace," Tanaka said.

He noted that the Japanese tradition of putting the needs of society above the needs of the individual helped his country rebuild after the tsunami and earthquake in March.

"This is a lesson that I think the whole world can learn from, in a positive way. When we see the needs of others as more important than our own needs -- when we focus our energies on a shared goal that is for the good of all -- this changes everything," he said. "It changes our priorities in a completely fundamental way. And it changes how we understand the idea of peace."

Tanaka will ask Rotarians to focus their energy on supporting the three priorities of the RI Strategic Plan , he said. He added that he will ask the incoming leaders to promote three Rotary peace forums, to be held in Hiroshima, Japan; Berlin; and Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.

“In Rotary, our business is not profit. Our business is peace,” he said. “Our reward is not financial, but the happiness and satisfaction of seeing a better, more peaceful world, one that we have achieved through our own efforts.”

Watch a video excerpt of the theme speech
See a video promoting the three Rotary peace forums

Rotary clubs worldwide meet US$200 million fundraising challenge

2012-01-23T06:39:00.001-08:00

Rotary International has succeeded in meeting the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s US$200 million match in funding for polio eradication, raising more than $202.6 million as of 17 January.

“We’ll celebrate this milestone, but it doesn’t mean that we’ll stop raising money or spreading the word about polio eradication,” Rotary Foundation Trustee John F. Germ told Rotary leaders at the International Assembly in San Diego, California, USA. “We can’t stop until our entire world is certified as polio-free.”

The fundraising milestone was reached in response to $355 million in challenge grants awarded to The Rotary Foundation by the Gates Foundation. All funds have been earmarked to support polio immunization activities in affected countries where the vaccine-preventable disease continues to paralyze children.

“In recognition of Rotary’s great work, and to inspire Rotarians in the future, the [Gates] foundation is committing an additional $50 million to extend our partnership,” said Jeff Raikes, chief executive officer of the Gates Foundation. “Rotary started the global fight against polio, and continues to set the tone for private fundraising, grassroots engagement, and maintaining polio at the top of the agenda with key policymakers.” Raikes also addressed Rotary leaders at the International Assembly.

The new $50 million grant from the Gates Foundation is not a challenge grant.

Since 1988, the incidence of polio has plummeted by more than 99 percent, from about 350,000 cases annually to fewer than 650 cases reported so far for 2011. The wild poliovirus is now endemic in only four countries: Afghanistan, India, Nigeria, and Pakistan. However, India on 13 January marked a full calendar year without a case, paving the way for its removal from the endemic list.

But other countries also remain at risk for polio cases imported from the endemic countries. In Africa in 2011, Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo had significant outbreaks. Also in 2011, a small cluster of polio cases in China, which had been polio-free for a decade, was traced to Pakistan.

Rotary club members not only reached into their own pockets to support the Gates challenge, but also engaged their communities in a variety of creative fundraising projects, such as a fashion show in California that raised $52,000, benefit film screenings in New Zealand and Australia that netted $54,000, and a pledge-supported hike through Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, that brought in $38,000. Many events were planned around 24 October, widely observed as World Polio Day.

To date, Rotarians worldwide have contributed more than $1 billion toward the eradication of polio, a cause Rotary took on in 1985. In 1988, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention joined Rotary as spearheading partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. More recently, the Gates Foundation has become a major supporter. In 2007, the Gates Foundation gave Rotary a $100 million challenge grant for polio eradication, increasing it to $355 million in 2009. Rotary agreed to raise $200 million in matching funds by 30 June 2012.

Reaching children with the oral polio vaccine in the disease’s remaining strongholds is labor- and resource-intensive due to a host of challenges, including poor infrastructure, geographical isolation, armed conflict, and cultural misunderstanding about the eradication campaign.

For more information:

Learn about Rotary's efforts to eradicate polio
Read "Rotary celebrates India's first polio-free year"
Check out the new Rotary Voices blog and get insider details from India National PolioPlus Committee Chair Deepak Kapur and Bill Gates of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Help End Polio Now

Banerjee shares advice for building stronger clubs

2012-01-22T09:05:00.000-08:00

The best way for incoming district governors to build stronger clubs is to serve as role models and lead as equals, said RI President Kalyan Banerjee at the International Assembly.

Banerjee shared this and other advice during the second plenary session 16 January to help incoming district governors provide better support to Rotarians at the club level.

“We’re here because we love Rotary,” he said. “We’re here because we love what we can do through Rotary, and we want to do more of it.”

Banerjee explained that leadership in Rotary means giving support -- not giving orders.

The “gold standard of great leadership,” he said, is “being the kind of leader about whom every Rotarian in your district says, ‘You know, if I am ever a district governor, I’d want to be a district governor just like him (or her).”

Trustworthiness is also an important quality, Banerjee said.

“A great leader is someone you can trust, not necessarily to have all the answers but to be able to find them,” he explained. “And it’s someone who will listen, who will not dismiss your concerns, who will take the time to take you seriously.”

Maintaining the right balance between work and fun is also vital to encouraging strong clubs, he said.

“You do need the fun, of course -- that’s part of what makes Rotary what it is -- but fun is secondary and work is first,” Banerjee noted. “We all enjoy Rotary, but the primary thing, the point of why we’re here, it has to be the work, it has to be the service, it has to be the difference we are making.”

Banerjee concluded that district governors must look beyond their year in office. He emphasized that serving the district isn’t about attaching their names to major accomplishments, but making changes in a short time that will make their district stronger.

“To really succeed, you have to look past yourself, past your year, and into the long term, at the health of your community and our organization,” Banerjee said.

For more information:

Learn more about running a district
Order the 2012 International Assembly speeches DVD
See a photo gallery of the assembly

WHAT’S ROTARY

2012-01-21T15:43:00.000-08:00

Rotary International is a volunteer organization of business and professional leaders who provide humanitarian service, and help to build goodwill and peace in the world. There are approximately 1.2 million Rotary club members belonging to 34,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas.
Founded in Chicago in 1905, Rotary celebrated 100 years of service in 2005. The Rotary Foundation has awarded more than US$2.1 billion in grants, which are administered at the local level by Rotary clubs.

What is the purpose of Rotary?

Rotary clubs exist to improve communities through a range of humanitarian, intercultural and educational activities. Clubs advance international understanding by partnering with clubs in other countries. Rotary also encourages high ethical standards in all vocations.

What do Rotary clubs do?

Rotary clubs address critical issues at home and abroad by providing health care and medical supplies, clean water, food, job training, youth development, and education to millions of people in need. Examples of Rotary’s focus areas include:
Polio Eradication - In 1985, Rotary International created PolioPlus – a program to immunize all the world’s children against polio. To date, Rotary has contributed more than US$1 billion and countless volunteer hours to the protection of more than two billion children in 122 countries. Rotary is currently working to raise an additional US$200 million toward a US$355 million challenge grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. These efforts are providing much needed polio vaccine, operational support, medical personnel, laboratory equipment and educational materials for health workers and parents. In addition, Rotary has played a major role in decisions by donor governments to contribute over $6 billion to the effort. With its community-based network worldwide, Rotary is the volunteer arm of the global partnership dedicated to eradicating polio. Rotary volunteers assist in vaccine delivery, social mobilization and logistical help in cooperation with the national health ministries, the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Peace - In an effort to educate tomorrow’s peacemakers and ambassadors, up to 110 Rotary World Peace Fellows are sponsored each year to study at one of the eight universities for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution. Since 2002, 431 fellows from over 75 countries have participated at a cost of more than $23 million.
International Education - Rotary is the world’s largest privately-funded source of international scholarships. Each year, about 1,000 university students receive Rotary scholarships to study abroad. Rotary clubs also coordinate a high school-age student exchange program that has sent nearly 8,000 students abroad for three months to a year.
Humanitarian Projects - Rotary clubs initiate thousands of humanitarian service projects every year. These volunteer-driven projects address the root causes of conflict, such as hunger, poverty, disease and illiteracy.
Literacy - Rotary clubs work to improve literacy rates worldwide. A unique, Rotary-pioneered approach called the Concentrated Language Encounter (CLE) has proven very effective in resource-strapped developing countries. It was so successful in Thailand, that the Thai government adopted the program nationwide.
Water Management - Recognizing the importance of clean water, many Rotary clubs help to install wells and develop water treatment and distribution systems to increase access to fresh drinking water for communities in need, especially in developing countries.

www.rotary.org

Des Moines Rotary Club Blog

2011-07-11T08:46:00.000-07:00

Doing research for this blog I have been trying to find a steady stream of information that relates to our club in Smyrna. While doing some google.com searching I found the club in Des Moines Washington. Check out the Des Moines Rotary Blog. Just some interesting takes on how they install their President for the new Rotary year and some of the cool projects that they undertake.

The Object of Rotary

2011-07-08T08:50:00.000-07:00

The Object of Rotary

The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:

FIRST. The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
SECOND. High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian's occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
THIRD. The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian's personal, business, and community life;
FOURTH. The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

Avenues of Service

Based on the Object of Rotary, the Avenues of Service are Rotary’s philosophical cornerstone and the foundation on which club activity is based:

Club Service focuses on strengthening fellowship and ensuring the effective functioning of the club.
Vocational Service encourages Rotarians to serve others through their vocations and to practice high ethical standards.
Community Service covers the projects and activities the club undertakes to improve life in its community.
International Service encompasses actions taken to expand Rotary’s humanitarian reach around the globe and to promote world understanding and peace.
New Generations Service recognizes the positive change implemented by youth and young adults through leadership development activities, service projects, and exchange programs.

The Four-Way Test

The test, which has been translated into more than 100 languages, asks the following questions:

Of the things we think, say or do

Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

Mission

The mission of Rotary International is to provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through its fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders. See the RI Strategic Plan.

Diversity and Rotary

Rotary International recognizes the value of diversity within individual clubs. Rotary encourages clubs to assess those in their communities who are eligible for membership, under existing membership guidelines, and to endeavor to include the appropriate range of individuals in their clubs. A club that reflects its community with regard to professional and business classification, gender, age, religion, and ethnicity is a club with the key to its future.

Submitted by the Smyrna Clayton Rotary Club

What is Rotary?

2011-07-07T17:31:00.000-07:00

Rotary Information

Definition of Rotary
Rotary is an organization of business and professional leaders united worldwide, who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. There are approximately 1.2 million Rotarians, members of more than 27,000 Rotary clubs in 158 countries and geographical areas.

Responsibilities of Membership
Rotary club membership carries with it certain responsibilities.

Members are expected to attend weekly meetings of their club. Opportunities to make up attendance include attending the regular meeting of another Rotary club, attending various other Rotary meetings, or attending a club service project authorized by the club board of directors.
Members are expected to attend 60 percent of the meetings in a six month period and not miss more than four consecutive meetings without making up. This can be done 14 days before or 14 days after the missed meetings.
Members are required to play annual dues to their clubs, their districts, and to Rotary International.
Members are expected to participate in local or international activities or projects of the Rotary Club. Clubs encourage members to aspire to leadership or committee roles within their clubs.

How to become a Paul Harris Fellow (Rotary International Foundation)
Making a gift of $1,000 to the Rotary International Foundation designates the donor or whomever the donor wishes a Paul Harris Fellow. A Paul Harris Sustaining member is recognition presented to an individual who has given, or in whose honor a gift is made, a contribution of $100, with the stated intention of making additional contributions until $1,000 is reached.

Four Way Test
From the earliest days of the organization, Rotarians were concerned with promoting high ethical standards in their professional lives. One of the world's most widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics is The 4-Way Test, which was created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor (who later served as RI president) when he was asked to take charge of a company that was facing bankruptcy. This 24-word test for employees to follow in their business and professional lives became the guide for sales, production, advertising, and all relations with dealers and customers, and the survival of the company is credited to this simple philosophy. Adopted by Rotary in 1943, The 4-Way Test has been translated into more than a hundred languages and published in thousands of ways. It asks the following four questions:

"Of the things we think, say or do:

Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?"

Posted by the Smyrna Clayton Rotary Club of Delaware

2011-07-07T13:43:00.000-07:00

A Dream, a Vision and a Legacy!
Kaylyn Elaine WarrenJune 8, 1988 ~ March 13, 2007

Kay’s Kamp is the vision of Kaylyn E. Warren who was stricken with Leukemia at the age of 17. For most of Kaylyn’s treatment she was a patient at Christiana Care Hospital and the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center, except for a brief 2 month stretch spent in Seattle at the Fred Hutchinson Center. There, Kay hoped to receive a life saving stem cell transplant but her leukemia was too strong and being unable to remain in remission, the transplant never happened.Kaylyn’s lifelong dream of running a Bed & Breakfast soon changed to running a summer camp for kids suffering from all types of childhood cancers. Kay knew first hand how cancer had stolen the normalcy of her young life. Every child suffering from cancer is forced to mature before their time and must live a “new normal” existence that is anything but “normal”! When Kaylyn realized she would be unable to start the camp herself, she asked that her dreams and vision be fulfilled. Present at the time were her parents, brother, and several friends. Mary Ellen McKnight was not only a family friend, but one of the nurses that took care of Kay at Christiana and most importantly, her hospice nurse. Kaylyn asked Mary Ellen to take on the task of setting up the medical program which all things at Kamp would revolve around. Graciously, she agreed to this monumental project. Through the foundation established in her loving memory, The Kaylyn Elaine Warren Foundation (KEWF), a 501(c)(3) organization, was established in June of 2007. Our main focus and program is “Kay’s Kamp”. To view the tribute to Kaylyn’s life shown at her Memorial service - click hereHistory Not really knowing where to start, we began by simple fundraising. A golf tournament, family fun walk and Macy’s “Shop for a Cause” were all part of the 2007 events. Slowly but surely our name and cause was reaching the residents of Delaware and surrounding areas, but in reality we didn’t know too much about camping -especially camping for kids with cancer. Then a real blessing happened - Lisa Schmalbach contacted the foundation offering her services to help open Kay’s Kamp. Not only was Lisa an answer to our prayers, at the time she also had 16 years experience in oncology camping! After meeting with Lisa, the KEWF Board of Directors unanimously voted to offer her the position of Kay’s Kamp Executive Director, which she graciously accepted. Thanks to Lisa, Mary Ellen and a group of very dedicated volunteers, Kay’s Kamp opened August 8- 15, 2009. Kaylyn’s dream - Helping kids with cancer!Kaylyn’s vision - a summer camp for children battling cancer!

Kaylyn legacy - “Kay’s Kamp” Make a Donation today

Submitted by the Smyrna Clayton Rotary Club of Delaware

Shelterbox Praised by Arkansas State Representative

2011-07-07T13:35:00.001-07:00

ShelterBox praised by Arkansas State Representative

State Representative Leslee Post and SRT member Yi Shun Lai survey the disaster area in Arkansas.

Arkansas State Representative, Leslee Post, has praised ShelterBox for providing shelter, warmth and dignity to families in the state who lost everything when tornadoes hit at the end of May.

The tornadoes swept through Franklin and Johnson Counties just after midnight on May 25 destroying close to 100 homes and claiming five lives. ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) members Yi Shun Lai (US), Tim Osburn (US) and Mark Dyer (US) distributed emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies to the familes affected by the disaster.

In a letter to ShelterBox, Leslee Post said: ‘We will be forever indebted to the ShelterBox Response Team members and ShelterBox for coming to our need during our disaster.

‘On behalf of Franklin County, particularly the 35 children who are living in the ShelterBox tents because they have nowhere else to live, I humbly and sincerely thank you for making life much more dignified.’

This is the second time ShelterBox has delivered humanitarian aid in the USA, the first being after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Submited by the Smyrna Clayton Rotary Club of Delaware

Shelterbox Celebrates Social Media Day

2011-07-07T13:32:00.000-07:00

ShelterBox celebrates Social Media Day

Today is the second annual Social Media Day organised by Mashable(@mashable), the top source for news in social and digital media, technology and web culture.

ShelterBox (@ShelterBox) adopted the use of social media early in 2009 in a bid to raise awareness of their disaster relief work around the world. Since then, the charity’s use of social media channels, like Facebook and Twitter, has led to a huge increase in global awareness, a rise in online fundraising activity and has supported ShelterBox’s work in the field after disasters.

In the three years since ShelterBox adopted the use of social media, the charity has seen their fans on Facebook grow to 33,500, their followers on Twitter grow to more than 6,000 and their photographs on Flickr have been viewed close to 600,000 times.

ShelterBox Communications Officer Tommy Tonkins (@tommytonkins) says the growth has been impressive but the levels of engagement even more so.

‘When it comes to social media it’s important to measure everything and obviously everyone wants to see growth,’ he said. ‘However measuring the tangible impact of this growth is much trickier.

‘What we’ve seen through Facebook and Twitter is really strong levels of engagement from our online community. People around the world now talk about us through social media on a regular basis and fostering this conversation is key to interacting with current donors and new audiences.

‘This increased awareness is definitely having a positive impact on donations which allows us to help even more families around the world during times of disaster.’

Operational benefit

The use of social media has also helped in many ShelterBox deployments. In 2009, the charity sent close to 300 ShelterBoxes to Italy after a huge earthquake left nearly 40,000 people homeless. ShelterBox Response Team (SRT) member and Head of International Fundraising and Communications, Becky Maynard (@ShelterBoxBex), explains how a Facebook status led to the Response Team she was part of receiving invaluable logistical support.

‘We responded to the earthquake as soon as news of it broke and our first team were driving the first ShelterBoxes 1,500 miles from our HQ in the UK to L’Aquila in Italy,’ she said.

‘I posted this on Facebook and I received a post from Julia Hannan, originally from Cornwall but living in Italy, with the offer of a bed and a hot meal for the team driving the aid into the affected area.

‘The team stopped there on the way down having driven solidly through day and night, letting them have a decent meal and rest before heading into the disaster zone. I stayed there myself on the return journey and it was my first night in a real bed after spending the deployment living out of a tent.’

After the Haiti earthquake in January 2010 ShelterBox used Twitter to help identify some of the most vulnerable groups and families affected by the disaster and to create collaborative relationships with other aid agencies operating in response to the earthquake. The result of this was an increased operational capacity which allowed aid to reach some of the biggest areas of need in the shortest possible time.

A little over a year later and Twitter again was used to support the charity’s disaster relief work after the Japanese tsunami. Offers of logistical support, and volunteering in areas such as translation, came through thick and fast to the @ShelterBox Twitter feed and once again helped enable the efficient and effective delivery of aid.

Empowering supporters

Alongside this, social media initiatives and drives from ShelterBox supporters have made a substantial difference in terms of direct fundraising. During the Haiti earthquake response, bloggers from the Daily Kos raised a staggering $150,000 and a year later another group of bloggers raised more than $60,000 by organising a bloggers ‘day of silence’ after the Japanese tsunami.

Twitter’s capacity to mobilise large numbers was seen when American author Maureen Johnson challenged her followers to raise enough money to fund one ShelterBox: her followers ended up raising close to $30,000.

ShelterBox Founder and CEO, Tom Henderson (@ShelterBoxTomH), said: ‘As an organisation we’ve fully embraced social media and replicate our core values through our use of it.

‘We believe in showing our donors where their money goes and have used social media to strengthen the relationship between them and the families their donations allow us to help.'

Submitted by the Smyrna Clayton Rotary Club of Delaware

Smyrna Clayton Rotary Club and Blogging

2011-07-07T09:15:00.000-07:00

The Smyrna Clayton Rotary Club meets every Thursday Morning promptly at 7:30 AM. Our meeting place is at the world renowned Bridgeway Family Restaurant located at 15 West Glenwood Ave, Smyrna DE 19977.

Our current President Joe Thorn for 2011 - 2012 invites everyone interested to come to our meetings for Breakfast and fellowship.