[D9640general] [eFlash_Rotary] Digest Number 800

[Garry Krischock]

Messages In This Digest (2 Messages) 

1. 1517: President’s Keynote Address to 2008 RI Convention From: Sunil K
Zachariah 

2. 1518:  Rotary Shares is highlighted at convention From: Sunil K Zachariah

 

Messages 

1.
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eFlash_Rotary/message/1434;_ylc=X3oDMTJxbGJiM
nNyBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE1BGdycElkAzI3ODYwNzYEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDY0MDg2BG1zZ0lkAzE0M
zQEc2VjA2Rtc2cEc2xrA3Ztc2cEc3RpbWUDMTIxMzY5NTA4Nw--> 1517: President’s
Keynote Address to 2008 RI Convention 

 

Mon Jun 16, 2008 4:48 pm (PDT) 

President's Keynote Address to 2008 RI Convention

Wilfrid J. Wilkinson, 2007-08 RI President

Los Angeles, 15 June 2008

Welcome to the 99th Rotary International Convention! It is an
incredible joy for me to greet you all here in Los Angeles and to 
share with you this most wonderful of Rotary events. All over the 
world, all throughout this year, I have seen how Rotary Shares. I've 
seen that Rotary Shares in every amazing way you could imagine, and 
then some. Every day, in every one of our nearly 33,000 clubs, Rotary 
Shares — with passion, with caring, and with pride. But at a 
convention, we don't just share Rotary, we celebrate it! A convention 
is a time to shout our love for Rotary, and our pride in Rotary, and 
our joy in everything that we've accomplished in our Rotary year 
together.
Last year, in Salt Lake City, I asked my fellow Rotarians to join me 
in committing to make 2008-09 the year that we would all say yes to 
Rotary. That we would say, Yes, I will lead that project. Yes, I will 
help you with yours. Yes, I will bring in that new member. And yes, I 
will be committed to my Rotary work, whatever that work may be. I 
asked you, and you answered me. You said, yes, yes, yes! Here we all 
are, a year later, and now I'd like to ask you again: In this Rotary 
year, did you love Rotary? Did you serve Rotary? And did you share 
Rotary? Thank you!
For me, this convention is an incredible end to an incredible year, a 
year in which I saw how Rotary Shares in more ways than I ever 
dreamed possible. It's a year that got off to a great start because I 
started with some great help from Past RI President Bill Boyd; from 
my RI directors, district governors, and club presidents; and from 
our dedicated staff in Evanston.
One of the first questions I had from the staff when I was nominated 
was what I wanted as my RI theme. I was all ready with my answer. I 
said my theme would be Rotary Shares. Because to me, these words 
captured all that was good about Rotary and Rotarians. Because to me, 
Rotary is about sharing. It's about sharing our time, every week in 
our meetings with our fellow members and with our communities and 
with people throughout the world. It's about sharing our expertise, 
our talents, and our resources in countless ways. It's about sharing 
what we have, with our fellow Rotarians and with those in need. 
That's what I told my district governors, when we began this Rotary 
year. But now I know better. Yes, Rotary Shares means all that, but 
it means so much more. It means every one of you and every single 
Rotarian in every Rotary country working together. Working with 
dedication and working with love, working for a better, safer, 
healthier, and more peaceful world.
In the past two years, Joan and I have met thousands of Rotarians in 
dozens of countries, and we've seen their remarkable work firsthand. 
Every single day, we saw projects that awed and inspired us. I'm glad 
to report that in true Rotary spirit, some of the clubs we visited 
even put us to work. In Halifax, I helped get breakfast ready for 
some hungry schoolchildren, and I read to some third graders in 
Connecticut. In Chennai, India, I joined hundreds of Rotarians, 
Rotaractors, and community members who came together to discuss an 
ambitious microcredit program that will help thousands of people 
climb out of poverty.
I also saw the tremendous job Rotary has done in helping communities 
recover from the tsunami that devastated so much of Southeast Asia in 
2004. It's been three and a half years since that terrible 
catastrophe. You don't see it in the news anymore. But Rotarians 
haven't forgotten, because they've been busy rebuilding. In Sri 
Lanka, I had the honor of presiding at the ceremonial closing of the 
Schools Re-awakening project. This project highlighted what's best 
about Rotary. The Rotarians in Sri Lanka didn't just send short-term 
aid and then move on to the next project. They took the time and the 
care to determine just how they could help best. They decided that 
they would rebuild schools, 25 of them, one in each province. The 
government allocated them 25 schools, and the Rotarians went to work.
But they didn't just rebuild the schools the way they were. As one 
Rotarian said, what would have been the point of that? Instead, they 
made bigger and better schools — model schools, with science labs, 
gymnasiums, computer rooms, and spacious classrooms. Each one has 
modern sanitation and a permanent source of water. And in areas 
without electricity, the schools are powered by solar energy. The Sri 
Lankan Rotarians didn't just return life to normal for these 
students. They made it better than ever. And that's a hallmark of 
Rotary service worldwide and one reason why long-term disaster 
recovery is an area in which we excel. We can't seem to leave "good 
enough" alone. We always want to make it better.
And we do. In Central America, people who lost everything to 
Hurricane Mitch in 1998 have built thriving businesses, thanks to a 
Rotary-developed microcredit program. Now, they're enjoying a better 
life than they had before disaster hit.
In October, wildfires swept through Southern California. They left 
more than half a million people homeless. Rotarians were among the 
first to help, working side by side with fire victims to clear out 
debris and sift through the rubble to salvage whatever was left. 
Former Rotarian Mike Miller was among those who lost everything in 
the fires. Mike had been a Rotarian for 12 years but had left his 
club shortly before the fires hit. When his house burned, he received 
so many offers of help from Rotarians that he realized he'd made a 
mistake. "So I rejoined," he said. "And I'll never drop out. Never. 
I'll be a Rotarian forever." Now, that's one way to make a dedicated 
Rotarian — of course, it's not the way we want to make them. So, how 
do we do it? What does it take to show people the kind of 
organization Rotary is, the kind of organization they want to be a 
part of, now and forever?
This is one of the issues we discussed at seven membership 
conferences held throughout the United States and Canada this year. I 
chose sites in North America because, unfortunately, this region has 
experienced an alarming decline in membership in recent years. 
Between 200 and 600 Rotarians attended each conference. And these 
conferences were great. There was a real energy, and a real sense of 
shared understanding of just why membership is such an urgent issue. 
We talked about the challenges that Rotary membership is facing and 
will continue to face, as the world's population and the need for 
Rotary service continue to grow. And we talked about how the 
situation of only a few people bringing in most of the members just 
can't continue.
Some of you may have heard me talk about the idea of "member get 
member," that it must be the responsibility of every Rotarian to 
bring one new member into their clubs, every single year. It is, very 
simply, the way we need to approach the whole question of membership 
for Rotary to survive and grow. Because membership has to be seen as 
a matter of individual, universal responsibility. It's not everyone's 
responsibility; it's the responsibility of each of us. It's mine and 
yours and yours and yours. Every one of us, individually, has that 
responsibility to our organization, that responsibility to see that 
it will survive.
As an accountant, I tend to think in terms of a cost-benefit 
analysis. So I ask what's the potential cost to me of inviting 
someone I think is qualified for membership, and might be interested 
in becoming a member, to a meeting of my club? Well, the cost might 
be a little bit of time. I'll have to approach that person and talk 
to him or her about Rotary and find a time to bring that person to a 
meeting. There's also the potential cost of a bit of embarrassment to 
me if the person says no, or if they turn out not to be qualified. 
Those are the costs that I weigh when I'm making that decision.
But those are the costs that I weigh against the potential benefit. 
And what is that potential benefit? The benefit is one new Rotarian. 
The benefit is one more pair of hands to do Rotary's work. One more 
person to strengthen our club and our service, to be inspired by our 
core values, to help bring help and hope where it is needed. I think 
we can see how this works out on a balance sheet: There's little to 
lose and so very much to gain.
Over the past two years, I've met many dignitaries and world leaders. 
Invariably, they have commended Rotary and Rotarians for their 
service to humanity. I've accepted these compliments and I even 
accepted a few awards. But I've accepted them on behalf of you. 
Because it is you — all of you, the Rotarians of the world — who have 
earned these accolades through your relentless efforts to make this 
world a better place. And I'm not the only one who thinks that. When 
I presented the Rotary Award of Honor to United Nations Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon during his visit to Chicago this year, he said 
that really the UN should be giving Rotary an award for all of our 
work on polio eradication and our efforts to achieve the UN's 
Millennium Development Goals.
One of our greatest honors this year didn't come with a medal or a 
plaque. It came from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which gave 
Rotary a US$100 million challenge grant to be used for polio 
eradication. What I think is so significant about this grant is what 
it says about Rotary — that the Gates Foundation gave the money to 
Rotary International before we had raised even one penny of matching 
funds. That's right. They just initiated a bank transfer. For $100 
million. Now, I'm an accountant and I've seen a lot of money change 
hands, but I've never seen $100 million just turn up in my bank 
account. I don't think most people have! But that's just what the 
Gates Foundation did for Rotary. They gave us that money, and they 
told us to spend it all by 31 December 2008, two full years before 
the date we had agreed to finish raising the matching funds.
All the distinguished leaders that I met offered great praise and 
thanks for Rotary's work, but I was especially struck by the words of 
Ólafur Grímsson, the president of Iceland, who said, if I may 
paraphrase: "Rotary has the right answer. Your organization includes 
men and women on an equal basis, and you have members from nearly 
every country. They represent every race, color, and creed. So what 
the world must do to make peace possible is have more Rotarians." I 
couldn't have said it better myself. What this world needs is more 
Rotarians. More Rotarians working hard and working together, working 
with joy and working with love.
My friends, in this Rotary year, I've seen what can happen when 
Rotary Shares. I've seen the magic of Rotarians saying yes! That yes —
your yes — lifted me up, and it filled my heart with joy. Your yes 
is changing the world. And for that, I thank you all.

Source: Rotary International
Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary

2.
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eFlash_Rotary/message/1435;_ylc=X3oDMTJxbzR0Y
zluBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE1BGdycElkAzI3ODYwNzYEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDY0MDg2BG1zZ0lkAzE0M
zUEc2VjA2Rtc2cEc2xrA3Ztc2cEc3RpbWUDMTIxMzY5NTA4Nw--> 1518:  Rotary Shares is
highlighted at convention 

 

Mon Jun 16, 2008 5:01 pm (PDT) 

Rotary Shares is highlighted at convention
By Jenny Llakmani 

A buzz of anticipation filled the packed hall as Rotarians waited to 
hear Rotary International President Wilfrid J. Wilkinson's words of 
welcome and inspiration at the opening plenary session of the 2008 RI 
Convention in Los Angeles. They were not disappointed.

Wilkinson, introduced by Aide to the President John Germ as "a man 
who truly believes that service to humanity is the best work of 
life," spoke with passion about the theme of his presidential year, 
Rotary Shares.

"All over the world, all throughout this year, I have seen how Rotary 
Shares," Wilkinson said. "I've seen that Rotary Shares in every 
amazing way you could imagine, and then some." 

He highlighted some of the work that he and his wife, Joan, have 
seen, including in Sri Lanka, where Rotarians continue to rebuild 
after the devastating 2004 tsunami.

"It's been three and a half years since that terrible catastrophe," 
Wilkinson said. "You don't see it in the news anymore. But Rotarians 
haven't forgotten, because they've been busy rebuilding."

Wilkinson also spoke about the challenge grant from the Bill & 
Melinda Gates Foundation, which gave Rotary US$100 million to use in 
the fight against polio. Raising funds to match the grant will be a 
major push in the coming Rotary year. 

"What I think is so significant about this grant is what it says 
about Rotary -- that the Gates Foundation gave the money to Rotary 
International before we had raised even one penny of matching funds," 
he said. 

Los Angeles Host Organization Committee Chair Gerry Turner drew the 
audience's attention to Rotary's Wide World of Books project, which 
is collecting children's books from convention goers to support 
Rotary's literacy initiative. Reaching the goal of collecting 250,000 
books will set a world record, while at the same time improving the 
selection of books at schools and libraries in Southern California 
and Nevada.

An always popular element of the opening plenary is the parade of the 
flags of Rotary's more than 200 countries and geographical areas. The 
flags were carried out by Youth Exchange students from throughout the 
world studying in the western United States.

"We honor the places we are from," said RI Vice President Mike 
McGovern, "and we recognize that the Rotary community is one that we 
all belong to, regardless of the place we call home."

Source: Rotary International News 
Courtesy: eFlash_Rotary

 

 

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