5 reasons to support The Rotary Foundation on Giving Tuesday

By Rotary International

By Rotary staff

When you make a donation to The Rotary Foundation, you are helping Rotary members make a difference in the lives of millions of people around the world, by promoting peace, preventing disease, supporting education, bolstering economic development, and providing clean water and sanitation.

Here are just a few ways your generosity is changing lives.

Eradicating polio

Thanks to you, we are closer than ever to ending polio. We have reduced cases by 99.9 percent since 1988, and with our partners, have immunized more than 2.5 billion children worldwide. To end polio for good, we need to reach every last child in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria, and protect the progress made in polio-free parts of the world. Eradicating polio is an achievable goal that will be known as one of the greatest achievements in history. And thanks to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is matching every dollar two to one, your donation works even harder. Learn more about our work to end polio.

Promoting peace and conflict resolution

Rotary’s most significant effort to promote peace is the Rotary Peace Centers program, established in 2002. Each year, the program trains some of the world’s most dedicated and …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

Celebrating Positive Peace

By Rotary International

The Positive Peace rally in New York City on the International Day of Peace. Photo by KseniyaPhotography

By Ana Cutter Patel, Executive Director, Outward Bound Peacebuilding, and a 2016 Rotary Peace Fellow at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

Peace can be described as positive or negative. Negative peace refers to the absence of violence. Positive peace describes the attitudes, institutions and structures that, when strengthened, can lead to a more peaceful society. The Positive Peace framework developed by Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) identifies eight factors that create peaceful societies. They are:

A well-functioning government

a sound business environment

the equitable distribution of resources

low levels of corruption

high levels of human capital

the acceptance of the rights of others

the free flow of information

good relations with neighbors

Mexico conference spawns idea
In May 2017, IEP and Outward Bound Peacebuilding (OBCP) successfully collaborated on a Rotary-supported conference bringing together 300 peacebuilders in Mexico to learn about the Positive Peace framework. The event showcased the strengths of both our organizations – IEP, a global think tank dedicated to peace as a tangible measure of human well-being and OBCP, an organization committed to experiential learning and conflict transformation. At the conference, through an …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

Why satellite clubs can bring together all ages

By Rotary International

Members of the new club.

By Yoshisaku Shimamura, past governor of District 2830 and a member of the Rotary Club of Goshogawara Evening, Aomori, Japan

It is always the young people who build our future. At the same time, we now live in an age where life expectancy can reach 100 years. Some say 80 can be the prime of one’s life. I envision a future where younger and older generations work together to promote the ideal of compassion and cooperation that we firmly believe in Rotary. Satellite clubs may be the best way to achieve that approach. This is our story.

On 18 September, the Rotary Club of Goshogawara Evening was chartered in northern Japan. I served as advisor and helped from the club’s inception. We initially started as a satellite of an existing Rotary club. This is where members of the satellite are also members of the parent club and have two types of membership at the same time.

We started with 11 members in the satellite. Among them were a former president and a secretary of a club that had been forced to dissolve. When I explained the satellite concept, they said “if we had known about this earlier, …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

Youth Exchange alumni give back through Rotex

By Rotary International

Members of the District 1800 Rotex at the 2017 Rotary Convention in Atlanta.

By Sophie Richter, 2012-13 Rotary Youth Exchange Student

As a Rotary Youth Exchange Student, I spent a year in Thailand. This experience changed my life and my view of the world. When I returned to Germany, I wanted to give something back to Rotary because of how incredibly thankful I was for the opportunity I had been given. Joining our district’s Rotex club was my way of doing that.

A Rotex club is an organized group of Youth Exchange alumni that stay involved in Rotary by working closely with Rotarians in their district. Our Rotex in District 1800 was founded in 1989 and has around 80 active members. We organize about six weekends each year for inbound and outbound exchange students.

Nine countries in three weeks
One special weekend is our Outbound Orientation, where we prepare students for their experience abroad in different workshops that deal with intercultural communication, stereotypes, life with host families, attending a new school, and other challenges. We also hold a three-week long Europe Tour with inbound students, which is completely organized and run by about a dozen Rotex members each year. Our …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

La doble membresía beneficia el apoyo mutuo entre Rotaract y Rotary

By Rotary International

Por Paula Rodríguez

Mi nombre es Paula Rodríguez, tengo 30 años y soy socia del Club Rotario de Tacuarembó, Distrito 4970 (Uruguay).

Desde el 10 de octubre de 2010, hasta el 30 de junio de 2017 fui Rotaractiana, con la particularidad de que el 15 de julio de 2016 obtuve mi doble membresía, terminando mi vida Rotaractiana ya habiendo dado el “siguiente paso”.

Realmente a partir de ese momento comencé a vivir esta institución de una manera mucho más intensa.

Por supuesto que tener dos reuniones semanales y las actividades duplicadas conlleva mucha dedicación y esfuerzo, pero poder realmente ser el nexo y la unión entre mi club Rotaract y mi club Rotario fue sumamente gratificante. Al asistir a ambas reuniones logré funcionar como fuente de información, y el apoyo mutuo mejoró (si bien, en nuestro caso ya era muy bueno).

Tener esta posibilidad hizo que pasar a ser solo Rotaria sea mucho más fácil. Es como acelerar el proceso de adaptación, y seguir aportando a Rotaract pero desde otro lugar.
Siento que pasar a Rotary, en parte, es una forma de seguirle demostrando nuestro amor a Rotaract, y eso fue uno de mis grandes motivos al aceptar este nuevo desafío.
Y no quisiera dejar pasar esta …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

Who is your special Rotary mentor?

By Rotary International

Past presidents and members of the Rotary Club of East Nassau. T. Murray Forde standing second from left.

By T. Murray Forde, Past Assistant Governor of District 7020 and Past President of Rotary Club of East Nassau

Part of what makes Rotary so special are the connections you make with fellow members and the impact that has on your life.

I first met Sir Durward Knowles in 1963. He was well known and highly respected in sailing circles having won the first Olympic gold medal for the Bahamas. This and his unwavering commitment to serving the needy made him an icon in our community.

The Knowles family after his Olympic Gold Medal.

Durward brought me into the Rotary Club of East Nassau in July 1975 when he was incoming club president. I knew a little bit about Rotary, but through Durward I was able to learn even more and get involved. Looking back, I realize the positive influence he’s had on my life and how his mentoring helped shape who I am. Durward was an outstanding example of what it meant to encompass vocational service by leading with integrity and contributing his expertise to the problems and needs of …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

Why Rotaract will change your life

By Rotary International

Members of Nairuba’s club meet with the Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative in Uganda.

By Joan Nairuba

The day I was inducted into Rotaract, 19 June 2015, is an unforgettable one for me. Euphoria and celebration rolled around inside me like a tidal wave. I knew I had made a decision that would affect the rest of my life; to dedicate the most energetic years of my youth to Rotary.

Knowing life is finite, I had a heightened resolve to be a part of everything Rotaract has to offer. My career as a lawyer is just getting started, and at first, all I had in mind was what I could offer my club as a lawyer. Little did I know that Rotaract would have an immense effect on my career.

To separate life in Rotaract from your personal life is an absolute impracticality because one feeds the other. The weekly interactions shape your perspective and expand your knowledge, and it’s from these meetings that you either grow or remain stagnant.

Members of Nairuba’s club conduct a needs assessment at a refugee settlement for the club’s next project on peace and conflict resolution.

Rotaract gives you an opportunity to practice and master qualities that make us better …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog