A member of Rotaract, and Rotary too

Rotary Voices

Alexandria Ritchie (seated under banner), with the Rotaract Club of John Tyler Community College.

By Alexandria Ritchie, a member of the Rotaract Club of Virginia Commonwealth University and the Rotary Club of James River, Richmond, Virginia, USA

Recently, two Rotary friends shared with me the decision taken by the Council on Legislation to allow Rotaractors to also join Rotary. (The Council is where Rotary members gather every three years to discuss changes to the policies governing our organization.)

So I thought I’d give it a try. I am 21, and now also a member of the Rotary Club of James River. Let me tell you a little bit about my experience in Rotary and its young leaders programs from the perspective of a brand new young Rotarian.

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Our greatest gift to future generations

Rotary Voices

Ann Lee Hussey and children in Nigeria

By Ann Lee Hussey, a member of the Rotary Club of Portland Sunrise, Maine, USA

Polio can affect children anywhere. The poliovirus doesn’t discriminate based on geography, skin color, or religion. If we don’t eradicate polio now, the world could see cases rebound to 200,000 new cases every year, within 10 years.

I’ve participated in 27 immunization campaigns, leading 23, throughout Africa and Asia, not because I’m a polio survivor, but because I believe polio eradication will be one of our greatest gifts to future generations.

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Are you ready to make a global impact?

Service in Action

By Azka Asif, Rotary Service Connections Staff

International service opportunities allow members to make new friends around the world while empowering a community in need. What is one way to dive into international service? By attending a project fair! Project fairs are the perfect way to make a global impact.

Project fairs are regionally hosted events encouraging international service and collaboration. Fairs provide life-changing opportunities for attendees to learn about the host region, make new friends, and connect with clubs in need of international partners. Fairs highlight club and district projects while helping attendees gain a better understanding of the local communities’ most pressing needs.

Consider attending one of these upcoming fairs to immerse yourself in international service:

• Multiclub Workshop
  9-11 September
  Palermo, Italy
  www.rotary-mcw.com
  Contact: Leonardo De Angelis
• West Africa
  19-26 October
  Port Harcourt, Nigeria
  www.rotarywestafricaprojectfair.org
  Contact: Gabriel Toby
• District 4400 (Ecuador)
  11-13 November
  Cuenca, Ecuador
  www.rotaryecuador.org
• Uniendo America

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Are you ready to make a global impact?

By Azka Asif, Rotary Service Connections Staff International service opportunities allow members to make new friends around the world while empowering a community in need. What is one way to dive i…

Source: Are you ready to make a global impact?

Children draw the most interesting things

Rotary Voices

Children display their drawings about the environment.

By Shiv Agrawal, past president of the Rotary Club of Bokora Midtown Couples, Jharkhand, India

Protecting our environment is probably one of the most important issue of our day. My club wanted to tap the creativity of children, and see what they were thinking about the environment. So we organized a drawing competition to let children unleash their imagination and build an awareness of the issue.

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Ethical Dilemma Discussion: what do you do?

Your club is working to provide technology and training for teachers and children at a school in a very low-income area with limited educational resources. During your search for sponsors, a club m…

Source: Ethical Dilemma Discussion: what do you do?

Ethical Dilemma Discussion: what do you do?

Service in Action

Your club is working to provide technology and training for teachers and children at a school in a very low-income area with limited educational resources. During your search for sponsors, a club member in a senior position at a well-known business offers to pay most of the project’s costs. This sponsorship would allow you to complete the project quickly, and kids would be in classrooms learning in just a short time. You are grateful for the generosity but hesitate because this business has been in the media over some ethical concerns. You aren’t sure it’s a good idea to accept the sponsorship, but raising the funds in other ways could sharply delay the project.

What would you do?

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Are you willing to be third class, and serve?

Rotary Voices

Tiffany Ervin with participants in a special needs baseball league her club sponsors.

By Tiffany Ervin, past president of the Rotary Club of Four Seasons – Hendersonville, North Carolina, USA

In the days of the American wild west, if you wanted to travel a great distance, you had to go by stagecoach and it was a very long trip. There were three different classes of passengers – first, second, and third class. The seats were all the same, but the prices were different. Here’s why…

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African youth construct kitchen gardens for genocide survivors

Rotary Voices

Rotaractors and guests clean up and create kitchen gardens in the village of Kinyinya, Rwanda.

By Peter King Oloo, a member of the Rotaract Club of Kie, Rwanda

Nearly 140 Rotaractors and guests from across the East African countries of Tanzania, Burundi, Kenya and Uganda gathered in Rwanda on 26 March to participate in the monthly cleaning exercise in Rwanda called Umuganda.

The Rotaractors, through their award-winning annual project called REACT (Rotaract East Africa Impact), had organized a project to construct kitchen gardens and raise funds for medical insurance. Both these activities were geared toward helping the community of the 1994 Rwanda genocide survivors who were resettled in Kinyinya village in Kigali.

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Workshops teach students to be good citizens

Rotary Voices

Students respond to a question during the two-day workshop.

By Rajesh Kumar Modi, Rotary Club of Mumbai Borivali East, India

Children are the future of any country. We as members of Rotary have an opportunity to mold them in such a way that they can emerge as efficient and valuable resources for our country. All it takes is changing the way we approach our club activities. Not every project has to be a huge project. Sometimes, size isn’t the only indicator of success.

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