My journey as your District Governor has gone by incredibly fast, but it has been a great journey, one of learning, one of amazement in what our clubs are doing to make a difference and one filled with Rotary fun and fellowship. I’ve often been asked what are some of the highlights of my year as DG. There are too many to mention, but in a nutshell, it’s the time I’ve spent “hanging out” with fellow Rotarians and their partners; during my Rotary, Rotaract and Interact club visits, whether I’m inducted a new member or recognized a major contributor to the Rotary Foundation or said goodbye to some Rotary friends who have left us and of course, the District Conference.
I would like to thank the Club Presidents, their leadership teams and their members for making me feel so welcome during my DG visits last fall and throughout the year. Your support is greatly appreciated. I also want to thank the District Board of Directors, the Assistant Governors and our 5 District Committees for all their dedication, hard work and support in helping our District bring to life its theme Rotary: Making a Difference. Thanks as well to Charlene our District Administrator for managing the day to day administration details that many of us take for granted. What a year it has been and one that I will cherish for years to come. Well, there’s still a month to go; I know I still have things to do and people to see, so until next time …..
In April 2018, High River Rotarians Paul Tarrant and Maureen McManus visited the Art Centre for Peace in Suchitoto, El Salvador to see the progress being made on the restoration of an old chapel. There, a media library is being built as an extension to a museum. The Rotary Club of High River is donating $30,000 over three years to outfit the media centre, including touch computers for various themes so that young people can know their own stories and their origins.
The woman with the vision for the Art Centre for Peace is Sister of Charity Peggy O’Neill, originally from New Jersey, USA. She has worked and lived in El Salvador for 30 years, helping the poor and marginalized with the trauma of the country’s civil war of 1979-1992.
Paul visited the centre a few years ago while on a trip to Central America. He was so inspired by Sister Peggy’s work that he invited her to visit High River in October 2015 when she spoke at his Rotary club.
“The centre is a means for youth to resist the surging wave of gang violence crippling El Salvador,” Sister Peggy said.
It provides programs, scholarships and skills required for youth to be productive and contributing members of the community.
High River Rotarian Maureen McManus, right, with Sister of Charity Peggy O'Neill in the grounds of the Art Centre for Peace, Suchitoto, El Salvador.
Work in progress: the Rotary Club of High River is funding a media library in part of an old chapel that is being restored at Suchitoto, El Salvador.
Sponsorship can be used by Rotary Clubs in two different ways. First, your club may be the major funder of a project or event. You may be the title, or name sponsor, or a cosponsor. Or, your club may be developing a project or event that needs funding partners to help make it possible. You will need to provide recognition options to acknowledge their participation. Read more…
From the Archives
In Part I, Unleash the Power of Sponsorship for Your Service Club, I answer the question, “Why sponsors sponsor.” Discovering whether their goals are for public relations, advertising or strictly philanthropic reasons will help build a mutually beneficial relationship.
ROTARY CONVENTION: Breakout session and booth info
ShelterBox is excited to participate again this year in the 2018 Rotary Convention being held in Toronto, Ontario. We encourage any Rotarian who is interested in ShelterBox to stop by our booth #523/525 and say hi! ShelterBox will also be present at the Rotaract Pre-Convention and breakout sessions.
Rotaract Workshop - High Stakes Leadership
Friday, 22 June – 3:30-4:20pm
When our ShelterBox disaster response teams deploy around the world, they are immediately dropped into extreme high-stakes environments. There are safety and security issues, the people impacted by disasters are often desperate for help and the disaster itself makes it difficult to reach the families affected by disasters. In this session, attendees will learn and experience how to exercise situational leadership and function at a high level even when the stakes are highest.
Breakout Session - ShelterBox and Rotary: The Impact of Our Partnership
Monday, 25 June 1:00-2:00 PM Room 713
Have you ever wondered how ShelterBox and Rotary work together after disasters? Hear the stories of Rotarians and response team members who have supported families who have lost everything. Learn about the powerful collaborations that link your club with global communities, and discover how you can get involved.
Greetings from Japan! It has been quite a world wind moving around different hemisphere, climates, seasons and cultures, just as I got used to Australia. The internship in Melbourne was very enjoyable and successful with exciting results, lots of sunshine and a bit of sunburn. I learned how to perform cranial surgery by replacing a piece of skull with a window and how to genetically modify neurons to be activated and deactivated by shining a light through the window. The project was part of a PhD thesis, focusing on examining the computational power of the signal-receiving ends of the neurons called dendrite. Previously, dendrites were thought to only receive and package the information for processing downstream. I observed that activation of the dendrites do not improve the associated behaviour, yet inactivation induces the behaviour, contrary to what we hypothesized.
This demonstrates the previously-considered local sensory perception model to be too simplistic, and there are more complex processing power at play in both dendrites and the sensory pathway. The picture attached illustrates the areas in the brain that process sensory perception and were genetically modified to respond to light. The bright white-green area is where I injected viruses that add a new genetic code for a light controlled switch, and the expression goes through the nerve fibres all the way to the opposite hemisphere of the brain in multiple layers. Furthermore, I discovered Australian are the more relaxed versions of Canadian, and sometimes even more friendly. Perhaps it’s the nice weather and plenty of vitamin D. They have much better public infrastructures such as well-maintained public washroom in every big park, free outdoor gym facilities in the parks, and often-free-to-use gas or electric BBQ grills. Therefore, of all the countries who claim to love BBQ more, I have to give the title to Australia, especially when Christmas and New Years dinners were BBQ for me (admittedly, it felt out of season).
For 60 years, choosing a theme has been the privilege, and sometimes the challenge, of each incoming president. Looking back on those past themes opens a small window into the thinking and the vision of each leader – how they saw Rotary, the place they saw for Rotary in the world, and what they hoped Rotary would achieve.
When my turn came to choose a theme, I did not hesitate. I knew immediately that our theme in 2017-18 would be Rotary: Making a Difference. For me, that small phrase describes not only what we do now, but what we aspire to do. We want to make a difference. We strive to help, to have an impact, to make the world a bit better.
Over the past two years, I have seen so many ways that Rotary is doing just that. In California, after the devastating wildfires last year, I saw Rotarians Making a Difference to those who had lost everything. In Guatemala, I saw the difference that simple wood stoves are making in the lives of women who had been cooking on open fires: They no longer breathe smoke when they cook, they spend less time gathering firewood, and they are using their stoves to start small businesses. In Israel, I visited a Rotary-supported hyperbaric center that is helping brain injury and stroke patients return to healthy, productive lives. In communities around the world, Rotarians are Making a Difference by resettling refugees, immunizing children, ensuring a safe blood supply, and helping young people learn and thrive.
All over the world, I have been a part of Rotarians’ commitment to planting trees. As this issue of The Rotarian goes to press, we are still awaiting the final count of trees planted, but I am delighted to announce that we have already far surpassed our original goal of 1.2 million trees, one new tree per Rotarian. And, all over the world, Rotary is continuing its advocacy, fundraising, and support for polio eradication. Last year, wild poliovirus caused only 22 cases of paralysis in only two countries. I am confident that soon that number will be zero, and we will begin a new phase in the timeline of eradication: counting down at least three years from the last sign of wild virus to the certification of a polio-free world.
As Juliet and I return home to Australia, we will bring warm memories of the places we have visited, the friends we have made, and the service we have seen. Thank you, all of you, for the tremendous work you are doing, through Rotary: Making a Difference.
