This gallery contains 23 photos.
Rotarians around the world celebrated Rotary’s 108th anniversary, 23 February, with a variety of events ranging from global swimming marathons to the illumination of landmark buildings with the End Polio Now message. See a slideshow of images from this year’s … Continue reading
Incoming Rotary leaders receive training in the new grant model in January.
By Rotary Foundation Trustee Ashok M. Mahajan
Buddha said “do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” This, in my opinion, is a call for service.
But for Rotarians to undertake projects that change lives, seeing the future is important. We work for a future where people everywhere can live in peace and harmony, enjoy a decent standard of living, and know that their children are safe and have a bright future. Continue reading
Lisa Hebson
By Lisa Hebson, a participant in the World’s Biggest Commercial and resident of Evanston, Illinois, USA. Hebson’s brother-in-law is a creative director at SCC, the ad agency that helped develop the commercial for Rotary.
My brother-in-law is very enthusiastic about Rotary’s “This Close” campaign. It is a really exciting collaboration of people.
A few weeks ago, I promised him I would take 100 photos of people for the World’s Biggest Commercial. It would be my gift to him, and a challenging goal for me to strive for in the new year. Continue reading
My visit to the Oklahoma City National Memorial made a deep impression on me. Walking through the rows of empty chairs, one for each of the bombing’s 168 victims, I thought of the families, friends, and loved ones left behind. Continue reading
Rotary Peace Fellow Marios Antoniou, right, at the forum in Honolulu, Hawaii.
By Marios Antoniou, a 2008-10 Rotary Peace Fellow, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
It was an honor, and a pleasure, to be invited to address the attendees of the Rotary Global Peace Forum in Honolulu. These people travelled from across the world to the Hawaiian Islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean to share their thoughts and actions for peace, in the spirit of Aloha.
Three days went by fast, perhaps too fast! Continue reading
Rotaractors Andrea Tirone, left, and Jennifer Petrichenko, right, with RI President-elect Ron Burton at the Rotary Global Peace Forum in Hawaii.
Editor’s note: Rotaractors Andrea Tirone and Jennifer Petrichenko were among more than 1,800 participants in the Rotary Global Peace Forum in Honolulu, Hawaii, 25-27 January. The forum held a special focus on getting youth involved in the peace process. We asked Tirone and Petrichenko to share what inspired them about the event.
Tirone: Having been involved with Rotary as a Rotaractor and Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar, I have had many opportunities to see how peace is built through club and district projects, events, and initiatives around the world. I’ve also had many opportunities to attend conventions, and sometimes ask myself “will I benefit from attending yet another?” Continue reading
The purple fabric crocuses raise money for polio eradication.
By Lynn Mitchell, past governor of District 1120 (England), and Rotary Crocus campaign coordinator
Like all of you, I desperately want to see polio removed from the face of the world. Like many of you I love crocuses and my favorite color is purple. These may seem unrelated, but they’re not!
My vision was to create a beautiful fabric crocus buttonhole that could serve to publicize Rotary on Rotary Day, and at the same time, highlight the End Polio Now campaign. Continue reading
Pulmão de Aço (Iron Lung), published this year in Brazil, tells the story of Eliana Zagui, a polio survivor who has lived for decades in a hospital in Brazil.
By Eliana Zagui, author of Pulmão de Aço (Iron Lung)
Before it was eradicated through the effort of massive immunization campaigns in 1989, poliomyelitis was prevalent in Brazil. The lack of vaccine and poor sanitation in small towns resulted in thousands of victims a year. Avoiding polio was often a matter of luck.
In January 1976, at the age of two, my luck ran out. I woke up with a fever and weak lower limbs. Although my parents were used to my recurrent episodes of sore throat, they brought me to the nearest city of Jaboticabal for medical treatment. The next day, lacking a diagnosis, I was sent to Ribeirão Preto, a larger city with better medical facilities. By the time the doctors Continue reading
RI President Sakuji Tanaka (second from right) visits a lab at UNESCO-IHE in Delft, The Netherlands, in November. From left are Kaycee Okoli, a Rotary Scholar from Nigeria; Titia Jonkman, spouse of governor Nico Jonkman of District 1600; and Henk Jaap Kloosterman, the district’s UNESCO-IHE coordinator.
By Henk Jaap Kloosterman, a member of the Rotary Club of Voorburg-Vliet, The Netherlands, and district UNESCO-IHE coordinator
My Rotary life suddenly changed in late 2011, when Rotary Foundation Trustee Stephen R. Brown dropped me an email, saying he was coming to The Netherlands to talk to UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education.
I knew Stephen from his former involvement in efforts on getting Rotary started in Afghanistan and the Sultanate of Oman (where I lived at the time), and now I suddenly found out that Steve was Continue reading
Interactor Haley Lavergne, right, meets with Sylvia Whitlock, who in 1987 became the first female president of a Rotary club.
By Haley Lavergne, a member of the Interact Club of West Feliciana High School in St. Francisville, Louisiana, USA.
I was delighted to attend the Rotary Global Peace Forum in Honolulu, Hawaii, 25-27 January, with my mother as the winner of the grand prize in the Interact Peace Through Service Postcard Contest. The most powerful moment for me was to hear Aung San Suu Kyi speak about the power of individual kindness and compassion.
Personally, at times I feel overwhelmed how much need and suffering is in the world. Continue reading
