Author Archives: Rotary International

See you in Toronto

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The Rotary world is gathering in Toronto to celebrate our largest event of the year, the annual convention. It’s a time of great excitement as members share ideas, find inspiration, and reconnect with old and new friends. You can follow all of the action on our convention page, where we will be live blogging and tweeting from the general sessions, House of Friendship, workshops and more. Live coverage will include videos, interviews, daily news stories and our Convention Minute, a quick video recap of the previous day’s events and look ahead. You can also watch a livestream of the general sessions and select breakout sessions, and register for next year’s convention in Hamburg, Germany.

Doing good in Vietnam

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A young girl washes her hands in the new facilities.

By Shahul Hameed, Rotary Club of Singapore (District 3310)

For some of us, it might be hard to imagine life without clean water. We may have suffered the inconveniences of temporary water cuts due to breakdowns or repairs in the water network. And we may have felt frustration after working out at the fitness center if the shower was broken. But those are just minor inconveniences compared to what people in the Huong Nguyen commune live with. Until recently. Continue reading →

Effective stewardship makes Rotary service possible

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Steven Snyder

By Steven A. Snyder, Rotary Club of Auburn, California, USA, and Chair of the Rotary International Finance Committee

As my year of service on the Rotary International Finance Committee winds down, I find myself reflecting on how a critical part of Rotary service is effective financial planning. Simply put, effective stewardship of the contributions of our members is what helps Rotary execute its vision for a better world. Continue reading →

Becoming a Rotary alumni is just the beginning

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Members of the Rotaract Club of Birmingham attend The Rotary Club of Birmingham’s Annual Rotary Trail Party in May. From left: Erica Murphy, Mary Meadows Livingston, Jeris Gaston, Amanda Martin, and Uma Srivastava.

Jerris Gaston

By Jeris Burns Gaston

If you told me twelve years ago upon finishing my Rotary Ambassadorial Program year in Dublin, Ireland, that this was just the start of an adventure, I would have been hard pressed to believe you. The program itself was such a unique and enriching experience that improving on this worldview changing year seemed impossible. However, as I enter my thirteenth year as a member of the Rotary family, I now realize that being an alumnus is just the beginning. Continue reading →

My journey to Hiroshima: reflections on memory

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Rotary Peace Fellows from International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan, visit the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima.

By Lorena Rodriguez, 2017-19 Rotary Peace Fellow, International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan

Last March, I visited Hiroshima with other Rotary Peace Fellows from International Christian University, hearing stories from survivors of the atomic bomb. Thanks to the Rotary Club of Hiroshima, we also saw the Peace Memorial Park and Museum. Hiroshima is full of stories told and illustrated in various ways: in the images, monuments, poems, and human and nonhuman survivors. All these stories made me reflect in different ways about my commitment to memory and peace. Continue reading →

How our club attracts and retains alumni as members

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Members of the Dupont Circle Rotary Club at a tree planting event.

By Mandy Warfield, president, and Emma Satzger, membership coordinator, Rotary Club of Dupont Circle, Washington D.C., USA

The Rotary Club of Dupont Circle was started six years ago by a group of Rotary alumni, and since then, the club has grown to include many other facets of the community, including individuals who have not had any previous experience with Rotary. Continue reading →

Ralph’s Rickshaw Ride for Polio

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Ralph Zuke with a passenger in his cycle-drawn rickshaw.

By Ralph Zuke, president of the Rotary Club of Fairview Heights, Illinois, USA

I am often asked, “Why Rotary?” The short answer is: Rotary allows me the opportunity to do things I never dreamed I could do.

The Rotary symbol is a cogged wheel. I view every member in Rotary as a cog in that wheel (about 1.2 million). When I first joined Rotary I learned that I, as one person, could move that wheel forward. Continue reading →

Why you want to risk

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Visalia Rescue Mission in Visalia, California, USA.

By Ryan Stillwater, a member of the Visalia County Center Rotary, California, USA

On my walk to work on a recent morning, air crisp and clear after an overnight rainstorm, I walk past a man sitting on the street corner. I immediately recognize him as a former resident in our Life Change Academy, who left early on in the program. I nicknamed him Logan, due to his striking resemblance to one of my favorite X-Men comic book characters — with his muscular frame and prominent dark sideburns and stubble. This morning, he is angry and making loud threats against a man (not present) who had very personally wronged him. “Are you ok?” I ask. “No!” he screams, eyes fixed on an invisible enemy. I am standing with Wolverine – the enraged persona of the gentle man I had known. Continue reading →

Rotaractors: Find your road to Rotary

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Rebecca Fry will be presenting a workshop on the Road to Rotary at the Rotaract preconvention.

By Rebecca Fry, a member of the Rotary E-Club of Silicon Valley

In 2005, I made a seemingly small decision to apply for “science camp.” It happened to be the Rotary-sponsored, National Youth Science Forum. Fast forward 13 years and I’ve been heavily involved in the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA), Rotaract and most recently I took the next exciting leap and joined the Rotary E-Club of Silicon Valley. Selecting the best Rotary club to join was an 18-month journey. Continue reading →

Rotary Youth Exchange changes lives

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Dave White

Editor’s note: This is the fifth and last in a series of blog posts from the 2018 Youth Leadership All-Stars, participants in Rotary’s programs for young leaders, in celebration of Youth Service Month.

By Dave White, Rotary Club of Courtenay, British Columbia, Canada

I was inspired to become involved in the Rotary Youth Exchange program in the 1980s while I was a secondary school principal and the school hosted our first international exchange student. A young lady, an Inbound Exchange student from South Africa, spent the year at our school. She had never been taught by a non-white teacher and had some hesitations about attending his classes. The trepidations soon disappeared. She grew to know and respect the teacher as a person and thoroughly enjoyed his classes. Continue reading →