Tag Archives: DEI

Unveiling the wheel of colors

Posted on by
10
Val Oliveira, public image chair of the Minnesota Pride Rotary Club, in front of the club’s banner and website.

By Val Oliveira, Public Image Chair of Minnesota Pride Rotary Club

I have a deep-rooted familiarity with Rotary that spans back to the 90s when I was a journalist for a daily newspaper in a town near São Paulo, Brazil, where Rotary had a strong presence.

My journey in the United States started 12 years ago, when I met Duane, a flight attendant from Eagan, Minnesota.  Our love impelled me to leave my homeland and give up everything I knew. I arrived in Minnesota amidst a freezing February in 2013 and we were married, shortly after Minnesota passed the bill legalizing same-sex marriage later that year.  

Continue reading →

Serving is the best medicine

Posted on by
1
Murilo found the support he needed in Rotary and Rotaract to deal with his medical challenges.

By Murilo Araújo, 2022-2023 president of the Rotary Club of Pacaembu and the Rotaract Club of Pacaembu, São Paulo, Brazil

Just when I thought my health had thwarted my desire to serve, I discovered I could still serve and that serving is the best medicine there is.

In 2021, I had plans, career goals, dreams, and projects waiting to be executed. But at the age of 28, I was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, an inflammation of the spinal cord. I faced many procedures and require a cane or walker to move about, among other limitations.

Continue reading →

Do good to everyone, no matter who they are

Posted on by
Reply
Rotaract allowed Pietro Oliveira da Silva to discover more freedom, meet new people, and step out of a personal comfort zone.

By Pietro Oliveira da Silva, Vice President and Project Director of the Rotaract Club of Guaramirim, Brazil; and Director of Diversity and Inclusion, District 4652

Our first years of life are often defined by our parents. If born a boy, we play with toy cars, wear dark clothes, and take soccer classes. If born a girl, we wear pink clothes, have ribbons in our hair, play with dolls, and take ballet classes. This is the normal pattern deeply rooted in society. Our parents were raised this way and raise their children the same way, following these standards.

Since I was 8 or 9 years old, I already felt different. I wanted to wear my brother’s clothes, play soccer with the boys at school. I wanted to feel free, without having to worry about choosing fancy clothes or braiding my hair.

Continue reading →

Canoe introduces club to Indigenous culture

Posted on by
1
Blake Cowan (from left), Nathan Wilson, and Tom Smith by the Wave Warrior.

By Tom Smith and Blake Cowan, Rotary Club of Tsawwassen, British Columbia, Canada

On a sunny day last September, Blake and I left our stresses behind and paddled Wave Warrior, a 39-foot-long ocean-going, fiberglass canoe designed by members of our local Indigenous community, on its inaugural journey.

Our Rotary club has been working towards Truth and Reconciliation with the local Tsawwassen First Nation (TFN) for the past several years. At last year’s Peacebuilder award ceremony, we honored two Indigenous members with this award. As one of the members, Nathan Wilson, was part of the Delta School District’s Indigenous Teaching Program, all the teachers attended. 

Continue reading →

Fitness project promotes health for Oglala Lakota schools

Posted on by
Reply

By Martin Cohn, Rotary Club of Springfield, Vermont, USA

For more than a decade, members of Rotary District 7870 (New Hampshire, Vermont, USA) have been helping residents of Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. The district’s service projects have ranged from making upgrades to the local nonprofit radio station, to providing laptops for students, to delivering materials for traditional quilts. District Rotarians have also partnered with South Dakota Rotary clubs to fund a makerspace for native artists.

This past fall, we were contacted by Doni DeCory, director of health and wellness for the Oglala Lakota County School district. She was looking for a way to help students and teachers get healthy together. She wanted to make wellness a priority. Her idea was to give each student and teacher their own Fitbit.

Continue reading →