Return To Programs Page      eClub One - Archive Articles List
 

We hope you enjoy the programs at eClub One

ACTS 2 THE FUTURE 
by District Governor Norris Hermsmeyer - His District Governor club visit message to Rotary eClub One

Teri and I have been delighted in our journey throughout the District visiting the 53 clubs of our District.  What we have found has been amazing creativity and a commitment by each of our clubs to serve, whether that be locally or globally.   One of our club President’s challenges his club each week by saying, “Is our community better off because our Rotary club is here.”  The answer for all the clubs we have visited is a resounding YES!

There is a new order in Rotary, and it is called continuity.  Gone are the days when our organization went north one year, to the west the next, followed by the east and then, maybe north again.  I remember when I was President of Boulder Rotary several years ago, that the R.I. President had 20 emphases for his year.  He set up the organization for these 20 emphases, called on the membership for action and set the sail for his year.  Only July first of the next year came and those emphases, that organization and those actions were set aside for the new vision for the next year.

Two years ago, RI President Jonathan Majiyagbe had four emphases, which included the Family of Rotary, an emphasis which will be with us forever.  RI President Glen Estess followed in this past year with two of those emphases, literacy and water concerns.  Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar’s year continues with these same themes, with health concerns being linked.

We all have our own examples of why we need a literate society.   I took note at the recent RI convention in Chicago of a U.S. Dept. of Labor statistic which concluded that illiterate people are twice as likely to be hospitalized as those who are literate.  Presumably, the relationship is that those who are literate can do research and provide self care in a way that those who cannot read are not able to do. 

Rotary clubs have so far developed an impressive array of projects designed to help people learn to read, write and count.   Rotarians have equipped schools, educated teachers and given children the clothing to attend classes.  And in communities around the world, Rotarians have taken the time to visit schools, reading to children and listening to them read in turn.  In our district, our literacy committee has compiled a list of over 108 different literacy projects that our clubs have and are involved with.  

The United Nations calls the global water crises “a threat to economic development, to poverty reduction to the environment and to peace and security.”  About 40% of the world’s population—2.6 billion people lack basic sanitation, and more than one billion people don’t have clean, safe drinking water.  Now in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we see that the primary concern for people is to avoid polluted water.

Rotarians have already addressed this issue in many parts of the world.  Thanks to scores of Rotary club water projects, hundreds of thousands of people now have convenient access to clean, safe drinking water.  In this district, nearly all clubs conducted some type of water project, either internationally or domestically in this past year.  Many domestic projects involve education and the youth of our communities.  Staging a “water fair,” like a science fair helps students learn and appreciate what it means to be able to draw safe drinking water from the tap, an indulgence rare to much of the world.

So, how has Rotary been successful in achieving its aims of SERVICE ABOVE SELF.  We often talk about the “Power of One,” the impact one Rotarian has, when he or she introduces an idea of how the world could be a better place through collective action.  Rotarian friends and committees contribute to the idea by offering suggestions for resources that can be brought to bear and a network of people and groups that can be brought to support the project.

 In developing our projects, we need to think about long term relationships, long term commitments.  There is a richness in seeing the results of the seeds that we have planted that grow to beautiful flowers.  Likewise, when we serve at-risk youth who we see graduate from high school and move onto productive careers we can understand the difference that Rotary is making in this world.

Often Rotarians provide the leadership and initiative to bring partners in line to effect a needed project.  There are times when Rotary can work with educational institutions, hospitals and clinics, faith based organization, other service clubs, and on some occasions, with governments to make difference.

One of our key partners remains the Rotary Foundation which Rotarians all around the world support.  The Rotary Foundation is then available to our members with the funds needed to put our projects into effect.

One of the key outcomes of our projects is the opportunity to share our triumphs and impacts with others, through media or by personal contacts with our friends and associates.  By sharing our stories, we are able to attract other service minded members to our Rotary clubs worldwide, who share the vision of Service Above Self.

This first year of the Second Century of Rotary offers the chance to build on the traditions of the past to bring hope to peoples around the world, with simple acts and expressions of love and concern.

District 5450 Governor, Norris Hermsmeyer

Now that you have completed this program, you have these options

To do BOTH use the Critique E-mail first, then return and click on the Make-Up Request Form

The content of programs appearing on the eClub One Make-Up website are the opinions of the authors and may or may not be shared by members of Rotary eClub One. These programs are presented by Rotary eClub One for use by site visitors, just as any program that might be presented at a Rotary meeting anywhere in the world.

© 2007 eClub One District 5450
Solution Services Inc