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JOHN TOMLINSON – A TRUE ROTARIAN

By Tiffany Woods

In 1999, John Tomlinson, a Canadian Rotarian, was leading a team of teachers on a Group Study Exchange (GSE) to various countries in southern Africa. They stopped in Brits, South Africa, to visit a makeshift school and were reminded of a valuable lesson.

The school, once a fenced compound for housing migrant workers, overflowed with students. Some children had to sit under trees for their lessons from untrained teachers who had about 90 students each. The school had no blackboards, books, or paper, and some of the children wrote on slate boards. Furthermore, there were no toilets, and the nearest water was more than two miles away. Despite all of this, the children were eager to learn, and the instructors were eager to teach.

As Tomlinson, a retired principal, watched them, he remembered how four months earlier a teacher at a new school back home was upset because one of her classroom chairs was not the right colour. Tomlinson wished that teacher could be in Brits to see that "real teaching is not about a love of furniture; it's about a love of teaching."

When it came time for the Canadian observers to leave, the students sang for them as a farewell. They clapped their hands and stomped their feet in the red dust. It was more than Tomlinson could take. These kids had nothing, he thought, yet they were so happy to be at school. The man, who had grown up in a house where real men don't cry, walked to the fence and sobbed for half an hour. He called his wife, Marylou, and told her he wanted to go home.

Tomlinson ended up finishing the seven-week trip, but not before he visited a hospital that was mainly for AIDS patients. He couldn't forget the babies there. Some babies had been taken to the hospital after they were found in roadside garbage bags. Newborns in plastic tubs were being warmed by the light bulbs over them. Three to four children occupied each crib, where they would stand and raise their arms for hugs. As Tomlinson picked up a little baby who had AIDS, she shuttered and gasped. He handed her to the matron and asked what happened.

"She's dead," the matron said matter-of-factly.

A crusader

Those experiences turned Tomlinson into a socially conscious, philanthropic Rotarian. "I became a true Rotarian," he says. "It was [because of] that GSE experience. It was a defining moment. I realized how much we have and how much we can do. I came back and realized that the Foundation was my charity of choice, and that I had to convince others that it should be [theirs] also."

Thanks to Tomlinson and his former club, the Rotary Club of Bolton, Ontario, the school in Brits received two Matching Grants from The Rotary Foundation and now has learning materials and a washroom. "I hope they're still singing," says his wife, Marylou.

Until the trip in 1999, Tomlinson, now a member of the Rotary Club of Nipissing, Ontario, had never made a personal contribution to The Rotary Foundation. Tomlinson has since donated to the Foundation, and he and his wife have been recognized as Paul Harris Fellows. He plans to make his three children Paul Harris Fellows as well.

Like Tomlinson, his former club didn't have a history of donating to the Foundation either. But a speech Tomlinson gave to its members about his GSE experience inspired many of them to donate to the Foundation.

Spreading the Rotary message

Tomlinson's passion for educating others is consistent with his love of Rotary. When he becomes governor of District 7010 (Canada) this July, he plans to teach others about Rotary and encourage them to give to the Foundation. He would like to eventually become a district training leader.

Tomlinson first came to Rotary 25 years ago. "I was at a point in my career when I felt I needed to give back to my community," says Tomlinson, who was one of the incoming district governors at Rotary's International Assembly taking place 16-23 February in San Diego, California, USA. "I researched all the service organizations and decided to be in Rotary."

During the years, Rotary spilled over into his family. His children got involved in Rotarian service projects and attended his Rotary club meetings. Even their dog Jake participated in walk-a-thons to raise money for The Rotary Foundation. And Tomlinson's daughter, Megan, was a Youth Exchange student in Australia. She's now a teacher. Her students are learning about geography, cultures, and Rotary, thanks to an online pen pal exchange with Rotarians. Not surprisingly, her father organized it.

During his year as district governor, Tomlinson plans to send a GSE team from his district to South Africa. In May 2007, he hopes to fulfil a promise to take Marylou there.

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