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BILL BOYD LEADS THE WAY

Rotary International's incoming president, William B. Boyd, will emphasize four familiar topics during the 2006–07 Rotary year commencing 1 July.

Boyd told incoming district governors at the International Assembly in San Diego, California, USA, on 17 February, his focus will be on water management, literacy, health and hunger, and the family of Rotary.

Every year at the assembly, Rotary's incoming president unveils emphases for the next Rotary year, which starts on 1 July. The current emphases under RI President Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar are literacy, water, health, hunger concerns and public image. RI presidents Jonathan B. Majiyagbe and Glenn E. Estess Sr. emphasized some of these issues, too. Over the years, clubs have carried out service projects related to these areas. They've helped tap wells, filter water, distribute dictionaries, educate teachers, equip schools, donate food, and provide medical treatment.

After Boyd announced his emphases, Stenhammar elaborated on them. Both see a link between literacy and water management. Stenhammar said the nongovernmental organization WaterAid found that in Tanzania, school attendance increased 12 percent when water was 15 minutes away rather than an hour. A World Bank study showed that school attendance in Bangladesh rose 15 percent when water-hauling time was reduced.

Stenhammar said 20 percent of the world's population does not have access to safe drinking water, and he encouraged Rotarians to look at water pollution's causes. "It's often the industries that are changing what Mother Nature has given us, thus creating polluted water," he said. "But also at home we can all think of this: My wife, Monica, has taught me never to put anything in our kitchen sink that we do not want in our kitchen garden. I see in many countries, television ads about chemicals to use to keep weeds out of our lawns or just to make them greener. These chemicals often contain poison, which after having fulfilled its mission, sinks down into the subsoil water — our future water supply."

As for literacy, that's a subject close to Boyd's heart, partly because he grew up in a family that owned a bookstore. Literacy, Boyd said, helps people escape poverty, empowers women, and enables communities to care for their water resources and address issues related to health and hunger.

With respect to the family of Rotary, Boyd said this includes Rotaractors, Interactors, Inner Wheel, alumni of The Rotary Foundation, Youth Exchange students, and family members of Rotarians. Boyd encouraged Rotarians to make it easier for members who are busy, young professionals with families to take part in clubs' activities. A formal dinner, for example, can mean time away from the children, a significant expense for the meal, and money for child-care. Instead, he suggested a weekend barbecue, a picnic, or a service project that can involve the whole family.

"In the year ahead, I ask all of you to work to make our clubs welcoming to those of all ages and to remember the importance of our programs for youth," Boyd said. "These young people are our future."

President-elect of Rotary eClub One, PDG Gerry Roberts will announce club projects in July that are consistent with Bill Boyd’s four topics of focus.

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