Hello from the Northern Hemisphere where I will be living for the next few months.

I came here in August which was such a busy month as the handover period continued in Rotary eClub One. Several of our board members have faced challenging times over the last few weeks with their personal commitments and demanding situations. It has indeed been a difficult time for many. This has given the opportunity for others to step up and support where needed and I am so happy to see that happening. Thank you to very member who has put their hand up this month to help out.

As we step into September, I am delighted to advise that our ‘Fireside Chat’ Program will commence this month. We have 10 senior members who have volunteered to work within this program. This is now your opportunity to become involved and connect with members from around the world. It will be a relaxed and flexible forum to chat, to get familiar with club members, to hear about what’s going on in our club, and to understand how to be a Rotarian. This is also a time to support each other.

September is the Rotary International month to put our focus on Basic Education and Literacy. I know that many of you are already working on such projects in your own community and if so, this month we would like to hear about it. Please send your project stories to Mike Lewis as a forum topic.

Basis education and literacy is also the focus of one of our service projects in Kenya. I am delighted that we are a major partner in the construction of the Kariobangi Kitchen/ Basic Education and support centre. In this project Rotary eClub One has already helped to give so much hope to young boys who have lived on the streets of a slum area their entire lives. As the project develops the boys are learning how to grow vegetables, prepare meals, clean, and maintain equipment, and support each other to develop healthier living habits. Opportunities to learn first aid is also given to some of the boys and over the next few months each of them will be supported in getting legal identification documents so they can access opportunities for education or gain employment.

Thank you to all eClub One members for your part in creating hope in the world.

Roberta

President 2023 / 24