Samford Valley Rotary Blog

KLINGINSMITH ASKS ROTARY CLUBS TO GET 'BIGGER, BETTER, AND BOLDER' by Arnold R Grahl

2010-06-30T15:22:00.000+10:00

Rotary International News – 23 June 2010

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RI President-elect Ray Klinginsmith speaks during the closing plenary session on 23 June at the 2010 RI Convention in Montréal, Québec, Canada. Photo by Alyce Henson/Rotary Images

Rotary International on FacebookAs the 2010 RI Convention in Montréal, Québec, Canada, drew to a close on 23 June, RI President-elect Ray Klinginsmith outlined his plans for his term, which begins 1 July. Participants also got a preview of next year’s big event in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, where the Host Organization Committee has planned fun for the whole family.

Klinginsmith will ask Rotarians to apply "cowboy logic" and make Rotary clubs "bigger, better, and bolder."

The fundamental principles of cowboy logic are taking pride in your work, talking less and saying more, doing what has to be done, and remembering that some things just aren’t for sale, he explained during the closing plenary session.

"I believe the way for Rotary to remain viable and vibrant in the next century is to help our clubs to be bigger, better, and bolder," Klinginsmith said. "The clubs are the life and breath of Rotary. Therefore, it is clear to me that my job is to help the district governors to help the clubs. We can do it, and we will do it, if all of us follow the simple solution of cowboy logic."

Klinginsmith also listed improvements that he and the RI Board have already authorized, including revisions to the RI Strategic Plan to make it easier to implement and evaluate, a realignment of RI committees to fit the revised plan, the recruitment of 41 Rotary coordinators, and a commitment to finding new ways to attract younger members and enable them to serve as district governors.

Klinginsmith’s Rotary journey started in New Orleans, where he boarded a ship to begin a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, in 1961. After returning home, he and his wife, Judie, married and then honeymooned in the city. He said he is excited about the venue of the 2011 RI Convention because he will have traveled full circle in both his personal and Rotary life.

During the fourth plenary session, members of the 2011 Host Organization Committee shared some of the highlights planned for Rotarians, including a concert featuring a traditional New Orleans brass band, a gospel choir, New Orleans jazz performers, Cajun music, and the Mardi Gras Indians. A French Quarter dining experience and an evening at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas will be other host-ticketed events.

TALES FROM A DILLY BAG Sponsorship Rounds 1 - 5

2010-06-15T12:46:00.067+10:00

Information Update

Rotary District 9600 Literacy Project Tales from a Dilly Bag

Sponsorship Rounds 1- 5 Tales from a Dilly Bag

2010 June

Literacy is a key factor in determining children’s educational outcomes. For Indigenous children, learning to be literate can at times be a great challenge. The District 9600 Literacy Project 2008/09, Tales from a Dilly Bag, has been designed to provide enhanced literacy experiences for young Indigenous Australian children and aims to support the very young as they learn to be literate by providing enjoyable experiences with children’s literature.

Current RI President, John Kenny, has prioritised Literacy for the 2009/2010 Rotary year. Throughout the world there are more than 800 million people who are unable to read or write and this makes their lives more difficult and places their families in a very vulnerable position where hunger, disease, poverty and lack of education will affect their lives every day.

The District 9600 Literacy Project, Tales from a Dilly Bag, aims to assist young Indigenous children as they begin to learn to be literate for it is during the early childhood years that the foundations for literacy are established. By sharing stories with young children, talking about the stories and completing activities relating to the texts, there is an expectation the children will enjoy the experience, gain a love of story sharing, learn more about how language is used in books and build a sound foundation for learning to be literate. At the same time when a class is sponsored in a school, principals are being encouraged to appoint older students in the school as reading mentors who will share the stories with young children. Thus, the District 9600 Literacy Project has aims to:

1. Enhance literacy learning opportunities for young Indigenous Australian children and their classmates by providing resources to enable increased opportunities for storybook sharing at school; and

2. Engage older primary-age Indigenous and non-Indigenous students to assist as reading mentors for young children in sponsored schools.

This project has the double benefit of enhancing literacy learning for young children and at the same time enabling older primary-aged children who will assist as reading mentors, to develop their independent leadership skills. The plan is that all young children, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous in the sponsored classes, will benefit from this project.

How Rotary Clubs can participate in D9600 Literacy Project

The project has been designed so that individual Rotary Clubs can sponsor
one or more Preparatory or Year 1 classes where Indigenous
children are enrolled. Sponsorship enables clubs to purchase a
comprehensive educational kit containing children’s books and
other educational materials. The contents of the kit have been
specifically designed to meet the aims of this project.

Each kit contains between 50 and 60 picture storybooks
(including Indigenous stories) presented in a dilly bag,
together with a box of stationery, craft materials, activity
guides relating to the storybooks, scrapbooks and a
digital camera so photographs may be used as a stimulus
for earlywriting. The sponsorship cost for each kit is $750.00.

Sponsorship Rounds 1 and 2 occurred during the 2008/2009 Rotary year and 13 classes of young

children were sponsored. This means that approximately 325 young children benefitted from

listening to stories being read aloud and having the opportunity to practise and enhance their

spoken language interactions with a reading mentor. These activities assist young children to

develop the foundational language skills and understandings about print that are so necessary for

emergent literacy skills in the early childhood years.

In the 2009/2010 Rotary year, 3 sponsorship rounds were completed. By the end of Round 5 we

have sponsored a total of 33 classes in the Tales from a Dilly Bag project. This means we will have

reached 825 young children and a similar number of older student mentors and provided resources

to enhance language and literacy learning. The kits have mainly been donated to schools in

Queensland but we have also sent one kit to the Northern Territory and two to Papua New Guinea.

This is indeed a wonderful achievement for a new literacy project that only commenced in

December 2008. Rotary clubs are to be congratulated for their willingness to become involved in

this D9600 literacy project. Some clubs have been enthused by this project and have sponsored up

to 4 classes.

Schools are offering feedback about the way they are using the Dilly Bag kits and these stories have

been included in the D9600 Literacy newsletters. One of the most exciting and unexpected

outcomes being reported by schools is the way the kit has provided an incentive for some reluctant

older readers. Being a mentor for a young child and being able to read a story with fluency and

expression is something that has engaged older students. Teachers have noted that some children

who have learning difficulties or a disability also have been able to join in as Reading Mentors and

they are carrying out the role very effectively. When I have had the opportunity to visit schools as

they use the Dilly Bag kit, I have noted the polite and responsible way older students communicate

with the younger ones. I also have noted how encouraging they are as they support the younger

ones to think about the meanings in the story and talk about the characters and events.

Sponsoring a Class in 2010/2011 Rotary Year

All clubs are invited to consider participating in sponsoring a class by completing the Sponsorship

Registration Form (located on the District website) and returning it with your payment to Mr Don

Richards, District 9600 treasurer. There will be 3 Sponsorship Rounds during the 2010/2011 Rotary

year. Closing dates for these rounds are:

ROUND 6: Closing date: 13th August, 2010;

ROUND 7: Closing date: 22ND October, 2010 and

ROUND 8: Closing date: 11th March, 2011.

Clubs may nominate specific schools where Indigenous children are enrolled or, alternatively, gain

further advice about schools from me - Janelle Young, Chair, D9600 Literacy Taskforce.

Delivery of Kits

It can take up to six weeks after the closing dates to complete all the orders, label all the books and

boxes and pack the kits. Once they are ready, I will contact the club liaison person to arrange for the

kit to be collected. Individual clubs are asked to make arrangements for the kit to be delivered to the

sponsored class. We have found that kits can be transported by road throughout Queensland for a

reasonable price, so if clubs would like to consider this option, I can provide more information.

Your club’s support for the Rotary District 9600 Literacy Project 2010/2011, Tales from a Dilly Bag,

is encouraged. By sponsoring one or more classes your Club will provide a kit of purpose-designed

educational materials that will enhance language and literacy learning opportunities for young

Indigenous children and others during the early childhood phase of their development. Your

sponsorship also will contribute to the activities prescribed by RI for those seeking to achieve a

District Literacy Award for the 2010/2011 Rotary year. Information about these awards is located on

the D9600 website and can be found under International, Literacy.

Recognition of Tales from a Dilly Bag

In January 2010 I became aware of the Queensland State Government’s

Q2 Partners program and submitted an application to have Tales from

a Dilly Bag recognised as a Q2 Partner. The application was supported

by Walter Buchanan DG (2009/2010). This program “recognises

businesses, community, industry, non-government organisations

and local councils who deliver projects and programs that directly

contribute to the achievement of the Q2 targets. The program is

open to all Queensland businesses, communities, non-government

organisations and local councils delivering programs and projects

that are contributing to the achievement of the Q2 targets.

Applicants must be able to demonstrate how the delivery of their

program or project is directly contributing to the achievement of

at least one of the 10 targets, and the organisation's values must

reflect the five Q2 ambitions.”

(http://www.towardq2.qld.gov.au/tomorrow/q2_partners.aspx)

Tales from a Dilly Bag has been accepted as a Q2 Partner

as it fits within the Smart Education category and seeks to

contribute to Target 1: All children will have access to quality

early childhoodeducation so they are ready for school. The

D9600 Literacy project, Tales from a Dilly Bag, will be

listed on the Q2 Partners website in the near future.

Yours in Rotary

Dr Janelle Young

Chair, Rotary District 9600 Literacy Taskforce

Rotary Club of Samford ValleyEmail: jyoung14@gmail.com

___________________________________________________________

Sponsorship Registration Form

Tales from a Dilly Bag

District 9600 Literacy Project

ROUND 6

Closing Date: 13th August, 2010.

Rotary Club of .......................................................... agrees

to sponsor a class/classes of young children by purchasing
......................... kit/s of materials at a cost of $750.00 per kit.

Total cost: ..........................

Sponsoring Rotary Club contact person: .................................................

Details for the contact person: Tel: ............................

Email: ..........................................

Nominating your school/centre (please list below)

School/Centre name/s: .....................................................................................

If you are not sure of a school/centre for your sponsorship, contact

Janelle Young for assistance.

Please note: If clubs wish to sponsor a school/centre located

outside of D9600, then the club is responsible for paying

for the transport of the kit (approximately 30kg in weight).

Please complete this Sponsorship Registration Form and send it with your cheque to:

Mr Don Richards

Rotary District 9600 Treasurer

PO Box 693

Strathpine Q 4500

Cheques to be made out to: Rotary International District 9600

Please forward a copy of your completed sponsorship form to

Janelle Young by scanningand emailing the form or posting a

copy to the address below.

Kits for ROUND 6 will be ready for clubs to deliver to schools/centres

in late September 2010.

Dr Janelle Young

Chair, Rotary District 9600 Literacy Taskforce

Rotary Club of Samford Valley

Email: jyoung14@gmail.com

Address: 48 Domrow Road, Camp Mountain, Qld 4520

NATIONAL YOUTH SCIENCE FORUM, from Chris Ellis

2010-05-30T17:36:00.000+10:00

The NYSF is one of the big Rotary sponsored youth activities which are supported by all Rotary Districts in Australia. It is worth a mention here as we are now looking for applicants to attend the next course in Canberra and Perth in January 2011. I quote from the current brochure:

“The goal of the NYSF is to connect young Australian scientists and engineers with their dreams. We achieve that by offering a multi-stage package to students who are just starting their final year of high school (Year 12 in 2011). The 12 day January Forum is a starter kit that inspires and empowers them to plan their futures with maximum effectiveness. In the months following the Forum, a series of satellite events held in nine cities around Australia focus their interests even more and allow them to make informed decisions about university and beyond. There is also the opportunity to participate in the NYSF International Program. The honorary currently has partnerships with eight other youth science programs overseas.

A separate program offers leadership training for students selected as possible future Forum staff. Many former students also maintain and expand their links with the organisation through an active alumni program. More than 8000 people have now been to NYSF and are achieving extraordinary things worldwide.

In January 2011 three identical sessions of the NYSF will be held. Two of the sessions are hosted in Canberra at the ANU while the Curtain University of Technology and the University of WA jointly host the third in Perth”.

To be eligible a student must be in Year 11 and be an Australian Citizen or permanent resident of Australia. They must be intending study a science, engineering or related course at an Australian University.

The main selection criteria are personal qualities and a demonstrated interest in other interests outside their school eg, sport, music, art, community service.

The cost is $2240 and each student is expected to raise at least 25% of this money themselves. Rotary clubs and schools also chip in. We normally make sufficient funds available to cover one student.

Interviews are conducted by the nominating Rotary Club, and then the District is able to send a limited number of students and therefore the selection process is demanding and only the very best students in science and math subjects will make it through.

If we manage to attract applicants through our club a serious interview will be arranged before the nomination goes to District. District interviews will be conducted on Sunday 15th July at the St Columbans College in Caboolture. I have been asked to be part of that process.

For those who are successful there will be several Orientation Meetings before they go to Canberra/Perth as well as follow up programs. An opportunity to exchange with NZ is also a possibility for some. In the following years the better students will be asked to go onto the staff and/or to join the staff in similar programs held in other countries.

The program is very exciting and has kick started the careers of some excellent scientists and engineers over the years. All students return home with an enthusiasm beyond belief and a clear idea of their potential for a career in these fields.

Fellows, I commend this program to you and request that you chase up any likely applicants. Closing date is 30 May 2010.

Chris Ellis
Youth Director

TALES FROM A DILLYBAG

2010-05-29T15:55:00.002+10:00

Rotary District 9600

Sponsorship Rounds 1- 4 – Tales from a Dilly Bag

Literacy is a key factor in determining children’s educational outcomes. For Indigenous children, learning to be literate can at times be a great challenge. The District 9600 Literacy Project 2008/09, Tales from a Dilly Bag, has been designed to provide enhanced literacy experiences for young Indigenous Australian children and aims to support the very young as they learn to be literate by providing enjoyable experiences with children’s literature.

Current RI President, John Kenny, has prioritised Literacy for the 2009/2010 Rotary year. Throughout the world there are more than 800 million people who are unable to read or write and this makes their lives more difficult and places their families in a very vulnerable position where hunger, disease, poverty and lack of education will affect their lives every day.

The District 9600 Literacy Project, Tales from a Dilly Bag, aims to assist young Indigenous children as they begin to learn to be literate for it is during the early childhood years that the foundations for literacy are established. By sharing stories with young children, talking about the stories and completing activities relating to the texts, there is an expectation the children will enjoy the experience, gain a love of story sharing, learn more about how language is used in books and build a sound foundation for learning to be literate. At the same time when a class is sponsored in a school, principals are being encouraged to appoint older students in the school as reading mentors who will share the stories with young children. Thus, the District 9600 Literacy Project has aims to:

1. Enhance literacy learning opportunities for young Indigenous Australian children and their classmates by providing resources to enable increased opportunities for storybook sharing at school; and

2. Engage older primary-age Indigenous and non-Indigenous students to assist as reading mentors for young children in sponsored schools.

This project has the double benefit of enhancing literacy learning for young children and at the same time enabling older primary-aged children who will assist as reading mentors, to develop their independent, leadership skills. The plan is that all young children, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous in the sponsored classes, will benefit from this project.

How can Rotary Clubs participate in this District 9600 Literacy Project?

The project has been designed so that individual Rotary Clubs can sponsor one or more Preparatory or Year 1 classes where Indigenous children are enrolled. Sponsorship enables clubs to purchase a comprehensive educational kit containing children’s books and other educational materials. The contents of the kit have been specifically designed to meet the aims of this project.

Each kit contains between 50 and 60 picture storybooks (including Indigenous stories) presented in a dilly bag, together with a box of stationery, craft materials, activity guides relating to the storybooks, scrapbooks and a digital camera so photographs may be used as a stimulus for early writing. The sponsorship cost for each kit is $750.00.

Sponsorship Rounds 1 and 2 occurred during the 2008/2009 Rotary year and 13 classes of young children were sponsored. This means that approximately 325 young children benefitted from listening to stories being read aloud and having the opportunity to practise and enhance their spoken language interactions with a reading mentor. These activities assist young children to develop the foundational language skills and understandings about print that are so necessary for emergent literacy skills in the early childhood years.

In the 2009/2010 Rotary year, 3 sponsorship rounds are being held. With Rounds 3 and 4 now closed, we have now reached 27 classes being sponsored in the Tales from a Dilly Bag project. This means by early 2010 we will have reached 675 young children and provided resources to enhance their language and literacy learning in the Early Years of schooling. We also will have reached the same number of older students who have become Reading Mentors for the younger students. This is indeed a wonderful achievement for a new literacy project that only commenced in December 2008. Rotary clubs are to be congratulated for their willingness to become involved in this district 9600 literacy project. Some clubs have been enthused by this project and have sponsored up to 4 classes.

Schools are offering feedback about the way they are using the Dilly Bag kits and these stories have been included in the D9600 monthly Literacy newsletters. One of the most exciting and unexpected outcomes being reported by schools is the way the kit has provided an incentive for some reluctant older readers. Being a mentor for a young child and being able to read a story with fluency and expression is something that has engaged older students. Teachers have noted that some children who have learning difficulties or a disability also have been able to join in as Reading Mentors and they are carrying out the role very effectively. When I have had the opportunity to visit schools as they use the Dilly Bag kit, I have noted the polite and responsible way older students communicate with the younger ones. I also have noted how encouraging they are as they support the younger ones to think about the meanings in the story and talk about the characters and events.

How to sponsor a class in 2009/2010 year?

All clubs are invited to consider participating in final sponsorship Round 5 by completing the Sponsorship Registration Form (located on the District website) and returning it with your payment to Mr Don Richards, District 9600 treasurer, by 19th March, 2010. This is the very last opportunity to become a Dilly Bag sponsor in the 2009/2010 Rotary year.

Clubs may nominate specific schools where Indigenous children are enrolled or, alternatively, gain further advice about schools from me - Janelle Young, Chair, D9600 Literacy Taskforce.

Delivery of Kits

I expect the kits for the fifth round will be made available to Rotary clubs by May 2010 and acknowledgement of the Club’s sponsorship will be included in all storybooks and on all components of the literacy kit through the use of extensive labelling. Individual Clubs are asked to make arrangements for the kit to be delivered to the sponsored class.

Your Club’s support for the Rotary District 9600 Literacy Project 2009/10, Tales from a Dilly Bag, is encouraged. By sponsoring one or more classes your Club will provide a kit of purpose-designed educational materials that will enhance language and literacy learning opportunities for young Indigenous children and others during the early childhood phase of their development. Your sponsorship will also contribute to the activities prescribed by RI for those seeking to achieve a District Literacy Award for the 2009/2010 Rotary year.

Yours in Rotary

Dr Janelle Young
Chair, Rotary District 9600 Literacy Taskforce
Rotary Club of Samford Valley
Email: jyoung14@gmail.com

THE SCHOOL OF ST. JUDE

2010-05-27T20:13:00.002+10:00

Here's a 2009 update (the most recent I can find) of progress at the School of St. Jude in Northern Tanzania and the remarkable young lady from northern New South Wales who founded it and drives it. Rotary in Australia and elsewhere, as you may be well aware, has been and is a strong supporter of the needs of the school.

The School of St. Jude is a sponsorship-supported English Medium School in Tanzania that primarily serves orphaned and vulnerable children from the lowest socio-economic backgrounds. The school blends the best of Western and Tanzanian instructional methods to instill critical thinking and high moral Christian values in students who will later become the leaders and builders of Tanzania The School of St Jude aims be an exemplary, modern and self-sustainable institution that effects a paradigm shift on the educational system in Tanzania by enabling Tanzanians to run successful and moral schools, thereby alleviating poverty and breaking the cycle of dependency on external aid.

Above: Our two Deputies - Mr Benard and Mr Nestory.
They work hard to see that the school motto of "Fighting Poverty Through Education" is being implemented.

Who Are We?
In 2002 a young lady, Gemma Rice (now Gemma Sisia), from a sheep farm in Australia, opened a small school in Northern Tanzania with the help of her family, friends and local Rotary Club. What started with only a handful of children and one teacher is now in 2009 a thriving school of almost 1300 children and 350 staff. In January 2008 another free primary school with an initial enrollment of over 550 children opened. These schools really have the potential to influence the quality of Tanzania's future leaders.

Gemma with some of The School of St Jude students

Over 90% of the children at the school receive a totally free education as local and international sponsors individually cover the costs of not only the educational fees but also the uniform, stationery, transport, hot meal, snacks and drinks of each child. What makes this school even more special is the fact that this success comes about due to the group effort of thousands of ordinary people from all over the world coming together to do something quite extraordinary. Individuals, families, schools, church groups and service clubs are joining forces by supporting the school's various sponsorship programs.

Every day staff and students work hard to fulfil the school's philosophy of "Fighting Poverty through Education" helping our students break the cycle of poverty that has gripped their families for generations. If this is what such a team effort can achieve in 7 short years, then imagine what could be achieved in ten years!

UQ ROTARY PROGRAM

2010-05-22T11:25:00.002+10:00

Next Tuesday's guest speaker is Sanaz Shahrokni, a student at the University of Queensland's Rotary Program for International Studies in Peace and Conflict Resulution. The following brief overview is drawn from the relevant page on UQ's website (http://www.uq.edu.au/) as a backgrounder to that program. Your comments are, of course, invited. The last paragraph might be of particular interest.

"The University of Queensland's Rotary Program for International Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution is part of a new global program to advance research, teaching, practical training and knowledge on issues of international relations, conflict resolution and peace-building. It offers a tailored Masters Degree, aimed at potential world and community leaders, designed to have a practical effect on addressing international and regional conflicts.
"Recent international crises and those emerging in our own Asia-Pacific region highlight the need for greater understanding of the political, economic and social factors that affect security and stability, as well as the tragic human costs involved in such conflicts. The renewed threat of insurgency and terrorism, humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, central Africa and the Balkans, and the dangers of nuclear exchange in South Asia all indicate that we need to develop greater expertise on alleviating such tensions and more effective strategies for promoting peace and stability.

"There is also an urgent need to address such issues before they escalate: the cost of Australia's involvement in East Timor, for example, has been approximately one billion dollars. Amounts spent on conflicts and re-building efforts in other parts of the world amplify this figure enormously. Educational programs aimed at the peaceful resolution of disputes - seen as having long-term rather than immediate effects - and which cost a small fraction of such amounts can help to avoid the need for expensive peacekeeping operations and reconstruction costs. Training for mediation and peaceful solutions to conflicts or potential conflicts in our world is an investment in the future: stable, peaceful and prosperous nations will have a positive effect on global security relations.

"Following an intensive international search by The Rotary Foundation, the University of Queensland was selected from over one hundred universities expressing interest in the establishment of a program for International Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution. The decision recognised the outstanding reputation of UQ's longstanding International Relations and Peace and Conflict Studies programs. UQ's program is one of only six such programs worldwide, and one of only two in the Asia-Pacific region. Other programs are based at the Duke University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA ; University of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England; International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan; Universidad del Salvador, Buenos Aires, Argentina; and University of California, Berkeley, California, USA."

THE ORIGIN OF ROTARY by Warren Hampton

2010-05-15T12:08:00.003+10:00

It was a cold and wintry evening on 23 February, 1905, in Chicago. Four men were meeting at the office of Gustavus E. Loehr, a mining engineer (1), to discuss a better way of conducting business in Chicago. With Gus Loehr were Silvester Schiele, a coal dealer, Hiram Shorey, a merchant tailor, and Paul Harris, a lawyer.

Paul Harris had asked for the meeting with his three friends to discuss an idea he had been developing. Raised in New England, he felt somewhat lost and alone in the sprawling city of Chicago. He and his friends knew there was a better way of doing business in the city.

Paul’s idea was that businessmen should get together periodically in the spirit of camaraderie to enjoy each other’s company and to enlarge their circle of business and professional acquaintances.

Out of their discussion came the idea of a club whose membership would be limited to one representative from each business and profession. Weekly meetings were to be held at each member’s place of business in turn. The rotation of meetings was designed to acquaint the members with one another’s vocations and to promote business. Hence, the name Rotary came into being.

The founding four were of New England German, Swedish, and Irish ancestry representing Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Jewish faiths. All were products of the American melting pot and in that respect they were fitting originators of the international organisation they established.

In later years, Paul Harris was often asked: “When you founded Rotary in Chicago, did you think it would grow into a worldwide movement?”

His best answer to this question may have been the one he gave in his last anniversary message written shortly before his death on 27 January, 1947: “No. I did not, in 1905, foresee a worldwide movement. When a man plants an unpromising sapling in the early springtime, can he be sure that someday here will grow a mighty tree? Does he not have to reckon with the rain and sun – and the smile of Providence? Once he sees the first bud – ah, then he can begin to dream of shade”(2).

At the Rotary International Convention in Boston, USA, in 1933, Paul Harris broadcast a memorable speech by radio to the world (3). This was, of course, some 28 years after that very first Rotary meeting in Chicago and Rotary was, by this time, growing very rapidly throughout the world.

In that speech he said: “Perhaps there are two features of Rotary which, more than any others, challenge the attention of those who are not Rotarians. One is what we call our Classification Plan, by virtue of which membership in Rotary in limited to one representative of each line of trades or professions. The other is the provision that neither racial, political nor religious standards shall constitute barriers to membership.

“Through these two provisions, Rotary is thrown open to representatives from all walks of life, to representatives of all countries, and all forms of religion. Would this seem to open the doors to all manner of discards?

“One might think so.”

“In fact”, he went on, “many have said that human ingenuity could hardly have devised a plan of organisation more fraught with peril. However, therein lies the genius and the glory of Rotary. The formula of procedure in indeed simple. While Rotarians may differ in many respects, in two respects they are in perfect accord.

“First, they believe that all nations are respectable and desire to be honourable in their dealings with other nations, and that it is the privilege of all to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience. In other words, Rotary stands for tolerance.

“Second, they believe that all honourable vocations are entitled to recognition if they are used in the service of society.

“With these points of agreement firmly established, disagreement is almost unknown. Rotary emphasises the points of agreement and avoids controversial issues. Rotary thus becomes the common denominator – the sanctuary to which all are welcome. Is there any valid reason why everyone should not enjoy fellowship with all others?”

In conclusion, he said: “Rotary, in the final analysis, is a way of life – a good, natural, wholesome, friendly way of life. The world is full of potential Rotarians who are not Rotarians in fact.

“Many are listening to me now.

“If you have the love of you fellow human beings in your heart, my friends, you are potential Rotarians”

_________________

References: (1) The office of Gustavus E. Loehr was on the 7th floor, The Unity Building, 127 North Dearborn Street, Chicago.
(2) Source: Rotary Basic Library, Volume One: “Focus on Rotary”, p.4; printed by Rotary International, 1600 Ridge Avenue, Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A., 1982.
(3) Source: Rotary eClub One, online: Make-Up Programs, “Video – Paul Harris Speaks”, as reproduced for video by Don Kemplen of the Rotary Club of Modesto East, www.modestoeastrotary.org, District 5220.

_________________