By Rotary International

Past District Governor Doug Vincent (left) with school children during his recent Rotary travels.

By Doug Vincent, a past district governor and member of the Rotary Club of Woodstock-Oxford, Ontario, Canada

Recently, I attended a great presentation on “Embracing Opportunity” as part of our day-to-day life. I’ve had the benefit of enjoying opportunities through my global Rotary activities and travels, but many members do not do take advantage of this outside their local Rotary club. Here is a great way to attract new member prospects with fun and enjoyment.

Vincent sits down to lunch with school children during a recent service project.

The author and travel writer Paul Knowles spoke about how we can each enjoy life’s journey more when we are open to take advantage of opportunities that arise. He shared a variety of interesting experiences he had enjoyed by merely saying “yes” to invitations or suggestions while travelling. Once, when he was being taken to an island, he was invited to take the helm of a speed boat. At first he was hesitant and nervous. But then his mind accepted the opportunity and he “put the throttle down.” He noted, “I felt adrenaline that had not been there for years.”

Some ideas he …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

By Rotary International

Vasanth Kuppuswamy motivates students in Tamil Nadu, India.

By Bill Smyth, Rotary Club of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, USA

It’s not every day that an eighth-grade student’s essay rivets a teacher’s attention. But this one themed “The Oxygen That Fueled the Flame” got mine.

The essay, written by a student at Buist Academy in Charleston, South Carolina, USA, described his experience two summers earlier teaching English in Tamil Nadu, India, motivated by a desire to make a difference in kid’s lives. The story would have been powerful enough if the student had been of high school age, but this was the story of a 12-year-old boy.

I met Vasanth Kuppuswamy, and told him he had a wonderful story and needed to tell it. We agreed he should come to my school and speak to my seventh graders. We arranged for a lunch time presentation that January and the rest is history.

Students and Rotary clubs in South Carolina were inspired to help by Kuppuswamy’s description of crowded classrooms with no walls.

As my students watched the slideshow and listened to the story of two schools in the middle of south-central India, they were sad, disturbed, and a little mad. They had never seen or heard anything …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

By Rotary International

By Melissa Ward, Rotary Club of Twin Bridges, Southern Saratoga, New York, USA and chair of the Rotarians on Social Networks Fellowship

We live in a world where email can quickly get out of control. Yet, for all its faults, it’s one of the best online methods of reaching your audience and getting them to take action. When a person signs up for your newsletter, odds are they are interested in your organization and what it has to offer.

There are many newsletter providers; look for one that gives you metrics. Open rate tells you what percentage of people opened your email. Click through rate shows you how many people clicked on a link in your email. These numbers are important and help you understand what type of content is working.

Providers (prices in USD):

Mailchimp: Free for up to 2,000 contacts and 12,000 emails per month. Packages start at $10 per month.
Constant Contact: 60 day free trial, starts at $20 per month.
Get Response: Packages start at $15 per month
(I did not include Club Runner or DacDB. Although these are great tools for clubs, I am not aware of any functionality that allows for emails to …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

By Rotary International

By Emily Wood, Rotaract Club of South-West Brisbane, Australia

I’ve been a member of Rotaract — Rotary International’s community service and professional development organisation 18- to 30-year-olds — for ten years. As I age out/‘graduate’, I’ve started thinking about what Rotaract has done for me and how it’s shaped who I am today. A decade is a long time to stick with something. So, why have I?

Opportunity. Through Rotaract, I’ve had the opportunity to do many amazing things:

I’ve travelled the world to experience different cultures and participate in projects.
I’ve lived and studied abroad as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar.
I’ve attended four Rotary International Conventions (Montreal, Bangkok, Lisbon and Sydney) where I’ve heard from and connected with some truly impressive individuals who are making the world a better place.
I’ve attended RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award), a week-long personal and professional development program that helps you figure out what you want in life and equips you with the skills you need to achieve your goals.
I’ve received training in leadership, time management, project planning, event coordination, public speaking, governance, and much more.
I’ve served on local, national and international committees, helping shape the future of this great organisation.
I’ve been given free rein to develop …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

By Rotary International

The Rotary Youth Exchange students from Macau.

By Eric Cowcill, governor-elect of District 1285

The Rotary clubs of Sandbach, United Kingdom, and Macau have worked together for several years to provide opportunities for Macau youth to attend the annual District 1285 Summer Camp in northwest England. This year Macau Rotarians were ready to expand opportunities for young people and together we embarked on creating a short-term exchange.

Our simple idea turned into a huge success! This summer, nine 16 year-old students and two teachers from St Paul’s School, Macau, arrived in the UK for a visit.

One of the teachers samples British food.

The Rotary Club of Macau is certified for “outbound-only” youth exchange, which is special because other parts of District 3450 (China, Hong Kong, Mongolia) are not yet certified to participate in Rotary Youth Exchange. Working with an “outbound-only” district has not been a challenge for our club (Rotarians in Macau worked hard to complete all the certification requirements required by Rotary International).

A tropical cyclone delayed the arrival of the students at Manchester airport for 36 hours, but when they finally arrived, hosts provided a variety of programs showing them our beautiful countryside. All of the students enjoyed their time; and their …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

By Rotary International

By Annemarie Mostert, a member of the E-club of Southern Africa

On International Women’s Day, 8 March, it is important to reflect on the milestones women have achieved in economic opportunity, and the role Rotary clubs can play.

The World Economic Forum’s latest Global Gender Gap report identified the continued burden of economic inequality and gaps in economic opportunity for women across the world. This data isn’t just about representation and greater opportunity. It is important for global economic growth.

Put simply, “When more women work, economies grow.” And you may be startled by how much. A recent McKinsey report estimates that if women play an “identical role in labor markets to that of men,” this could potentially add “$28 trillion, or 26 percent” to the global GDP.

As a member of Rotary, the global nonprofit at the intersection of commerce and cause, I believe that I have to make an impact at a local level. Rotary’s model is unique because although many organisations allow you to network professionally or get involved in community projects, few allow you to combine both of these opportunities.

Twelve years ago, I started a nonprofit called Sešego Cares in South Africa, based on …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

By Rotary International

International Women’s Day, 8 March, celebrates women and their social, economic, political, and cultural achievements around the world. This year’s campaign asks individuals to #BeBoldForChange in working for a more gender inclusive world.

RI President-elect Ian H.S. Riseley has also called upon Rotary clubs to seek more diversity in their membership, including improving the gender balance. In his address to Rotary’s annual leadership training event in January, Riseley noted that 103 of the incoming 539 district governors are women. These are “leaders who will help Rotary connect with, and represent, and better service, all the members of all our communities,” says Riseley.

Governors-elect Sandy Sava of District 5180 (California) and Dawn deFuria of District 7450 (Pennsylvania) sat down to talk about the current and future state of women in Rotary.

…read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

By Rotary International

Rotary and USAID are creating Tippy Tap devices to encourage good hygiene in remote areas. The devices use a simple foot paddle to tip a water container so people can safely wash their hands.

By Mohamed Keita, RI staff, Administrative Coordinator, Areas of Focus, Programs and Grants

In January, a new government came into office in Ghana and set a different tone in addressing access to water and public sanitation in the country. President Nana Akufo-Addo announced the creation of a Ministry for Sanitation and Water Resources. It is the first time an administration has dedicated the centrepiece of an executive cabinet agency to public sanitation.

Ghanaian Rotarians who are involved in the rollout of the Rotary-USAID International H2O Collaboration, a $4 million initiative to support lasting, positive change to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) initiatives in Ghana, have welcomed the move.

“A major challenge facing our country is access to water to our people. Indeed, ‘water for all’ is one of our slogans for our 2016 manifesto,” the president declared in the press. “We also made a slogan ‘a toilet for all’ and these are matters we take very seriously.”

Previously, WASH related issues in Ghana fell under the purview of the …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

By Rotary International

Rotary Peace Fellow Class 22 at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

By Hermanto Hasan, A Rotary Peace Fellow at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

When I found out I was accepted for the Rotary Peace Fellowship at the prestigious Chulalongkorn University in Thailand, I was filled with happiness and also surprise. I had applied for several fellowships in the past, but all required a university degree, which I do not have.

I had started working while I was still a high school student as a humanitarian worker to help victims of conflict in my homeland of Aceh, and gave up the opportunity to go to university because I wanted to help my people in the middle of an escalating war. The fact that the Rotary Peace Fellowship valued my experience working in conflict over a formal university degree was unexpected to me, and I am extremely grateful and exited for this opportunity.

Unlike many people who choose to work in conflict-affected societies professionally, I grew up in the midst of one, in a province that faced an armed separatist conflict for 30 years. My hometown of Idi, in East Aceh, was one of the areas where the conflict was most intense. By the time …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

By Rotary International

By Quentin Wodon, a member of the Rotary Club of Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., USA

Membership growth is an important topic in Rotary. Since my last blog post (6 ingredients for membership growth), my club has continued to focus on how we can follow our strategic plan and continue our initial success at growing our club. We have been fortunate to double our membership in six months, from 18 members in July to 38 in February. We are cautiously not “claiming victory” over our growth goals, since we could still experience a downturn in membership. But we have made progress.

Part of our gains were connected to a new initiative whereby we offer our expertise to local nonprofits. On 24 February, we are hosting two training workshops for local nonprofits on Capitol Hill. We have a wonderful lineup of speakers and 150 people signed up to attend morning sessions on monitoring, evaluating, and conducting cost-benefit analysis; and afternoon sessions on communicating using social media, websites, and powerpoint presentations. The CEO of the Grameen Foundation is our keynote speaker for lunch.

By teaming up with Capitol Hill Community Foundation, which provided funding for our event, we are establishing ourselves as …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog