By Rotary International

Jack Bechaud with children in Cusco, Peru.

By Jack Bechaud, Rotary Club of Lake in the Hills, Illinois, USA

If you would have told me a few years ago that I’d be lugging 15 bags of cement in the high mountains of Cusco, Peru, to help local villagers, I would not have believed you.

It sounds a little cliché, but Rotary has helped me come so far, in so many ways. It’s helped me grow as a person in ways I never thought possible. It’s brought joy back to my life.

Taking a break to hug a child.

This was my second service trip with the Rotary Club of Lake in the Hills, Illinois, within a short period of time. Traveling so far away from home with many hours in a plane and airports is not necessarily my idea of a good time. Further, having what seems like just come back from an amazing trip to India and new friends there, not to mention the incredible work we did, then turning around and getting on more planes might seem crazy to some of you.

But I can tell you it’s totally worth it! Seeing people who have nothing makes you appreciate everything. Being able to learn …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

By Rotary International

The Rotaract Club of Dhaka Orchids distributes school supplies.

Editor’s note: This is part of a series of blog posts from Youth Leadership All-Stars, participants in Rotary’s programs for young leaders, in celebration of Youth Service Month.

By Md. Saddam Hossain Roni, Rotaract Club of Dhaka Orchids, Bangladesh

Before joining an Interact club in 2010, I had a difficult time dealing with people I didn’t know. That’s probably why I didn’t have a lot of friends in school. But as a member of Interact, I learned a lot about fellowship.

I still remember the day I stood on stage in front of a large group of people for a speech competition for the first time, my legs shaking. It was really a nervous moment for me. That day I realized I am not perfect. But day by day, I began developing my skills and becoming an active member of Interact.

Working together to plant trees.

I served as president of the Interact Club of Gomoti in 2012-13. In the same year, I was appointed as Interact Secretary of District 3280 and the next year elected 1st Interact Representative of District 3282.

I made Interact friends in many countries, founding the Global Friendship Project …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

By Rotary International

One of Nashville’s newly chartered evening clubs.

By Chuck Barnett, governor of District 6760 (Tennessee, USA)

When I started my journey to be district governor in January of 2014, I knew that during my year I wanted to start several new clubs. Being a younger Rotarian, I am fully aware of the time commitments that careers and family put on each of us. If I was not self-employed, I probably could have never been governor.

Realizing this, when I would ask people to come to Rotary I would get the general answer of “I don’t have time for that.” But how could we change this?

People early in their careers or those who have a young family do not find breakfast or lunch meetings are an option for them. Getting children up and ready for school takes a lot of time. Younger Rotarians are finding that it’s very hard to take an hour-and-a-half to two hours off for a lunch meeting.

I knew that evening meetings could be the answer to this. So on 17 April, we chartered three new evening clubs in our district.

Members of the new evening clubs receive their badges during a combined charter ceremony.

Two of these clubs are in bedroom …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

By Rotary International

The Rotary club’s project trained teachers for an after school program designed to empower girls, like those above, to stay in school.

By Elizabeth Usovicz

Last April, I led a Vocational Training Team (VTT) to Malawi. The global grant project of the Rotary clubs of Limbe (Malawi) and Kansas City-Plaza (Missouri, USA) installed solar lighting in schools and trained primary school teachers in an after-school program designed to empower children, especially girls, to stay in school.

As in many countries, girls in Malawi face several challenge along their path to an education, including early marriage, teen pregnancy and HIV/AIDS. Malawi is called “The Warm Heart of Africa,” and with an average annual income of about $255 per capita, tenacity is more than an admirable trait. It’s a survival skill. Here are some of the traits, conditions and needs affecting the girls of Malawi in their quest for an education.

Multitasking: Village girls learn how to multitask from their mothers, walking barefoot several times a day from the village water pump with 70-pound buckets of potable water on their heads, babies on their backs, and another child or two by the hand. I saw village girls supervising younger siblings while pounding maize, herding goats, and …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

By Rotary International

Trekking in remote Western Australia as a leadership development opportunity.

Editor’s note: This is part of a series of blog posts from Youth Leadership All-Stars, participants in Rotary’s programs for young leaders, in celebration of Youth Service Month.

By Rebecca Weragoda, Rotaract Club of Sydney, Australia

Twelve years ago, I made a seemingly small decision to apply for a Rotary Australia supported “science camp.” Like so many of my peers in Rotaract, this decision changed the course of my life personally, professionally, and socially.

From attending the National Youth Science Forum to today, I’ve been afforded many opportunities through Rotary, just some of the highlights include:

travelling to South Africa for National Youth Science Week
trekking in the desert in remote Western Australia as a leadership development opportunity
attending my local Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA)
serving as a RYLA Leader and RYLA Director
leadership roles including Rotaract Club Professional Development Director, President and District Rotaract Representative
attending international RYLA in Sydney
the Young Leaders Summit in South Korea.

These are just the tip of the iceberg and don’t even begin to capture the abundance of leadership opportunities I’ve had within Rotaract, culminating with my current position as the Chair of Rotaract Australia. My experience in Rotaract led me to transition from …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

By Rotary International

Members of the Rotary Club of James River, Richmond, Virginia, USA.

By Richard Cunningham, Rotary Club of James River, Richmond, Virginia, USA

To be continually successful in membership development through good times and bad, a club must know who it is – its appeal. It is important to have a vision statement (what the “end state” looks like) and a mission statement.

The emotional appeal of the wordings are most important. They come before the more detailed process components of a full package of change initiatives.

“When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it.” -W. Clement Stone

A vision statement describes the desired future position of the club, perhaps 5 or 10 years ahead. A mission statement typically covers a shorter period, say three years and explains the club’s reason for existence. Developing relevant vision and mission statements are the first steps in the process of change.

A mission statement summarizes:

The aims and values of a club
The tasks and purpose that clearly dictate the action plan and the reason for it.
The core purpose and focus

This serves a dual purpose by helping members to remain focused on the …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog

By Rotary International

Kay Fisher, bottom row far right, with her Interact Club in Clemson, South Carolina, USA.

By Kay Fisher, a member of the Rotary Club of North Mecklenburg, North Carolina, USA

Growing up in the suburbs of Atlanta, I never learned how to swim, how to play the piano, or how it would feel to go to church on Sunday mornings. The opportunities were there. The new YMCA offered swim lessons, my grandparents bought me a new piano and offered to pay for lessons, and churches were close to my house. But these were all things my dad felt only “plastic people” did.

That was his word for those whose education afforded them a seemingly easy white collar life. My father had dyslexia, a condition not well understood in the 1950’s, and because of it he struggled in school. His insecurities growing up in a college town led him to drinking at an early age. As a plumber, he felt someone who didn’t get their hands dirty working was too self-absorbed on appearances and achievement to care about anything or anyone else.

When I was 13, my mother and I left him in the middle of the night. Stress from the recession of the early …read more

Source:: Rotary International Blog