Rotary
International Kalyan Banerjee's January 2012 Message
RI president's monthly
message - January 2012
My dear brothers and
sisters in Rotary,
At Arlington National
Cemetery outside Washington, D.C., stands a memorial to the Seabees,
formally known as the U.S. Naval Construction Force. An inscription
reads, "With willing hearts and skillful hands, the difficult
we do at once; the impossible takes a bit longer."
In Rotary, we already
have our own mottoes. If we didn't, I might be given to nominate
those two lines. The power of combined effort, as Paul Harris once
wrote, knows no limitation. When we work together, the impossible
becomes possible.
I thought of this when
I read, a few months ago, an article in the New England Journal
of Medicine, the premier medical journal in the United States. Titled
"The Polio Endgame," it outlined a strategy for a post-polio
era, including managing post-eradication risks.
Thirty years ago, such
an article could never have been published. Today, it is a testament
to the power of dedication, of persistence, and of combined effort.
The impossible has, indeed, become possible. A post-polio world,
once the stuff of dreams, will soon be here.
My friends, the day
that polio will be eradicated is close at hand. We have to be ready
for it with a powerful Rotary – a Rotary of enthusiasm and
confidence, of bold vision and clear ambitions. It is time for us
to prepare by taking an honest look at our clubs. Are our projects
meaningful, sustainable, and relevant? Are our meetings productive
and enjoyable? Are our clubs welcoming to new members, and are our
schedules and events friendly to young families? And once people
join us, do we welcome them properly, involve them enough? Do we
make them a part of the family of Rotary quickly enough?
The figures tell us
that while enough new individuals join Rotary every year and everywhere,
too many exit Rotary, on an ongoing basis. What unfulfilled hope
do they leave with? What expectations are we not meeting? Can we
do more and better?
Now is the time to focus
our energies on our clubs, and on the way people see them. It is
time to show our communities that the Rotary of today is not the
Rotary of their preconceptions. Rotary is a way to connect, to do
more, to be more – it is a way to take our idealism and our
vision, and turn them into reality.
Kalyan Banerjee
Reach Within to Embrace
Humanity
President, Rotary International, 2011-12
TRF Chairman Bill Boyd's January
2012 Message
Areas of focus are the
causes that drive Rotary
Trustee chair's monthly
message - January 2012
We are now halfway through
the pilot of our Future Vision Plan, and as I look to the future
I think the most significant change will be the adoption of the
six areas of focus – and not just for our Foundation. I recently
heard RI Director Stuart Heal, the chair of the Strategic Planning
Committee, say that our areas of focus fit very comfortably into
our RI Strategic Plan.
Today's generation supports
causes rather than organizations, and so we in Rotary should be
able to clearly identify the causes that drive us. When somebody
asks you what Rotary is, you do not have to fumble for words. Tell
the person that we are an organization of service-minded individuals
around the world who are working to make the world a better place
with our efforts in water and sanitation, basic education and literacy,
maternal and child health, disease prevention and treatment, economic
and community development, and peace and conflict resolution. You
can say that in 20 seconds!
You can see how this
may bring new members to Rotary and increase the giving to our Foundation.
If you approach corporations for a contribution, they are much more
likely to respond if they know how their money will be spent, and
that we will spend it wisely. We are building on a strong record
of performance over a long period of time. Bill Gates has said as
much on a number of occasions. He has shown his faith in us through
his significant gifts for polio eradication.
While I am writing this
from a Foundation perspective, the membership factor should not
be overlooked. Plenty of organizations talk about issues, but Rotary
is about action, not words.
Bill Boyd
Foundation Trustee Chair
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