August Ends

Another two weeks of the Rotary Year gone by. They told me that the year would fly by but I didn’t realise just how supersonic the speed would be. During a visit to a club this week, someone asked me if I was enjoying my time as DG, so far. My factious reply was “Well, when I have time to think about it I will tell you.” But there is some truth behind this comment.
In the last two weeks I have made visits to eight Rotary clubs and spent two days in Alcester, at the headquarters of Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland (RIBI), for its General Council meeting. This is the body that determines the policy and directives that Rotary in these islands will follow. I can assure you that everything is very carefully considered, with much debate, and a vote is taken on every proposal put forward by the various RIBI subcommittees and Resource Groups.
There are two major campaigns being launched by Rotary during the coming months. Firstly, Rotary is seeking new members, professional and business people, who want to join a major, worldwide service organisation to give service to their community and those who live in difficult conditions in areas overseas. The main drive will be to encourage those between 30 and 55 to offer their knowledge, skills and expertise to further the work of Rotary. If any reader wants to learn more then go to www.ribi.org and follow the tabs shown.
While there, you will also see another major project advertised and seeking your support. I refer to the End Polio Now campaign. You may find ‘Thanks for Life’ and ‘Window of Opportunity’ tabs as well. I would encourage you to look at these as they will give you all the information you will need to discover how you could help Rotary eliminate Polio from the world. It is only found in four small regions of the world thanks to a twenty-five year programme, which has already cleared it from 99% of the regions in which it was found back in 1985.
Have a good read. Get excited by the possibility. Get involved.