Rotary Elixir - Week of May 28, 2007

ABOUT ROTARY VOLUNTEERS



The ROTARY VOLUNTEERS program is the embodiment of Rotary's motto Service Above Self.

Rotarians are considered Rotary volunteers whenever they give their time and energy to provide a service to someone in need.


The ROTARY VOLUNTEERS program

-- encourages Rotarians to become actively involved in hands-on projects to use their vocational skills.
-- provides opportunities for Rotarians and other skilled professionals to offer their services and expertise to local and international humanitarian projects in need of assistance.



The ROTARY VOLUNTEERS program is implemented through the Avenue of Vocational Service and functions on three different levels:

-- At the CLUB level, Rotarians perform service projects and commit to filling volunteer needs in their communities.

-- At the DISTRICT level, Rotarians participate in both district and club service projects that require help from others in the district.

-- At the INTERNATIONAL level, Rotarians worldwide join together to work on a service project in another country.



ROTARY VOLUNTEERS are often the key to successful Rotary projects. Rotary Volunteers make a difference around the world:

-- Dentists and doctors from around the world have served at Rotary-sponsored medical and dental clinics in Bangladesh, Brazil, Costa Rica, Guatemala, India, Jamaica, Kenya, and Thailand.

-- French volunteers have treated leprosy victims in Madagascar.

-- A theater arts director/teacher from the United States assisted in the implementation of a psychodrama program for the Psychological Assistance Center in Croatia.

-- A Thai librarian traveled to Egypt to work on the revival of the ancient library of Alexandria.

-- A Canadian livestock production manager provided advice to a commercial poultry farm in Ghana.

-- A Brazilian dentist has made multiple trips to provide dental care to orphans and villagers of Mexico.

-- A team of Indian Rotarians traveled to Western India during an earthquake aftermath and assisted the victims.


What service projects can we find in Anguilla where we can truly become ROTARY VOLUNTEERS?

Rotary Elixir - Week of May 21, 2007

Rotary International
District Governor, 2007-2008
District 7020
Dick McCombe
Rotary Club of Southeast Nassau
Nassau, Bahamas





What you don’t know – but should know – about the incoming District Governor

Richard James McCombe was born in Mayo, Yukon, Canada on November 23, 1952. Where he lived for two years before moving to Peru where his father was superintendent of a copper silver mine.


Richard was educated in Peru until grade 9 when he returned to boarding school in Canada. He attended St. Andrew’s College in Aurora, Ontario. Going on to attend the University of Toronto and the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology where he graduated second in his class with an Interprovincial degree in Heavy Duty Mechanics, Electrics.

Richard worked for Syncrude Canada Limited from 1977 until 1987 when he moved to the Bahamas permanently. His wife is Carla.

Rotary Elixir - Week of May 14, 2007

Rotary International President
2007-2008
Wilfrid J. Wilkinson
Canada







What you don’t know – but should know – about the incoming RI President

Wilf is a founding partner of Wilkinson and Company, a tax and accounting firm. He retired in 2001 and has since served as Executive Director of the Quinte Ballet School of Canada and as Canadian coordinator for the National Association of Forensic Accountants.

A Rotarian since 1962, Wilf is a PolioPlus national advocacy adviser and a member at large of the PolioPlus Partners Task Force.

He has been a district governor, International Assembly discussion leader, regional session leader, consultative group member, committee member and chair, task force member, Foundation trustee and consultant, director, and vice president.



Wilf was chair of the 2005 Chicago Convention Committee and Vice Chair of RI’s Afghan refugee relief project. His wife is Joan.

Weekly Elixir - Week of May 7, 2007

BOND. ROTARIANS BOND – FOR THE FOUNDATION.

In recognition of Rotary Foundation month, the Rotary Club of East Nassau, Bahamas, invited Rotarians and guests to attend the world premiere of the new James Bond film, Casino Royale, in November.

The club billed the event as A Licence to help the Rotary Foundation – a take-off on the superspy’s film.

Tickets to the film, which was partially shot in the Bahamas, were sold at a ‘charity’ price, with all proceeds going to the Rotary Foundation’s Annual Programs Fund. The fundraiser, together with the club’s ongoing support of the Foundation, will enable the club to attain $250 USD in per capital giving for 2006-07 and qualify as an Every Rotarian Every Year club. (A club can receive this recognition if 100 per cent of its members contribute to the Foundation’s Annual Programs Fund, and the club has a minimum $100 per capita giving level.)

“We have 17 of [the] 63 Paul Harris Fellows in the District [7020] and 92 of the 102 club members are Rotary Foundation Sustaining members,” says Lindsay Cancino, the club’s Paul Harris Society co-ordinator. “It is incredibly satisfying to know the pleasure I got out of the release of the new James Bond film also translated into [support for] the Rotary Foundation.”

Photo caption: From left, RI Director Barry Rassin, Rotary Club of East Nassau and his wife, Esther; Trevor Sunderland and his wife, Barbara, both of whom appeared in Thunderball, the first James Bond film shot in the Bahamas in 1965; East Bahamas Club Past President, and Foundation Chair, Lindsey Cancino; Andre Feldman of the Rotary Club of Grand Bahama Sunrise (District 6990); event host and East Nassau Club member, Leroy Archer and his associate.


...Editor's Note:

How can we add something exciting to our Second Annual Rotary Foundation Dinner in March of 2008? Get your thinking caps on now and plan ahead!

Rotary Community Service Jumps Into Action

...May 9, 2007

The Rotary Club of Anguilla, in conjunction with American Airlines and the Westchester Medical Center located in Valhalla, New York, has been able to assist a local woman in saving her eyesight.

Special ophthalmology treatment has been secured for the Anguillian woman, who wishes to remain anonymous. However, the generosity of both American Airlines and the Westchester Medical Center must not remain hidden.

The Anguillian patient was very much in danger of losing her eyesight without a special procedure to correct her vision – a procedure performed at the Westchester Medical Center. Dr. Gerrald Zaidman, Chief of Ophthalmology at Westchester, graciously arranged with the hospital to accept a fee of only $5000 USD to complete the surgical procedure -- roughly one-third of its usual cost.

American Airlines/American Eagle donated the round trip transportation from Anguilla to New York. The Rotary Club of Anguilla and Dr. Louis Bardfield (Anguilla Vision Center) contributed $5,000 USD towards the operation and recovery.

Through an excellent community effort, here is another example of the wonderful works of Rotary – helping our community.

Weekly Elixir - Week of April 30, 2007

Trek of a lifetime

What are other clubs and other Rotarians doing in our world?

Ambassadorial Scholars walk 1,250 miles to fight AIDS in Africa -- By Vukoni Lupa-Lasaga, Rotary International

A group of six students at a South African university, four of them Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholars, made strides against HIV/AIDS in December.

After several months of training, the team from the University of the Witwatersrand hiked for 20 days to raise almost US$10,000 for the fight against AIDS. The trek also increased public awareness of the devastating effects of the disease.

Passing through stunningly beautiful landscapes and, in places, hair-raising cliffs and dangerous, jellyfish-infested beaches, the students walked 1,250 miles in a relay from Johannesburg to Cape Town.

“It was an experience of a lifetime and something we shall all remember for the rest of our lives,” says Kelly Lewis, an Ambassadorial Scholar from Wheeler, New York, USA.

Despite facing unexpected challenges, the students found inspiration in the many good Samaritans, including Rotarians, who welcomed them at every stop, provided free medical treatment for their physical injuries, and donated money to their cause.
The team also included Keegan Kautzky and Ikumi Maekawa, Ambassadorial Scholars from Perry, Iowa, USA, and Ena-shi, Japan, as well as students Ruan Koorts, from Pretoria, South Africa, and Jacob Maboja, from Nairobi, Kenya.

Just last month, the hike inspired further action. Brittany Jungck, a University of Northern Iowa employee who knows Kautzky from high school, organized an event on 1 February to raise money and awareness about Africa’s HIV/AIDS crisis.
“It’s all about collaborating with people who are concerned,” notes Jungck. “If we can get 10, 20, or 100 more people aware of the issue, surely something would be done about it.”

Upon learning of her effort, a student group sold roses on Valentine’s Day in support of AIDS orphans, and a socially conscious local poet planned a poetry reading with a global HIV/AIDS theme.

All funds raised from the hike and the University of Northern Iowa events will support the projects of Rotarians for Fighting AIDS, a Rotarian Action Group that’s implementing community-led responses for AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in seven African countries.

Read more in the RI Newsroom.