Rotary Elixir - Week of July 2, 2007

July is Literacy Month - Project Ideas

The ability to read, write, and do simple math is not only critical to progress and prosperity, it is necessary for the very survival of individuals in a modern society.

Literacy and numeracy projects allow Rotarians to make a creative contribution to building nations, reducing poverty, and opening up opportunities to those who need them.

This year’s Rotary motto, Rotary Shares, means giving of your time.

Demonstrate your commitment to literacy by developing a project in your community. Below you'll find several ideas for community and international projects the Rotary Club of Anguilla may want to consider.

• Apply for a Rotary Foundation grant to establish literacy programs for girls and women, working with an international partner in a country with high rates of female illiteracy



• Establish a literacy center with a library where people can come to read and meet tutors



• Sponsor a business breakfast, inviting business executives and managers of local businesses to hear about literacy efforts in the workplace



• Donate books to students and class libraries at home and abroad



• Schedule a reading hour at a local library when club members would read to children



• Provide child care for parents attending literacy classes



• Reward students who read the most books, win a spelling bee or book report contest, or tutor others.
  

Rotary Elixir - Week of June 25, 2007

Council on Legislation changes affecting membership

The 2007 Council on Legislation adopted 97 items, 59 of which were enactments that change the RI constitutional documents. All policy changes take effect on 1 July.

Some of the changes that affect membership administration are summarized below:


ATTENDANCE

-- The club board can cancel a club meeting for commonly recognized holidays.

-- Club members are required to attend or make up 50 percent rather than 60 percent of their own club’s regular meetings in each half of the Rotary year.

-- Assistant governors are excused from the requirement of attending at least 30 percent of their own club’s regular meetings in each half of the Rotary year.


CLUB MEMBERSHIP

-- Rotaractors who have ended their Rotaract membership within the preceding two years and have been accepted into a Rotary club are exempt from paying a club admission fee.

-- Clubs can elect Rotary Foundation alumni into active membership, even if the classification of the alumnus is filled.

-- Clubs can elect into active membership people with good reputations in the community who have demonstrated a commitment to service and the Object of Rotary through personal involvement in local affairs.


DUES

-- RI per capita dues will be US$23.50 per half year in 2007-08, $24.00 per half year in 2008-09, $24.50 per half year in 2009-10, and $25.00 per half year in 2010-11. Dues will remain at $25.00 per half year until changed by the Council on Legislation.

-- For each new member, clubs will pay prorated per capital dues until the beginning of the next semi-annual period for which dues are payable. The amount payable for each full month of membership will be one-twelfth of the per capita dues.

-- The Manual of Procedure will be updated with all revised constitutional documents and mailed to all clubs and districts. The English version should be available by the end of October, and version in other languages should be available by March. In the meantime, you can download the complete Report of Action at www.rotary.org.

Update #3 from Anne in Whitewater

...June 20, 2007

Hi Seymour et al

We are almost there. You will need to come to the other summit so that you can organize strategies for the boys.

We will have to work ahead of time, so I am proposing that the White Water summit will be, in some way, my community service.

Youth is the topic, and we will need to send more than two students.

The international display we had went well. I had lots of road maps with lots of ads from various businesses and they went well.

The comments, though, were “Where is Anguilla?” They wanted a map with Anguilla positioned. That used to be part of the inset at first, but I have no idea why the tourism department and the flyers stopped positioning Anguilla relative to Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, etc.

I guess we will need to give this feedback to Tourism.

I got a formal note from Admissions today by Rick. The interview for Shellia is tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. The other girl is not really interested. She said that she will shop around first.

With Shellia, she fell in love with Wisconsin while we were driving along. When she saw the campus, she said, “This is it. I would like to go to school here.”

With repeated exclamations of the feeling, I approached Rick and asked him what he thought of the possibility of Shellia getting in. He said from what he has seen of the two girls, he is impressed.

He also said that The University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, is desirous of increasing its international intake of students so all should be well.

Will write tomorrow and let you know how the interview went.

I feel happy here. It is a non-threatening atmosphere.

The kids are happy, and all seem to be able to resolve conflicts even before they start. Of course, the place is full of counsellors and access is easy. It is a real professional set-up with no time wasting.

So far they have had two sets of days whereby they had a full morming of different type of games. That is good planning as they are kids and energy needs to be used up wisely. I am impressed.

The Rotary has an interesting student exchange programme going.

I will look into that some more this evening if I see Rick.

Have a great evening.

A.J.Edwards

Update #2 from Anne in Whitewater

...June 20, 2007

Hi Don et al

Just came from the Talent Show. It was just great! It felt like an old time concert.

These kids - especially the boys -- played the piano, the guitar, the flute, the bagpipes, you name it.

The girls sang and danced -- from Trinidad, Nigeria, Canada, throughout the USA – Great!

For sure, I have my work cut out for next year. We will come prepared if I have anything to do with it.

For supper, we had a hill-side picnic. The area seems to be designed for hillside concerts, etc. There is a bar and BQ equipment there, so the kids were able to play games and eat as much as they wanted.

During the evening, when the big guys were circulating, Rich came to sit at my table. After talking generally for some time, we got on to scholarships. I told him I am desirous of Shellia getting help to come to The University of Wisconsin, Whitewater.

He said he had already set up an appointment for me to see the admissions person with Shellia tomorrow, so we should know soon after that meeting if she will be given a scholarship. He told me he was very impressed with her personality. He said that he will ensure that she is given a p[position in next year's World Affairs Seminar.

Isn't all this great?

He assured me that he would like to see me come back with the next batch of kids, and he hopes that other funding agencies in Anguilla will see it important to send some more students.

So we will have to work on these things.

The focus is on the Youth, and we have to show that we mean what we say.

Good night and talk to all of you tomorrow. Please send this to Jack Billingsley as well.

Thanks
A.J.Edwards

Update from Anne in Whitewater

...June 18, 2007


We have arrived in Whitewater and the girls are all settled.

I have been attending the seminars with them and it is all very enjoyable. I have seen Rick but not to talk with him.

[Editor’s Note: Who is Rick?]

I will make an appointment to do so and give him some literature on Anguilla.

We were given some goodies by Seymour - pens, pencils, books flag, etc., and they are all coming in very useful.

It was great to see our flag among the 30+ flags that were mounted on the stage. Of course, Anguilla was called first and the two girls got up to identify themselves.

Tomorrow there will be a talent show and one of the girls will be doing something creative that she had done for the queen show. So all in all, it seems to be a good thing.

It is good I came as a Rotarian, as there are things that I have noticed that will come in useful when briefing the others who will be coming in future.

Anyway, can't stay long on the computer as many people are waiting to use it. Greetings to all, and thanks for giving me the opportunity to chaperone the girls this time.

Regards
Anne

31st World Affairs Seminar - Whitewater, Wisconsin

The 31st World Affairs Seminar will be held June 16-22, 2007 at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

The very timely theme is:

“GLOBAL HEALTH PRESCRIPTION FOR SURVIVAL - WHO’S RESPONSIBLE?”

We live in an interdependent world. We trade. We travel. We watch “the news”. It’s all good. Right?

But what are the consequences of globalization for the way we think about our health – inside our political institutions, in light of our economic models and plans, hemmed in by national healthcare systems, dealing with our own national and even individual health issues, aware of the dangers of infectious disease, hearing rumors of global pandemics, wide-eyed at the ravages of African AIDS?

What are the most important trends and patterns? Which institutions are engaged in the global conversation? What have we learned, and what work remains? This week will take us well beyond “the bird flu”. Come gather around the table with leaders from the front lines.

We’re going to talk. It’s going to be great. We need you!

**********

Rotarian Anne Edwards and two Anguillian students from Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School - Ms. Sherise Brooks and Ms. Shellya Rogers -- are planning to attend this conference. We look forward to a full report on your return!

Rotary Elixir - Week of June 11, 2007

Community Service and projects

Service defines Rotary's character; whether local or international, it promotes Rotary's appeal and visibility in the community, and is the reason Rotary continues to grow.

Community service responds to the needs of a local community. Rotary clubs should determine top priorities for service projects by first learning about a community's needs and assets, and then developing a response that addresses them.

An effective service project:

• Responds to a real issue, not an imagined one


• Improves the lives of community members


• Incorporates the abilities of those who are served


• Recognizes all participants' contributions as important and necessary


• Comes from a realistic assessment of resources available


• Aims for specific goals and objectives with measurable results


• Builds a working network

About Community Service

A community, defined in its simplest terms, is a group of people who have something in common. But in real life, it is something far more complex than that. Each member — every individual, group, organization, and business — draws benefits from the community in many different ways. For a community to thrive, each of its members must honor a commitment to contribute to the well-being of the whole by returning those benefits in kind.

Rotarians recognize the importance of giving back to the community. Every Rotary club and every Rotarian assumes a responsibility to find ways to improve the quality of life for those in their communities and to serve the public interest. When those efforts are effective, they not only contribute to the greater good, they also promote Rotary's positive image.

What makes a community service effort effective? Relevance.

A community service project must address a real, current community concern or issue. Rotary clubs should start by surveying their communities to find out where help is needed. Once a club has listened to its community, it can begin to envision effective responses to problems.

Some community service projects can benefit from other RI programs, including: Rotaract, Interact, Rotary Community Corps, Rotary Volunteers, or Youth Exchange.

Rotary Elixir - Week of June 4, 2007

Rotary International Public Relations (PR) Grants

Learning about Rotary is an ongoing challenge. Rotary International is a very complicated organization. But little bit by little bit, we can all learn more about Rotary and how to benefit from being part of the world’s first service organization.

Public Relations Grant. Did you know that there is a grant available for Public Relations? I learned that recently from Barry Rassin, a Director of Rotary International who is a member of the Rotary Club of South East Nassau.

The Rotary International Board of Directors recently approved funds for grants to assist Rotary clubs and districts in their outreach efforts to the general public, promoting Rotary and improving Rotary’s public image. The grant will enable Rotary clubs to place Rotary billboards, banners, the RI prepared TV and Radio Public Service Announcements in their local TV and radio stations, or newspaper supplements that feature local Rotary stories.

For the 2006-07 Rotary year, funds have been allocated, ranging up to US$3,000 to support media projects during the current Rotary year. Assistance will be available until the funds are depleted. Grants may be available for the 2007-2008 Rotary year. The PR grant application can be downloaded from the following website:

http://www.rotary.org/newsroom/downloadcenter/pdfs/pr_grants.pdf

The Rotary International contact is Thomas Rothstein at 847-866-3134.

Public Relations Award. There is also a Public Relations Award. The purpose of this award is to recognize Rotary clubs that have generated increased awareness and understanding of Rotary through outstanding media coverage or public relations efforts. Competition and selection of winning entries take place at the district level.