Weekly Elixir - February 18, 2008

Weekly Elixir – Rotary Club of Anguilla
…for the week beginning February 11, 2008

Q&A with RI President-elect Dong Kurn Lee

Last week, we looked back. This week we look forward to Rotary Year, 2008-2009. The Rotary International President for 2008-09 is from Korea – Dong Kurn Lee, known as D.K. Lee.

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RI President-elect Dong Kurn Lee sat down with Vince Aversano, editor in chief of The Rotarian, to talk about how he plans to tackle his year in office as RI’s first Korean president. Get a sneak peek at the interview and look for the full story in the March issue of The Rotarian.

[Q] President-elect Lee, what would you hope to accomplish next year as president?

I would like to see progress made in polio, both in terms of meeting the Gates [Foundation] challenge grant and in reducing the number of polio-endemic countries.

I would also like to see child mortality, the terrible tragedy of preventable deaths of children, become something that every Rotarian is aware of. Every day, 30,000 children under the age of five die, most of them from preventable causes like measles, malaria, and pneumonia. I want people to realize that every day, a disaster of this size is happening. But it is also important to remember how much we have already done, and how far we have come. Children do not die of smallpox anymore, and soon they will not have polio. With the challenge grant from the Gates Foundation, we have a real chance of ending polio completely in the next few years. I see the work of eradicating polio as a key part of my focus on child mortality.

Many of the projects that Rotarians are already involved in, in the areas of water, health and hunger, and literacy, already save the lives of countless children every year. I believe that by focusing our efforts on decreasing child mortality through work in these three emphases, we will be able to make a real difference in the number of children who survive to adulthood.

[Q] What image of Rotary should be projected today? Should the emphasis be on business networking potential or on humanitarian projects?

I do not think it is a choice between one and the other. Rotary has to be seen as a whole. Rotary was founded as a business networking tool, and service came after that. Service is now our primary focus, but that does not mean Rotary’s role in business should be minimized. Rotarians should be in Rotary because they want to give, but we can and should also acknowledge the many benefits to Rotary membership.

[Q] Why do you feel the Rotary Youth Exchange program is so important?

It helps young people comprehend the world better. For young people, especially when they are living with host families, it is a kind of experience — an immersion experience — that cannot be duplicated. It brings rewards that are lifelong and benefits that reach far beyond that one individual.

When I was a young man, I spent two years in California. I was a student, and I also worked as a busboy on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. You could not imagine anything more different from my home village in Korea. Everyone was different, everything was different — the food, the people, the language. It completely changed how I saw the world, and it formed who I became in later life. I think I would still have joined Rotary, but I would not have understood it as well.

[Q] What inspired your choice of Make Dreams Real as the RI theme?

Part of why Rotary is so exciting for me is that we are able to do more through Rotary than we could do alone. We can do more as a club than we could as an individual, we can do more as a district than we could do as a club, and when you look at all of global Rotary, you can really dream big dreams. No one individual or even one government, no matter how powerful, could have done what we have done in polio eradication. In this year, my dream is that together we will be able to save the lives of children. That is my own dream. Part of that dream is knowing that children will be able to survive, to grow up healthy, to have better chances, to be able to see their own dreams become real in their lives.

Source: Rotary International News - 8 February 2008

Weekly Elixir - February 11, 2008

Weekly Elixir – Rotary Club of Anguilla
…for the week beginning February 11, 2008

Because this is the month to celebrate the founding of Rotary (February 23, 1905), it may be of interest to learn about Rotarian #5. Who was Rotarian #5?

HOW SINGING CAME TO ROTARY, AND OFF-COLOUR JOKES DID NOT

Almost everyone who is a member of a Rotary club for more than a year knows that rotary member No. 5, Chicago printer Harry Ruggles, brought singing to Rotary meetings. What almost no one knows is why, and most don’t know how important it was to the life of Rotary.

Harry Ruggles was a very moral man. He detested off-colour language, malicious innuendo and classless humour. He argued in club meetings for clean language. Little more than a year after Rotary had been formed, at an evening meeting in 1906, the guest speaker began a story. Having heard it before, Harry also had heard the off-colour ending, and felt it was inappropriate for the club, so he jumped up in the middle of the joke and yelled, “Come on boys, let’s sing!” He then led the club in the singing of “Let me Call You Sweetheart.”

This was not only the first time that members had ever sung in Rotary, but apparently, also the first time that a group of businessmen ever sang at a business meeting, anywhere. By his surprising actions at this evening meeting, Harry demonstrated that demeaning activities and off-colour stories were not welcome at Rotary gatherings. “It was reported at the time that the would-be speaker was embarrassed and sore,” and so Harry Ruggles apologized but the club backed him up. Right then and there, it was decided that all subsequent Rotary meetings should be conducted so that any woman could attend without being embarrassed. This has been the unwritten rule ever since, just as the tradition of singing has endured.

Dirty words were not the only controversy in the early days of Rotary. Oren Arnold, in The Golden Strand, revealed, “The time came, repeatedly, when Paul Harris was faced with failure, for one reason or another – or for no real reason – the club often was at the point of disbanding. On such critical occasions, Harry stepped up front and shouted, “Come on, fellows, let’s sing!”

Was it the magic of Harry Ruggles and his music that worked? Was it his infectious enthusiasm for singing? Or, just maybe some of the reasons for its use had more to do with easing barriers between men, and ending acrimonious discussions than a need for choral music.

History has proven that it was, and is, good magic for clubs anywhere, for families anywhere, for groups of people anywhere. Arnold continues, “After all, clubs are simply families, when they move in divergent paths, group singing often is the best way to reassemble them. Harry Ruggles knew that, hence the parent unit and the whole service club movement is indebted to him.”


Source: http://www.rotaryfirst100.org/leaders/ruggles/index.htm

Weekly Elixir - February 3, 2008

Weekly Elixir – Rotary Club of Anguilla
…for the week of February 3, 2008

Rotary works because of its members. Some of the Rotarians you will meet at the District Conference in Nassau in May will be featured in a few Rotary Elixirs in the next few weeks.

The first is Barry Rassin.

• Highest Rotary Position Director, 2006-2008

• 1991-92 Governor, District 7020

• Rotary Leadership Institute – Sunshine Division (Position Faculty; Faculty Trainer; District 7020 RLI Director)


Biography

Born in London, England Barry moved to Nassau, Bahamas as an infant. He got his BBA from the University of Miami and his MBA in Healthcare from the University of Florida.

He worked at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach until he went home to Nassau in 1979. Today he is the President and CEO of Doctor’s Hospital Health System
in Nassau and is the only Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives in his country.

Civic

Barry was recognized with the National Award of Health Hero by the Bahamas Ministry of Health and PAHO. He has served over the years in the following civic positions:

• Chairman of Project Read
• Vice Chairman of Safe Bahamas
• Chairman of the Quality Council of The Bahamas
• Honorary President of the Star of the Bahamas Charity Guide
• Barry even enjoyed being a judge for the Miss Bahamas Beauty Pageant

Barry’s Rotary Philosophy

Rotary has been the biggest influence in Barry’s life after his family. He has found that the more he gives to Rotary, the more he can help people and the more he grows as a person.

Each year, Rotarians around the world bring us closer to achieving our goal of World Peace and Understanding. However, the world is still full of conflict that Rotarians must continue to recognize and influence. This philosophy had been demonstrated since he joined the Rotary Club of East Nassau in 1980 where he worked up the club positions and served as its 1987088 President.

As 1991-92 District Governor, Barry learned about the greater world of Rotary within the District’s ten countries, and has been the DG Council Secretary, Polio Plus Chairman, and District Trainer.

Prior to being selected as a Director of Rotary International, Barry has served in various Zone and Rotary International positions including Coordinator for Rapid Disaster Relief, Polio Plus, and Health and Hunger, but his primary role has been within the area of Training. He has served as RI Training Leader, RI Training Leader’s Seminar Trainer and Chairman for RI Leadership Education, Development and Training. He is a member of the Action Planning Team for the RI Strategic Goal related to Training in 2005-06, and has represented the President of RI at a number of District Conferences.

Barry received the Service Above Self Award and was given the Charlie Braham Achievement Award in Jamaica. Barry is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow, Major Donor, Benefactor, and Bequest Society member.

As a bonus question: Can you name the 10 countries in District 7020?