President’s Comment – 2 Oct 16 (1 October 2016)

remember to attend dg michael milston’s presention

Tuesday 4th October at 7.00pmEST and 8.00pm ESDT.  

The email to attend the GoToMeeting has been sent to all members. All are welcome to attend. If you have not received the email with the link to the meeting please contact me – johnroberson@bigpond.com

 

What does it mean to practice peace?

peace

Nations observe 21 September as International Day of Peace, a “day of global ceasefire and nonviolence.” Rotary’s commitment to building peace and resolving conflict is rooted in the Rotary Peace Centers, which yearly prepare up to 100 fellows to work for peace through a two-year master’s degree program or a three-month certificate program at partner universities worldwide.

 

New Englanders, Nigeria clubs aid Boko Haram refugees

By Marty Peak Helman, District 7780 Foundation Chair

Children in a refugee camp in eastern Nigeria.

Children in a refugee camp in eastern Nigeria.

The American University of Nigeria (AUN) was co-founded by Rotarian Felix Obadan in 2000, and 12 years later, when Felix was governor of Rotary’s District 9125, which covers a large portion of Nigeria, he chartered the Rotary Club of Yola-AUN on campus. Their strong influence on campus makes it not surprising that many University professors and senior staff are Rotary members, and that the University prides itself on its work toward peace, entrepreneurship, and economic development as well as its strong academics.

The University’s mission is to graduate students prepared to take on the challenges in Nigeria and throughout West Africa – challenges of climate change, development, and peace building. And peace is not an abstract concept at the university. After all, it is located in Yola, the capital of Adamawa State, in the region where Boko Haram is most powerful. In fact, those few dozen Chibok schoolgirls who escaped from being kidnapped by Boko Haram are now safely living at the University, where they are receiving social services and education.

Boko Haram has brought me to the American University of Nigeria as well. I am here as part of a team from Rotary’s District 7780 in New England to meet with the two Rotary clubs in Yola, and to visit Rotary projects including a camp for internally displaced families in flight from Boko Haram. It is our intention to see what we can do in terms of a global grant to help them.

Putting together a global grant will not be easy. The needs of the people living at the camp are immediate, and it is hard to think in terms of long-term sustainability. Food, for example, is a continuing problem. The men are agricultural workers and are eager to get back to working the soil, but even if they could rent land near to the camp, it’s hard for them to think ahead to next year’s crop. One non-governmental organization gave the men seed for planting, we are told, but because their children are hungry, the seed was promptly cooked and eaten.

The families at the camps – who are there because they have fled their villages for their lives – are living testimony of the need for us, their neighbors, to strive for peace.

Meanwhile, while they wait for political change, the women weave craft items to sell out of the plastic bags that litter the sides of the road, and the children – many of whom have been out of school for several years while their families have been on the run – attend a government school near the camp.

Still, I find myself very optimistic about being able to craft a global grant to help these families. After all, the Yola clubs know the camps intimately, and have both the contacts and the resources to understand what will work best. Our Districts – 9125 in Nigeria and 7780 in New England – have worked together for over a decade, with National Immunization Days, a Group Study Exchange, and both matching and global grants to our credit.

This is what Rotary is all about – developing relationships that span the globe and make possible long-term humanitarian change. And the families at the camps – who are there because they have fled their villages for their lives – are living testimony of the need for us, their neighbors, to strive for peace.

Support Rotary’s Peace Centers

President’s Comment – 25 Sep 16 (25 September 2016)

District Governor Michael Milston Official CLUB Visit

milston

Tuesday 4th October at 7.00pm EST (Brisbane) – 8.00pm ESDT (NSW & VIC)

DG Michael  and partner Ann Dib will deliver a presentation then will take questions.

It would be great if ALL members could make the effort to attend.

If any other Rotarian wishes to make-up  or  any prospective member or interested person wishes to attend please email me (johnroberson@bigpond.com)and i will send you the GoToMeeting link and instructions on how to join the meeting and presentation.

The monthly Board meeting will be held after the presentation.

 

MEMBER SURVey RESULTS

The survey asked members to consider Club goals and what they wanted to achieve by being a member of our Rotary E-Club.

These are comments made by our members in the recent survey that all members completed. Thank you to all for completing the survey and the sincerity of your comments. 

Please feel free to email, make comments on the website and discuss the comments below with your fellow members:

  • I still very much feel I am learning the ropes about Rotary as a whole.
  • Encourage those who wish to join Rotary but don’t have the time for weekly meetings, to understand the benefits of the E-Club.
  • Increase membership and raise fund for the Rotary Foundation.
  • I’m comfortable with the Club taking six to twelve months to establish itself.
  • We need more members attending more regularly.
  • Find ways of working with the Youth in our communities to participate in the youth programs available.
  • Raise awareness and develop networks to promote our RAWCS projects.
  • Fund raising for our Club RAWCS projects.
  • Participation in a Rotary club that is much more convenient and fits in with my busy lifestyle and personal situation.
  • Encourage more engagement with members via the Facebook group – as an E-Club I think it’s really important that social media is used effectively.
  • We need some local projects – at least one – to support.
  • Be part of a functioning Club that continues to actively support international projects, and develop relevant community projects.
  • We need to get used to visiting the website regularly and each of us keeping up-to-date between meetings.
  • Learn together about the ways other E-Clubs in Rotary function – what their successes and difficulties have been.
  • Networking and flexibility of E-Club membership.
  • Come up with a  fundraising project, around a current relevant issue that even those members that are more remote from the District can be involved in.
  • As a new member, I hope to continue to learn more about the work of Rotary as a whole and build my knowledge of this great organisation.
  • We need to sort out the technology (is GoToMeeting the best tool, do we all need better headsets, etc).
  • Be part of an enthusiastic group of  Rotarians who want to actively serve humanity.
  • I hope I can be involved in the Club’s activities, even though I am going to be remote from the District more often than not.
  • Leverage my experience working in international development beyond my own project which may wind down over the next twelve months – then again it may get a new lease of life with some Rotary input.
  • Not sure what goals I want our Club to achieve yet.
  • I feel that I’m too new to offer much in developing goals and stating what I personally want to achieve.
  • To further grow as a Rotarian, joining with other members to be part of something incredible to make a difference and do good in the world.
  • Increase our membership to have a variety of members with different interests, knowledge and ideas.
  • I’m quite enjoying listening to others, reading about Rotary and its projects, and just getting a general ‘feel’ for the organisation, its clubs and what they achieve.
  • Establish a functioning e-club that is taking action to raise awareness and support international and local projects. A club that someone who knows nothing about Rotary would be inspired to join. 
  • Increase active membership, with a plan of how we will become a functioning club that is actively working on Rotary goals and projects.
  • I am interested in piloting an Australian based alternative schoolies project in an Indigenous context.
  • Increase our membership.
  • Contributing to  the good work of Rotary International.
  • I wonder whether we might also consider a more structured and active online campaign for recruitment? How can we draw people to our online presence?
  • Participation in Rotary Australia World Community Service (RAWCS) style projects.
  • I want to get my head around all the different web presences for Rotary – its very confusing between RAWCS projects, ClubRunner, our own site, and I think there are others.
  • Increase support for the Rotary Foundation.
  • Support  those in our club who have existing projects.
  • Encourage our members to attend District Conference for yearly fellowship.
  • To become an active club within the District of 9700.
  • I want to be able to contribute to my community.

These comments show a positive enthusiasm by most members to continue the development of our Club; the desire to educate and mentor our newer members with the ideals of Rotary and  to encourage our serving humanity in the best possible way that we can.

President’s Comment – 18 Sep 16 (18 September 2016)

LOOK AT THE SECRETARY & TREASURER PAGES

Both have been updated.

Our Club international Projects

We now have five International Projects listed on our website that are managed in part or entirely by members of our Club. They have recently had a Donation link added to each page that goes directly to our RAWCS payment gateway. Have a look! Make a donation!

Ethical Dilemma Discussion: what do you do?

Your club is working to provide technology and training for teachers and children at a school in a very low-income area with limited educational resources. During your search for sponsors, a club member in a senior position at a well-known business offers to pay most of the project’s costs. This sponsorship would allow you to complete the project quickly, and kids would be in classrooms learning in just a short time. You are grateful for the generosity but hesitate because this business has been in the media over some ethical concerns. You aren’t sure it’s a good idea to accept the sponsorship, but raising the funds in other ways could sharply delay the project.

Some comments by Rotarians on this Forum Topic are listed below:

President’s Comment – 11 Sep 16 (11 September 2016)

Thank you to all who attended the Guest Speaker and Board Meeting on Wednesday 7th September. Matt Eakin gave a great presentation that you can access under Member Login/ Video Meetings on this website.

This is Basic Education & Literacy Month and I believe the comments below are very relevant  and explain the power of the Rotary Youth Exchange program to change lives and the world.

 

Making peace, one exchange student at a time

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Belgian Exchange Student Marcellin Niset in Alaska

Belgian Exchange Student Marcellin Niset in Alaska

By Marcellin Niset, Rotary Youth Exchange Student from Belgium to Alaska

The Italian-American author and actress Vanna Bonta wrote, “There’s no hospitality like understanding.” That quote stuck with me as a Rotary Youth Exchange student to Alaska in 2015-16. I arrived in Alaska, a wilderness filled with beauty and love, determined to make my exchange purposeful and beneficial for myself, my host community, and the world.

An exchange is not only about a student going abroad, it is about all the people who make this exchange possible, and the ones that are impacted, directly and indirectly.

Niset addresses a Rotary club.

Niset is using his exchange year as an opportunity to promote tolerance and respect.

I come from a small village in rural Belgium and the exchange is a unique chance to accomplish something bigger than myself. To be selected as an ambassador for Rotary and my country meant being the custodian of national values and beliefs.

Sometimes, the mission was easy. I brought happiness to people by making countless Belgian waffles. I presented facts about my homeland to my host club and community. But going deeper, and sharing what makes people from my country unique, explaining why we think and behave differently, without judging, is harder. There is not just one way to do things, and one way isn’t better than another, just different.

At my first orientation with the other exchange students in Alaska, our coordinator told us that the Rotary Youth Exchange motto was to “Make peace in the world, one student at a time.” I only understood the real meaning of this sentence later in my exchange.

Terrorist attack

On 22 March, Belgium became the target of a terrorist attack. I saw the last place I had been in my country, the airport, blown up by people who didn’t understand differences. I saw a symbol of globalization exploded and my beliefs harmed. I had a friend from France, two from Indonesia, one from Germany. All of them felt the weight of terrorism. It oppresses you, makes you fearful, sad, and angry.

How in a world interconnected, multicultural, and full of exchange students, can terrorist attacks still happen?

But then it suddenly made sense to me why I was on exchange at this time. I realized how I could explain the values my country stands for, and show how Rotary members and exchange students can work together to help solve the world’s problems. Rotary members already have a drive to change the world. Exchange students promote tolerance and respect.

Thanks to my exchange, I had the opportunity to share my values, my beliefs, my identity. I try to make the world stronger, one speech at a time, and am inspired to strive for greater things.

This is the power of Rotary Youth Exchange. And it can be the pride of Rotary, too.

Learn more about exchange opportunities through Rotary

President’s Comment – 4 Sep 16 (5 September 2016)

Reminder – Board meeting & Guest speaker – MATTHEW Eakin

On Wednesday 7th September at 7.00pm EST. All welcome to attend but you need to contact me at johnroberson@bigpond.com by 12.00 noon Wednesday 7th if you want to be sent the email with the link to the GoToMeeting

Co-Chief Mountaineer and International Representative

Matt grew up in country Australia, approximately 300kms from Sydney. He first visited the Australian snowy mountains when he was 7, from then on he was hooked and began travelling and vigorously exploring mountains everywhere. This continued throughout the completion of his University Studies, graduating with a bachelor of Commerce and Law. He then began work as a tax solicitor while he pursued his passion part time. His love for adventure has seen him travel all over the world avidly pursing his sporting interests – trail running, rafting, trekking, climbing, paragliding, mountaineering, mountain biking and snow skiing. His love of adventure was so strong he attempted to become a full time professional athlete, being sponsored by an international shoe company. He also became preliminary talks to establish an adventure company in Australia, which was not to be. It was on a fateful trip to Nepal in 2009 to explore more mountains and culture that he met Prakash. They instantly bonded over their mutual love of Nepal – her people, her mountains and her culture. Matt particularly loves the spiritual and peaceful experiences that result from all these aspects together, in particular being in the high mountains. His goal with Hike Himalaya Adventure (“HHA”) is simple, share these experiences and feelings of what it is like being in the mountains with others – the high altitude, the humility of the mountains, engaging with the mountains and the healthy lifestyle of being outdoors. Matt has spent much time undertaking expeditions throughout the Himalaya’s and broader Nepal since first arriving and especially enjoys the Annapurna region. His latest expedition in March 2013 involved running the trails up to and around the Annapurna Base Camp region and surrounding lower peaks. During a two week period at altitude he ascended some net 17,000 vertical meters.

Whilst Matt vigorously pursues physical activities in Nepal he is equally interested in exploring the spiritual and cultural side. He has recently undertaken a 10 day Buddhist sit meditation and would like to explore similar experiences further

Importantly, Matt is also passionate about ensuring HHA supports and benefits local people, currently focusing on the Dhading region of Nepal where Prakash is from. HHA aims to achieve this by working with communities to establish sustainable community projects. This has involved teacher training, dental health initiatives and building programs. Finally, when Matt isnt mountaineering crazy and exciting expeditions in the Himalayas he is found running trails, riding his mountain bike or skydiving.

Posted by DG Michael Milston FOR Basic Education & Literacy Month

 “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free” – Frederick Douglass
This month when we can think about the reasons why we give such emphasis to basic education and literacy in our work serving humanity. Sometimes, what we think of as self-evident truths, require a review to ensure we have sound reasoning and therefore our efforts can help bring about change.
Now you may have an education background, and then again you may find the following very interesting. Did you know that:
“The brain is the only organ that is not fully formed at birth. During the first three years, trillions of connections between brain cells are being made. A child’s relationships and experiences during the early years greatly influence how their brain grows” [Zero to Three, in its booklet titled ‘Getting Ready for School Begins at Birth’].
So these very early months and years are most important for learning. Many of us in the developed world take learning for granted, but in fact it was not always so. Over the generations parents have been encouraged to read to their child, sing with them and play. But how does an illiterate parent read to their child? And how does the family in poverty afford a book or an education?
And of course there are many other influences; these have been summarized by the Victorian Government in their publication – ‘Making the most of childhood: the importance of the early years’ 2010 – as follows…
Children’s development and learning are affected by:
  • influences within themselves – their genetic inheritance, temperament, gender, and health
  • influences within the family – family relationships, parenting styles and values, the family’s financial situation, parents’ level of education, parents’ occupation, and parents’ physical and mental health
  • influences within the community – children’s services (both availability and quality), support for parenting, housing (both quality and security of tenure), safety and crime in the neighbourhood, unemployment levels and the general feeling of trust among the residents
  • influences within their culture – with different cultures marked by differences in parenting styles, beliefs and values, and different views on how children should be educated.
Rotarians in our District have understood the needs of our communities for many years. And the focus on literacy is often supported from the very beginning, with projects (as recently publicised by the Rotary Club of Wagga Wagga) to give every new-born a book for mum to read to them.
Consequences of failing to effectively improve literacy
Of course, we all recognise that when poverty is involved it is much harder to ensure the necessary early childhood learning practices. In a US study it was concluded:
“A large body of research continues to document the negative effects of poverty on children and their later life outcomes. Children growing up in poverty complete less schooling, work and earn less as adults, are more likely to receive public assistance, and have poorer health. Boys growing up in poverty are more likely to be arrested as adults and their female peers are more likely to give birth outside of marriage. [Poverty And Education: Finding The Way Forward by Richard J. Coley and Bruce Baker, 2013 Educational Testing Service, USA].
And then “there is … research indicating that high crime rates are typically concentrated in small geographical areas characterised by structural disadvantage, including low economic status, poverty, segregation, a high proportion of single parent families, residential instability and a large proportion of racial/ethnic minority groups” [T.Allard, A. Chrzanowski and A. Stewart Targeting crime prevention: Identifying communities that generate chronic and costly offenders quoted in Rethinking Justice – Vulnerability Report 2016, Australian Red Cross].
The importance of this education and literacy therefore starts from the day we are born for that’s when the foundations for the future are laid, and when we begin moving down the path that will take us through childhood, the teenage years and ultimately into adulthood.
The importance of the early years is now well known throughout Australia and the rest of the world. These years are a time when the brain develops and much of its ‘wiring’ is laid down. The experiences and relationships a child has, plus nutrition and health, can actually affect this enormously. Positive experiences help the brain to develop in healthy ways.
Rotary Clubs have been providing important support over many years. And it is emerging now that in our local early childhood learning space – preschools and childcare centres – that children are learning the Wiradjuri language. This development is doubly important as it provides the Aboriginal child with a connection to and validation of their culture, and for the non-Aboriginal child it opens there thinking to understanding diversity and their place in it. The examples of these language practices are evident in Wagga Wagga and Orange, and quite likely in other communities in Wiradjuri country.
So What do children need to support learning in the early years?
They need:
  • adults who help them to stay safe and healthy
  • positive caring relationships that are ongoing – the most important factor in supporting a child’s learning. All children need people, or at least one person, who believe in them, care for them, and want to support them as learners. Children do some of their most powerful learning from copying what people around them do, so it is important that they are with adults who are learners themselves
  • adults who appreciate the uniqueness of each child, and who respect and respond to the child’s feelings, needs and interests
  • help to learn to control their behaviour and patient teaching about what behaviour is accepted
  • opportunities to ‘be in the world doing things’. Children need to be actively involved in meaningful experiences
  • books to look at and read, stories to listen to and people with whom to have conversations. Loving language and books makes a great and strong start to developing a wide vocabulary and literacy skills
  • time to really get involved and build relationships with other children and adults
  • a group experience – this might be a playgroup, a childcare or occasional care centre, a family day care home, a kindergarten program, school or outside school hours care
Information in this Conversation was sourced from:
Getting Ready for School Begins at Birth Zero to Three, Washington, DC.
Making the most of childhood: the importance of the early years, State of Victoria (Department of Education and Early Childhood Development) October 2010
President’s Comment – 28 Aug 16 (28 August 2016)

Some of our new members have requested an explanation of their access to Rotary websites.

First and foremost is our own Club website where we meet and communicate with each other. This can be reinforced with personal email messages, Facebook messages and phone conversations. In addition we propose to hold some face to face meetings of our members in when we are in someone’s locality. If your username or password do not work please contact me.

DG Michael Milston has introduced his District Governor Communications format for this Rotary year. His objective is to allow you to consider each piece of information and decide if it tweaks your interest and you want to read on, or if not then you delete it. To achieve this, each bulletin will mainly be single topic focussed. So how will it work?

He will be sending out, by email, regular short “tweets” in a bulletin format called “Quick News“; a (probably monthly) “Conversations” bulletin which will look at thoughts and ideas around the monthly Rotary theme; and finally, but not least, a regular (probably monthly too) “What’s On” bulletin (see read more link below).

All these bulletins will, where there is more information available, refer by linking, back to the D9700 website. All these bulletins will be sent to your registered email address. Needless to say I welcome any feedback, contributions, comments, and thoughts.

There will also be other items of interest to Rotarians and others on the D9700 website also know as ClubRunner, so do make a point of checking the site. Some of the bulletin stories above will also be on the Home Page. All Rotary Club members can login using their email address that they use for our E-Club. If you do not have or cannot remember your password  click on the link at the bottom of the login page.

Clubs have been asking for sometime about how they can use the web site for getting information to you and other Rotarians. The “What’s On” is an attempt to moderate this desire to tell the District Rotarians of these Clubs’ fundraising, social, and project endeavors.
Your Club can already put events onto the D9700 web site Calendar; so those items will be included in the “What’s On” and if you something also included, you will need to send the following information to our District Bulletin Editor, Ian Davison caa@countryad.com.au :
  • Type of activity (eg fundraising event, raffle, stall, etc)
  • Title of the activity
  • Purpose of the activity (support children/adults/etc improve/learn/ etc etc)
  • Dates
  • Location
  • Club involved
  • Contact details (for more info, buy tickets, name, email, landline or mobile); links to your Club’s website where there is more information would be the best for you to get your message across.

The other website that all Rotarians can login on is the Rotary International site at: https://www.rotary.org/en .  This website is for the public but all active Rotary members can go to MyRotary and login to access a lot of information on Rotary. You will need to quote your Rotary Club and your Rotary International ID number. If you do not have this please ask our Club Secretary to email your number to you.

You will note that you are identified as  a member of your Rotary Club and you can look up any donations you have made to the Rotary Foundations. You can subscribe to newsletters from any of the various Action Groups, Committees or interest groups that can be accessed from here. You also have access to the International Directory that lists all Clubs worldwide, their meeting place and date, their executive contact details  so that you can organise to visit them or contact them to carry out a mutual project together.

It is on the Rotary International website that YOU begin to feel part of an extremely large and effective organisation serving humanity.

President’s Comment – 21 Aug 16 (21 August 2016)

Thank you to all six members who have submitted their member surveys. I will contact the remaining four by email who still have to submit.

Attendance by some members has been excellent. I encourage all members to log on to our website regularly and record their attendance an learn more about Rotary.

Pic 1

August is Membership Month, a time to celebrate your club, your members, and the good you do in your community and around the world! Many people join Rotary to serve others locally and globally. Rotary allows members to make a difference while promoting fellowship and international understanding.

We offer many programs that allow you to engage with fellow members and make new connections outside your club and district. Here are just a few ways to get more involved:

Youth Service recognizes the importance of empowering youth and young professionals. Read how Rotaract clubs are building stronger communities through sustainable service projects.

President’s Comment – 14 Aug 16 (14 August 2016)

This is an inspiring story that offers hope in a community that has been subjected to  extreme horrors in the recent past. Rotary does some marvellous work!

African youth construct kitchen gardens for genocide survivors

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Rotaractors take part in clean up

Rotaractors and guests clean up and create kitchen gardens in the village of Kinyinya, Rwanda.

By Peter King Oloo, a member of the Rotaract Club of Kie, Rwanda

Nearly 140 Rotaractors and guests from across the East African countries of Tanzania, Burundi, Kenya and Uganda gathered in Rwanda on 26 March to participate in the monthly cleaning exercise in Rwanda called Umuganda.

The Rotaractors, through their award-winning annual project called REACT (Rotaract East Africa Impact), had organized a project to construct kitchen gardens and raise funds for medical insurance. Both these activities were geared toward helping the community of the 1994 Rwanda genocide survivors who were resettled in Kinyinya village in Kigali.

REACT-Fast-factsThese survivors were resettled under the Peace and Hope Initiative. We sought to carry out a project with some guests that would be sustainable and enable the people at this community to feed themselves for longer term.

The community was trained with practice to construct kitchen gardens in tight spaces and to balance their diet. By the end of the project, 50 kitchen gardens had been constructed.

Miss Rwanda 2016, Miss Jolly Mutesi, joined us and implored the young girls at the center to be hard workers and make wise choices. She told stories of girls who had listened to the promises of boys in the village, and then found themselves alone once they became pregnant.

We raised 500,000 Rwandan Francs for medical insurance, enough to cover 167 individuals for a year. The project was hosted by the Rotaract Club of Kigali City and the Rotaract Club of KIE and was the fourth annual REACT project after Uganda (2013), Burundi (2014) and Kenya (2015). The 2017 leg will be held in Tanzania and its concept is in development.

President’s Comment – 7 Aug 16 (8 August 2016)

This is Membership Month

Why don’t you invite a friend to join our Club? This may be the opportunity that some of your friends have been looking for. Please view the video below it may inspire you. Let see if we can get some more members.

Video on Membership – RIP John Germ

Through the Rotary community, you can exchange ideas and build lifelong friendships with like-minded people. Take advantage of the resources and activities available through your club, district, and Rotary International to make your experience with Rotary both rewarding and fun.

How do I start?

Get the most out of your membership by participating in club projects and activities.

Here are some ideas:

  • Serve on a club committee where you can use your skills
  • Identify a need in your community and suggest a hands-on project to address it
  • Work with a youth service program sponsored by your club, such as or
  • Host a student
  • Help organize your district’s programs
  • Recommend a colleague or friend for membership in your club

 A Fresh Approach

Give your members a meaningful Rotary experience by offering them opportunities to make a positive difference and connect with others. They’ll make valuable friendships and feel good about Rotary and the work we’re doing to make the world a better place.

Find ideas to help your club take a fresh approach with these resources:

President’s Comment – 31 Jul 16 (1 August 2016)

Thank you to all those members who have completed the Member survey and recorded your attendances. It would appear that most of the Club is starting to attend online as we intended. I will record your suggestions to the Club in  a future comment so that we can all consider the ideas put forward.

I think that the article below does not apply to most Australian Rotarians as we are known for getting our hands dirty and doing a bit of manual labour to achieve our goals. We have a reputation of volunteering to run BBQ’s to raise money for our projects. I think we operate as a third class, grass roots organisation in Australia.

So much is achieved by doing it yourself and motivating those around you. Please read on:

Are you willing to be third class, and serve?

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Tiffany and baseball players

Tiffany Ervin with participants in a special needs baseball league her club sponsors.

By Tiffany Ervin, past president of the Rotary Club of Four Seasons – Hendersonville, North Carolina, USA

In the days of the American wild west, if you wanted to travel a great distance, you had to go by stagecoach and it was a very long trip. There were three different classes of passengers – first, second, and third class. The seats were all the same, but the prices were different. Here’s why…

  • First class meant you remained seated during the entire trip, no matter what happened or what conditions might be faced.
  • Second class meant you remained seated until there was a problem along the way, when you had to exit the stagecoach and walk alongside.
  • But third class passengers not only exited when there was a problem, they were also the ones who had to fix a broken wheel or even push the stagecoach along, through the mud, up the hills, no matter what came along.

So I began thinking about this when it comes to our involvement in Rotary. Let me ask you – what class ticket do you hold?

Pampered, or detached?
Too many of us hold first class tickets – we expect to be waited on and catered to – even pampered! We’re willing to ride, but not push. We just sit back and let the others do the work.

But there are also those in our organization who hold second class tickets – detached spectators who show up but don’t want to get too involved. Their name goes on the roster, they even include their membership on their resume…but that’s about it.

“Is success really remaining seated while others get out and push, or is it getting your hands and feet dirty? Is success being served or serving others?”

But thankfully, there are also a few who are willing to hold third class tickets – willing to get out and push when the going gets tough.

We tend to equate first class with privilege – exempt from doing any work. But is success really remaining seated while others get out and push, or is it getting your hands and feet dirty? Is success being served or serving others?

What it means to be third class
Third class ticket holders have a heart for service. They don’t mind working behind the scenes. They are people who have made a conscious decision to get involved or join an organization whose entire reason for existence is to change the world! They are people who are willing to get out and push!

If we just sit in our first class seat and expect everyone else to get behind and push, what will happen to Rotary? We’ll never reach our goals – to end polio, to prevent other diseases, to bring about world peace – every organization in the world already has too many first class passengers. We’re looking for a few more third class passengers!

What are you willing to do? Are you willing to be a leader instead of a spectator? Are YOU willing to be a third class passenger?

NEXT BOARD MEETING

WILL YOU BE ATTENDING THE GoToMeeting –  Wednesday 3 August at 7.30pm EST

ALL WELCOME