Rotary Shares

 

 

DG Jennifer Jones, PDG’s Roy Lancaster and Fred Sorrell, ADG Emil Houtteman, Distinguished members of the Boards of the Windsor Rotary Foundation Fund and the Rotary Club of Windsor (1918), Fellow Rotarians, Dear Friends & Guests and much loved family Dave, Edward, Rebecca, Jean Alexis, Mary and John

 

 

I have been a Rotarian since 1989 following in the footsteps of first ladies who joined this all male organization.   I have been coming to lunch with you, Rotarians, on Mondays for the last 18 years. You may be sitting there thinking that is a lot of time Shari – why?

Well, at first, it was a good way to connect my former employer MCSS with other business leaders in the city.

But then gradually I became infected /imbued with ideals of Rotary and that found a calling in my heart.

 

 

Rotary is the oldest international service club in the world with 1.2 Million members.  These members are spread all over the world in over 32,000 clubs that meet weekly with similar goals and interests.   Each of these clubs is encouraging high ethical standards in business and professions that give us the opportunity to serve society. We are united in the application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business and community life.  Rotarians are advancing international understanding, goodwill and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

 

 

Each of our clubs is unique in how it interprets the object/ideals of rotary.  This is what makes us so powerful.  Each club uses their time, their talent, and their resources to change outcomes for people of the world.

 

Where else can you sign up to go and administer polio plus immunization to children in 3^rd world countries and then next week be participating in a literacy project in your home community? The reach of each Rotary club is phenomenal. 

 

This tremendous reach of Rotary is why the theme for this year, Rotary Shares, is so inspiring.  As an International organization we share our resources through our Rotary International Foundation Fund.   Our International Foundation allows us to do extraordinary things for people.

 

Let me give you 3 examples from our club:

 

 Our club has initiated a multipurpose micro credit project in India, the first for our District 6400, where landless women, widows and marginal farmers are given heifers so that they can have milk to feed their family and to sell.  To supplement their Dairy Enterprise, we are providing a mobile veterinary service to ensure the health and the quality of the breed of Heifers.  The macro-impact of this project is – more income for the family, better nutrition, the development of a dairy industry in this district, rural banking through Self-Help-Groups and the reduction of underemployment.  These outcomes are a shining manifestation of the magic Mantra – Rotary Shares!

 

Secondly, Our club is playing a pivotal role in a health care-based Peace building program that is expected to begin in the coming months.  Our partners are Canadian Rotary Collaboration for International Development (CRCID), Canadian International Scientific Exchange Program (CISEPO), World Health Organization, University of Windsor,  Odette School of Business, Assumption University, the Rotary International Foundation Fund, seven Canadian Medical Schools, and many others.

 

This project had its beginnings with the Canadian International Scientific Exchange Program (CISEPO), which started with the premise of using cooperative healthcare training and education of young Palestinians and Israelis in Canada to build relationships and goodwill leading to peace building in the Middle East.  CISEPO now offers regular education and consultation to physicians in Israel, Palestinian Territories and Jordan who all work together and learn from each other using telehealth.

 

 

 

Our Windsor Rotary involvement began when Dr. Arnold Noyek, the Chair of Canadian International Scientific Exchange Program and physician at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, came to speak to our Rotary Club in January 2005 about the opportunity to grow the peace building initiative through Rotary involvement.  He connected with our World Community Service Committee and the pieces began to come together.

 

Thanks to our World Community Service’s initiative, the University of Windsor and Assumption University also got involved.  The geographic reach of the project has expanded beyond Israel and the Palestinian Territories to include Jordan, and ten countries in Africa. 

 

The scope of the project has also grown – to include satellite-based telehealth program delivery and communication to support the education of health workers and the delivery of health services to remote communities in these countries where health care is so desperately needed. 

 

 This will allow individuals in each of these countries to access health education programs right in or near their own communities.  The goal is to strengthen health professional workforces in communities so that the needed health care services can be delivered by their own citizens who fully understand the culture and health needs of the people they serve.

 

 Nearly every Canadian Medical School and Nursing faculty will potentially be accessed to provide the necessary expertise and consultation for these health professionals and students in these countries.  This project will also support health professionals in each country to design and deliver education programs so they can build and strengthen their health professional workforce and most importantly retain this workforce in their home communities. 

 

This will be accomplished with the help of Rotarians in Canada, the Middle East and Africa.  As the project unfolds, health professionals and young people from these countries may also have the opportunity to come to the University of Windsor to complete further, specialized education at the graduate level.

 

We are close to implementing this project as we eagerly await the announcement from the Canadian government. This is the miraculous essence of Rotary Shares. 

 

 

We have talked about health and hunger.  But what about hearts and souls of the world?

 

In India we are running an essay contest.  We are completing year 2 of a 5-year program aimed at children in grades 8 to 12. 

 

The topic of the essay is the Rotary 4 way test and how it applies to their lives. The 4 way test is behind me – is it the truth? Is it Fair to all concerned? Will it build good will and better friendships?  And will it be beneficial to all concerned? 

 

These are important values to inculcate into a population. Our project includes 28 Rotary Districts in India.  That means 2,500 Rotary Clubs and over 12,000 schools.  Through this massive organization we have 140 District and National Essay contest winners on a yearly basis. You can find their essays on our web site.  We want to touch the hearts of these children so that they become strong ethical adults.

 

Well, you are thinking, what about our needs at home?  The Rotary Club of Windsor does a lot in our home community. 

 

We fund physically challenged children and adults who are not eligible for assistance with some of their special needs.  We fund kids to go to camp. 

 

And through our own Foundation – The Rotary Club of Windsor Foundation Fund we were able to pledge ½ M$ to the Capital project of Maryvale Adolescent Home for Youth – a program aimed at suicidal and psychotic youth.  We also pledged 1M$ to the Capital project at John McGivney Centre a facility for physically challenged children.  We were also able to pay off the mortgage for the Children’s Safety Village in the amount of $36,000.  These are cherished organizations of this club.

 

 It is important that we keep The Rotary Club of Windsor Foundation Fund active and in people’s minds since capital projects are not funded by Rotary International’s Foundation.  I would like to say a sincere thanks to those wonderful people who have remembered our local Windsor Rotary Foundation Fund in their wills, in gifts and in monthly payments to keep it vibrant.

 

But what primes the local Rotary financial pump?  The brilliant work of the many Rotarians and friends who plan, implement and work at our wonderful fund raisers - Art in the Park, Children’s’ Fest and the many Bingos we run.  Without you, Rotarians and volunteers, many of these wonderful projects would not happen - Thank you.

 

These examples – micro economy, peacekeeping thru health, creating good business values, assisting physically challenged children, assisting children with mental health problems were - at the beginning - all one person’s dream on how the world could be changed. With the power of Rotary locally and Internationally they became a miraculous reality – this is our strength!

 

So this is why I am thrilled to be your President for 2007 -2008.  The power of our club dreaming a new reality – and we will continue to dream. We continue to reach out to people at home and abroad through the messages of kindness, hope, goodwill and peace.

 

We continue to dream about projects that support Rotary International’s emphasis on water, health, hunger and literacy.

 

With 18 M children to be orphaned by AIDS in Africa by the year 2010 we will have many opportunities to dream and thus to Share Rotary.

 

I would like to quote our International Rotary President Wilf Wilkinson.  He said, “In Rotary, sharing doesn’t mean giving away what you have to spare, what you don’t need for yourself.  Sharing means giving of yourself, selflessly, for the good of others.”

 

So I would ask each of you to share your skills, your time, your leadership abilities, your dedication and your resources to advance international understanding, goodwill and peace through a world fellowship. 

 

Be a Rotarian in name.  Be a Rotarian in your actions. Be a Rotarian in your heart.

 

May peace be with you and may your dreams be fulfilled.

Thank you