2019-20 RI president announces his presidential theme

Maloney, a member of the Rotary Club of Decatur, Alabama, USA, unveiled the 2019-20 presidential theme, Rotary Connects the World, to incoming district governors at Rotary’s annual training event, the International Assembly, in San Diego, California, USA, on Monday.

“The first emphasis is to grow Rotary — to grow our service, to grow the impact of our projects, but most importantly, to grow our membership so that we can achieve more,” Maloney said.

Maloney believes that connection is at the heart of the Rotary experience.

“(Rotary) allows us to connect with each other, in deep and meaningful ways, across our differences,” Maloney said. “It connects us to people we would never otherwise have met, who are more like us than we ever could have known. It connects us to our communities, to professional opportunities, and to the people who need our help.”

Maloney also called on every Rotary and Rotaract club to identify segments of their community not represented in their club by creating a membership committee with diverse members.  

“Through Rotary, we connect to the incredible diversity of humanity on a truly unique footing, forging deep and lasting ties in pursuit of a common goal,” he added. “In this ever more divided world, Rotary connects us all.”

Maloney urged leaders to offer alternative meeting experiences and service opportunities to make it easier for busy professionals and people with many family obligations to serve in leadership roles.

“We need to foster a culture where Rotary does not compete with the family, but rather complements it,” Maloney said. “That means taking real, practical steps to change the existing culture: being realistic in our expectations, considerate in our scheduling, and welcoming of children at Rotary events on every level.”

Maloney said many of the barriers that prevent people from serving as leaders in Rotary are based on expectations that are no longer relevant.

“It is time to adapt, to change our culture, and to convey the message that you can be a great district governor without visiting every club individually, and a great president without doing everything yourself.”

Relationship with the United Nations

During 2019-20, Rotary will host a series of presidential conferences around the world, focusing on Rotary’s relationship with the United Nations and the UN’s sustainable development goals that many Rotary service projects support. More information will be available in July.

In 2020, the United Nations will celebrate the 75th anniversary of its charter and its mission of promoting peace. Rotary was one of 42 organizations the United States invited to serve as consultants to its delegation at the 1945 San Francisco conference, which led to the UN’s charter. For decades, Rotary has worked alongside the United Nations to address humanitarian issues around the world. Today, Rotary holds the highest consultative status that the UN offers to nongovernmental organizations.

“Rotary shares the United Nations’ enduring commitment to a healthier, more peaceful, and more sustainable world,” Maloney said. “And Rotary offers something no other organization can match: an existing infrastructure that allows people from all over the world to connect in a spirit of service and peace and take meaningful action toward that goal.” 

RI President's Message - January 2019

Vocational service can be hard to define, but it is easy to describe: It is simply the point where our Rotary lives and our professional lives intersect. When we put our Rotary ideals to work through our work, that is vocational service.

When I returned to the Bahamas after many years working in health care administration abroad, I realized that my country badly needed a modern health care facility. The resources we had at the time were out of date and inadequate, and people who were unable to travel abroad for care often did not receive the care they needed. Without the experience I had gained in the United States, I could have done nothing to change the status quo. But since I did have that experience, I was in a unique position to have an impact. I knew I could turn my professional path to good and make a career out of improving Bahamian health care.

As Rotary became part of my journey, I discovered that the words of Paul Harris that became the basis of Rotary — that shared effort knows no limitations — were also true for my vocation. I could not bring modern health care to the Bahamas alone. But through partnership, both with the doctors who eventually became my partners in Doctors Hospital and with all the dedicated staff members who worked in the hospital over the years, we could change everything. My goal became a shared goal — and then it became reality.

Rotary emphasizes the dignity of every vocation and the worth of every calling. Remember that the four founding members included no doctors or peacemakers — just an attorney, a mining engineer, a coal dealer, and a printer. From the beginning, the diversity of those vocations gave Rotary a special strength. And that diversity is reflected in our classification system, which aims to ensure that each club represents the full range of businesses and professions that serve each community.

Paul Harris put it this way: "Each Rotarian is the connecting link between the idealism of Rotary and his trade or profession." It was true when he said it and should be equally true now. We only spend an hour or two a week at our Rotary meetings, but most of us spend most of our waking time at work. Through Rotary, those hours are also an opportunity for service: a chance to Be the Inspiration to those we work with, those who work for us, and the communities we serve.

Barry Rassin

President 2018-19

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The week starting 12^th February 2018, was a busy week for the vocational committee. There were three sets of career talks done in three different schools.

On Wednesday, 14^th February 2018 Rtn. Lenny Cumberbatch and Mrs. Joanne Cooper, a friend of Rotary gave career talks to Form Five students at the St. Joseph’s Convent on their respective careers. Rtn Lenny is the Food and Beverage Director at Windjammer Landing Resort and Mrs. Joanne Cooper is a Partner with the Chartered Accounting firm of PFK. The two were accompanied by PP Lisle Chase who introduced them and first spoke on Rotary and the core values that we uphold.  PP Lisle also introduced the Club’s signature project for this year which is Road Safety.  The students were impressive in attitude as they listened attentively to the topics on the agenda.

On Thursday 15th, PP Lisle accompanied Rtn Lenny once again and on this occasion, they linked up with PP Peter Douch from RC Wimborne, UK (formerly RC Saint Lucia South and RC Dominica) at the Entrepot Secondary school where they addressed the third form.  Lenny spoke on the value of hard work and dedication and Peter on the accounting profession.  Once again PP Lisle Introduced the values of Rotary and the Road Safety Project.

On Friday16th, Vocational Chair and Secretary Elect Trudy O. Glasgow, an attorney-at-law along with a friend of Rotary Dr. Judith Harvey, a civil engineer gave career talks in the Corinth Secondary school. This project is in its fourth year at the Corinth Secondary School, and every February the school counsellor, Ms. Tessa John-Guerra, reaches out to the Rotary Club of Gros Islet and invites members to give career talks. A warm reception from Form Three students, who were engaging and asked lots of questions, made the experience for the two ladies very enjoyable.

The Rotary Club of Gros Islet launches the inaugural Rotary Reading Club for students of the Gros Islet Infant and Primary Schools - The Reading Scholars Club.

With the 2017 - 2018 Rotary year well under way, The Rotary Club of Gros Islet continues to find innovative ways to make a difference in the communities that need help most. To this end, club members converged on the Gros Islet Primary School, and with the consent of parents and the school Principals, declared the Rotary Reading Club Project open. Following a brief but meaningful ceremony on Thursday September 14th 2017, twenty Five (25) students each from the Gros Islet Primary and Infant schools became members of the Reading Scholars Club. This means that weekly, Rotarians will take turns spending time with the children and cultivating in them the skill for and love of reading. Books for the event were donated by the Sandals Foundation, the charitable arm of Sandals resorts operating across the Caribbean.

This is one of many projects that will be implemented within these 2 schools over the next few months by Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Gros Islet.