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Warm greetings from Bangkok, where the sun shines brightly and brings forth great heat! Well, the past 4 days have flown by as I've been part of this distinguished group of 35,000 Rotarians who have all reached within to embrace humanity. My heart has been warmed so many times during many "aha" moments and honors. One of my many highlights was the honor of getting the above picture taking with our incoming Rotary International President, Sakuji Tanaka from Japan, during the President Elect ticketed luncheon on Tuesday. He will be our "RI" President during my Club President year this coming July through June of 2012- all Presidents serve only a 12 month term.
Here are a few other highlights from the convention:
- Bill Gates shared a televised message to our convention, commending Rotary for its efforts over the past 25 years in raising over $8 Billion with partnerships to reach more than 2.5 billion children in 122 countries with the oral polio vaccine. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation successfully challenged Rotary to a $200 Million challenge in the "End Polio Now" campaign, and their foundation gave $355 Million towards the cause. They see Rotary as one of the best run non-profits in the world, and it's an honor for them to recognize and give to Rotary in such a huge way. Thanks to Rotary and its partners, the world has seen polio cases plummet by more than 99 percent, preventing five million instances of child paralysis and 250,000 deaths. When Rotary began its eradication work, polio infected more than 350,000 children annually. In 2009, fewer than 1,700 cases were reported worldwide. It is easy for Americans to take for granted we aren't worried about polio, because Rotary helped eradicate it in our country 20 + years ago. However, the fear is, until polio is entirely eradicated, it could just be a plane ride away from another part of the world to come back to the US, where children are no longer being immunized.
- We are "This Close", on the brink of polio eradication and now down to the last 1% in the world: Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan are the only countries left, as India just celebrated being polio free on January 13th, 2012 with no reported cases in over 1 year. When the Indian prime minister announced this momentous television, he cited Rotary specifically as the reason why this amazing feat came true. Today, we have the lowest # of kids with polio we have ever had in the world. All that stands in our way now are political and social barriers, and there is great confidence that Rotary has proven again and again that they are better than most NGO's with convincing political leaders and parents the value and benefit of polio eradication. The Nigerian President recently publicly committed $30 Million in domestic funds every year until polio is eradicated. Rotary's positive influence has been immeasurable! As one speaker cited, "Rotary's voice is the most powerful weapon we have at this point in successfully eradicating polio." More info. on Rotary's polio efforts can be found here: http://www.rotary.org/en/EndPolio/Pages/learn.aspx
- There were so many amazing booths at the House of Friendship to learn more about Rotary sponsored projects. ShelterBox, a grassroots disaster relief organization supported by Rotary clubs around the world, provides boxes that contain a tent, blankets, water purification and cooking equipment, basic tools, and other necessities to help a family of 10 survive for six months.
- Hugh Evans, a 29 year old Australian, and CEO and Founder of Global Poverty Project (GPP), gave a most motivational speech at our convention. He shared how his social entrepeneurial spirit was brought to life during a stay in the Philippines when he was 14. He lived with his host family in a tent in a Manila slum built on a garbage dump. He couldn't sleep all night as he laid on the dirt ground with the stench of sewage and cockroaches crawling all over the family of 7 where he was staying. This brought him to a new level of consciousness to fight poverty, and by age 20 he set up a poverty campaign which included illuminating the sails of the Sydney Opera House for several days with faces of poverty, and a globally broadcast concert featuring U2's Bono. Tha campaign helped persuade the Australian government to commit to increasing the nation's foreign aid budget 40,000% (!) to $4B for aid in global poverty. Hugh's latest project is around "1.4 Billion Reasons". There are 1.4 Billion people today who live in extreme poverty and survive on the equivalent of US $1.25 per day. He is collecting 1.4 Billion reasons why extreme poverty can end. He has also spearheaded fundraisers, where participants try to eat $1.25 of food each day for 5 days, and so far 10,000 people have participated raising more than $1.6 MM. More info. can be found here: http://www.globalpovertyproject.com/pages/presentation. Hugh closed his speech by saying "we are not asking for your money, we are asking for your action". He asked us all to send letters to our government officials to help stop poverty and take action. Bravo Hugh, I for one am sure glad you're on the planet.
- United Nations Foundation Special Advisor Gillian Sorensen shared fascinating insights to the strong bond Rotary and the UN has. She shared that "Rotary embodies the ideals of leadership and service", and that there is a sense of common purpose between Rotary and the UN. While the UN represents a community of countries working for a better world, Rotary in essence strives for this similarly through the grassroots/club level. "This is where idealism and realism meet", the intersection of Rotary and the UN. Rotary pre-dated the UN in 1905 to 1945 when the UN started, and Rotary was the largest credited NGO (Non Governmental Organization) in helping to sset up the UN. Rotary was 1 of 42 initial "charter" NGO's in 1945, and is now 1 of over 4,000 NGO's. Over 1,000 Rotarians attend the annual "Rotary Day" at the UN. Rotary has a permanent representative at the UN not only in New York but internationally at UN offices. Gillian shared that "Rotary is a peaceful army, which both advocates and activists. Rotary has been and will be the UN's respectful partner."
- Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Muhammad Yunus from Eastern Bengal shared his incredible "reverse" business model and how he reversed conventional bank principles to aid people in microcredit opportunities. He shared how microcredit is both very tiny and very powerful, and becomes a huge, big thing when many do it together. He shared how "I am a discoverer. I try do things I know nothing about. And not knowing has been my big advantage." 30 plus years ago, during visits to very poor households in Jobra, he discovered that very small loans (without profiting interest like the banks do) could make an enormous difference in people's lives. He reversed the bank principle of "go to the rich", and instead his principle was "go to the poor". Instead of having customers to the bank, he went to them. He now has 3.8 MM borrowers in Bangladesh, and 97% are women. His company, Grameen bank, is owned by poor people. They lend $1.5 Billion annually, and there is no legal paperwork (1 cost barrier elimination example), just simply a handshake. He joked that Grameen bank is the only bank in the world that is lawyer free. They now have 4 branches in New York City, and 9,000 women have loaned on average $1500 their first time, and the repayment rate has been 99%. (!) They are now opening further branches across the US. Muhammed challenged us to consider why are people poor. He believes that poverty is not created by poor people, but created by the system. To change poverty, we must change the system. 2/3 of people in the world do not do business with traditional banks because they don't have the money for collateral. Grameen Bank is changing this reality. They are working with business partners, like Adidas who will sell shoes for under 1 Euro if people are walking barefoot. This helps them avoid being exposed to preventable disease. They are also working with Danone in Bangladesh, where 46% of the people are malnourished, and they are fortifying nutrition in its yogurt adn selling it at a nominal price.
- Born in Benin, Angelique Kidjo is a UNICEF Ambassador and Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter. She has had an amazing story to get to where she is today. She shared how less than 1% of all African women own their own businesses, She talked about growing up in a society where girls were not valued equally. She was 1 of 10 kids, and her father faced societal pressures to pull his girls out of school. To which he aptly responded "my daughters are not merchandise, they deserve to go to school and then they will be free." Angelique credits her access to education and good health care access to the reasons why she is successful today. She has now founded the Batonga Foundation, which gives girls access to secondary school and higher education so they may take lead roles in changing Africa.
- Last but not least, one of my most grateful highlights was spending time throughout the Rotary convention with various Rotary friends, and most importantly with Chris, the most supportive husband I could ever dream of having. He was always there by my side with a patient smile and hand to hold, actively engaging and reflecting with me, meeting friends new and old, and yes, even buying his latest Rotary African dashiki shirt pictured above...few can pull that off as well as he can with his love and passion for Africa! Thank you Chris for your unconditonal support of my continued Rotary journey!
