Sawatdee Kah, as the Thai's say, hello! I enjoyed attending the Opening Plenary Rotary conference on Sunday, and these 2 little Thai gems made my day.
There were many great memorable moments to the session, including a visit by her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn Walailak Akra Rajakumari. Then there was a flag ceremony, consisting of 178 flags being presented from over 200 countries where Rotary exists. Although there are different cultures and beliefs, we all share one common vision of Service Above Self. Our countries' flags represent peace, honor, truth, justice, freedom, and the wondrous kaleidiscope of color represents Rotary coming together for goodwill, peace, and understanding to embrace humanity throughout the world. Rotary expanded this year to 3 new countries: Republic of South Sudan, Bhutan, and Nauru. I had goosebumps as each country was named with its flag and Rotarians from each country would cheer. What an amazing experience to have our own "Mini-UN" in one room with one common humanitarian vision. (I'm standing in front of the stage after all the flags were presented.)
Then, Rotary Intl current president Kalyan Banerjee (our headquarters nominates a new volunteer President each year for the overall organization just like we do at the club level) gave his address. This year's Rotary theme has been "Reach Within To Embrace Humanity", and he believes we have done amazing things in that regard at the individual, club level, where Rotary holds its true strength. He encouraged us to "be the change you want to see in your world: whosoever saves 1 life, saves the world, and whoever reaches in to embrace humanity will change the world". From Nigerian Rotary Clubs having a successful Eye Institute clinic with over 10,000 surgeries to help the blind see, to Italian Rotary clubs rebuilding a University destroyed by an earthquake, from welcoming Shelterbox as our first Rotary partner which offers emergency shelter and life saving supplies (company founded by a UK Rotarian 12 years ago) to the Sao Paolo, Brazil Rotary club supporting more than 10,000 kids in after-school education programs, we have all made a difference.
Mr. Banerjee cited "1 + 1 = 11, not 2", and emphasized the strength Rotary has when we partner with others to make a huge impact. He also shared that prime ministers and government officials from various countries are proactively reaching out to Rotary for help in their various social needs. He told us that it is time to raise the public profile of Rotary, and that it's time to get the word out for people to know what we do. We need to reach out to young professionals and make Rotary welcoming and accessible to new generations to come. Social media and websites are all very important vehicles for future growth (Rotary's Facebook has 172,000 members with 1,000 more likes weekly), and we need to use both old and new ways to network. We are now using the "End Polio Now" logo worldwide, and we are are starting to better quantify how much money clubs are raising and keeping at the club/local level. It is estimated that our clubs raise over $1 Billion annually to give back to our communities! All of this was shared in English, with people wearing headsets all around us for interpreters in the following languages:
All in all, it was a pretty amazing "big picture" perspective into Rotary's accomplishments for the year and vision for the future. Not to mention the cultural melting pot one experiences in these sessions, walking in the ladies room, sitting down for a drink, heck even getting on the Sky Train (I exchanged contact information with a guy from India in my train car who is in logistics as a profession and traveling to Minnesota next year....small world, who knew!) And this was just the first day... We then were fortunate to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening with Rotarians from Zone 28 and 29 (US Midwest region primarily) and toured ancient Bangkok including Wat Pho, and ended with a dinner boat cruise. We enjoyed dinner with many familiar and new faces, including Dean Dickinson (far right), who is a Past District Governor Rotarian in my dad's downtown La Crosse Rotary Club, his wonderful daughter Marissa, and President Elect Cheryl from La Crosse Downtown. I had no idea a retired funeral director like Dean could be so heartfelt, passionate, AND have a great sense of humor! But then again, I haven't had dinner with any other funeral directors either...
