M. J. B.
26 July 2007
interview
Port Louis — What is Rotary?
Rotary clubs have two main roles. They are associations of professional and business leaders in their fields, who meet once a week for fellowship and to share their expertise and the benefits they enjoy with future professionals and less fortunate people.
How did it all start? The world's first service club, the Rotary Club of Chicago, in the US was formed in 1905 by Paul P. Harris, a lawyer who wished to recapture in a professional club the same friendly spirit of the small towns of his youth. The name "Rotary" derived from the early practice of rotating meetings among members' offices. Rotary's popularity spread throughout the US. The Rotary Club of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, became the first outside the US to be officially chartered in 1912. By 1921, there were Rotary clubs on six continents and the organisation became Rotary International (RI) a year later. Today, 1,2 million Rotarians belong to 32,000 Rotary clubs in about 200 countries.
As Rotary grew, its mission expanded beyond serving professional and social interests, Rotarians began pooling their resources and contributing their talents to help needy communities. The organisation's dedication is best expressed in its principal motto, "Service above Self".
Involvement in the founding of the UN and Unesco
During and after World War II, Rotarians became involved in promoting international understanding. In 1945, 49 Rotary members served in 29 delegations to the United Nations Charter Conference in San Francisco, helping to define the UN Charter. Rotary still participates in UN conferences through observers to major meetings and promoting the UN in Rotary publications. Rotary International's relationship with the Unesco dates from a 1943 London Rotary conference that promoted cultural and educational exchanges. Attended by world ministers of Education and observers, and chaired by a past president of RI, it was one of the catalysts to the founding of Unesco in 1946.
The Rotary Foundation
An endowment fund, set up by Rotarians in 1917 "for doing good in the world", became a non-profit corporation known as The Rotary Foundation in 1928. Upon the death of Paul Harris in 1947, an outpouring of Rotarian donations in his honour, totalling US$2 million, launched the Foundation's first programme. Today, contributions to The Rotary Foundation total more than US$80 million annually and support a wide range of humanitarian grants and educational programmes that enable Rotarians to bring hope and promote international understanding.
The fight to eradicate polio
In 1985, Rotary made a historic commitment to immunise the world's children against polio. Working in partnership with NGOs and governments through its PolioPlus programme, Rotary is the largest private-sector contributor to the global polio eradication campaign. Rotarians have mobilised thousands of PolioPlus volunteers and immunised more than one billion children worldwide. Rotarians have contributed more than US$600 million to polio eradication in 122 countries. The fight continues as there are still pockets of infection in a few countries.
Other international programmes
As it approached the 21st century, Rotary worked to meet the changing needs of society, expanding its efforts to such pressing issues as environmental degradation, illiteracy, hunger and children at risk.
Rotary worldwide
Rotary has clubs around the world but it has sometimes been viewed with suspicion by totalitarian or undemocratic governments. First Rotary clubs were chartered in Budapest, Hungary, and Poland in 1989 and in 1990 the Rotary Club of Moscow became the first in the new Russia. Each Rotary club is independent and decides on its programmes and functioning. When a new club is proposed or formed, it must meet certain criteria before receiving a Charter and joining the world-wide movement.
Women in Rotary
Originally reserved to men, the organisation admitted women in 1989 and has more than 145,000 women members. In Mauritius, some clubs maintain their traditional format as an association of professional men, whilst others are mixed clubs, including Phoenix, which this year has a woman president in Ghislaine Perovic, and Port Louis Citadelle, whose Martine de Fleuriot is an Assistant District Governor. There is a similar organisation to Rotary for women professionals, called Soroptomists International, and 30 countries, including Mauritius, have clubs affiliated to Soroptomists International of Great Britain and Ireland.
Rotary values
Rotary is a values-based organisation and Rotarians are expected to adhere to a strong code of ethics, called The 4-Way Test, which has been translated into hundreds of languages.
The Four-Way Test
From the earliest days, Rotarians were concerned with promoting high professional standards. One of the world's most widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics is The Four-Way Test, created in 1932 by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor (who later served as RI president) when he had to take charge of a company facing bankruptcy. This 24-word test for employees to follow in their business and professional lives became the guide for sales, production, advertising, and all relations with dealers and customers, and the survival of the company is credited to this simple philosophy. Adopted by Rotary in 1943, The Four-Way Test has been translated into a hundred languages and published in thousands of ways. It asks the following four questions of things we think, say or do:
1. Is it the truth?
2. Is it fair to all concerned?
3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
The Rotary Year
Each year, Rotary International has a President to lead and represent the organisation worldwide. In 2007-2008, he is Wilfrid J Wilkinson of the Rotary Club of Trenton, Ontario, in Canada. The RI President chooses an annual theme, which is currently "Rotary Shares" (Rotary, Le Partage). Given its size, Rotary is divided into Districts, with a District Governor and his/her Assistants. Mauritius belongs to District 9220, which includes clubs in Seychelles, Reunion, Madagascar, Mayotte, Comoros and Djibouti. Each club has a President for each year, from July to June. July is thus the month when clubs have their Induction dinners (called Charter nights) when the new president takes up office. It is very busy with internal matters.
Visit of the District Governor
As part of his/her role, the District Governor visits all clubs in the District during his year in office, to exchange ideas, satisfy himself that each club is run effectively and offer his advice. This year's Governor for District 9220 is Christian Fuard from Madagascar. He and his wife, Maria, were in Mauritius in May, for the District Conference and they will be back next week, for the first of the Governor's official visits to clubs.
Rotary in action on MBC2
In coming issues, our focus will be on what local Rotary clubs are doing in the community but, to get a foretaste, readers can tune into MBC2 on Monday evenings, when rounds from the recent Brains Trust competition are shown. The Brains Trust competition has been run for years by the Rotary Club of Port Louis, to encourage senior secondary students to learn the arts of public speaking and how to present an argument for or against a specified subject.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2007 L'Express. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
