President's Message - Sept. 16, 2009

So I'm reading the paper looking for inspiration for this message and instead I find despair. A desperate man in Viet Nam feeds his family by (illegally) gathering scrap metal to sell to recyclers. The metal he gathers is unexploded ordnance, bombs and mines it seems, that so litters the land in his region, much of it cannot be farmed. Farmers and their children are frequently killed or injured by accidental encounters with these items. Our desperate scrap recycler lost two older brothers to these bombs, and on August 1 he lost his hands to an explosion while dismantling a bomb for the metal that would feed his wife and kids. One can only imagine how that family will survive in this country that has little if any social safety net. What we have is a war that has ostensibly been over for 35 years and it is still killing and maiming peo-ple. I for one despair that we will ever achieve a level of human understanding that will overcome our need for war. But, there is hope you know. In that same newspaper there is mention of the September 29 Peace Summit be-ing held at the Orpheum by the Dalai Lama's foundation. A gathering of many of the worlds influential thinkers putting forth ideas to foster human understanding and ultimately, PEACE! Finally, we, as Rotarians, can and do contribute in our own way. The fourth object of Rotary is, "The advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service". Our international projects, ambassadorial scholarships, Paul Harris contributions, Polio eradication projects, and other humanitarian works, all work to achieving our Rotarian objectives and they do provide the world and me with that ray of hope. I encourage you all to support Rotary as best you can, be it time, or effort, or money, as best you can. The Rotary works you support can provide a ray of hope for the end of war and the pain it keeps on giving. So keep doing and giving. I think it is worth it…………don't you? Thanks for listening, Ron