District Governor Message | 09•01•2015

Dear Fellow Rotarians,

 

As I write this letter, Carla and I are in the midst of preparing to visit Haiti South.

 

For a period of time, we were uncertain whether we would actually get to go to Haiti as Tropical Storm Erika appeared to be headed directly for The Bahamas. Fortunately, it changed course and dissipated before it got to us. It did, however, affect BVI, USVI and Haiti. Thankfully, reports indicate that there was not much damage in any of our islands. Our friends in District 7030 were not so fortunate and I have reached out to them and offered our assistance. Rotarians, we are in the hurricane season and we need to be prepared. Each club should have a Disaster Relief Chair and you should report that name to the District Disaster Relief Chair, Eric “Busha” Clarke.  By doing so, we will be better able to coordinate our efforts and render assistance if a disaster strikes.

 

As I indicated earlier, we are on our way to Southern Haiti where we expect our wonderful experiences to continue. Since I last wrote, we visited the two clubs in Turks and Caicos as well as the 15 clubs of Jamaica Central, North East 1 & 2, South Central and South East. Even though some of the clubs were very small clubs, every club we visited was able to demonstrate the positive impact they had on their community. Equally as pleasing to us was the opportunity to meet with several Rotaract clubs and to spend time enjoying their youthful energy, enthusiasm and innovative ideas. I urge Rotarians to continue supporting our Youth organizations and to give them an opportunity to enhance their skills and their talents.

 

Many of you are probably busy preparing for the reopening of schools after a long summer break. It is fitting, then, that Rotary International has designated the month of September as Basic Education and Literacy Month. It is an attempt to encourage Rotary Clubs around the world to focus our attention on an area that so desperately deserves our support. There are far too many persons in our society that are unable to read or write and, as a direct result, suffer a state of poverty. We need to find these persons and provide them with an opportunity to better their circumstances. For us, that is what living a life of significance is all about. It is also about helping to provide access to basic education. Our efforts could be as simple as providing pens and pencils for students or even larger by providing the funding to pay for an education. There are many persons out there who need our help. They range from the potential Earlyactor starting school to the senior citizen looking to learn something new in order to "make ends meet".

 

Rotarians, I want to read about all the exciting things you do this month in a future issue of the District’s newsletter and I want to see you submit your applications for Club of the Month (COTM) recognition. The COTM committee this month will be also recognizing the work you do with and for your youth service clubs.

 

Lastly, as schools and colleges resume, I encourage you to start working with the youth service clubs - Rotaract, Interact and Early Act - to prepare to participate in the Special Projects Programme and Competitions.  The focus areas for the competitions are Basic Education and Literacy as well as Peace and Conflict Resolution/Prevention.

 

Promote the good work that you do "shamelessly" and let us make September a Significant month that is full of Success stories.   Let us make that extra effort and Be a Gift to the World.  #unleashtheawesome7020 

 

Felix N. Stubbs

District Governor 2015-2016, District 7020,

Rotary International