President's Visit

It was all worthwhile — the three hour commute, the endless no-host cocktail hour (with no appetizers) and 600-plus Rotarians forming long lines at the bar. The pay off was Ravi, our current RI President, his wife and his inspiring, yet profoundly human message.

A picturesque Power-Point of RI projects featured the faces of children taking polio vaccine drops and included a count down of 15, 14, 13, etc. minutes until 59, 58, etc. seconds until show time, flashing on the screen between clips. Until it ran into “technical difficulties. Ravi himself appeared in one segment encouraging Rotarians to “Connect with Korea and Touch the World” at the upcoming RI convention in Seoul.

Finally the moment we had been waiting for. Ravi took the stage amidst a standing ovation and shared a compelling mix of warm recollections, humorous stories and the pride of representing an organization committed to the benefit of others throughout the world. We all shuddered upon hearing about a Rotary club in another country (that will remain anonymous) whose sergeant of arms encouraged him NOT to join them, when he appeared at the door, saying dinner was over and he would not understand the speaker’s language — taking his official RI card and putting it in his pocket without looking at it. (!) We appreciated the occasion when, being on the road for five months, racking up many miles, only having had four days with family, he woke one morning, baffled as to where he was and eventually realized that he was in his own apartment.

Ravi shared a story of Mother Teresa saying “To serve the poor you must live like the poor,” which led one of her volunteers to say that the best 20 minutes of his life was spent scrubbing toilets along with the sainted Mother. He spoke of the leader ship of the new Pope and how Rotarians serve together no matter what our religious background, creating a model for worldwide peace. He invited all to join the Pope in St. Peter’s square on April 30, when His Holiness will address Rotarians.

Ravi spoke of Ghandi losing a slipper and tossing the other after it, saying, “Whoever finds it will now have a pair,” as a way of caring and sharing with others that is the core of Rotary. And he also observed that to “live like you will die tonight and plan to serve as if you will live a thousand years” is to be true to our Rotary heritage. When he closed with another standing ovation, we all felt captured by his deep humanity and universal compassion. Needless to say, it was a very inspiring speech from a leader whose legacy may lie with those he referred to as inspiring him.

Photo of Ravi and Jack Strange taken by President Eloise.