What a year this has been! If you missed the District Conference, you missed hearing the impact of the “People of Action” in District 5950. There was a ton of fellowship on May 17^th -- right on time for Rotary’s theme this month, Rotary Fellowships.

A rolling slide show featured club projects that made a significant difference in local and global communities. It is impossible not to be inspired by clubs with 20 members (or fewer) who raise scads of money to support youth and education, sometimes in a third-world country.

5950 Rotarians ARE “People of Action”, evidenced by the wide array of efforts including eliminating human trafficking in Minnesota and polio in the world. The sheer number of activities, programs and events that have been offered in our district is outpaced only by the volunteer hours and contributions of dedicated Rotarians. Thank you one and all for the inspiration you have been!

I’m humbled to have had the opportunity to witness firsthand so many worthwhile endeavors that make our communities and the world a better place. More than once this year a conversation has turned to, "If Rotarians ruled the world, the world would be at peace." How inspirational is that!

Special thanks to members of the 2019 District Conference Team who worked tirelessly to Feed Your Inspiration. I’m ever grateful for their support! They created an event to feed you as you have fed so many (me especially) this Rotary year.

The opportunity to serve as your District Governor has been all at once humbling, exhilarating and rewarding. As was my intention, it was a year of personal growth. Thank each you for the many and frequent contributions of time, talent and treasure. It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve; I am most grateful to have been a part of this truly inspiring Rotary year.

With gratitude in Rotary service,
Irene 
District Governor 2018-2019

District Governor Irene shared these District Conference highlights she will always remember:

• Drummers welcomed Rotarians with the “Heartbeat of Rotary” and Rotary Exchange students led the parade to the opening session.
• Raghavan Iyer fed our inspiration through the media of food, culture and health.
• Breakout sessions fed Rotarians: 
  - Amalia Moreno-Damgaard encouraged us to “Find Inspiration in Wellness”.
  - Fran Mukunzu, Uganda Water Minister, and Marcos Bitew, African Power Initiative Limited, both inspired attendees to consider that water and power are luxuries in refugee settlements.
  - France Emberley and Heather Johnson, Heart of Dance, demonstrated how dance leads to improved communication and teamwork. Rotarians left with new dance moves, too!
• How inspiring was it to see 1,000 celebration bags assembled during Done-in-a-Day?
• And the Hall of Friendship was just that … Rotarians meeting old friends and new, leavening about projects, Youth Exchange, and so much more.
• Oh, and we were also fed with scrumptious meals!

ShelterBox has been nominated for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, in recognition for humanitarian efforts in areas of extreme conflict.

ShelterBox is honored to learn of this nomination, which is a great acknowledgment that ShelterBox provides much more than material aid; we provide the foundation for recovery and the stability needed for peace, one family at a time. This is the second year ShelterBox has been nominated. As Rotary International’s official project partner for disaster relief, this nomination is an example of supporting Rotary’s Area of Focus on promoting peace.

The nomination reflects the incredible work done by the ShelterBox staff and volunteers around the world, many of whom are Rotarians, and those who have supported them, especially the many Rotary Clubs and Rotarians worldwide.

90%. That is the percentage of natural disasters where ShelterBox works directly with Rotarians in the disaster area as partners in the relief effort. Rotarian and ShelterBox Response Team member Jeff Deatherage explains, ”Rotary has played a significant role in every disaster that I have deployed to as part of the ShelterBox Response Team. In the summer of 2018, I was called upon to be a part of the first team responding to the eruption of Volcan de Fuego in Guatemala. Many Rotarians and Rotaractors led by District Governor Julio Grazioso helped us with our mission throughout our deployment.  In fact, Julio had been storing ShelterBox aid left in Guatemala from a previous disaster response in his own warehouse free of charge! We used that aid in this deployment. Rotarians and Rotaractors drove us everywhere. They assisted us to obtain key meetings with customs officials, government disaster officials, translations and much more.”

For those of you attending the RI Convention in Hamburg, Willkommen! There will be many opportunities to meet the ShelterBox team and hear from our Response Team Volunteers about their experiences!

This has been a tough time for Rotary. Pakistan has seen four polio workers killed, the federal health minister sacked, and the head of the federal polio emergency operating center replaced. A propaganda campaign against the program linked fake illnesses to fake polio vaccines, leading to hysteria that needlessly hospitalized thousands of children. Quality assessments and other activities were suspended due to concern about worker safety and the general instability especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). Much of this may be in the context of upcoming local elections. 

There are conflicting reports in the media.There are also two new polio cases in the lab in Pakistan and three new cases in Afghanistan, raising the official count from nine to 12. In Afghanistan the Taliban hut down all immunizations in their area of control. They had earlier banned house-to-house efforts; now it is all immunizations. We’re making tremendous efforts to reverse this action. 

So my message to Rotarians is to emphasize our long-term progress, to highlight African progress, to assure that current challenges in Pakistan and Afghanistan are being addressed by our Rotary leaders, and to remind members that support is needed to bring us over the finish line.