Smoky Hill was treated to our annual District Governor visit today. DG Abbas Rajabi, an American by choice, grew up in Iran. His passion for education brought him to the US at the age of 20, where he pursued a degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Univ. of Texas. He began several businesses in Texas, South Carolina, and Colorado while starting a family with his wife, Sami. They have four children, all Paul Harris Fellows. Three of them are Rotarians.Abbas' Rotary service includes "Pencils for Peace" sending backpacks of school supplies via the US Air Force to Afghanistan, remodeling orphanages in Mexico, building fishing boats to help Thailand's victims of the 2004 Tsunami, and numerous other projects!
DG Abbas thanked us for our donations of the most precious gift we have, the gift of time. Our donations of time and our efforts for others have made us a "mighty" club. "When you love people none of the pettiness matters. Be reasonable to others who are reasonable and to those who are unreasonable, " he said. Abbas remarked that our service to others include those we do not know and will never meet, regardless of their nationality, color, or faith.The District Governor directed us to be more public about Rotary; to share the joy and satisfaction of being in Rotary. "It is an amazing experience to be a Rotarian. We should brag about it. You should brag about what you do for Century Elementary and Romania!"
DG Abbas also noted the increased emphasis on networking. It's like "we have a Ferrari, and we drive it like a Volkswagen," he said. "I know in my heart that mankind is kind."
He reminded us that the world used to experience 350,000 new cases of Polio yearly. To date in 2017 we have only had 12 cases, all in Pakistan and Afghanistan. We are indeed "this close" to eliminating Polio from the world. "Don't forget," he said, "you have 1.2 million partners in Rotary world-wide. You don't have to do it alone!" DG Abbas closed by reminding us to attend the President's Dinner in January and the District Conference in May. Fliers are attached below!
