Neil Pinto Does a Makeup in Dubai

 
PP Neil Pinto gave us a very interesting talk on a club very different from ours.
The Rotary Club of Dubai Deira is one of four clubs in Dubai. It is part of District 2452 which comprises  Lebanon, Cyprus, Jordan, Sudan, Bahrain, UAE, Georgia, Armenia and Palestine
It is named after one of the oldest neighborhoods in Dubai and the main commercial district along Dubai Creek. Deira is a place where tradition and necessity meet. And it is always busy.
It has a membership of 22, mixed gender and varied nationalities.
 
While the current President is an Egyptian, the Incoming President is a Jordanian.
 It meets on a Monday evening on the 33rd floor of on of the  the world trade centre buidings.
Meeting fees are 50 Durham.  Membership fees are 3000dr joining fee, and 1500dr per year.
Fund raising in Dubai is under strict control and funds for the club are derived from the joining, membership and meeting fees.
Put it into perspective, a coffee at Starbucks costs 4.50dr and a litre of fuel about 1.4dr
 
Club meetings are conducted like our board meetings and run for about an hour. A light meal is eaten and members then disperse into the bar in small groups to chat and have a quick drink before departing.
 
During the meeting, they discussed the club presentation at the upcoming District Conference in Jordan. The whole club take this task very seriously as they consider that they are representing their country.  Lots of work goes into creating these preparations and they have to be better than those of the other UAE clubs.
 
Projects fall in 6 areas
  • Promoting world peace
  • Fighting disease
  • Providing clean water
  • Saving mothers and children
  • Supporting education
  • Growing local economies
The club also supports Interact (12 – 18) and Rotaract. It is heavily involved with Toastmasters and uses this connection to help develop the Interact and Rotaract members.
 
One very interesting project involves providing education to overseas workers. In 2013 the population of Emirates was  9.2 million of which 1.4 million Emirati citizens and 7.8 million expats.The bulk of these are Indian, Pakistani and Bangla. Lots are labourers, unskilled men who come over on their own leaving family behind. Live in labor camps often provided by the companies. This can be beneficial to both parties as often the workers cannot speak English.