The number of adult illiterates in the world is increasing by 25 million each year! In the United States, one quarter of the entire population is considered functionally illiterate. The tragedy of illiteracy is that those who cannot read lose personal independence and become victims of unscrupulous manipulation, poverty and the loss of human feelings which give meaning to life.
Illiteracy is demeaning. It is a major obstacle for economic, political, social and person development. Illiteracy is a barrier to international understanding, cooperation and peace in the world. Literacy education was considered a program priority by Rotary's original Health, Hunger and Humanity Committee in An early 3-H grant led to the preparation of an excellent source book on the issues of literacy in the world.
The Rotary-sponsored publication, The Right to Read, was edited by Rotarian Eve Malmquist, a past district governor from Linkoping, Sweden, and a recognized authority on reading and educational research. The book was the forerunner of a major Rotary program emphasis on literacy promotion. In the RI Planning and Research Committee proposed, and the RI board approved, that the Rotary clubs of the world conduct a ten-year emphasis on literacy education.
Many Rotary clubs are thoughtfully surveying the needs of their community for literacy training. Some clubs provide basic books for teaching reading. Others establish and support reading and language clinics, provide volunteer tutorial assistance and purchase reading materials.
Rotarians can play a vitally important part in their community and in developing countries by promoting projects to open opportunities which come from the ability to read. The following year, the board called for an approach that stressed service "with" the elderly as well as "for" them. With the substantial upswing in the worldwide population of older persons, their needs for special attention have greatly multiplied.
As citizen grow older, it becomes increasingly important for them to retain their personal independence and to remain in control of their own lives to the extent this is possible. Many Rotary clubs are seeking ways to serve the older persons of their community who face problems of deteriorating health, loneliness, poor nutrition, transportation difficulties, inability to do customary chores, loss of family associations, reduced recreational opportunities, inadequate housing and limited information about available social agencies for emergency assistance.
Some clubs have initiated a valuable community service to assist older persons in retirement planning and adjustment by organizing and sharing the wealth of information available within the club's membership. Other clubs have developed foster grandparent programs and other intergenerational activities that allow seniors to use their experience and knowledge to help young people.
Rotarians often can provide services which seniors can no longer do for themselves. The greatest need of aging individuals is frequently a mere expression of real caring and concern by thoughtful friends.
All Rotarians should seriously consider how they and their clubs may actively participate in programs for the aging. It is one area of community service in which there is a growing possibility that each of us may some day be on the receiving end. The planning process usually begins about four or five years in advance. The RI board determines a general location and invites cities to make proposals.
The conventions are truly international events which 20, to 40, Rotarians and guests attend. All members should plan to participate in a Rotary International convention to discover the real internationality of Rotary. It is an experience you'll never forget. Yet, among the more than one million Rotarians worldwide, an amateur-radio enthusiast or a chess player is bound to find others who share the same passions.
But Recreational Fellowship members share more than just their common interest in sport diving or Esperanto; they share an interest in fellowship and service and in promoting world understanding. As such, it's no wonder that the International Skiing Fellowship of Rotarians donates the profits from ski events to The Rotary Foundation or that the Flying Rotarians help ferry medical personnel and supplies.
One has only to look at the types of Vocational Fellowships to recognize how they differ from their recreational counterparts. Members exchange technical information and seek opportunities to employ their expertise in service not just to their own communities and countries, but to their professions as well.
For example, the Ophthalmology International Vocational Fellowship organized a professional seminar on the subject of eye surgery in developing countries. This activity, originally recommended by the New Horizons Committee in , is intended to encourage Rotarians and spouses to visit with Rotarian families in other parts of the world.
It may be conducted on a club-to-club or district-to-district basis. The idea is for several Rotarian couples to travel to another country on the Rotary Friendship Exchange. Later the hospitality is reversed when the visit is exchanged. After a successful pilot experiment, the Rotary Friendship Exchange has become a permanent program of Rotary.
The Rotary Friendship Exchange is frequently compared to the Group Study Exchange program of The Rotary Foundation, except that it involves Rotarian couples who personally pay for all expenses of their inter-country experience. Doors of friendship are opened in a way which could not be duplicated except in Rotary. Rotarians seeking an unusual vacation and fellowship experience should learn more about the Rotary Friendship Exchange. Some unusual Rotary adventures are awaiting you!
The Rotarians of Brisbane, who hosted the participants, were impressed with the quality of the young leaders. It was decided to bring youth leaders together each year for a week of social, cultural and educational activities. Rotary still actively participates in UN conferences by sending observers to major meetings and promoting the United Nations in Rotary publications.
Attended by ministers of education and observers from around the world, and chaired by a past president of RI, the conference was an impetus to the establishment of UNESCO in Interact clubs provide opportunities for boys and girls of secondary school age to work together in a world fellowship of service and international understanding.
The term, Interact, is derived from "inter" for international, and "act" for action. Every Interact club must be sponsored and supervised by a Rotary club and must plan annual projects of service to its school, community and in the world.
Today there are over 7, Interact clubs with more than , members in 88 countries. A major goal of Interact is to provide opportunities for young people to create greater understanding and goodwill with youth throughout the world. The new organization was designed to promote responsible citizenship and leadership potential in clubs of young men and women, aged 18 to In there were more than , members in more than 6, Rotaract clubs in countries. Rotaract clubs emphasize the importance of individual responsibility as the basis of personal success and community involvement.
Each club sponsors an annual project to promote high ethical standards in one's business and professional life. Rotaract also provides opportunities leading to greater international understanding and goodwill. Rotaractors enjoy many social activities as well as programs to improve their community. A Rotaract club can exist only when continuously sponsored, guided and counseled by a Rotary club. The programs of Rotaract are built around the motto "Fellowship Through Service.
Since a Rotary float has been entered 18 times including every year since The famous Pasadena, California, parade is seen by an estimated million people via worldwide television.
Funds for the construction of the Rotary parade entry are voluntarily given by Rotarians and clubs in the U. A multi-district Rotary committee in Southern California coordinates planning of the Rotary float and provides hundreds of volunteer hours of service.
The Rotary float must portray the annual parade theme, usually depicting one of the worldwide service programs of Rotary International. Each New Year's Day, Rotarians take pride in seeing their attractive float and realize they have shared in its construction by contributing a dollar or two to this beautiful public relations project.
The Rotary Foundation had that sort of modest beginning. In RI President Arch Klumph told the delegates to the Atlanta Convention that "it seems eminently proper that we should accept endowments for the purpose of doing good in the world.
In , upon the death of Paul Harris, a new era opened for the Rotary Foundation as memorial gifts poured in to honor the founder of Rotary. From that time, The Rotary Foundation has been achieving its noble objective of furthering "understanding and friendly relations between peoples of different nations. In , 18 "Rotary Fellows" from 11 countries were selected to serve as ambassadors of goodwill while studying in another country for one academic year.
The purpose of the Scholarships Program is to further international understanding and friendly relations among people of different countries. Scholars are expected to be outstanding ambassadors of goodwill to the people of the host country through both informal and formal appearances before Rotary and non-Rotary groups.
Beginning with the program year, The Rotary Foundation offers two new types of scholarships in addition to the Academic-Year Ambassadorial Scholarship offered since The Multi-Year Ambassadorial Scholarship is awarded for two or three years of specific degree-oriented study abroad. The Cultural Ambassadorial Scholarship provides three or six months of funding for intensive language study and cultural immersion in a language other than their native language. Rotarians know that Rotary Foundation scholarships are very worthwhile investments in the future and one important step in seeking greater understanding and goodwill in the world.
Since the first exchange between districts in California and Japan in , the program has provided educational experiences for about 25, business and professional men and women who have served on about 5, teams. The GSE program pairs Rotary districts to send and receive study teams. One of the attractive features of GSE is the opportunity for the visiting team members to meet, talk and live with Rotarians and their families in a warm spirit of friendship and hospitality.
Although the original Group Study Exchanges were male only, in recent years teams include both men and women. In addition to learning about another country as the team visits farms, schools, industrial plants, professional offices and governmental establishments the GSE teams serve as ambassadors of goodwill.
They interpret their home nation to host Rotarians and others in the communities in which they visit. Many of the personal contacts blossom into lasting friendships. Truly, the Group Study Exchange program has provided Rotarians with one of its most enjoyable, practical and meaningful ways to promote world understanding.
The 3-H Program is designed to undertake large-scale service projects beyond the capacity of individual Rotary clubs or groups of clubs. The objective of these projects is to improve health, alleviate hunger and enhance human, cultural and social development among peoples of the world.
The ultimate goal is to advance international understanding, goodwill and peace. The first 3-H project was the immunization of 6 million children in the Philippines against polio. As 3-H progressed, new programs were added to help people in developing areas of the world. Now, in addition to the mass polio immunization of over million children in various countries, 3-H has promoted nutrition programs, vocational education, and improved irrigation to increase food production, polio victim rehabilitation and other activities which benefit large numbers of people in developing countries.
All 3-H projects are supported by the voluntary contributions of Rotarians through The Rotary Foundation. In years to come the 3-H Program may well be considered Rotary's finest service activity, showing how Rotarians care and are concerned about people in need, wherever they may be. A club or district must contribute an amount at least as large as that requested from The Rotary Foundation with at least half the funds that the Foundation will match coming from a country outside of the country where the project will take place.
Grants have been made to improve hospitals, develop school programs, drill water wells, assist the handicapped or persons requiring special medical attention, provide resources for orphanages, create sanitation facilities, distribute food and medical supplies and many other forms of international community service in needy areas of the world. Matching Grants are not approved to purchase land or build buildings, and they may not be used for programs already underway or completed.
Personal participation by Rotarians is required and the benefits should extend beyond the recipients. The Matching Grants program is a very significant part of The Rotary Foundation and provides an important incentive for clubs to undertake worthwhile international service projects in another part of the world.
They certainly foster goodwill and understanding, which is in keeping with the objectives of The Rotary Foundation.
It is part of a global effort to protect the children from five other deadly diseases as well as the "plus" in PolioPlus. The program was launched in with fund-raising as a primary focus.
These gifts have enabled The Rotary Foundation to make grants to provide a five-year supply of vaccine for any developing country requesting it to protect its children. It will require continuing immunization of children worldwide, and it also must include systematic reporting of all suspected cases, community-wide vaccination to contain outbreaks of the disease, and establishment of laboratory networks.
Rotary's "people power" gives us a special "hands on" role. Rotarians in developing countries have given thousands of hours and countless in-kind gifts to help eradication happen in their countries. No other non-governmental organization ever has made a commitment of the scale of PolioPlus.
Truly it may be considered the greatest humanitarian service the world has ever seen. Every Rotarian can share the pride of that achievement! The concept of a center or educational program to promote greater understanding and peace in the world was originally discussed in by the New Horizons Committee and the World Understanding and Peace Committee.
The essence of the Rotary Peace Program is to utilize the non-governmental but worldwide resources of Rotary to develop educational programs around the issues that cause conflict among nations in the world as well as those influences and activities which promote peace, development and goodwill.
The program includes seminars, publications or conferences as a means to initiate a global dialogue to find new approaches to peace and world understanding.
Many peace programs are held in conjunction with presidential conferences. The distinctive Paul Harris Fellow medallion, lapel pin and attractive certificate have become highly respected symbols of a substantial financial commitment to The Rotary Foundation by Rotarians and friends around the world.
Paul Harris recognition provides a very important incentive for the continuing support needed to underwrite the many programs of The Rotary Foundation which build goodwill and understanding in the world.
January is Rotary Awareness Month. This is a time to expand knowledge of Rotary and its activities among our membership and throughout the community. February is designated as World Understanding Month.
This month was chosen because it includes the birthday of Rotary International, February He and Harris became lifelong friends and lived near each other on the South Side of Chicago. Originally from Michigan, Ruggles was a graduate of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and joined Rotary at its second meeting. He was treasurer of the Chicago club during its first year, club president from to , and a Rotary director from to He is known for having introduced singing to Rotary club meetings.
His printing company, H. He died on 23 October , an honorary member of seven clubs in addition to his home club, the Rotary Club of Chicago. When the Rotary Club of Chicago published this member roster in October , the club had grown to 21 members, including two honorary members.
Rotary History The first four Rotarians. Paul Harris, age 28, in Today, polio remains endemic in only two countries — down from in The following stories trace our evolution as an organization through historical documents, artifacts, and images that show the people and events that shaped Rotary. In , Rotary began a project to immunize six million children against polio in the Philippines. View more stories.
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