Last week we had a really fascinating talk by Prof Adri Vermeer about his involvement with children with disabilities in rural South African situations. After our meeting Hugh Rix took him to Woodside Sanctuary.Unfortunately we had a poor turn-out. I seem to be banging on about this but when Tom Wheeler mentioned in the Johannesburg North Club Newsletter last week that he had attended one of our meetings and said that he was astonished that New Dawn had only the same attendance as his own club. Yet we have more than double their membership! How embarrassing!
Every week I put down members for various duties and it is a complete waste of effort because seldom are the people there to do them. Some members do apologise for non attendance but it is the minority of absentees. This is a big problem. What are we doing wrong? The weekly meeting is supposed to be the time when we get together on a regular basis.
Just to emphasise the attendance problem, this photograph shows everyone, except me, who was present last Wednesday.
This Week
Pat Richards will be talking to us about 'Street Children and Street People'. This is a talk she recently gave to Parktown Excalibur Inner Wheel and it was well received so I asked her to repeat it to us.
Don & Arthur
Here's an email from Don Lindsay, just lightly edited.....I cut out anything vaguely pornographic.
Hi
Peter,
Now that I am installed in Rotary on this side, I thought you and the other members might be interested in some news.
I have been inducted into the Rotary Club of Curitiba Agua Verde which is not only a breakfast club but also meets in an hotel on the next block from our new apartment. I can now wake up 15 minutes before Rotary and still be on time (eat your hearts out Nicci & Amina!). As the working day really only starts here between 9:00am & 9:30am, I can even hang around after meetings for a relaxed chat.
The profile of Rotary here appears to be very similar to that of SA with a lot of smaller clubs and a mix of members drawn from the professional, business, educational and NGO sectors. It is however much bigger. There are more than 69 000 Rotarians in Brazil spread across 38 districts and 2 390 clubs. Our district, 4730, comprises the state of Parana and has more than 1 600 Rotarians. Curitiba alone has 32 clubs. Rotaract & Interact seem to be quite well established as well so Rotary has quite a presence here.
Our club currently has 17 members and membership seems to be on the up with 4 recent additions, including myself. The club has only ever had one other non-Brazilian member and I have the distinction of being the first gringo! The members are a very friendly and welcoming bunch and I feel very much at home.
Our projects include a programme to provide hearing assessments in local primary schools and another to provide poor elderly people with access to cataract operations. The club is active in both long and short term youth exchange and supports 2 Rotaract clubs. It also participates in various district level projects and a number of members serve on district committees. We have one ex-DG in the club and another will be the District Governor in 2015/16.
The club, and indeed people I have spoken to at district level are keen to establish links with South African clubs so I will keep my ears open for opportunities for our two clubs to work together. Of course if you have any ideas you would like me to put to the board on this side, just let me know. I am sending you a banner and would be most grateful if you could please send me one from New Dawn. It would be nice and nostalgic to see a New Dawn banner on display at our meetings. I can’t believe I never thought to pack one.
On a personal level we are settling in very well. Curitiba is a delightful city to live in. It is very compact and has a well-deserved reputation for offering Brazil’s best urban lifestyle. There are lots of parks and public transport is really super so much so that we have not yet had to buy a car. It also enjoys an enviably low crime rate. It is however an enormous, and very tiring, challenge to learn to communicate in a new language although the task is greatly facilitated by the patience, friendliness and charm of Brazilians. Renovations to our apartment should be finished at the end of the month, in time for the arrival of our furniture. We are thrilled with it and can’t wait to move in. I plan to start working on the 3rd June in a business consultancy which will make a nice change from intensive Portuguese classes. Arthur will continue commuting for the foreseeable future but plans to practice here in the next year or so when I have become established.
Fond regards to everyone and all the best to Joan and her board for a great year.
Abraços,
Don Lindsay
Cel: +55 41 8811 9889
Now that I am installed in Rotary on this side, I thought you and the other members might be interested in some news.
I have been inducted into the Rotary Club of Curitiba Agua Verde which is not only a breakfast club but also meets in an hotel on the next block from our new apartment. I can now wake up 15 minutes before Rotary and still be on time (eat your hearts out Nicci & Amina!). As the working day really only starts here between 9:00am & 9:30am, I can even hang around after meetings for a relaxed chat.
The profile of Rotary here appears to be very similar to that of SA with a lot of smaller clubs and a mix of members drawn from the professional, business, educational and NGO sectors. It is however much bigger. There are more than 69 000 Rotarians in Brazil spread across 38 districts and 2 390 clubs. Our district, 4730, comprises the state of Parana and has more than 1 600 Rotarians. Curitiba alone has 32 clubs. Rotaract & Interact seem to be quite well established as well so Rotary has quite a presence here.
Our club currently has 17 members and membership seems to be on the up with 4 recent additions, including myself. The club has only ever had one other non-Brazilian member and I have the distinction of being the first gringo! The members are a very friendly and welcoming bunch and I feel very much at home.
Our projects include a programme to provide hearing assessments in local primary schools and another to provide poor elderly people with access to cataract operations. The club is active in both long and short term youth exchange and supports 2 Rotaract clubs. It also participates in various district level projects and a number of members serve on district committees. We have one ex-DG in the club and another will be the District Governor in 2015/16.
The club, and indeed people I have spoken to at district level are keen to establish links with South African clubs so I will keep my ears open for opportunities for our two clubs to work together. Of course if you have any ideas you would like me to put to the board on this side, just let me know. I am sending you a banner and would be most grateful if you could please send me one from New Dawn. It would be nice and nostalgic to see a New Dawn banner on display at our meetings. I can’t believe I never thought to pack one.
On a personal level we are settling in very well. Curitiba is a delightful city to live in. It is very compact and has a well-deserved reputation for offering Brazil’s best urban lifestyle. There are lots of parks and public transport is really super so much so that we have not yet had to buy a car. It also enjoys an enviably low crime rate. It is however an enormous, and very tiring, challenge to learn to communicate in a new language although the task is greatly facilitated by the patience, friendliness and charm of Brazilians. Renovations to our apartment should be finished at the end of the month, in time for the arrival of our furniture. We are thrilled with it and can’t wait to move in. I plan to start working on the 3rd June in a business consultancy which will make a nice change from intensive Portuguese classes. Arthur will continue commuting for the foreseeable future but plans to practice here in the next year or so when I have become established.
Fond regards to everyone and all the best to Joan and her board for a great year.
Abraços,
Don Lindsay
Cel: +55 41 8811 9889
Council approves dues increase, unlimited e-clubs
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Council representatives hold up green cards to demonstrate a yes vote on a motion.Monika Lozinska/Rotary International
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Representatives from Rotary’s 532 districts met in downtown Chicago 21-26 April, approving a number of measures designed to strengthen Rotary, increase membership, and enhance the organization’s capacity to serve.
The Council on Legislation meets every three years to consider changes to the policies that govern Rotary International and its member clubs. This year’s Council accepted an increase of US$1 per year in per capita dues, removed limits on e-clubs, permitted satellite clubs, and changed the name of the fifth Avenue of Service to “Youth Service.”
The dues increase means Rotary clubs will pay Rotary International annual per capita dues of $54 in 2014-15, $55 in 2015-16, and $56 in 2016-17. Dues for 2013-14 had already been set to $53.
The RI Board of Directors proposed the increase based on afive-year financial forecast that projected that Rotary’s spending would exceed revenues by $9 million in 2018 if there were no increase. The result would be a drop in the General Surplus Fund below the level required by the RI Bylaws.
With the increase, spending is projected to exceed revenue by about $5 million in 2018, according to the forecast, which keeps the surplus fund above the mandated level. Supporters said the increase would be sufficient to keep pace with inflation without necessitating cutbacks in service. Dues are the primary source of funding for Rotary’s operations.
During the week, the 2013 Council considered more than 170 enactments and resolutions proposed by Rotary clubs, districts, or the RI Board.
“It has been a pleasure for me to serve you as chair and work with you this week on the legislation before the 2013 Council on Legislation,” Council Chair John Germ said. “You have come with energy and thoughtfulness, and you have represented your districts well.”
Council Representative William Pollard from Virginia, USA, noted that the representatives were united in a desire to make Rotary a stronger and better organization.
“Rotarians have different viewpoints on various issues and topics, and this is good for Rotary,” he said. “I quickly learned that some items that might not be important to my district might be very important to a district in another country.”
Among other actions during the week, representatives:
- Allowed districts to have more than two e-clubs. The 2010 Council made e-clubs, which meet electronically, a permanent part of Rotary. Proponents argued removing the limit will bring in new members and will appeal particularly to young professionals, who may be less able to meet in person weekly.
- Approved satellite clubs, whose members meet at a different time and location from their parent club but are still considered members of the parent club. The measure is intended to make it easier for members to develop the core for a new club.
- Increased the number of clubs that can take part in pilot projects from 200 to 1,000. The RI Board uses these pilots, which last for up to six years, to test new ideas, methods, and organizational frameworks for clubs. Pilot clubs that participate in these experiments are fully functioning Rotary clubs but are exempt from some requirements of the Standard Rotary Club Constitution.
- Approved changing the name of Rotary’s Fifth Avenue of Service, currently called “New Generations Service,” to “Youth Service.” The 2010 Council approved this Avenue of Service for youth, which joined the already established Club Service, Vocational Service, Community Service, and International Service. The name “New Generations” was meant to reflect the need to build the next generation of Rotarians, but proponents of the name change argued Wednesday that the word “youth” is more universally understood, both inside and outside Rotary, and clarifies the fact that these programs encourage Rotarians to empower youth.
- Approved a measure allowing participation in club projects to count toward club attendance requirements. The measure amends the Standard Rotary Club Constitution to require that a member attend or make up at least 50 percent of regular club meetings or engage in club projects for at least 12 hours in each half of the year, or a combination of both.
- Approved a measure allowing Rotarians outside the United States and Canada to receive an electronic edition of their official regional Rotary magazine, if one is available. Rotarians within the United States and Canada were given the option of receiving a digital version of The Rotarian by the 2010 Council.
- Approved a measure creating the office of vice governor, who would act as a substitute if the governor became unable to serve. The vice governor would be selected by the district’s nominating committee from among the district’s past governors.
- Removed the travel reimbursement policy from the RI Bylaws. This will enable the RI Board of Directors to develop a policy that is flexible, able to address emergency travel situations, and able to take advantage of cost-saving opportunities.
- Defeated two measures affecting Rotaract, Rotary-sponsored service clubs for men and women ages 18 to 30. The Council rejected raising the age limit to 35, arguing that the older members would have little in common with 18-year-olds. They also argued Rotarians should reach out to include Rotaractors who are reaching the age limit in their Rotary clubs. They rejected establishing lower dues for Rotaractors who want to join Rotary, partly because Rotaract membership records have not been collected by RI.
Douglas Vincent, a representative from Ontario, Canada, said he was a little disappointed the Council didn't adopt more changes, but feels the process serves a valuable function.
"Rotarians are the people who drive the organization," Vincent said. "It's important that representatives from the clubs, in a grassroots fashion, direct the policies and rules that govern Rotary International."
With the Council adjourned, an official report of action will be compiled, sent to clubs, and posted online. Clubs have an opportunity to record opposition to any action. If at least 5 percent of the clubs entitled to vote oppose an action, the legislation is suspended and the general secretary conducts a ballot-by-mail. A majority vote would cause the proposal to be rejected. All Council actions otherwise go into effect 1 July.
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