Rotary Truly Connects the World

It's not easy being at a Rotary International convention. It takes a lot of walking, lots of waiting and many late nights.
     It's tough, but somebody has to do it ... and more than 26000 somebodies have just done it at the 110th Rotary International Convention in Hamburg, Germany.
     An RI convention is an exhilarating experience, something every Rotarian should aspire to at least once. The Southern African districts are working on getting a future convention in Durban, so hold thumbs.
     Next year the gathering is in Hawaii, followed by Taipei. Who knows, Durban could follow and that would make it the first time ever the convention will be held in Africa.

A scene in the convention hall with outgoing RI President Barry Rassin on one of about 10 giant TV screens with a whole wall of interactive screens forming the backdrop to the presentations

     Conventions are also inspiring and as usual it was general secretary John Hewko who inspired the most. In his speech he sketched the world situation, saying in conclusion the world, full of uncertainty, is ready for Rotary to lead with integrity.
     "Today's world is ready for Rotary to lead, but is Rotary ready to lead the world?
     "I think we all know the answer to that question."
     His speech is on the RI website and no doubt a video will be available soon if it's not been posted yet. Read it or listen to it.

The South African flag was proudly displayed during the awe-inspiring opening
 flag ceremony

     Something that will interest Dr Peta Thomas and the Rotaract club, was his announcement that Rotary had commissioned the Johns Hopkins university to undertake a study to measure the volunteer impact of the organisation. The short answer is a conservative estimate that Rotarians contribute about 45 million hours of volunteer effort in a typical year. What's more, if communities had to pay for the services that Rotary provides in a typical year, Johns Hopkins estimates that it would cost them no less than $850 million.
     This money does not even include the money raised by Rotary clubs and the Rotary Foundation annually, which would likely double the amount.

President Linda Vink with Dr Bernhard Maisch

     There are two other very important factors in a convention: networking and fellowship. We did plenty of both.
     Between the Sligchers and Vinks we'll return with many contact numbers and emails of people who showed interest in our projects. Especially the Donate-a-Loo project seemed to resonate with many of the overseas people we spoke to.

Lars Henriksson, Carole Rowsell, IPDG Jankees sligcher, President Linda Vink and I managed to squeeze in a meeting

     We bumped into Carole Rowsell of the Parkdale-High Park-Humber Ontario Rotary Club and Lars Henriksson of the Toronto Eglington Ontario club and also district chair of the Global grant committee, who promised to take a good look at all three New Dawn proposals.
     Carole is a member of the club that contributed $5000 to our global grant for The Link. Lars promised to put other interested clubs in his district in touch with New Dawn.
     Another very useful contact that bodes well for the future was with the Germany Southern Africa  Intercountry Committee chaired by Dr Bernhard Maisch, a heart surgeon and Rotarian. He has electronic versions of all our proposals and has promised to show them around German clubs and clubs from other countries that might be interested.
     The ICC (yet another Rotary acronym) held a breakaway session which we all attended and afterwards had a short social meeting where we could talk to German Rotarians and twist some arms.

Two Canadians (Glenn and Wendy Moore of Calgary), two Americans (Herb and Ronnie Klotz of Pennsylvania),  two South Africans and our hosts, Rotarian Ariane Abayan and Michael Rehr-Zimmermann with their dog at their wonderful home on the banks of the Elbe River

     A definite highlight was a home visit hosted by German Rotarians which offered yet another opportunity to raise a discussion on our projects. We visited a couple who have a spectacular home on the Elbe River opposite the main Airbus passenger jet factory with giant cargo ships passing by every so often on their way to the Hamburg harbour, which is situated 100 km from the sea.
     Our hostess, Ariane Abayan, is an incoming District Governor and sounded keen to help. They treated us to a great meal and good wine. We arrived as fellow Rotarians and left as friends.
     Jankees and Judy Sligcher reported the same on their home visit and feel sure they came away with a very strong lead.
     On Monday night we attended a dinner for Rotarians from Africa at a swanky hotel and managed some more networking (mainly Jankees and Linda).

At the spectacular new Elbphilharmonie

     We also got to go to a concert at the spectacular new Elbphilharmonie hall, which opened about two years ago, started off with a budget of about 69 million Euros and ended up costing more than 850 million Euros with not a Gupta in sight. We sat on the second highest tier and could hear every note of a Gershwin piano recital, the Dvorak 8th Symphonie and the first Brahms Hungarian Dance.

Meeting up with old friends ... Jankees and Judy with Francis and Janet Callard

     There were a number of people from District 9400 at the conference and we met up with Francis and Janet Callard (he fresh from testifying at the Zondo Commission), David and Margie Grant, Grant Dayley, Annemarie Mostert and Shirley Downie.

At the German restaurant Franziskaner on a night off

     A definite highlight was a visit to a typical German restaurant, the Restaurant Franziskaner, but enough said. What goes in Hamburg, after all, stays in Hamburg!
     The convention was closed off by the outgoing RI president, Barry Rassin of the Bahamas, who emphasised the role of Rotaract during his term with much success.

We also met up with Dave Tuzewski of Disaster Aid Australia, who was at a recent club
 meeting 

     No fewer than 1094 new Rotaract clubs were chartered during the current year and yes, one of them is our very own Rotaract Club of Johannesburg.
     If Rotary is all about the future, he said, then it is time that Rotary clubs started listening to their Rotaracters, young people of vision and of action rather than trying to tell them what to do and how to operate.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. when in Germany, do as the Germans do. Drink beer. Lots of it.

     "In Rotary, there is no such thing as the impossible dream," he said. Go out and do it!
     We got to shake the hand of Holger Knaack, Rotary International President Nominee, slated to be the first German RI president ever. Continuing on the Rotaract theme, he said: "I see no difference between a Rotarian and a member of Rotaract. To me, we are all members of Rotary International and we work together and use our own strengths and abilities to serve our organisation."
     "When I work with Rotaract, I am always impressed by their ability to multitask, to devote themselves to challenging work, and to just get things done."
     The incoming RI president, Mark Maloney of the Rotary Club of Decatur, Alabama, has chosen as his theme: Rotary Connects the World. We felt very connected at the convention. The convention is an opportunity to connect with people from all over the world and it is connections like these that change the world, he said.
     A Thought from the Convention: It's easy to make decisions when you know what your values are. - Roy O. Disney (1893 - 1971)