By R. Gordon R. McInally, 2023-24 Rotary International President R. Gordon R. McInally World Mental Health Day is 10 October 2023, as organized by the World Federation for Mental Health and endorsed by the World Health Organization. The global designation strives to raise awareness of mental health issues around the world and to mobilize efforts…
Amélie Perfetti, Kevin Faure, and Christophe Terrand during one stage of the climb. By Amélie Perfetti, Rotary Club of Saint-Dizier, France A few years ago, two members of Rotaract from Paris, France, launched the Climbing Like Ibrahim project. Mini and Rachid had a friend in common, Ibrahim, a polio survivor, who always used to say…
Rotary Scholar Eunji Cho in front of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine By Eunji Cho, 2020-21 Rotary Scholar from District 3640 (Korea) Vanuatu is a small island nation in the South Pacific, comprising approximately 300,000 people spread across 83 islands. It has natural beauty and tourist appeal. Yet residents often have difficulty…
Amy Payne, middle, with her Rotary mentors Richard Wheaton and Reda Tabor. By Amy Payne, Rotary Club of Scottsville, Kentucky, USA A year ago, I walked into a meeting of the Scottsville Rotary Club with a mission to present the newly opened Victory Hill Dream Center. Little did I know that this meeting would mark…
Members of the Habigonj Interact Club treat street children to an evening of food, gifts, and games. By Nahid Hasan, past district Interact representative and past president, Interact Club of Habigonj, Bangladesh On 15 August, I had the opportunity to help bring a moment of happiness into the lives of 50 underprivileged children living on…
Val Oliveira, public image chair of the Minnesota Pride Rotary Club, in front of the club’s banner and website. By Val Oliveira, Public Image Chair of Minnesota Pride Rotary Club I have a deep-rooted familiarity with Rotary that spans back to the 90s when I was a journalist for a daily newspaper in a town…
Counselors lead a class for the refugee children in Poland. By Dr. Marina Theododou, president-elect of the Rotary Club of Crystal City-Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia, USA On a crisp summer morning in late July, a team from my club met Jan in Warsaw, Poland. He is a blond, lanky, 14-year-old boy with a shy but warm…
Singapore skyline at night By Jennifer Scott, Chair of the 2024 International Convention Committee As the chair of the committee helping plan the 2024 Rotary International Convention in Singapore, I get asked a fair number of questions about this year’s annual event. I felt it was only natural to share with you why I am…
Gayla McDaniel and Alex Kile, members of the Rotary Club of Mattoon, Illinois, USA, read to a kindergarten class as part of a literacy project funded by the Day at the Ballpark. By Rod Buffington, past governor of District 6460 and a member of the Rotary Club of Springfield, Illinois, USA “Take me out to…
Members of the Rotary Club of Apharetta, Georgia, at a social event By Katie Rocco, past president of the Rotary Club of Alpharetta, Georgia, USA I began my year as club president in 2022-23 with a few goals firmly in mind. Emerging from the shadow of the pandemic, I wanted to focus on the mental…