The Bonfa family at a club-sponsored food drive to benefit families in South Orange County, California, USA. By Anabella Bonfa, Rotary Club of Irvine, California, USA, with Anthony Bonfa My husband and I and our teenage son Anthony all volunteer at 30 or more projects every year. We consider ourselves a Rotary family. All three…
Rotary Scholars from left to right: Nataliya Chemayeva from Turkmenistan, Aminjon Abdulloev from Tajikistan, Jahan Taganova from Turkmenistan, Botir Ismoilov from Uzbekistan, Botagoz Sharipova from Kazakhstan, and Nargiza Osmonova from Kyrgyzstan. Photo by Celeste Noche. © Rotary International. All Rights Reserved. By Nataliya Chemayeva, Rotary Scholar, Water Cooperation and Diplomacy Program The Central Asian region…
The video (above) by Botagoz Sharipova, Nataliya Chemayeva, and other Rotary Scholars in the Water Cooperation and Diplomacy program has been selected as finalist by the Geneva Water Hub and will be featured at the Budapest Water Summit 15-17 October and during Geneva Peace Week 4-8 November. By Botagoz Sharipova, Rotary Scholar, Water Cooperation and…
Julia Chalifoux (right), a member of her host family (center), and a fellow Rotary Youth Exchange student at the Big Buddha statue in Kamakura, Japan, in 1997. By Julia Chalifoux, former Rotary Youth Exchange student to Japan In 1997, at 17 years old, I spent a year living and learning in Tokyo, Japan, as a…
The Rotaract clubs of Chinatown-Manila, Philippines, and Taipei Tin Harbour, Taiwan, take part in a shared service project. By Julie Chu, charter member of the Rotaract Club of Taipei Tin Harbour, Taiwan We still joke about how the story of our two clubs is like a love story, with a happily-ever-after ending. The parents met…
Steve Stirling. CEO of MAP International, with some of the medical supplies the organization provides to people in need worldwide. By Steve Stirling, a member of the Rotary Club of Atlanta, Georgia, USA They are typical job interview questions: What is your greatest strength? What is your greatest weakness? But in my case, the interviewer…
The vocational training team from District 3680. Sandra Espina second from right. By Sandra L. Espina, vocational training team member, Philippines Restless, finicky, speech delay … these are just some of the common adjectives used to describe people with autism. I am a mother of a 21-year-old boy who has autism. Zachary is a typical…
Ainsley Brown, left, receives his pin as Vocational Service Director from then-president Jemelia Davis at the club’s 2017 installation banquet. By Ainsley Brown, Rotary Club of St. Andrew, Jamaica My club, the Rotary Club of St. Andrew, Jamaica, has a storied history. We were chartered in 1966, four years after Jamaica’s independence from the United…
Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change – across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves. — Rotary International Vision Statement Paddy Rooney By Paddy Rooney, governor of District 7390 (Pennsylvania, USA) The word which defines much of our world today is division. We are divided…
K V Mohan Kumar with a recipient of a prosthetic hand. By Koorapati Venkata Mohan Kumar, member of the Rotary Club of Bangalore Prime, India A boy who had lost both his hands in an electrocution spoke to a service committee meeting of our club. His parents left him after the electrocution and a…