================
Dear Fellow Rotarians, Rotaractors, and friends,
Due to your positive response to the Each One, Bring
One initiative, I am so happy to see that the membership trends
in Rotary are looking up. Let us not lose this momentum —
keep inviting new members, and also work hard to retain every member
we attract. I look forward to seeing you next month in Houston at
the 2022 Rotary International Convention, which I assure you will
be a great event.
Also in Houston this June, we will be hosting my final
presidential conference. We have devoted this year to conferences
built around Rotary’s areas of focus. They have been a tremendous
success, both in terms of attendance and in the ideas that were
generated.
Last fall, our conference in the Philippines, which
focused on protecting the environment and growing local economies,
attracted 2,200 people online. In Brazil, our meeting centered around
water, sanitation, and hygiene and how it relates to disease prevention
and treatment; more than 600 people attended. That was followed
by an event about the environment, economy, and peace in Maputo,
Mozambique, which attracted around 400 in-person attendees and another
700 virtually. Our conference about keeping the economy and environment
in harmony, held in Venice, Italy, had more than 600 in attendance.
Through these conferences and my world travels, numerous
leaders have met with me and agreed to collaborate with Rotary.
They include the prime minister of Mauritius, the president of Seychelles,
the deputy prime minister of Bahrain, and the presidents of Albania
and Kosovo. Clearly, Rotary is making an impact, and the world is
eager for our leadership.
In Houston, the final presidential conference, Serve
to Bring Peace, will focus on an area in which Rotary has long provided
leadership. Everything we do in Rotary helps create the conditions
that foster peace in communities, nations, and ourselves.
In March, I was able to see firsthand the tremendous
difference Rotary is making in Ukraine, as refugees continue to
pour into Poland. Donors have contributed millions of dollars to
this effort; our projects are making a tremendous difference, and
there is enormous gratitude for your continued generosity and support.
It is heartbreaking to see up close all the lives
that have been uprooted, and the Ukrainian people are not alone.
A devastating civil war in Yemen continues. The humanitarian crisis
in Afghanistan is deepening. Armed conflicts affect nations across
Africa, including Libya, South Sudan, the Central African Republic,
northern Mozambique, Ethiopia, and Cameroon. And major refugee crises
continue in Syria and Venezuela.
Rotary will always be on the side of the peaceful
resolution of conflict and providing aid and comfort to people in
need. Rotary was there at the end of World War II, promoting the
creation of the United Nations and standing up for the cause of
peacebuilding worldwide. It is time to renew our mission and perform
our role as one of the world’s great promoters of peace.
There is no better way to Serve to Change Lives than
to serve the cause of peace.
Shekhar Mehta
President 2021-22
Trustee Chair's Message - May2022
John F.
Germ
Trustee Chair 2021-22
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Trustee chair's
message
As an engineer, I have worked my entire life for success
that can be measured. I believe in the kind of success
you can reach out and touch. And I also know that
it doesn’t come overnight, it happens one step
at a time.
At The Rotary Foundation, we don’t settle for
a vague idea of doing good; we take measurable steps,
ones that are concrete and real, toward a defined
goal. It’s progress that you can see and tell
your family and friends about, each step of the way.
Measurable success is what our new Programs of Scale
grants are all about. The first member-led program
to receive this annual $2 million grant, Partners
for a Malaria-Free Zambia (PMFZ), seeks to reduce
malaria by 90 percent in 10 highly affected districts
within two provinces of Zambia. It’s an ambitious
but achievable goal, based on a community health worker
model that has been successful in reducing malaria
in other parts of Zambia, as implemented by Rotary
members and our partners on the ground.
To help end malaria in Zambia, The Rotary Foundation,
World Vision U.S., and the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation are each contributing $2 million to PMFZ,
whose Rotary-led program already has begun to expand
life-saving malaria diagnosis and treatment to hundreds
more rural communities. So far this Rotary year, PMFZ
has trained, equipped, and deployed more than 1,300
of the 2,500 new community health workers who will
help local health centers reach more people who are
vulnerable to malaria, such as mothers and children.
PMFZ is also collecting and analyzing data to ensure
medical supplies get to where they are needed most.
This work, along with the close collaboration between
implementing partners and Rotary and Rotaract clubs
across Zambia, has comprised the first bold steps
toward our goal.
PolioPlus is another example of a global project that
has been engineered for impact. The fact that we have
reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent worldwide is a
testament to your generous contributions, our strong
partnerships through the Global Polio Eradication
Initiative, and a vast network of volunteers who administer
drops to children around the world.
And we won’t stop now. Rotary spearheaded the
drive to end polio, and Rotary will complete it. Encourage
your district leaders to designate leftover District
Designated Funds (DDF) for polio eradication, so we
can finish the job.
As an engineer, I have been proud to see my blueprints
transformed into great structures and facilities.
But perhaps I am even prouder of how together in Rotary
we have engineered a better world — measurably,
step by step, project by project. In Rotary, we can
all be engineers of hope, building a better future
for the next generation.
http://www.endpolio.org/donate.
John F. Germ
Trustee Chair 2021-22
Copyright © 2003-04
Rotary eClub NY1 * Updated 2020
Design & Maintenance of this site by TechnoTouch
e-Strategists
