RI President 2022-23 Jennifer
Jones
Rotary Club of Windsor-Roseland
Ontario, Canada
================
Dear Fellow Rotarians, Rotaractors, and friends,
Recently, Nick and I spent time in Guatemala, where we met wonderful
fellow Rotary members and families who unofficially adopted me as
“Tía Jennifer.” On the third day, after visiting
Patzún in the mountainous western highlands, we set out for
Lake Atitlán, which we needed to reach by nightfall. If we
took a back road we could get there faster. Locals told us it had
just been repaved and assured us, “You’ll have no problem.”
At first, it was a breeze. We wound through misty-green coffee and
corn fields covering the hillside like a patchwork quilt. But at
a river crossing, we found a bridge washed away. The only way to
continue would be to ford the river in our small bus. There were
a few tense moments, but we decided to give it a try and, thankfully,
we made it across safely.
This adventure reminds me of two important truths in Rotary. One,
we rely on local, on-the-ground expertise to do what we do best.
And two, sometimes you have to take uncomfortable chances to reach
important goals.
Every day, I am honored to learn from our Rotary family. Every lesson
is an opportunity to grow, and each story adds a chapter to our
collective Imagine Rotary year.
Jennifer Jones
President 2022-23
Trustee Chair's Message - September
2022
Ian H.S.
Riseley
Trustee Chair 2022-23
Sandringham, Victoria, Australia,
Trustee chair's
message
One of my favorite books, A Short History of
Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, muses on the
creation of the universe and how a tiny speck of it
we call Earth went from being a fiery ball with seas
of molten rock to the lush green-and-blue home we
know today. Bryson’s argument is that it is
a miracle that we — our planet and our species
— have survived. “We enjoy not only the
privilege of existence,” Bryson writes, “but
also the singular ability to appreciate it and even,
in a multitude of ways, to make it better.”
We are fortunate to be able to read his words or any
others. And we are fortunate to be part of an organization
that is making our world a better place by helping
those who can’t read them. There are an estimated
773 million illiterate adults — most of them
women — who can’t read these words or
write their own name. They are at a clear disadvantage
in life, with limited opportunities to work. And this
situation isn’t their fault.
Rotary has not forgotten them. In September, let’s
celebrate Basic Education and Literacy Month by looking
at the long-term impact Rotary and The Rotary Foundation
are making and how we are finding ways to lend a hand
in the effort.
Last year alone, The Rotary Foundation approved 104
global grants totaling $6.3 million for basic education
and literacy projects, according to preliminary figures.
This is on top of decades of work in our clubs and
districts. As an Australian, I’m especially
proud of the work of Dick Walker, a past district
governor from Queensland, who used a Foundation matching
grant to develop the concentrated language encounter
method that has been adopted by educational leaders
around the world.
At the community level, our clubs are well known for
book drives that have changed the lives of so many
children. But when we gather many clubs and districts
together and work on large-scale Rotary Foundation
projects, we have the potential to impact entire communities
for generations.
The opportunities for Rotary to make a difference
in literacy are boundless. Once basic reading and
writing is achieved, it opens a path to other types
of literacy, such as numerical literacy, digital literacy,
and financial literacy.
Let’s not squander our opportunity to improve
our corner of the universe. I encourage you to think
big about literacy and education and change the world
— this month and beyond.
http://www.endpolio.org/donate.
Ian H.S. Riseley
Trustee Chair 2022-23
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