Rotary in Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania & Uganda
NEWS
Posted on: July 1, 2010
DG'S MESSAGE FOR JULY
By DG Stephen Mwanje
Dear friends,
It is the privilege and responsibility of every incoming President of Rotary International to choose a theme for his year in office. The challenge, we have been told is for him to find a theme that will encapsulate how he feels about Rotary, convey his message and motivate Rotarians around the world for the year of service ahead. President Ray Klinginismith surely could not have found a better theme. There is no better way to describe our passion, creativity and generosity.
This year’s theme gives a glimpse to the outside world about our purpose, and at the same time makes us proud of our membership.
These are the magical words indeed that describe our essence as Rotarians, ‘BUILDING COMMUNITIES, BRIDGING CONTINENTS’.
While the mission and motto of Rotary remain the same, we must always be open to the need for change. It was the rallying point when we set out to do our plans, as we challenged ourselves to do things a little differently this Rotary year for the better of our District. As leaders, we all agreed to be strategic thinkers in our District and clubs; to deliberately think about succession planning as the only way to guarantee continuity and sustainability; to be always innovative so that we continue to find better ways of delivering service to our needy communities. It was for this reason that we had to introduce new offices to address the ever increasing challenges faced by our clubs and also take advantage of the available opportunities. This is the reason, for example that we decided to introduce ‘Project Safaris’ as a new district office, in order to enhance our capacity in ‘building strong bridges’ between our district and the rest of the world, so as to “Build Communities and Bridge Continents” better. Being a pilot district also meant that we needed to change a lot of things in the way we run our clubs and the district.
How time flies! Memories of May 2008 at Kunduchi Hotel and my nomination are still very fresh in my mind, and now here we are, July 2010. As we embark on a new Rotary year, we look ahead to new responsibilities, new challenges and new opportunities. Rotary in our district has flourished so much because of the commitment of all the Rotarians and because in our diversity, lies our strength. In the words of Ed Cadman, “Rotary is Unity without Uniformity”.
In all that we do, our single target this year should be to build BIGGER, BETTER, and BOLDER (BBB) clubs. We need to build ‘BBB’clubs in terms of membership, service projects and our support to the Rotary Foundation. We also need to build a special brand for our organization in our district. We have to always be mindful about our reputation and create positive awareness as Rotarians.
My dear friends, the time for planning is now over. It is time to go into action. To test our tools which we have been sharpening and I know we are more than ready and roaring to go. I can’t wait either, and it’s the reason my club visits are starting today, July 1. Dorothy and I are looking forward to a very exciting year of service together, as we continue to do what we do best, ‘BUILDING COMMUNITIES, BRIDGING CONTINENTS’.
Stephen Ivan Mwanje
DG's Newsletter for July-Aug 2010 (pdf, 2MB)
