On June 23rd, I joined 25,000 other members at the 104th Annual Rotary International Convention.
During four amazing days, I attended several morning sessions that highlighted the extraordinary results achieved by the more than 1.2 million Rotarians around the world during the past year, and to listen to some inspiring speakers. Among them were:
- Leymah Gbowee, the 2011 Nobel Peace Laureate;
- Emmanuel Jal, a South Soudanese musician and former child soldier; and
- Dr. Harminder Singh Dua, the recipient of the Rotary Global Service to Humanity Award, for his work to prevent and cure blindness.
One of the other highlights of the convention was the afternoon workshops available, on a terrific variety of subjects. The ones I attended included information about Vocational Training Teams in Action; How to Strengthen Rotary Membership with Mentoring; and The Amazing Power of Story, which provided me the rare occasion to be on stage as a participant instead of in my usual trainer’s role.
When I was not attending the official sessions, I was busy meeting other Rotarians and experiencing the remarkable international networking possibilities that Rotary offers to its members. I met people from all over the world (Brazil, Nepal, Canada, France and Japan are just a few examples) and each encounter reinforced my belief that while we are all different, deep down we share the same needs of being connected to each other while aspiring to improve our lives and the world around us.
My take-away from this convention is best summarized by the words of 2012-13 Rotary President, Sakuji Tanaka, when he said, “At this Rotary convention, we have the chance to experience the world as it could be, with people from every continent united to make their world a better place. Here we see how little our differences matter.”
Rotary has quickly become an important part of my life, a chance to make new friends, change lives and have fun while doing good.
Rotary membership, particularly in the club to which I belong in Prague, whose members represent a dozen countries, is an excellent way to expand your network, gain far-reaching cultural experience and give back to your community. If these things are important to you, I encourage you to contact me about coming to one of our lunches or dinners.