ROTARY INTERNATIONAL

Rotary International is an organisation of business and professional leaders united worldwide, who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. Rotary International’s motto is “Service above Self”.

A SHORT MESSAGE FROM OUR WORLD PRESIDENT

Rotary International President 2008-2009 D K Lee delivers his message for the year:

"In 2008-2009, Rotary will keep the service emphases that we have had in so many of our past years, emphases that are so solidly grounded in our knowledge and our experience. That is Water, Health, Hunger and Literacy. But this year I would ask you to focus on children and on reducing the terrible rate of child mortality in our world.

"In 2008-09, I will ask you all to Make Dreams Real for the world's children. This will be our theme, and my challenge to all of you.

"We will make dreams real by giving children hope and a chance at the future.

"We will make dreams real by bringing clean water to their communities and by this I mean not only bringing water that is safe to drink but also the sanitation projects that keep children healthy. We will be as proud of building public toilets are we are of supplying drinking water, because by improving sanitation we prevent water becoming contaminated and we will avoid so many needless deaths.

"We will make dreams real by giving children a chance at health through improving their environments and their access to care. So much can be done to keep children healthy with so little. Mosquito nets, re-hydration salts, vitamins and vaccines. So much can be done with just a little bit more. A trained health attendant, a simple clinic, a school feeding programme, excercise outdoors. These are simple and correct ways to save children's lives.

"In 08-09 we will make dreams real by making sure that more children have a chance to go to school. because it will be only true that through education the deadly poverty cycle can be broken.

"Make Dreams Real for the world's children. This will be our theme, and my challenge to all of you."

WHAT IS ROTARY INTERNATIONAL’S OBJECTIVE?

The object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:

• The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service
• High ethical standards in business and professions the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations and the dignifying by each Rotarian of their occupation as an opportunity to serve society
• The application of the ideal of service by every Rotarian to their personal, business, and community life
• The advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

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