Kia ora koutou katoa
He waka eke noa
A canoe which we are all in, with no exceptions
October is The Rotary Foundation (TRF) month. This reminds us that we are all part of a global whanau of more than a million people with shared values across more than 250 nations. We are all in the Rotary Foundation waka and it is a beauty. The Rotary Foundation is our charity of choice. Put simply ‘Doing Good in the World’ is our motto. TRF needs capital to invest. We support it through PHF contributions, gifting, bequests and our End Polio Now efforts among other inputs. In turn TRF invests well and supports our District Grants, Global Grants, Rotary Peace and other scholars and Vocational Training Teams (VTTs). I am hearing a lot of support for the VTTs concept in my travels. I intend to champion an agreement in principle to support VTTs at the Board level and take that further. Right now, I am very interested in your feedback on VTTs.
This month is also a time for repositioning the District and for clubs for the next 2 – 3 years. Already several new Assistant Governors have been identified and some key district positions are looking for new leaders. These include the Treasurer, Youth Protection Officer and the Police Liaison Officer. At the club level Presidents Elect and Nominee are being lined up too. Already a critical mass of the 2020-21 Presidents Elect Training Group have confirmed their attendance at the November Palmerston North training. This is a very positive and proactive initiative from DGE Gillian Jones and the District Training team. Still time to join in by contacting DGE Gillian Jones or PDG Mitch Brown.
Finally, a huge thank you to all Rotarians and clubs for your support on World Polio Day 24 October 2019. We set out to connect with the public and to engage with them about our flagship programme. We certainly succeeded in raising the profile of Rotary in all of 9940. I was delighted with the energy, skills, enthusiasm and positivity of our teams in reaching out to the media, the public and to each other. I consistently heard Rotarians saying things such as we should ‘do more of this’, ‘we must work together like this again’, ‘our image is great and the public are interested’ and ‘we are a sea of red promoting what we do’. I could not have been happier to be your DG on that day.
Thank you
Nga mihi nui
Na
John H Mohi