Why I am a Rotarian.
Geoff Dainty DG 9910 NZ (1997-1999)
I have often asked myself why I belong to Rotary.
I now believe I have an answer.
It is because Rotary has changed my life.
When I see photos of a mother whose child has just received the precious polio vaccine or learn of an entire village that has been provided with fresh clean water…or when I see scholars whose horizons and future were enlarged by a year of study abroad…or witness the smile on a disabled child's face after a week long camp…I am touched and moved.
When I hear the expressions of gratitude that echo time and again into all corners of the earth, I am reminded of the enormous potential for doing good that I hold as a Rotarian, and then know why I am a member.
As we each touch the life of another, our own life changes too. You and I do we remain the same when we hear children playing? Do we remain the same when we help someone cross a bridge from despair to hope, or care for a GSE team from abroad?
Rotary gives us extraordinary opportunities to change the lives of so many - both the Rotarians that serve and the people that will be served. Working with and working for Rotary will bring a far greater happiness that any other superficial or intangible asset. It will bring an inner peace.
Those of us that have been born comfortable and healthy will probably never understand the multitude of tasks and anxieties performed each day by someone who is poor or who is blind Imagine not being able to go to school because there is no school for you to go to, or imagine going about your life in a wheelchair.
But each of us actually does suffer similar hardships. For each of us our limitations are in our head. The symptoms of this condition are a failure of imagination a paralysis to act and a belief that hope and victory is impossible.
Our disability is in our hearts. It shows in our pessimism and immobility of spirit. And our handicamp is in our hands, resulting in the crippling inaction that prevents us from achieving all that we could.
But through Rotary we can fight these disabilities. Through Rotary we can devote our strength and intelligence and energy and heart to overcoming these symptoms.
For this reason Rotary has influenced my life and can influence your life.
My life is changed.... so can yours. And that is why we belong to Rotary.
Real giving has its joy in dreaming of the joy of the receiver
So Follow Your Rotary DreamGeoff
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