Call to Adventure
During the Rotary Year 2020 – 2021, 21 Rotaract Clubs were chartered in District 9212. Rotaract grew around the district, with new clubs established far and wide, creating opportunities for service and professional, personal and leadership development for youth in far and wide. When the new year came, we had 2,736 Rotaractors in District 9212, during a time when clubs had gone inactive due to the pandemic, people had lost work and sources of income and the outlook had generally been grim. How was this possible?
In July 2020, as I attended the RI Virtual Rotaract Post-Convention, I had a conversation with a Rotaractor in Germany, during which we compared notes on the effects of the pandemic. Restrictions on movement and social contact were all the rage, and people were more isolated than ever before. In his district, though, Rotaract was experiencing an unprecedented growth. For the first time in a long time, people were reaching out to ask how they could participate and join. We, here, were meanwhile experiencing the complete opposite. Institution-based clubs were basically shut down. Community-based clubs were struggling to rally members for online meetings and club handovers were a struggle. I said I would report back to see if things got better.
Focus on Engagement
Our approach to the growth of Rotaract this year is to tap into that which brought 600 people to Rotaract during one of the most challenging years of their lives yet. Three things stand out:
- Community
The Rotaract Club of Eldoret – Uasin Gishu started a project last year called Dimba La Rotaract. It is a football tournament that brings together youth from around the community for fun, competition and most importantly conversation. In a year of shocking statistics on youth depression, unemployment and suicide, creating a space to talk, be oneself and feel connected to those around you is service to humanity. Create an environment in your club that welcomes all and gives them a chance to express themselves and learn from each other’s experiences. Look out for members, caring about them as humans first.
- Personal Growth
The first goal of Rotaract is to develop leadership and professional skills. Through District Rotaract Programs such as Rotaract@Work, DigiSOMO and RYLA, we offer Rotaractors and youth the opportunity to pick up skills they can apply in their personal and professional lives, and skills they can apply in making a living. Encourage Rotaractors to sign up and take advantage of the wealth of knowledge and experience offered to them through these programs. Create programs in your clubs that offer Rotaractors mentorship, skill and experience. And of course, make your members relish the challenge of leadership in Rotary. It is a formative experience.
Encourage your members sign up on Kazi-Connect: www.jobs.rotaractdistrict9212.org | www.rotary9212.org/jobs as employers or job seekers, to share opportunities for work with each other. We have amongst us hundreds of employers and business owners, and thousands of Rotarians and Rotaractors with great skill and integrity.
- Opportunities for Service
The overwhelming majority of Rotaractors join to serve. Bring Rotaractors together to choose, develop, plan and execute service projects, utilizing their skill and time as was the intention with the adoption of Service Above Self as Rotary’s motto. Collaborate with other clubs and organisations and join them in their projects to create diverse ways to serve.
As we work to bring up even more Rotaract Clubs, let us remember why Rotary created the program called Rotaract, that is now a form of membership in Rotary. It is the same invitation to endless opportunities that is made to Rotarians around the world. Rotaract is an opportunity to serve our communities and Rotary by building the future. The charter is not the goal. It is only the beginning of a journey that can take a person such as myself to discoveries within themselves, in their communities and around the globe that they could not have seen had that spark not been lit.
#OneLove
DRR George
