Rotary Club of Kilifi EXPERIENCE with DG Joe Otin

People expect a lot when they hear a leader coming to visit. A motorcade, closed roads, tight security, suits and ties… All that official stuff. But the DG’s visit was very homely. We think, he is a very down to earth person and a good reflection of humility. He arrived accompanied by our AG Pauline. Dressed casually in his African print shirt and beige trousers. It was almost like when a friend is passing by the neighborhood and decides to stop by and check up on you. He came and said hi to everybody at the blood drive event that was also ongoing on Valentine’s Day 2020.

We later headed into one of the board rooms inside Pwani University to have our official meeting. The importance of a DG’s visit to a rotary club has been mentioned in a previous article,  and Rotary Club of Kilifi’s excitement toward this visit was evident. Eiiiiiish! This guy is the “pied piper” of effective communication. You could listen to him all day long. And how lucky were we to hear so much wisdom, and see so much vision in his speech. He is a visionary guy and the Rotary family is lucky to have such impeccable leadership.

His memorable achievement:

1. The Timeline: He had a plan to move the district 9212 family digital. To have a platform where we could all share what we do and learn from each other in a fast and accessible way. We must adapt to what works and what’s current. Slightly off his midnight target on the day of his induction as the 2019/20 District Governor, “The Timeline” was live. The first ever online magazine for Rotary District 9212. Yes, cheers to that!

His vision

1. A million heroes: It is very clear how inspired he is to see this dream realized. He talks and even writes about it. You cannot talk about Rotary without mentioning its contribution towards the global fight against polio. He emphasized the need to involve everyone to contribute at least 1USD (100KSH) to enable District 9212 reach the target of a million USD. When you think about it, how many times have you used one hundred shillings on something you do not need in your life?   
2. DISCON 2020: This year, we should expect big things, and if you have not registered yet, please, stop reading this article and go register to attend. The DG has promised and OSCAR AWARDS experience while recognizing achievement of Rotarians within the District, and there is so much more to look forward to. This will be a one of a kind event. The District is targeting an approximate 1000 attendees.
3. Rotary International Convention 2020 : Joe was very nostalgic about his past experiences attending previous conventions. And while reminiscing, he couldn’t get over the excitement, culture, people, friendships, and realities of what Rotary is at a global scale. He felt that every Rotarian should strive to attend at least one convention, and the Honolulu, Hawaii, USA would be a great way to start in sharing this experience.

His key advice

1. Membership: The art of attracting and recruiting members could be compared to that of courtship. Boy sees Girl. Boy falls in love. Boy gets first opportunity to meet girl in person. Now this is where it gets tricky. What Boy does can either convince or be a turn off to Girl (I think we all have an idea of where this is going). They say, if Boy wants to keep Girl, Boy needs to woo Girl. Take her out several dates. Show her how much better life gets with him by her side. How much good they can do together than apart. Boy should NOT ambush Girl on first meeting and go straight to proposing! Same goes to attracting membership in Rotary. We meet great potential Rotarians and our first instinct is to ask them to join Rotary. This always doesn’t rub well with people not familiar with what we do. We need to take initiative to invite potential Rotarians to club events/activities/meetings and allow them to learn and experience the Rotary way of life. It’s easier to convince someone when they have now become part of the family.

Parting shot

With the opportunity to visit Rotary Clubs in the District, he is overwhelmed by the richness of spirit in the people he has had the pleasure to interact with. He handed over a very beautiful blue scarf to the RC Kilifi President as a gesture of appreciation. He then encouraged us not to do projects the traditional way, that we need to think outside the box, be innovative, involve the youth, adapt to the changing society and elevate our game!