Rotary in South Sudan to grow by 245% by March
The Rotarians in South Sudan have pledged to grow their members from 58 currently to 200 members by March next year. This commitment was made during the inaugural Combined Training Seminar, which is the first of a series of 5 training events that have been scheduled across the district.
The District Governor Joe Otin, who was in the country for his first club visits, said that achieving the pledge was the first step in attracting district resources to help manage Rotary administration in South Sudan. “We are confident that we will meet these numbers and have set up a committee to prepare the membership plan and support the clubs so that we can fulfil this promise,” said Rotary Country Chairman Francis Butili.
The Rotary Club of Juba led the way by inducting 10 new members into their club during that week alone. “I’m confident that we will meet and surpass our membership goals, and we now intend to concentrate on meeting the foundation and service goals,” promised Madra Geoffrey, the self-assured President of the Rotary Club of Juba.
DG Joe Otin, was accompanied by District Rotaract Representative Samuel Karanja, to mark the first time in our district’s history that the Rotary and Rotaract leaders have jointly visited clubs. They made their club visits to Rotary Clubs of Juba, Wau and Munuki which included project tours, club board meetings and club fellowships where they got to interact with the Rotarians. Governor Otin emphasised that success in South Sudan was success for the whole district and that was why he was determined to come to South Sudan before he went anywhere else.
That point was brought to life from the first board meeting they attended, that of Juba Rotary Club, which was held at the banks of the River Nile, from where both Kenya and Ethiopia could be regarded, symbolising the entire district.
Prior to this, the DG toured the Juba Orphanage which was founded in 1962 and currently cares for 70 orphans of different ages. He applauded the administration of Juba Orphanage for the tremendous work they are doing to support the orphaned and vulnerable children. “I see a bright future for Africa in the children’s eyes and we must direct their attention to the secrets of success that are hidden in these books that have been donated by the Rotary Club of Juba,” he said.
In Wau, the DG visited with Father Kamau, the principal of Loyola Secondary School which hosts a vibrant interact club. The Interactors displayed their plant husbandry project that is an income generating project that supports nature.
The combined training was held at the end of the week and 47% of the South Sudan Rotarians were in attendance. The training was a tremendous success due to the input of Past Presidents Emmanuel Ecodu, who conducted the Grants Management Seminar, and John Jada and Susan Nyabonyi, who were responsible for the membership training. The DG instructed the participants on public image tools and techniques and the DRR conducted a breakout session with the Rotaractors and Interactors.
By Stanley Nyombe Gore
