Watamu: The Handover

By Mona Ombogo

And so, after many months of planning, the DCA is finally here! Watamu started calling about a year ago, and over six hundred Rotarians and friends have answered the call. What about you?

I know I have. Why? The DCA is one of the most important events in the Rotary calendar, because it’s a platform for our leaders to review the year and make a promise for the next one. The DCA is about the opportunity to look back at what was, and welcome what is to come. It’s about transitions.

This year in Watamu, we transition from We Are One to One Hundred Years of Service in Africa. And though the Rotary year 2023/2024 will continue until the 30^th of June, the last few months after the DCA are a good time to begin the handover and reflect on what we envisioned we would achieve, what we really did accomplish and what learnings and aspirations we take with us into the new year.

It’s a time to ask some critical questions: how much do we have left to do? What are some of the best things we managed to do? What are some of the hardest things we passed through? How would we do it differently? How will we reach higher in 2024/25? How will we ensure the vision continues after we lay down our instruments of power in our various dockets.

We started off our Watamu articles by sharing with you 10 reasons why DCA is a must. To conclude those articles, allow us to use this transition period, and share 10 things that we will be taking away from 2023/24 and hoping to implement in 2024/25.

Yes, We Can: This year our DG Ithau’s call was for bigger and more impactful projects. It was a brave and inspired move. Brave because bringing complete and self-functioning clubs together can cause any number of complexities. Inspired because resources pulled together can go further: more minds, more ideas, more power. Yet I know many clubs struggled to get these bigger projects off the ground, especially in collaboration with other clubs. It needed a completely different mindset; whereas in the past it was perhaps easy to accomplish many little tasks in a year, this new shift required patience, belief, impeccable planning, and resilience. Maybe your club only managed to get an idea off the ground but hasn’t yet seen it to completion, maybe you didn’t launch when you wanted to launch, maybe you had to shift your focus and rethink your strategy. Or maybe you ticked all the boxes and flew by in glowing colours. Whatever your experience was, we are here to tell you, yes, you can. If you did, well done! Rinse, repeat. If you haven’t yet, we hope this time of year is a chance to reflect, get that second wind and finish strong.

Yes, We Have: Rotary is as much about imagination as it is about hard work and dedication. This year, many were motivated to look at our mission and align with longevity rather than champion instant results. It’s not an easy thing to do, because the challenge with longevity is that it takes more time to build up. It’s easier to take donations to deserving and needy establishments, for instance, clothes to a children’s home. And as noble as this is, the ask by our leaders was to steer more towards sustainable projects that thrive long after the Rotary passed through that way. So, instead of just taking clothes to a children’s home, what more can we do in that home, that will enable them to reach milestones on their own? It needs deeper thinking, more time, maybe even more resources, but it’s this kind of change that truly transforms. Transformation does not only work when the change agent is present, transformation continues, creates a new structure, and thrives in its own merit. It cannot be done within the realms of the ordinary. This year we were called to be extraordinary and be patient in our becoming of it. Only then, can we say, yes, we have.

Yes, We Will: So, maybe it was hard; do better next time. Maybe it was easy; challenge yourself more. Maybe it was fulfilling; rinse, repeat. The point is, you did it, how it turned out is not as critical as the fact that you showed up and you didn’t go it alone. It is our choices of today than inform our victories of tomorrow. Our failures too. But it’s always better to try and learn, than sit and yearn. The District turns 100 this year; that means we should plan for the next hundred. The only way to do that is to keep pressing forward, always vying for bigger and better results, steadfast in the belief that, yes, we will.

Those are our first three gems from 2023/2024. What are yours?

Will you be part of the handover, not from the comfort of your home or seated in front of a screen, but by being present, taking in the energy, the vibrance, the deep sense of accomplishment and hope for an even brighter future. All this will take place in Watamu from the 25^th to the 27^th of April.