Speeches :
Speech Delivered at TRF Seminar, New Delhi RI Dist: 3010 on 19th August, 2007
MAKE PEACE YOUR TARGET WITH EVERY ROTARIAN EVERY YEAR
Click here for photos on the occasion
The Rotary Foundation is a not
for profit Corporation that is supported solely by Voluntary Contributions from
Rotarians and friends of the Foundation, who share its vision of a better world.
I am certain that everyone here knows that the greatest and the most fundamental of The Rotary Foundation is Peace.
The peace that is development and better quality of life.
The peace that is attained with more justice, more tolerance, and more equality.
The peace of the world without borders, where effective help and fraternal understanding bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, and between the third and the first world countries.
The peace of one world, where essential values guarantee a life of dignity, with health and prosperity for all.
The million dollar question is whether –
The Rotary Foundation has the ability to contribute to this quest for peace?
I truly believe it does!
Whether through our extraordinary Humanitarian Programmes, foremost among those being:
The Matching Grants Programme
The Health, Hunger and Humanity (3-H) Programme.
The Polio Plus Programme.
Whether through our excellent Educational Programmes with special emphasis on:
Ambassadorial Scholarships
Group Study Exchanges
Rotary World Peace Fellows
Rotary Volunteers
Or furthermore through our Peace Programmes when we gather different peoples, nations, races, or religions for cordial meetings at forums and conferences in order to find peaceful and conciliatory solutions.
Thus, through its worthwhile programmes, The Rotary Foundation exercises its mission to build a more peaceful world with less suffering.
When children suffer from disease and cry from hunger, medicines arrive, vaccines arrive, the Foundation arrives, and Peace arrives.
When abandoned elderly suffer from cold and loneliness, clothing arrives, blankets arrive, consolation arrives, The Rotary Foundation arrives, and Peace arrives.
When children need to learn to read, books arrive, schools arrive, teachers arrive, The Rotary Foundation arrives, and Peace arrives.
When hospitals stand empty, equipment arrives, Medicines arrive, volunteer doctors arrive, The Rotary Foundation arrives and Peace arrives.
For all the needy, hope arrives, help arrives, happiness arrives, The Rotary Foundation arrives, and Peace arrives.
The Rotary Foundation continues steadfastly on, constantly increasing its array of services in fulfillment of its mission to promote humanitarian service, offering the needy increased dignity and health.
True charity does not lie in helping the needy, but in ensuring that there are no needy.
So let us act in this spirit, the spirit of true brotherhood.
Day by Day requests for help multiply, projects expand, and hands reach out, hoping that The Rotary Foundation will help.
But unfortunately, the requests and contributions do not arrive in the same proportion. It is extremely difficult for the Trustees to choose to help on a greatest need basis, and relegate others, who are also in need, to an indeterminate and frustrating wait.
Despite the goodwill and generosity of Rotarians, we still need more help, more money, and more understanding.
Last year, the generous Rotarians of your District, under the leadership of Damanjit Singh and DRFC PDG Rajesh Batra have shown you the way by contributing over US$ 325,000 to the Annual Programmes Fund to new heights.
I am confident that you the Rotarians are going to repeat the performance, when you have in Mukesh Arneja at the helm of affairs in your District and DRFC remains the same. And the story will be the same next year and the year after that.
But, it can happen only when Every Rotarian does his/her part to enable our Rotary Foundation to continue to be the greatest source for “ doing good in the world ” of any private non-governmental organization in history.
But what does it truly mean for every Rotarian to make a gift to the Annual Programme Fund every year?
It is a gift of hope to those less fortunate. Every gift makes a difference in someone’s life.
Every gift makes it possible for Rotarians to build more water wells so that children and families in rural villages have access to clean water.
Every gift makes it possible for Rotarians to provide agricultural and fish-farm development to help with food production and improve the nutrition of thousands of people around the world.
Every gift provides the money needed to send Rotarian eye doctors to perform cataract surgery so that a blind person can see again.
Every gift provides the equipment and supplies needed to make an artificial limb for an amputee, so that he or she will be able to walk again and provide for their family.
Every gift makes it possible for a team of Rotarians to correct the deformities in a child’s limb brought on by poliomyelitis so that that child does not have to crawl on the ground to move about his or her village or home.
Every gift makes it possible for the Rotarians to provide educational opportunities to the illiterate or send a scholar to study abroad.
Your annual support of our Rotary Foundation is what makes it possible for all of us to bring the miracle of Rotary to the less fortunate in the world.
The Mission of Rotary Foundation is to enable Rotarians to advance World Understanding, goodwill and peace through the improvement of health, the support of Education and alleviation of poverty. It is a mission worthy of the greatest service organization on earth.
But in an immediate and practical sense, it is apparent that a world half starving will never be a world at peace, a world half sick will never be a world at peace, a world half – illiterate will never be a world at peace, and a world of prejudice and intolerance, distrust and ignorance will never be a world at peace.
My dear fellow Rotarians, each of us needs to lead by example. First, you make your personal contribution to the Annual Programme Fund as early as possible during the Rotary year and every year thereafter, and as you go back to your respective Clubs SHARE, the Every Rotarian Every Year Message and encourage every member of your Club to participate in this worthy Endeavor. With your help every year we will be able to enhance the level of contribution and will take giant steps towards achieving our mission.
Every Rotarian every year seems to be a difficult happening but I can say with fullest chance of accuracy that it is certainly not the impossible. Remember, Rotary Shares through the hands – on personal involvement of each and every Rotarian and through the grass root efforts of each and every Club. I am confident that you all are convinced that The Rotary Foundation supports many wonderful projects, the success of all those projects lies upon the contribution of individual Rotarians. It is through these individual efforts that we have the combined strength to change the lives.
Let us all come together and give to the one organization where we know our gifts make a difference. Please join me in supporting our Rotary Foundation this year, in your year and every year thereafter.
ASHOK MAHAJAN
DIRECTOR – ROTARY INTERNATIONAL
Copyright (c)2011 Ashokmahajan.com
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