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Vocational Service Update June 2010 |
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 | Vocational Service
Update | Rotary International
June 2010 |
| | Welcome to
the June edition of the Vocational Service Update, designed to keep you
informed about the latest developments with vocational service
worldwide and provide useful information and resources to enhance your
Rotary club and district projects. Comments and suggestions for future
issues
are welcome at vocationalservice@rotary.org. |
| 2010 RI
Convention | Rotarians
from all over the world will be attending the
RI Convention in Montréal,
Québec,
Canada, 20-23 June. The convention is a
great way to network with fellow Rotarians and find out what clubs
are doing around the globe.
If you will be at the convention,
plan on attending some breakout sessions — presentations, panel
discussions, and workshops offering opportunities to learn from
Rotarians, Rotary leaders, and non-Rotarian guest speakers. In addition
to RI-designed
workshops, you can attend sessions designed by Rotarians to share their
project success stories and offer ideas that you can bring back to your
club.
The sessions, which take place between Monday and Wednesday,
include “Fighting Poverty with Microcredit and Microfinance,”
“Vocational Service Is a Basic Avenue of Service,” “Expanding RYLA
Around the World,” and “The Future of Vocational
Service Is in Your Hands.” View a tentative schedule of breakout sessions. A complete, final schedule
will be available in the official program.
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| June is Rotary
Fellowships Month | June, designated
as Rotary Fellowships Month, celebrates the
fellowship groups throughout the Rotary world. Rotary Fellowships
offer Rotarians the opportunity
to make friends with others in Rotary who share a common vocation,
hobby, or recreational interest. The professional fellowships include
groups for
doctors,
editors and publishers,
lawyers, and magicians. If
you are interested in starting a new vocational Rotary Fellowship, see
the application information on the
RI website. |
| Project
spotlight: Rotary Club of Honolulu Sunrise’s Royal Scholar mentoring
program | The Rotary Club of Honolulu Sunrise, Hawaii,
USA, mentored 25
at-risk first graders beginning in 1997 and concluded the project 12
years later, in 2009. Of those original 25 students, 19 graduated high
school and
moved on to higher education, military service, or trade schools. Five
children relocated and had to leave the program, and only one student
dropped
out.
Rotarians became mentors for individual students and
followed their progress in and out of school. Over the years, the
children,
their families, and Honolulu Sunrise club members participated in fun
outdoor activities as well as service projects. The students held annual
fundraisers to help pay for their college tuition, and they were
expected to discuss report cards with their mentors and do additional
community
service. Once the students were in high school, the club members taught
them interviewing and writing skills to help them through the college
admission process and future job searches. With the club’s help, over
$50,000 had been raised and invested by the end of the project. These
funds are being divided equally to help finance the students’ continuing
education and will be paid directly to schools each semester to cover
books and tuition.
This project earned a 2009-10 Significant
Achievement Award. Find additional information on the Rotary Club of Honolulu Sunrise
website. |
| Mine-Ex offering vocational
scholarships for land mine victims | Mine-Ex,
an RI Board-recognized multidistrict service activity, is devoted to
addressing the threats and problems
posed by land mines. According to United Nations estimates, about
2,000 people are killed or maimed by land mine explosions each month.
More
than 110 million active mines — many of which remain live for 50 years —
are still scattered in 68 countries. Most victims receive little
help or therapy, and face a life of pain and poverty.
Mine-Ex
carries out numerous service projects, including providing medical and
orthopedic care for land mine victims, training local prosthesis
technicians, supporting a worldwide ban on the production and
distribution of mines,
and helping with the removal of land mines. It also provides annual
financial support of US$457,000 to assist about 30,000 land mine victims
and
support other relief efforts.
In February, Mine-Ex announced a
new initiative to provide vocational scholarships to victims, helping
them
learn job-related skills that accommodate their disabilities so they can
become self-sufficient. The first scholarship was awarded to a victim
in
Phnom Penh, Cambodia, who is learning database skills in a yearlong
course.
Learn more and submit a scholarship application on
behalf of a
land mine victim on the Mine-Ex website. |
| Rotary
coordinators | The Rotary coordinators program
will launch 1 July, providing a new resource on
Rotary International for districts and clubs. Rotary coordinators (RCs)
will be well versed in the many programs of RI and knowledgeable about
Rotary
club and district best practices. RI President-elect Ray Klinginsmith
has appointed the initial 41 RCs, who will serve the same geographical
regions
as the regional Rotary Foundation coordinators, with at least one RC
serving each Rotary zone. RCs
will focus on offering guidance and tools in three areas: RI programs
such as youth programs, Rotary Fellowships, and Rotarian Action
Groups; best practices that strengthen clubs and districts such as
strategic planning, effective public relations, and leadership
development; and
building membership through stronger clubs and districts. More
information about the program is available on the RI
website. |
| Council on
Legislation approves fifth Avenue of Service | Representatives
at the 2010 Council on Legislation approved a fifth Avenue of Service
focused on New Generations. New Generations
Service joins Club Service, Vocational Service, Community Service, and
International Service as the foundation of club activity. Before
starting a
project, Rotarians are asked to think broadly about how their club and
its members could contribute within each avenue.
The Avenue of
New
Generations Service recognizes the positive change implemented by youth
and young adults involved in leadership development activities,
community and
international service projects, and exchange programs that enrich and
foster world peace and cultural understanding. Find
out more about the Council on Legislation and the fifth Avenue of
Service on the RI website. |
| | Calendar | June - Rotary Fellowships month
5
June
World Environment Day
18-19 June
International
Institute
(Montréal, Québec, Canada) 20 June
World
Refugee Day
20-23 June
RI Convention in Montréal, Québec,
Canada
23 June
United
Nations Public Service Day (UN)
26 June
International Day
Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking and International Day in
Support of Victims of Torture (UN)
July
1
July
2010-11 Rotary year begins
11
July
World Population Day |
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