New Generations …. Youth Service….. Youth at Risk?
| District Governor Jeremy's September Message |
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Posted by Jeremy Hurst on Sep 02, 2013 (To District Website)
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New Generations …. Youth Service….. Youth at Risk?
Dear fellow Rotarians, Rotaractors and Family of Rotary,
Michelle and I have just completed our first “Official Visits” to the Rotary Clubs of Haiti Metropolitan, Central and Sud and once again, what a tremendous time we had! Haiti is on the road to recovery, not least due to the tremendous investment of time, treasure and talent that Rotarians from Haiti, from our District and from across the Rotary world have collectively made. I am also impressed with the efforts of the newly formed “Haiti Leadership Team” in strengthening Rotary across Haiti and their first initiative to bring coordinated training and education to the clubs will undoubtedly pay huge dividends.
As with our visit to Jamaica, we could not be more impressed with the “thirst” that the youth in both countries have for Rotary and what it stands for. It is clear that large and important sections of our Youth “get” what Rotary is all about and are embracing its values and the opportunity to serve. These are forward thinking future leaders who see the value of being part of the world’s finest service organisation and it is our responsibility as Rotarians to embrace and encourage them and, where the opportunity presents, in the case of older Rotaractors especially, encourage them to cross the bridge to Rotary.
“New Generations” has recently been rechristened “Youth Service”, however whatever we call it, I am proud of our success as a District in promoting and supporting RI’s own youth programmes: Rotaract, Interact, Earlyact, RYLA and Youth Exchange. Our ratio of Rotaract to Rotary clubs, for example, is 45 to 82 or 53%, whereas in North America and the UK is closer to 6-7%! We are forming new Rotaract Clubs as we speak such as the ones in Montego Bay and Negril and we are similarly vibrant with our Interact, Earlyact and RYLA programmes.
One of the most significant opportunities this gives us is to not only groom “Rotarians in Waiting”, so vital for our future, but to get a better perspective of the problems of youth in our communities. So my message to you this month is to support our Rotary Youth Service Programmes – attend their meetings, get involved, do joint projects, invite them to our club meetings – but, at the same time, use these programmes to go deeper into our communities and get better understanding of how we can work with our Youth at Risk – the ones that perhaps are not part of our programmes for one reason or another.
Youth at Risk is one of our District’s main focuses for 2013/14 and a challenge that is common across all of our islands. So let’s use our clubs and district resources to make a real impact here and let me and your district’s “Youth Service” leaders know what you think or if you need help. You can find our contact details in the District Directory at www.7020.org.
Have a great September as we Engage Rotary - Change Lives, both younger as well as older ones.
Yours in Rotary Service,
Jeremy Hurst
Governor 2013/14
District 7020
Rotary International |
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