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Go Forth and
Sow the Seeds of Love
By President Bhichai
Rattakul
(Full speech of the President
at the opening of the Manila Institute on 25 October as recorded by
the Organizing Committee)
Mr Convenor, my esteemed colleagues: the past, present
and incoming Rotary International Officers, and my fellow Rotarians,
I am grateful for the opportunity to appear before you
at this Rotary Institute, here in Manila, the Philippines in order to
address the future of Rotary and, in particular, the health of Rotary
in Zones 4(b), 6(b) and 7(b).
These annual Institutes are always meaningful events.
They are not only an opportunity to meet many old friends, but to make
many new ones. But above all, a meeting such as this gives all of us
the opportunity to learn and appreciate more about Rotary philosophy
and its timeless principles. The depth of Rotary knowledge and experience
that is present among the attendees of a Rotary Institute always inspires
me to think creatively and intensely about what Rotary means - even
after all of my years as a member of this organization.
As I prepared for my year as President of Rotary International,
I was asked the same question many times: - "What inspired you to offer
the Rotary world the theme 'Sow the seeds of Love?'"
The source of this year's theme lies in my belief that
any undertaking must have a sense of mission. One must have faith in
the cause. It is this sense of mission that infuses our actions with
determination, enthusiasm, sincerity and above all - love! These are
the things that make our work and our lives meaningful, and in the absence
of these we will never have the true sense of satisfaction.
I have personally experienced this to be true in every
major endeavor - including politics. I believe it is especially true
in Rotary, where we share the responsibility to uphold and enhance our
motto: "Service Above Self." Each one of us who wears the Rotary pin
has a duty to honor the high standards of performance that have been
set by our predecessors.
I also believe no person, regardless of background or
training, can rise to the status of spiritual maturity without discovering
this one fundamental truth: it is nobler to serve others rather than
to serve oneself.
Having said this I am suggesting to the Rotary world that
we all go back to the basics. Rotary is a worldwide movement based on
the desires that live in the hearts of all good people: to share and
to serve. Rotary, by its very definition, attracts capable leaders who
want to make the world a better place. Therefore, we should let the
grassroots have a bigger say. Let our clubs chart their own course.
Let them set their own goals and let them fulfil their own dreams. We
must respect their initiative and judgements. We must remember that
each Rotary club is an autonomous entity.
Of course, this doesn't mean that in going back to the
basics we should ignore the great many changes that are taking place
or the many challenges that are facing us.
On the contrary, we must renew our commitment to tackle
the problems of our troubled world with all of our energy.
That is the reason why I stress my philosophy of going
back to basics and adopting the "bottom up" approach rather than "top-down".
Back to basics means that we all listen intently to the
heartbeat of Rotary, which is club service. Rotary's health, indeed,
Rotary's survival, depends on this heartbeat - a life-giving pulse of
service that courses throughout out clubs, our workplaces, our communities,
and our world.
Active club service leads to vital clubs with dedicated
members. And active club service thrives in an atmosphere committed
to upholding Rotary's philosophy and the timeless principles that have
made our fellowship strong. Among these principles I would include the
rules governing membership recruitment, considerate and thorough assimilation
of new members into our clubs, the ongoing education in Rotary for all
members and the promotion of fellowship activities to strengthen the
bonds of our clubs.
Going "back to basics" also means that we renew our commitment
to vocational service. Many of us have forgotten that we were first
invited into Rotary on the basis of our vocations, and that invitation
carried with it a responsibility to represent our vocation to the club
and to the community. And because membership in Rotary is based on vocations,
it is of the utmost importance that we practice high ethical standards
in our business and professional lives. We must practice what we preach
to improve the general standards in members' respective vocations.
We have all witnessed the recent scandals in the business
community - and the damage they have done. Unethical business practices
topple corporations, destroy jobs, frighten investors and crumble economies
worldwide.
Fully assuming our position as positive role models is
not an option - it is a necessity. Rotary has a distinguished history
of promoting ethical business practices, and the business community
needs Rotarians - not just as positive role models, but as tireless
advocates for what is the truth and what is fair to all concerned.
Rotary's ideal of service and our commitment to international
understanding are timeless principles that have never been out of date.
But, we have to be reminded every now and then of this very fact.
I believe the light of learning does not have to burn
brilliantly, but it must burn constantly.
Our world is struggling to find peaceful solutions to
global tensions. By any standard, it has been a most disheartening year
for all of us who work for the cause of peace. It has been a year of
violence, of bloodshed, of tears. Over the past months, there has been
a swift and alarming downslide into fear, mistrust and anger between
nations. Painful events, one after another, have confirmed the observation
of our founder, Paul Harris, who said that "The way to war is a well-paved
highway and the way to peace is still a wilderness".
There is, therefore, urgency to our meeting, and to our
calling as Rotarians.
We talk about how great Rotary is. To me, greatness does
not depend on impressive numbers or how well we boast. Greatness lies
in the way we exercise our ideals.
I truly believe that men and women who dedicate their
lives to a great ideal, and exercise that ideal in daily life, become
great themselves.
This is what will attract the new generations to our ranks.
All over the world, young people are struggling to make their lives
more meaningful. Can we take an honest look at ourselves through their
eyes and ask, "Would a young person want to be one of us?
If we are active, then they will want to involve themselves
in that action. They will want to be part of a mission - part of a group
of men and women who dedicate their lives to a great ideal. The next
generation will be inspired to join Rotary only when they see that our
ideal of service stands the test of time and does not become tired and
inactive. They will join us only if they are convinced that if they
invest in Rotary, their investment will grow for themselves and others.
They will join us only if they see in us what they wish to be, and I
am convinced that they do not wish to be part of a group that just preaches.
We will rise in glory as we sink in pride. There dignity
begins!
For it is simply not enough to dream of a better, wiser
world. Indeed, if a dream could do it, we would have that world, because
who among us does not have that dream? No, a better world has to be
built.
I have a simple request for you as you participate in
this Institute: in your restless desire to help, don't dissipate your
energies thinking up new programs and new initiatives. Rather, support
the programs we have, commit to the promises we have made and use the
resources of Rotary International and its Foundation to achieve your
goals.
At his brother Bobby Kennedy's funeral, Senator Edward
Kennedy said: "My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death
beyond what he was in life. To be remembered simply as a good decent
man who saw wrong and tried to right it; saw suffering and tried to
heal it; saw war and tried to stop it."
Rotary, my dear friends, need not be idealized or enlarged
beyond what it has been for nearly a century. We merely need to serve
in whatever ways we can, as you have done successfully throughout the
Philippines, where Rotary is thriving on the timeless principles of
fellowship and service. You helped provide a pumping system from a network
of reservoirs to supply drinking water to residents in Davao City. You
helped to provide computer training for deaf and out-of-school youth
at the San Pablo Parish Deaf Ministry in Matina. You provided deworming
treatments for over four thousand children in San Andres and Malate.
Through these and countless other efforts, you can see
that how you serve is largely up to you. But there is one common cause
that unites all Rotarians - Fulfilling Our Promise: Eradicate Polio.
PolioPlus is facing a critical funding gap, and in order
to fulfill our promise to the world's children, we must close that gap.
Our goal is to raise $80 million through the polio eradication fund-raising
campaign.
We should be proud of all we have achieved through PolioPlus,
but the fact is we have not finished the job. It is no coincidence that
the poliovirus persists in the poorest parts of the world - countries
with high rates of poverty, illiteracy, and hunger. In places where
fragile governments cannot assist us and health infrastructure is nonexistent,
fighting the poliovirus is costly. Unless we defeat polio in these countries,
we will lose everything we have gained so far.
We must remember that we are not alone. Up to $25 million
of the contributions to this campaign will be matched by the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation. The combined $50 million in funds from The
Rotary Foundation and the Gates Foundation will allow the World Bank
to lend a maximum of $125 million to certain polio-endemic countries
for the purchase of oral polio vaccine. These organizations, along with
the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund and
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are as committed
to this effort as we are. We must not let them down.
I always think it is important to remember that PolioPlus
began with a local effort to immunize children in the Philippines. That
first effort, which began with just a handful of Rotary clubs responding
to a need in their communities, was a seed of love that grew far beyond
anyone's initial expectations.
Another seed of love that had remarkably grown was the
Lighthouse Literacy project. The first of these projects began when
Rotary clubs in Australia and Thailand worked together to fight illiteracy
in the rural provinces of Thailand. They used an Australian teaching
method - the Concentrated Language Encounter - and adapted the method
to the Thai culture. The initial pilot was wildly successful, rippling
through four rural Thai communities as the students rapidly learned
to read and write and then taught their parents. The program was adopted
nationally when the Thai Ministry of Education incorporated it into
the National Economic and Social Development program.
Since then, Rotary clubs have teamed up with governments
in many countries to use their program to combat illiteracy. None of
this would have been possible without that first effort of just a few
Rotary clubs. Lighthouse Literacy is a model for what Rotary can do.
By getting a program started and by committing the resources to develop
it, we can attract partners in service, which include governments and
other non-government organizations.
We must always remember that every act of service, no
matter how small, is like a seed - a seed of love that will grow throughout
our world, changing our world. And often, these acts of service are
so simple - like lending a bicycle to a child.
This may seem like a frivolous example - how can lending
a bicycle to a child change the world?
In the rural provinces of Thailand, children often have
to walk several miles to get to the nearest school. Many children simply
cannot do it. They may lack decent shoes, they may be needed to help
out at home during the time it takes to walk those miles, they may be
hungry or tired or sick and they need to reserve their strength.
So they don't get an education. And without an education,
they are cut off from any and all opportunities to improve their circumstances.
But Rotarians reached out to help these children. Through
a Rotary Foundation Matching Grant project, these children are given
access to bicycles, which they return after they finish their schooling
so that other children may use them.
Yes, this is a small thing, indeed. A small thing that
makes the lives of these children easier, that supports them in getting
an education, that lets them know that there is great love in this world
and that their struggles have not gone unnoticed - a small thing that
breaks a relentless cycle of poverty and hopelessness.
This, my dear friends, is the challenge before us - this
day and always - to open our hearts to all who suffer and to commit
ourselves to helping in every way we can. To know that every act of
service, done with love, has the power to change lives.
As leaders of Rotary, you have the opportunity to inspire
our clubs. When you return home, you can inspire our clubs and Rotarians
to plant more seeds of love. Just remember that you are to lead, but
not to command. You are to persuade, but not to insist. No seed ever
grew because someone ordered it to sprout. Encouragement and friendly
persuasion will be the sunshine and water that lead to success in Sowing
the Seeds of Love.
Omar Khayyam, a great Asian philosopher and poet, wrote:
With them the seeds of love did I sow,
and with my own hand labored it to grow:
And this was all the harvest that I reaped.
I came like water and like wind I go.
We have all the opportunities, everywhere and anywhere
to Sow the Seeds of Love. Let us not retreat to our own little
corner of the world to hide our heads in the sand. Let us not be so
concerned over our own problems that we haven't time for the more important
things in life. No one can force us to do what we don't want to do.
No one can force us to love what we don't love. But the
very fact that you and I are in Rotary, that you and I have taken the
time and effort to attend this Institute, has only one meaning - that
there is something here that is worthwhile.
That something is love. By sharing our love with others
through fellowship and service we are blessed with joy. Without love,
Rotary is hollow, because service without love is artificial. We have
to perform our service with love, sincerity and dignity.
The seeds of love will not grow unless they are scattered
throughout the land. It is only when you share your love that will you
be blessed with joy and even more love to give. The seeds of love are
the seeds of life. Go forth, then and Sow The Seeds of Love.
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