Rotaract District 2452 Newsletter - September 2022 Edition

"THE DESIRE "TO THE DESIRE TO REACH FOR RTHE EACH FOR THE STARS IS SAMBITIOUS. TARS IS AMBITIOUS. THE DESIRE TTO HE DESIRE TO REACH HEARTS RIS EACH HEARTS IS WISE." WISE."

ANGELOU

Greetings Stephanie Saad

I once wrote this:

“I have a weird feeling in my chest! The one where your mind is collecting bits and pieces, recalling moments, feelings and you find yourself connecting the dots and suddenly a lot makes sense. How can one decision, one moment of disappointment lead you to a magical road that you ’ ve never thought you’d come across? It’s funny how the universe brings so many blessings in human form that you weren’t prepared for, and they touch you and heal you in every unexpected way. Some join us in our journey, and they mirror our soul, they gently caress it. I believe we have pieces of us everywhere in this world and how lucky are we to meet ‘Our humans’ or may I say, our ‘Ray of Sunshine’ and all of a sudden you find yourself calling them Friends, Family& Loved ones.” Steffi

To my Ray of Sunshine, How lucky am I to stumble upon such community, such group of people who has nothing to offer but love, support and joy? My journey in Rotaract started a couple of years ago with Rotaract Club De Beyrouth. I was searching for a place to meet people from different backgrounds different cultures, to work on myself and be a better version along the way and most importantly to be the change I’m craving to see in my community to leave a positive mark and experience the joy of giving but little did I know that I’ve found a ‘Family’, a home away from home.

After being a member, I served as a Director of International Understanding, and we lead amazing projects and met incredibly people from around the world. We named the group ‘International shining stars’ and we did shine, it’s a club that has an energy like no other. Now, I’m serving as the Sargent at Arms of my club and immediately you feel your perspective and leadership style shifts. Each position in Rotaract comes with different responsibilities and this is how we grow as people. I also was lucky enough to be part of the district conference2452 Team for the past year. An experience that opened my eyes to new aspects of Rotaract where I worked with amazing leaders and kind souls that I proudly call friends. Currently, I’m honoured& beyond grateful to be assigned as the district 2452 Creative Committee Chairperson, a position that is close to my heart as creation is my Passion and I will be giving my all and most importantly learning from each leader I’m working with. Being part of the district helps you see the bigger picture, that Rotaract is not only the impact you create within your club but also the one you create helping and pushing clubs and leaders around your district and beyond.

I couldn’t write about my journey in Rotaract without emphasizing on the Impact my dearest club left in me. Nothing that I accomplished was even possible without the huge support, trust and guidance I was fortunate to get from these Gems. In a nutshell, I was blessed to be surrounded by leaders who accepted me as I am, who saw the potential in me and celebrated every single small win, a family that taught me that ‘Different is not wrong. Different is special’, a family that laughed and cried with me. I learnt that putting your heart and soul in something is the only way to reach your dreams, that only having the right environment helps a flower to bloom.

Closing this, I will share a word I wrote to this family: “You ask me to describe love? I say look at this picture. To the ones who loved me for who I am. To the ones whose love makes me love myself more every day. To the ones who believed in me. To the ones whose hearts see through my happiness and sorrows To the sweetest smiles, beautiful eyes, warmest hugs and wisest of all How can love to be anything but you? How can blessings be anything but you? Once upon a time, in a dark sky I saw you You have my heart ” Steffi

Rotaractly yours, Stephanie B. Saad

EDUCATION AND LITERACY

District Professional LDevelopment iaison Officer

“I truly believe the only way we can create global peace is through not only educating our minds, but our hearts and our souls.”

Malala Yousafzai

While the Rotary foundation continues making sustainable efforts in supporting literacy in children and adults and reducing gender gaps in education, it is of utmost importance to know that education is not only about having access to a classroom. We all advocate for equal access to learning under the slogan “Education for ALL”. But really, what is education?

First, education is about molding minds and developing knowledge and awareness of the world around us. To help the mind flourish, learning spaces and curriculums must be inclusive enough to fit a divergent spectrum of learners and to celebrate different talents. In other words, they should be adapted to the learners’ abilities and disabilities, and not the opposite. Also, learning spaces ought to be a safe environment; safe for the learner to make mistakes and to freely express themselves without bullying, discrimination, harassment, or other harmful practices. With safety comes along freedom to choose a preferred learning pathway, far from the stereotypes of “feminine” sectors like nursing and anything that requires nurturing and empathy; and “masculine” sectors requiring a more analytical and critical spirit like engineering.

However, education goes beyond acquiring cognitive and analytical skills. When thinking about the right to education, one needs to think beyond economic growth. Of course, a better education increases the chances of employment which ensures more safety and stability to the individual; but what is the value of a diploma when our hearts and souls are ignorant? For me, educating the heart lies particularly in unlearning; in questioning the foundations of our truths, rethinking stereotypes, and building foundations that are aligned with our culture of peacebuilding and our core values at Rotary: leadership, fellowship, integrity, service, and diversity.

Dear Rotarians and Rotaractors, I am urging you that next time you think of education and literacy, to remember that education shapes bright minds and open hearts, and that “education builds nations” which is why a nation is only as inclusive, as equitable, and open as is its educational system.

All about End Polio

District Community service Liaison Officer

e world will be anxiously awaiting the e Nearly 60 years ago, the world was ly available vaccine to stop a disease orld and leaving debilitating paralysis

tentially deadly infectious disease that e of 5 The virus spreads from person to person, typically through contaminated water It can then attack the nervous system Not all children had equitable access to vaccines As a result, hundreds of thousands of children across 125 countries were still being paralyzed every year from this now preventable disease In response, the world launched the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in 1988, with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, Rotary International, and U S Centres for Disease Control as key partners Over the past three decades, the polio program has made great advances toward global polio eradication, eliminating 99.9% of cases globally. This achievement is a true testament to the power of working together and demonstrates what can happen when global partners and UN agencies come together and work toward the common goal of creating a healthier world.

Our Goal

Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years Our goal of ridding the world of this disease is closer than ever

As a founding partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, we've reduced polio cases by 99.9 percent since our first project to vaccinate children in the Philippines in 1979.

Rotary members have contributed more than $2.1 billion and countless volunteer hours to protect nearly 3 billion children in 122 countries from this paralyzing disease. Rotary’s advocacy efforts have played a role in decisions by governments to contribute more than $10 billion to the effort.Today, polio remains endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But it’s crucial to continue working to keep other countries polio free. If all eradication efforts stopped today, within 10 years, polio could paralyze as many as 200,000 children each year.

TAs we celebrate World Polio Day and UN Day on Oct 24, let’s take a moment to reflect how far we have come over the past 35 years since the Rotary began our fight to create a healthier, more equitable world Now, polio is on the brink of eradication, with more than 18 million people walking around today who would otherwise have been paralyzed. Vaccines are now available to protect against more than 20 life threatening diseases, and global volunteers are working together to ensure the vaccines can reach everyone, everywhere. Let’s continue moving forward together until all people everywhere have equitable access to the power of lifesaving vaccines and live in a world free of polio.

To conclude I want to encourage all clubs under the district 2452 to participate, collaborate with other Rotaract Clubs, Rotary Clubs or institutions focusing on ending polio.

THE STRUGGLE IS REAL The MYROTARY.ORG Story

Yes, yes we know You don't have access to your MyRotary account Some of you might even say What is MyRotary?

In this article, we clear out few doubts before we train you on another set up how to use the system for your benefit

ers of Rotary and Rotaract are able to learn more detailed information.

We call it The Facebook tailor made only for our organization.

To gain maximum use of the Rotary International website, each Rotaractor must create an account. With this account you will be able to view your Rotary profile, as well as check your contributions to the Rotary Foundation.

THE STRUGGLE IS REAL The MYROTARY.ORG Story

Imagine this: You meet a fellow Rotarian at an event You are interested in collaborating on a project and promise to follow up. A few days later, you realized you ’ ve misplaced their contact information Now what? You could search Google or social media You may even try to call us, hoping Rotary International could help, but we can’t share our members’ information. So now what?

You go to the newly updated My Rotary website and use the member search function to find that member! You can search by name, location, role or club. And based on that member’s privacy settings, you can make an instant connection

This is just one of the many updates we recently made to My Rotary our members only website for Rotarians and Rotaractors. The site has been around for a long time, providing access to resources, tools and information that improve the membership experience. Over the years though, we’d hear that it was too slow, hard to navigate, and difficult to use. Our members were frustrated and My Rotary was no longer meeting their needs " says David Peterson RI representative

Need Help?

HERE ARE THE STEPS TO DO THIS. SIGN IN/REGISTER

1

Go to www rotary org, go to "For Members" and click on My Rotary or click on My Rotary where ever you see it. If you are a first time user, click on Create account. Fill in the Account registration information and click on Continue.

2

VERIFICATION

Check your email for the address you provided. You will receive a message which will ask you to click on the blue link to finalize the process.

3 CREATE ACCOUNT

Fill in all the mandatory information and click on Create account. When the screen refreshes you will be given information describing what you can do with the MyRotary account. After reading, click on Continue.

! REMEMBER

IF YOU ARE NOT A FIRST TIME USER, JUST ENTER YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS AND PASSWORD AND CLICK ON SIGN IN OR FORGET PASSWORD

* HELP THE DISTRICT TEAM

All the clubs have been requested to submit their President and Secretary Info so we can support revitalizing all accounts. Our ultimate goal is to become the most compliant District in the world for the MyRotary data.

OCTOBER

and DCommunity evelopment Month

club can do in

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COMPASSION& REMEMBER WE'RE ALL HUMAN& HAVE OUR STRUGGLES.

INTENTIONAL ABOUT CHECKING IN& LISTEN WITH FULL ATTENTION

REDUCE UNCERTAINTY AND SET CLEAR PRIORITIES AND FOCUS ATTENTION ON A SHORTER TIME HORIZONS.

TALKING ABOUT THE BIGGER WHY& CONNECTING TO THE PURPOSE HELPS TO BOOST RESILIENCE DURING CHALLENGES.

"NO MEETING DAYS"& MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE FUN ACTIVITIES

PRACTICE GRATITUDE.

PROJECT OF THE

We realize that it is inevitable for human activity to produce waste, thus, it is our responsibility to manage the litter to minimize pollution and negative impacts on air, water, land, people, plants and animals that depend on them.

Due to pollution and waste, our world is currently in grave danger. Effective waste management and recycling will benefit our economy, development, and lower poverty rates, as well as improve our health and environmental quality.

CLUBS FROM DISTRICT 2452 PARTICIPATING IN THE PROJECT:

ROTARACT CLUB OF NICOSIA

ROTARACT CLUB OF SAHEL METN

ROTARACT CLUB OF LIMASSOL AMATHUSIA

ROTARACT CLUB OF AMMAN WEST

ROTARACT CLUB OF JUMEIRAH

ROTARACT CLUB OF AMMAN AMMON

ROTARACT NICOSIA LEDRA

ROTARACT LIMASSOL BERENGARIA COSMOPOLITAN

From here, the project started as a collaboration with Rotaract Club of Scheveningen in Amsterdam to further the work of the EndPlastic Soup campaign which started in 2018 in District 1580 with a number of Amsterdam Rotary Clubs, who strive to eliminate plastic soup and waste from the oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, forests, parks, and streets by 2050.

The campaign broadened internationally where the initiator clubs collaborated with 62 Rotaract Clubs globally who joined hands and conducted their own clean up activities in their own countries. Volunteers around the world cleaned various landscapes such as beaches, rivers and forests.

PROJECT OF

Rotaract Beirut Cedars SDG task force (International Services and Event Planning Committees) Lebanon D2452 had launched their first SDG Academy through an international conference

This conference hosted people from various clubs, organizations, and universities that are located in different countries all around the world Indeed, the attendees had the opportunity and the honor to listen to the interventions of highly esteemed guest speakers that this conference had hosted; the Rotary International Director of zone 22 “Patrick Chisanga”, Past Rotary International Director of zones 33 & 34 “Peter Kyle”, District 2452 Governor “George Azar”, District Rotaract Representative “Maggie Popsoka”, Fast Forward 2030 Lebanon Chairperson and the Youth Delegate at the UN Association Lebanon “Abbas Sibai”, UN Global Compact NY Manager “Bruna Elias”, and the Community and Global Goals Activist who won the Outstanding Youth Delegate Award from the UN “Nadine El Khouli”. Their presence and engagement in this conference sends a clear message that portrays their activism and advocacy for various topics,such as global poverty, literacy and other major subjects This proves their passion and commitment for global development and change; and most importantly, it stems from their identity as people of action This was a very successful conference and we hope that together we'll be able to create lasting change in our communities.

PROJECT OF THE MONTH!

make this show happen!

happy to support talented designers

funds from this project

winteract. Back to school and university. Ramadan Food boxes. Easter food boxes. Planting ceremony. Orphans Iftar.

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