Rotary International District Governor, Dave Thomas
Grief – Hope
“Grief” every time I hear that word the voice in my head echoes “Good Grief Charlie Brown”. Yup – the bald round headed kid who never gave up - on kicking a football, - a sagging little Christmas tree, or - a little red haired girl. Charlie was an Optimist. People hate Optimists. I know I’m one. Just ask my kids. “Dad you always see happy endings and rainbows”. You refuse to watch movies unless they have a happy ending. No matter how bad it is you want us to get off the bench and back on the field. “NOT NOW DAD – LEAVE ME ALONE”
They’re right, I am an Optimist. However, being an Optimist is hardest and needed most when true grief strikes. It’s a hard thing to be on 9/11 or during COVID-19. Leadership is processing the information and reconciling as quickly as possible. It’s like the mom who needs to put on her own drop-down air mask before putting on the child’s. The clinical profession says that there are 5 stages of grief in the Kubler-Ross Grief Cycle:
· Denial – Avoidance, Confusion, Elation Shock, Fear
· Anger – Frustration, Irritation, Anxiety
· Bargaining – Struggling to find meaning, Reaching out to others, Telling one’s story
· Acceptance – Exploring Options, New Plan in Place, Moving on
Yup – Ole Charlie Brown right now is yelling “AAAAHHHHGGGG”. I don’t know where you are right now. I’m stuck in Bargaining. My son’s casino has closed and everyone is laid off. My daughter is in Seattle working from home while Amazon is trying to get her Visa straightened out to send her to London. My Wife’s constant bout with Depression is seeing some of it’s finest days and Holly, our Corgi, has bloody Diarrhea and its hard to get in to see a vet. That’s just my family. Meanwhile I have a knee that won’t let me walk without pain. So here’s the deal God – Keep us safe (nobody dies) – Give us Hope that the markets will recover and our jobs will be there when we wake up from this dream. Remind us that Love for others is the true medicine that heals. For my part – I won’t dwell on my problems because there are always others with worse challenges.
Thank you Lord for all the wonderful people who have beat us to the Acceptance phase on this one. The ones whose words are uplifting. The ones who help us to see blessings and hope in all of the challenges we are facing. It’s hard (For a change) to be on the receiving end of needed encouragement. Now I know why I made my kids crazy. The sun will rise tomorrow, so far no one I know has the virus, naps in the afternoon aren’t bad. Thanks to Friends and Rotarians reaching out to each other. Holding Zoom virtual club meetings, filling kid’s food backpacks, and shopping for the elderly. Thanks for encouraging each other. We’ll all be back on the field soon. But right now could you slide over a tad so I can join some of you on the bench.
The COVID-19 coronavirus is affecting every aspect of our lives in real time, and this puts Rotarians in an unfamiliar place. As People of Action, we are most comfortable when we are fully engaged in the world – moving freely, meeting openly, and offering helping hands. These are very difficult times for people who, like us, are at our best when we are learning, growing, and serving—together.
We are also leaders in our communities, and these times call for leadership. In many ways, this also is our time. We have proven abilities to reach out and collaborate to offer immediate help to people in need at a rapid pace. These are precisely the skills needed all over the world today. The global effort against COVID-19 depends on actions taken in every country. Rotary has the unique ability to help improve those efforts in every community and every country.
Using all the technology we have at our disposal, we as Rotarians can continue to reach out and collaborate on big projects with Rotary clubs, Rotaractors, and Interactors. There are a number of examples where Rotary clubs are helping health authorities communicate best practices or provide needed equipment or support that have been shared with our leaders around the world.
As Rotary’s president and president-elect, we have been thinking of these issues very seriously in regard to upcoming Rotary events. As you may be aware, we have made the difficult decision to cancel two Rotary Presidential Conferences honoring our relationship with the United Nations- one in Paris, another in Rome. In the near term, we recommend that Rotary districts and clubs cancel or postpone meetings or events following the advice of national and local health officials.
We know that clubs and districts are seizing the opportunity to become leaders in their communities and are making better use of technology in this time of need. For example, a Rotary e-club in Italy held a live online session about COVID-19 awareness, a Taiwan club worked with companies and a pharmacy association to donate 1,600 bottles of hand sanitizer to the city of Ji-Long, and Rotary clubs in Sri Lanka helped upgrade software and hardware for the health promotion bureau to assist its social messaging.
We cannot know quite yet what path this virus will take. We know we can play a role to help “flatten the curve,” reducing the number of cases in the short term to allow our health systems to address this issue. If the collective global effort helps bring the situation under control, then we hope to re-embrace our core values at the 2020 Rotary Convention in Honolulu. Our time together will have greater meaning and purpose than ever.
Please know that we are taking a close, continuing look at our plans for the convention in June to make sure all attendees’ safety will be protected. We are following the lead of the world’s most trusted sources, including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for their guidance. We want you to be able to make decisions about what is best for you and your families in terms of attending this year’s event.
In the meantime, this is an opportunity for us to demonstrate that Rotary Connects the World in innovative ways. We should be closely following the advice of the WHO and local health authorities. Again, this includes canceling Rotary club events and meetings in the short term to reduce unnecessary interactions that could cause infections. We can put a greater emphasis on the work we do in our communities by helping our less fortunate neighbors cope with the effects of isolation and fear, or by supporting our health authorities to address this situation.
This is an unprecedented challenge for nearly all of us. But it is also an opportunity for Rotarians to find new, meaningful ways to lead individuals and communities to connect and do good in the world.
We have never been prouder to be part of an organization that does so much to protect and strengthen our communities, at home and across the globe.
Kindest regards,
Mark Daniel Maloney 2019-2020, President, Rotary International
Holger Knaack 2020-21, President, Rotary International
The Rotary District 6290 Life Leadership Committee has decided to cancel this year's Life Leadership Conference which was scheduled for June 17-20 at the Kettunen Center. Concerns for safety, an unknown virus timeline, and difficulties schools are facing in the remainder of the school year contributed greatly to this decision. Clubs are asked to continue to mentor the student candidates who may have already been selected for LLC this year and make a determination later as whether they may reapply for the 2021 Life Leadership Conference, which is scheduled for June 16-19, 2021 at the Kettunen Center. Thanks to all participating clubs for your continued support of the Rotary Life Leadership Conference. Questions or concerns may be directed to John Noling, District LLC Chair at johnnoling65@gmail.com.
I want to share a story with Rotary District 6290. I am from Elk Rapids, MI, and spent 2006-07 in Taiwan as a Rotary exchange student representing District 6290. My exchange year was wonderful and completely life-changing.
Earlier this year, I was hired into the Foreign Service. During orientation, I was given the opportunity to rank the available posts by my order of preference. I was assigned to Shanghai, China, in our "Flag Day" ceremony, a process that felt very similar to being assigned a host country in the RYE program. I found out that one of my colleagues in my State Department orientation class was also a former Rotary exchange student, and we both agreed that we have Rotary to thank for launching us on the roads that led us here. In honor of Rotary's role in our paths to the Foreign Service, and because so many elements of becoming foreign service officers reminds us of being Rotary exchange students, we brought our Rotary blazers to our Flag Day ceremony for photos.
I have attached two photos:
1) Myself in Taiwan in 2006
2) A photo from Flag Day this month, of me with two others:
- Robin (A former RYE student from District 6690 who is headed to Monterey, Mexico, to serve in the US consulate), and
- Laura (A former inbound RYE student from Venezuela who spent her exchange year in Elk Rapids. My family was her first host family, and we have been sisters ever since. She now lives in Washington, DC)
Thanks to you and everyone at District 6290 for continuing to promote cultural exchange.
"I would like to think that the pioneering days of Rotary have only just begun. There are just as many new things to be done as ever there were. Kaleidoscopic changes are taking place, many of them without our will. Even to hang on to the fringe of this fast-changing world is about all most of us can do. Rotary simply must continue to pioneer or be left in the rear of progress."
The Rotarian Magazine - 1945
BEST PRACTICES FOR HOLDING ONLINE MEETINGS
Familiarize yourself with a preferred online meeting platform (Zoom, GotoMeeting) and host a test call prior to your first meeting
Provide one-on-one tutorials with less tech-savvy Rotarians on how to use the online meeting format
Provide an agenda prior to the meeting
Set up a communication/etiquette plan for holding online meetings
Requesting all attendees mute themselves when not speaking
“Raising hands” to avoid multiple people speaking at once
Pausing for questions
Using the chatbox feature
Recording your meeting for those unable to attend
Utilize TED Talks, Rotary’s VIMEO, and other pre-recorded speakers to watch online together and follow with a group discussion
Select an article or short film to read/watch prior to meeting and discuss together
Determine the current needs of your community and promote an online service project/fundraiser
Get in contact with another club that is used to utilizing online technology such as an ‘e-club’ in order to discuss. Use the ‘E-Club’ section of the 'Club Finder' on rotary.org or My Rotary.
Now Accepting Applications for the 2021 Rotary Peace Fellowship - Apply Now!
Promoting peace is one of Rotary’s main causes. The fully funded Rotary Peace Fellowship, which covers tuition and living expenses, increases the capacity of existing leaders to prevent and resolve conflict by offering academic training, field experience, and professional networking. Up to 130 fellows are selected every year in a globally competitive process based on personal, academic, and professional achievements. Fellows earn either a master’s degree or a professional development certificate in peace and development studies at one of the seven Rotary Peace Centers, located at leading universities around the world.
More than 1,300 program alumni are working in more than 115 countries as leaders in national governments, nongovernmental organizations, social enterprises, the military, law enforcement, and international organizations such as the United Nations.
Learning Topics, a new feature to share ideas and resources with other members, is now available in the Learning Center. Some topics are available for all members to view, while others can be viewed only by those in specific roles.
Learning Topics is similar to My Rotary Discussion Groups in that each topic has a moderator (either staff or a Rotary member), ensuring that the content is relevant to the topic, and members can comment on a resource or start a discussion related to it. The difference is that Learning Topics is more than just discussion — you can also share content like web pages, presentations, templates, and other tools to run and train your clubs and districts.
Use the search bar in the Learning Center to find resources that others have uploaded, then add the resources that are most useful to you to a favorites list on your My Favorites page. You can create favorites lists according to topic so you can easily find what you’re looking for later.
Use Learning Topics to upload content to share, invite others to view resources, and create lists of your favorite content. Enroll in the Getting Started with Learning Topics course today for more information.
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