Dear friends,
Here we are, 6 months into the Rotary Connects the World year. It has been a very intense period, with much traveling, visits, events, but also with many reasons for celebrating together. I am writing this just a few days after we celebrated the National Day in Alba Iulia. Wearing our traditional costumes in the city of the Great Union, forming together the map of the District, in blue, yellow and red, getting together from all corners of the District – these are memories I will cherish forever.
My term of Governor has allowed me to meet old friends in Rotary, to meet new people, people of action, who make a difference, it has allowed me to be closer to the realities clubs are facing, to better understand each club’s diversity, each community’s needs, but even more than that – to understand and to clearly see that it’s the service above self that unites us all. In my club visits I can see that shine in your eyes, the shine only volunteers have, and it makes me very happy to see your enthusiasm. Never lose your enthusiasm, your passion for life and the desire to leave something beautiful behind you. These are the best presents you can give yourselves!
In the Rotary calendar, December is the month dedicated to preventing disease. Rotary International thinks that quality medical assistance should be made available for everyone. Even so, 400 million people in the world cannot afford or do not have access to basic medical care.
Disease causes misery, pain and poverty for millions of people in the world. This is the reason why treating and preventing disease is so important for our organization. We are doing big and small projects. We have created 5 temporary clinics, blood donation centers and training facilities in poor communities, that are fighting disease, and we have offered them access to healthcare. We project and build the infrastructure needed so doctors can have exceptional results for their patients and, indirectly, we are bringing value to communities, governments, companies that have healthier, more educated, more efficient, more productive employees.
Our members around the globe are fighting diseases like malaria, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, diabetes and poliomielitis. Prevention is very important, it doesn’t only save lives, but it also saves billions of dollars, which is why we must focus on health education as well.
HOW DO WE HELP?
We educate and we supply communities with the necessary means to stop spreading diseases that might put their lives in danger. Rotary members have hundreds of ongoing health projects all over the world. In Romania and Moldova, there are tens of projects dedicated to preventing diseases and healthcare. I want to thank you all for your efforts and I want you to know that I appreciate greatly your dedication. Both as a Governor, and as a medic, I want to congratulate and encourage you to continue your projects, they are making all the difference! I know that prevention is about education and it takes a long time to implement, and that the efforts of your actions will only be seen years from now, and only in statistics. But every minute we spend educating or donating money, is going to save lives from suffering or even death.
We cannot solve all problems, but we can focus on solving a global problem. Rotary International started a historic mission 30 years ago: ending polio. Together with Bill & Melinda Gates, Rotary has eradicated polio by 99%! Only two more countries have reported cases of polio caused by the virus, but no child is safe until we vaccinate all the children. This is the main mission of our organization, and we must join this fight.
What can we do? We can go as volunteers in immunization campaigns. There are 2 members in our district that have participated in such an action. One is Viorel Bunea, who immunized in Africa more than 20 years ago, and Anamaria Gîndilă, RC Sibiu Cibinium.
ANAMARIA GÎNDILĂ – the only Romanian volunteer in the Indian mission, in February 2016, mentioned about her experience:
“I stayed for a week as part of the National Immunization Days program, organized by Rotary International with volunteers from around the world. India is a different world, a world of contrasts that cannot be described, it can only be lived. I immunized in key locations (subway stations, intersections, bus stops), but went from door to door as well.
I wanted to have this experience very much, it was a dream come true. I am very thankful to all the volunteers and medics that are involved in this global fight; only there did I understand the devastating effects of polio and how much of an effort we are making to end it. I visited the St. Stephan Hospital in Delhi where I saw children, who had the same age as my own children, and who had their legs amputated because of polio. It was an awful feeling, but it was then that I fully understood our mission.”
Volunteering with travel to endemic areas is a possibility of involvement, but it requires a lot of personal money, courage, time and dedication. We can support the END POLIO campaign in other ways. The simplest way is to donate money, and for this I thought about each member giving $30. I think that now, after 30 years, we can get involved in this project as well. It’s the least we can do to support our organization in its mission. Think about it – $30 actually means $90 because the Gates Foundation is tripling every dollar donated to Rotary. With $30 you will immunize 50 children, and with $90, 150 children. Clubs in our District have already started to gather the money and, at this moment, a quarter of the clubs have donated for END POLIO. I want to thank them for understanding how big the impact of this $30/member donation is and for responding so quickly to my invitation. Up until now, we have gathered $40,000 and we are only beginning. We are starting to act like a unitary force, like a family, like a team and look how powerful we are together!
I invite every club to be part of the Rotary mission and to donate $30/member. This is the smallest thing we can do, but our common effort, the effort of all the members of the 2241 District is going to be remarkable and we will be able to make a difference through the final result. We will celebrate this action together and we will award the special performances of our members during this jubilee year at the District Conference that will take place in Băile Felix between 7-10 of May 2020, where I hope to see many of you.
Let’s join forces and gather in our desire to build rotary projects, awards and celebrations that define this mandate.
Will will award excellence in Rotary, during a unique, all-inclusive, District Conference that will give you access to the spa, aqua park, thermal waters, numerous pools and the possibility to spend a full vacation in Băile Felix
Because in Rotary December is the month for preventing diseases, let’s take a moment and be thankful for the health that we have.
Let’s be thankful to those who put in the work for this prevention, for immunization, education and research, so we can live longer and enjoy life more. Let’s celebrate and honor LIFE, let’s protect it and let’s continue to be a force for the good in the world, as others have been before us.
I wish you Happy Holidays with your loved ones!
I wish you a Happy New Year, with countless accomplishments!
With friendship,
Marian Neagoe
District Governor 2241, România & Republica Moldova