Rotary Global History Fellowship
What Paul Harris (and other Rotary leaders) Said
| Paul P. Harris Fear and Hate Must Go! The Rotarian, January 1946 | "Travel is a good corrective for mental nearsightedness - if the traveler will cast aside his prejudices." |
| Dr. Edward "Eddie" Blender, Editor, WPHS PDG D5470 Vail - Eagle Valley Rotary | Can you think of a more loved Rotary International program then Group Study Exchange (GSE)? These annual awards are made to paired Rotary districts and provide travel expenses for a team of non-Rotarians (and led by a Rotarian) from a variety of vocations. GSE is a program of person-to-person contact building world peace and understanding. Rotarian hosts organize a four to six-week itinerary of educational and cultural points of interest. Rotarians from different districts host teams and the team members live and eat and interact on a daily basis (casting aside prejudices)... building international good will, peace and greater understanding. Since 1965, more than 46,000 individuals (almost 10,600 teams) from more than 100 countries have participated in this Rotary Foundation Program at a cost of more than $82 million. Well worth it! |
| Dr. Edward "Eddie" Blender, Editor, WPHS PDG D5470 Vail - Eagle Valley Rotary | Partnering with other clubs and organizations is important in the Rotary Foundation Humanitarian grants programs. Take the example of the Rotary Club of Denver, Colorado, USA, together with Project HOPE, in which they sponsored a US$2.1 million medical aid shipment to 12 hospitals in Vladivostok, Russia, in 1998. The delivery included rubella/mumps vaccine to immunize 12,000 children, 100,000 vials of insulin for diabetes sufferers, and other basic hospital supplies including gloves, sutures, bandages, and infection control products. Rotary clubs in Russia provided logistical support. Isn't this a great example of Rotarians working with one another and truly making a difference by bringing nations together? |
| W. Jack Davis Rotary International President 1977-78 Address to 1978 Rotary Convention, Tokyo, Japan | "Rotarians have learned that, in addition to persons next door or across the street, their neighbors are those in need... though they may be an ocean or a continent away... It is sad that the nations of the world have not come closer together. The forces of nationalism are pulling us apart at the very time thoughtful people are realizing that our most serious problems can only be solved by working together." |
| Joseph A. Abey, Rotary International President, 1961-62 THE ROTARIAN, July 1961 | "Man-made boundaries crumble when you proffer your hand and heart in the spirit of understanding." |
| James Lacy | "We care about other people... whether we know them personally or simply as fellow human beings whom we may never meet. We care about our communities... the community in which we live and all those many thousands of other communities that make up our global village. We care about the world in which we live... its trees, its plants and animals, its lakes, rivers, and oceans, and its people, who, after all, are just like us. Like the rays of the beautiful rainbow, the world is comprised of caring people, just like us. We care about our world today and we care just as deeply about its future. You and I care, and Rotary cares, and that is why I am so proud to be a Rotarian." |
| Rotary International Past President 2000-2001 Frank J. Devlyn | Rotary Global History Fellowship is an instrumental tool for those forward-thinking people who wish to learn from our history, in order to guide our future. |
| Rotary International President Glenn Estess in his Presidential theme "Celebrate Rotary" | Our first hundred years will send as an inspiring record of men and woman of all races, religions, nationalities, and political creeds who have made significant contributions to creating a more peaceful world. |
| Clem Renouf Rotary International President (1978-79) whose vision was to "Reach Out to People Everywhere" said in an Address to the 1979 Rotary Convention Held in Rome, Italy: | "Rotary... provides a channel of communication between the people of 152 countries... While there is yet time; we should seize every opportunity to work beside people, to help them solve their own problems, demonstrating our concern... In this way mankind's burden can be made a bridge for his progress toward understanding and mutual respect." |
| Luis Vicente Giay Rotary International President, 1996-97 From "Paul Harris and His Successors: Profiles in Leadership | We are approaching the 100th Anniversary of Rotary "...and the story of the young Chicago lawyer Rotary's founder - Paul P. Harris whose idea of reaching great goals through simple friendships would strike a chord in the hearts and minds of men of all continents." How was such a thing possible? Many have pondered the question, but Paul himself never doubted the obvious answer. Everyone needs friendship, he reasoned. And friends may disagree but - in a spirit of goodwill and fellowship - they can eventually solve their differences. And so it is with families, communities, between communities and states, between nations, and ultimately, the whole world. Paul Harris believed, unequivocally, that friendship, seasoned with common sense, could settle any kind of dispute; that just getting to know another person could lead to amicable relationships. He was proven right more times than we can even imagine. |
| Dr. Edward "Eddie" Blender, Editor, WPHS PDG D5470 Vail - Eagle Valley Rotary | In this our 100th Anniversary year let's Celebrate Rotary and our accomplishments in our community and communities throughout the world helping to create world peace and understanding. Rotarians do Make a Difference. |