Today, I would like to share some ideas in relation to how members are providing invaluable service to our club and are doing good to the world. Almost two weeks into the rotary year 2017-18, I have had an opportunity to work and chat with many Rotarians in relation to service in this rotary year and serving rotary in general. It is amazing to listen to and share very important ideas that can potentially create a lasting positive impact in the lives of many. It is with great honor that I have seen and witnessed Rotarians of Namugongo dedicate massive resources to serving humanity in order to make a difference. It is important to understand that service comes in many forms – some of which may be are easy to notice while others may go unnoticed. Here, I will highlight some of the forms of service that we do provide consciously or sometime unconsciously.
Sharing what you learn:
In knowledge there is power – and the beauty of sharing knowledge is that it actually multiplies your own knowledge instead of diminishing. I have seen Rotarians share experiences from other clubs, experience from workplaces and experiences from their professions. Sharing can have both direct and indirect impact towards service. The direct impact is that members use that knowledge in their lives. The indirect impact and probably more important is that that knowledge may be the reason that keeps members coming to our club. In this case your service has unlimited multiplier effect because members stay at the club and provide service in other areas.
Sharing assets:
One of the most noticeable forms of service is offering assets. It is true that we may blessed with slightly more that what we really need, but it is also true that in some cases we can do will less. In other cases we can also sacrifice and share assets. I have seen member invite others to join for jolly evenings or during meetings sharing a drink, contacts gifts and many others. This sharing is great especially when done without expecting any benefit. But they say ‘what goes around comes around’ – as matter of fact good will always comeback. Some assets can be shared without out necessarily losing your asset. Digital assets for instance can be shared with those that need them, these could be educational, motivational or entertainment. A Copy of a digital asset can be shared without out losing it! So look around and share something!
Offering precious time
Effective this rotary year, Rotary international has put in place mechanisms of report the time spent by Rotarians doing rotary work. There are 24 Hours in a day available for everybody and it is this time that we provision between work, business, social life, family and Rotary among other things. Obvious time is scarce so everybody fits the most important tasks at the top of the agenda while the rest find not time on the agenda. Whereas time is fixed, there are innovative ways of multiplying it. One common way is to attempt and combine tasks. Once in while a family outing can be combined with rotary fellowship, or a business task can be combined with a family task. In some cases we do rotary work in the course of profession. The time we spend at fellowship is worth mentioning because it makes the foundation of rotary. Through attending fellowship we create more friends, initiate better ideas and understand each other better such that we can ably help others as well as ourselves.
Offering Professional Expertise
Rotary club of Namugongo and the rotary fraternity has a vast array of expertise. Medical Doctors continue to volunteer expertise to serve humanity during Rotary Family Health Days (RFHD) and to donate more expertise to Rotarians and families of Rotarians. Administrative, Management, Accounting, Human Resource and legal expertise among others have been donated the rotary club of Namugongo and to businesses of Rotarians and communities. These very expensive services genuinely offered by willing friend ensure smooth and subsidised operations of our Rotary club as well as businesses of friends and family. This year we shall conduct a half-day workshop for youth where members of the Rotary Club of Namugongo shall donate all professional expertise.
I want to conclude my message by emphasizing that service does not need to come in bulk and does not have to be uniform – in fact the diversity of the forms of service is what makes us who we are as Rotarians Namugongo. They rotary year has just started, let us prepare to serve above self.
Rtn Benjamin Kanagwa, PhD
Presindent 2017-18
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