Rotary District 9210

I spent the majority of this past week at a Rotary District Conference. (Sorry, I wrote this a while back and never posted it. The Conference was May 7-10.) After days on end of talks about Annual Reports, State of the District, Future Visions, and Current Projects, I feel I have a much better understanding of not only Rotary and my host district here in Zambia, but also who and what is involved in a successful Foundation. Foundations, in general, are institutions with an endowment, funded by private and public donations, and usually invested in such a way to provide long term funding to that specific institution’s wants and needs. The biggest, and arguably, most recognizable Foundation, by means of assets and total giving, is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The Rotary Foundation is why I was personally was able to live this current year in Zambia. My scholarship, the Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship, is funded partly from my host district in Nebraska, and partly from Rotary Foundation funds. The official objective of the scholarship is to recognize young adults as already displaying Rotary’s banner anthem, Service Above Self, and to promote world peace and international understanding by sending these young “ambassadors “ abroad to represent their home countries and further Rotary’s goals. In my opinion, the scholarship is generally successful with meeting these sorts of abstract goals, but furthermore it’s really about exposing young people to the diversity of the world’s cultures while they’re still malleable enough to see the benefits of using personal success as community investment

On a more personal note, I generally find conferences of all kinds full of people who maybe talk a little longer than they should, and meetings that probably could have been run more efficiently. However, conferences bring people together from various walks of life to find common ground regarding particular goals. I met Rotarians from Zimbabwe who kindly invited me to visit their homes and reassured me that I’d be safe with them. I met Rotary high school exchange scholars, one particularly, who has basically been living in the Bush and developing such a worldly view at such a young age. I networked, I ate, I listened, I learned, I Rotary Conferenced.

Caption 1: This is a picture of my scholarship coordinator, Harriet Simule, in her traditional clothing, and I. There was a braai (what they call BBQ's here) on one of the nights. Caption 2: This is a picture of General Moses Chipika, his wife, and I also at the braai. The General is currently training to become an Ambassador of Zambia! Caption 3: This picture is of Jolene, the high school Rotary scholar I mentioned earlier, and I at the Governor's Ball on the last night. Jolene stayed in the guest room at my house.