<B>Avenues of service</B>

Rotary, as we wrote in our previous article, enables leading business and professional people not only to meet and make new friends, but also to help other people. There are four avenues of service which make up Rotary?s philosophical cornerstone:

● Club Service focuses on strengthening fellowship and ensuring the effective functioning of the club.

● Vocational Service encourages Rotarians to serve others through their vocations and to practice high ethical standards.

● Community Service covers the projects and activities a club undertakes to improve life in its community.

● International Service encompasses actions taken to expand Rotary's humanitarian reach around the globe and to promote world understanding and peace.

■ <B> Can I become a Rotarian? </B>

If someone is a leader in his or her field, willing to spend time helping younger people or others less fortunate than him or herself, and has high standards, he is likely to make a good Rotarian. Some Rotarians are well off; others much less so ? some professions do not pay well but anyone who has done well in his or her sector can make a contribution to society. However, no one can apply to become a Rotarian, as membership is by invitation. Anyone who would like to express an interest or to know more, however, is very welcome to contact me on the e-mail address at the end of the article.

■ <B> What are Rotary?s standards? </B>

Rotary has high ethical standards. A Declaration of Rotarians in Businesses and Professions was adopted by the Rotary International Council on Legislation in 1989, to provide more specific guidelines for the high ethical standards called for in the Object of Rotary:

As a Rotarian engaged in a business or profession, a member is expected to:

● Consider my vocation to be another opportunity to serve;

● Be faithful to the letter and to the spirit of the ethical codes of my vocation, to the laws of my country, and to the moral standards of my community;

● Do all in my power to dignify my vocation and to promote the highest ethical standards in my chosen vocation;

● Be fair to my employer, employees, associates, competitors, customers, the public, and all those with whom I have a business or professional relationship;

● Recognise the honour and respect due to all occupations, which are useful to society;

● Offer my vocational talents: to provide opportunities for young people, to work for the relief of the special needs of others, and to improve the quality of life in my community;

● Adhere to honesty in my advertising and in all representations to the public concerning my business or profession;

● Neither seek from nor grant to a fellow Rotarian a privilege or advantage not normally accorded to others in a business or professional relationship.

Maintaining standards

One of the ways that Rotary International makes sure that standards are maintained is through an annual visit by the District Governor.

■ <B>District Governor?s visit

The beginning of August was marked by the visit of Christian Fuard, accompanied by his wife, Maria. Christian Fuard is the Governor of Rotary District 9220, which is made up of 53 clubs in Reunion, Mayotte, the Comoros, Djibouti, Seychelles and Mauritius, for the year 2007/8.

The ?DG? has to visit all clubs in his District during his year in office. During his first official visit in Mauritius, after paying a courtesy call on the President of the Republic, Sir Anerood Jugnauth, he visited several different Rotary clubs and saw something of the projects in which they are involved ? which also gives an indication of the range of work in which Rotary is involved. He will visit other clubs later in the year.

The first Club visited was The Rotary Club of Port Louis, the oldest service club in Mauritius. The club took him to the MPRB Centre in Roche Bois, with whom the club and the European Union are working for the rehabilitation of street children. One of the Rotarians was so impressed by what he saw being done by the workers and volunteers that he has promised that his company will provide them with free training.

The Port Louis Citadelle Club went with the DG to Jeetoo Hospital to hand over chairs and books for children in the Paediatric Section. The Section now has some 100 books and a corner to make children?s stay there more pleasant.

The Albion Club, meanwhile, took him to the Chrysalide Centre in Bambous, which is being supported for the tremendous work it undertakes in the rehabilitation of women who want to escape from drug and alcohol dependency.

The DG?s visit to the Rotary Club of Black River featured calls at the Cheshire Home in Tamarin, where the Club is working on a thalassotherapy project, and the Garderie Etoile in Black River. One of the priorities for this club is improving opportunities for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Similar emphasis is placed by the Grand Bay club, which took the DG to see the Maison Familiale et Rurale in Calebasses, where the club has refurbished three classrooms and a kitchen, and provided IT and agricultural equipment, with the help of the Rotary Club of Nice in France and a grant from the Rotary Foundation. The project will help youngsters in the North, who missed out at school, receive technical and agro-industrial training.

The DG also saw the Ecole Technique St Gabriel where the Grand Bay club sponsors a student for two years and aims to assist with equipment purchases in the future, and the Amour Sans Frontières School in St Antoine, which trains handicapped young people, where the club has spent more than a quarter of a million rupees on two classrooms, toilets and additional roofing.

■ <B>An international organization

One of the ways in which Rotary encourages international understanding is by encouraging Rotary Friendship Exchanges. In mid-August, the Port Louis club received five couples from Chandigarh in India. This was an opportunity for both sides to learn from the experience of the other in community involvement, to make new friends, and for our Indian friends to learn more about Mauritius. As a side effect, hopefully, they will encourage others to come to Mauritius and help further boost our tourist figures!

<B>MJB</B> [email protected]