Rotary Reflections 2022
There are times when we feel like we are lost in a sea of people. However, at the Rotary International (RI) Convention we each realized that each one is significant, important, and has a job! Our speakers ranged in age from 11 to 86 and, WOW, what a difference they made in the world!
Jennifer Jones is our President-Elect for RI and will take the reins in July 2022. While she will be the first woman to head RI, she does not flaunt her position, but focuses to make a difference in the world, to be a “person of action.” Her goal is to “Imagine Rotary”… We don’t imagine yesterday, but what tomorrow will find us doing.
I have to brag on Rotary’s involvement in bringing relief to the Ukraine. Four days after the Ukraine was invaded, Rotary had a plan in place. Another 3 days and they had $15 million donated to purchase medical aide and personal hygiene/food needs. The awesome speed at which this stuff reached the ground is due to Rotary members in Ukraine as well as neighboring nations who were on the ground to help.
Dr. Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace Laureate from India, was approached by a friend who was lamenting that that evening his 15 year-old daughter would become a part of the sex trade. The father was distraught. Dr. Satyarthi gathered some friends and prevented this action, but not without some bodily damage. This began his walk away from his career as an electrical engineer to involvement in human rights, fighting the Mafia. Can you imagine 5 & 6 year olds living in a garbage dump looking for “treasures”, no food or shelter, and of course, no days off! Dr. Satyarthi has personally rescued over 100,000 children. Oh, what ONE CAN DO! I encourage you to “google” this amazing man and be motivated to be a person of action.
Dr. Katarina Rosenblatt was one of the breakout speakers. I had met her earlier and purchased her book, Stolen. She had such a God-given desire to not give in, to survive not once, but twice! The first time she was heavily drugged and driven around Miami until she was “lost.” But she refused to lay down and quit and found a pay phone (remember those?). Despite this close call, she was sucked back in by a “groomer” who became her “friend.” These recruits do not have a long life before they are “disposed of ” by their traffickers, drugs, or alcohol. The average girl lives just 7 years after she enters this trade! And we are not just talking about only girls who have been lured in at McDonald’s, through the school computers, at the playground, but also boys are victims, too.
As I googled more info, it was especially shocking to discover that while girls are snatched world-wide, the USA is the biggest user of these “services.” I am just ONE and so are you. What will we do about the problems of abuse? How close is it? I can’t believe our highway 59 isn’t transporting some of these kids.
Join us at Rotary and let’s see what we can come up with. We can’t solve all the problems, but which one will we work on? Yes, trash is one problem, but children are not trash! We meet the third Thursday at Luigi’s at 6 pm. Call 903.691-9717 for questions or just come!