September 2008
Dear District Programs and Service Projects Chairs:
This year, we have set ourselves an ambitious goal: to Make Dreams Real for the world's children by reducing child mortality. I believe we can achieve this goal if we focus our efforts and work together. But I also know that at the end of this year, there will be a great deal left for us to do to bring health and hope to the world's children.
What does this mean to each of you as you work in support of a specific program, service project, activity or The Rotary Foundation within the district? I write today to ask that you work together to support this goal of reducing child mortality. Contact your counterparts working on other programs to design a joint project. Use the district chair list provided to you by the Secretariat to identify a district chair in another country to serve as an international partner. Schedule a meeting in your district to brainstorm on how you can work together in new and exciting ways to develop a new project to reduce child mortality, and continue working together throughout the year.
By working together, you can support all of the Rotary clubs in your district in their service activities. One of the criteria for clubs to qualify for a Presidential Citation in 2008-09 is that they must initiate a service project that will reduce child mortality. Visit my Web pages on www.rotary.org for sample project ideas posted by the Health & Hunger, Literacy, and Water resource groups. By focusing on meeting the needs of children in these areas, local Rotary clubs, working individually and in cooperation with other clubs, can do the most good.
In addition, you may be aware that I am holding twelve membership conferences around the world between July 2008 and March 2009. Four of these conferences will also include a half day session on reducing child mortality, in August in Johannesburg, Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo, and in February in Cairo. I have also scheduled two full day sessions on reducing child mortality: one in Korea in September, and one in Singapore in March. If feasible, please attend one of these conferences. Click here for further details.
Thank you for all of the hard work you are about to undertake this year. Every project helps change the world a little bit at a time, and helps us all Make Dreams Real.
Sincerely,
D.K. Lee
President, Rotary International, 2008-09
