By Karla Patricia Ravida, President, Rotaract Club of Manila

Did you know that when you serve others, you stand to gain as well? This observation was noted by American religious leader and author Gordon Hinckley when he wrote “One of the great ironies of life is this – he or she who serves almost always benefits more than he or she who is served.” For the past five years, I have been part of a Rotaract club and I can say I have had a lot of opportunities to live out that statement and grow as a young professional through serving others.

Back in 2014, I was looking for a way to give back to my community, meet new people who shared my values, and find a better way to spend my weekends. Work colleagues invited me to join the Rotaract Club of Manila, Philippines. I began by attending dinners they would have for visiting Rotaractors from other countries. Then I attended seminars and talks on youth leadership and empowerment. I found myself wanting to learn more about helping my community and growing as a leader.

After joining, I took part in several community service projects and helping with public image campaigns. I even prepared travel and tour itineraries for visiting guests. What has kept me hooked in the club is the opportunity to meet and collaborate with great young professionals and do activities that have a lasting impact in our community.

I’ve had great experiences in Rotaract that all molded me into a better young leader, including helping provide access to early education and raising funds for End Polio Now. But my favorite project is the Rotaract Philippine RoundTrip, which our club spearheaded in 2018. We grew our effort from seven clubs in two districts to 10 clubs from four district, combining travel and service to show Rotaractors from other countries a bit of our culture and give them an opportunity to serve beside us in a service project.

In Rotaract, we do service projects while building and refining working relationships. This concept is a very good idea to mold young professionals and develop their skills. Moreover, our culture as an organization combines friendship and service to build effective teams.

Most volunteer organizations unite members through shared interests and values to build teams. But Rotaract goes beyond that through the bonds we create, transforming good teams into highly-effective, engaged, and motivated groups. By getting to know and understand members beyond just the tasks they perform, we establish and strengthen working relationships. These connections are built by something as simple as sharing meals, going out for coffee, unwinding together after work, or sharing tasks during a service project. Relationships are built and strengthened. We grow comfortable working together and sharing our ideas and input. Planning and implementing projects becomes enjoyable and exciting.

If you want to help make your community a better place, develop your professional skills, or find a more productive way to spend your weekends, there is no better place to explore than Rotaract. 

Find out how. Read more from Karla Ravida, an MBA Candidate at De La Salle University, in the Manila Standard’s Green Light, the official column of academics, administrators, and students at the university.

This week’s Rotary Foundation Thought the November President's Message from Rotary International President Mark Daniel Maloney.

Dear fellow Rotarians and members of the family of Rotary,

   Rotary Day at the United Nations, which we celebrate each November, is an important reminder of the historic relationship between our organizations. But this year’s event is even more important than usual because we are building up to the 75th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter in June 2020.

Rotary President Mark Daniel Maloney outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City.

   You might ask, why celebrate this anniversary? For Rotary, it is entirely appropriate, because we played such a critical leadership role in the San Francisco Conference that formed the United Nations in 1945. Throughout World War II, Rotary published materials about the importance of forming such an organization to preserve world peace.

   Not only did Rotary help influence the formation of the UN, but this magazine also played a leading part in communicating its ideals. Rotary educated members about plans to create the UN through numerous articles in The Rotarian and through a booklet titled From Here On! When the time came to write the UN charter, Rotary was one of 42 organizations the United States invited to serve as consultants to its delegation at the San Francisco Conference.

   Each organization had seats for three representatives, so Rotary International’s 11 representatives served in rotation. The people officially representing Rotary included the general secretary, the current and
several past presidents, and the editor of The Rotarian. In addition, Rotarians from Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and South America served as members of or consultants to their own nations’ delegations.

   We have a deep and lasting relationship with the UN that deserves to be celebrated and appreciated. To recognize this relationship, Rotary will host five special events between now and June: Rotary Day at the UN in New York on the 9th of this month; three presidential conferences next year in Santiago, Chile, in Paris, and in Rome; and a final celebration just before the Rotary International Convention in Honolulu.

   The focus on the UN in the year ahead is not only about the past; it also lights a path to our future. There are so many parallels between the work we do through our areas of focus and the work of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. While those goals are indeed incredibly ambitious, they provide inspiration and direction — and are similar to many Rotary goals, which have proven to create lasting, positive change in our world. The goals can be achieved, but only if undertaken with the same long-term commitment and tenacity that Rotary understands so well. Alone, we cannot provide clean water for all, we cannot eliminate hunger, we cannot eradicate polio. But together with partners like the United Nations, of course, we can.

   Please consider attending one of our five UN celebrations. I look forward to sharing news of these special events with you throughout the year.

Mark Daniel Maloney

President Rotary International