Rotaract Club - Guidelines

We all are mostly a part of one Rotaract club or the other. But , sadly , not all of us are familiar with the mission and vision of Rotaract. That is , why it was started , when , what are the rules and regulations...... This is where most of us don't pay attention to... But , these are basic information that every Rotaractor MUST know... So kindly Click here to go to the Rotary website. You can download the Rotaract Handbook from there..

Pets and Sets 2010

For the past two weeks, the only thing occupying a place of grave importance in the minds of our club members has been the successful completion of PETS and SETS 2010. And that thought finally bore fruit yesterday.

The last two weeks have been quite strenuous for some of us. We’ve been literally running around making preparations on a grand scale, calling up the many clubs in our district and personally inviting their President-elect and Secretary-elect to attend the seminar so that they can benefit from it. We also went over every single arrangement to recheck that we did not make even the minutest of mistakes.

The D-Day finally arrived and we were all pumped up and excited. The registration began at 8.30 am. And Rotaractors were coming in to attend the seminar eagerly in spite of it being a Sunday. More than 50 Rotaractors attended the seminar.

The inauguration ceremony was started by about 9.45 am. when the DRR Rtr. Solomon Victor was collared by the District Sergeant-At-Arms Rtr. Balaji Rajaram. This was followed by the Rotaract Song. The chief guest for the day was Rtn. Chidambara Kumar, outgoing Chairman for Rotaract. The Guest of Honor was Rtn. Ganeshan, the new Chairman for Rotaract. Rtn. Sridhar, Co-Chairman for Rotaract and Rtn. Prasanna Shenoy, Associate Chairman for Rotaract were also present.

The chief guest addressed the gathering about the projects that Rotaract had successfully completed in the past year under his guidance. He praised the outgoing board for their wonderful efforts and also wished the new board the best in all their endeavors. Rtn. Ganeshan then briefly explained the idea behind hosting a PETS and SETS. This was followed by the felicitations given by Rtn. Prasanna Shenoy and Rtn. Sridhar. The inauguration ceremony came to a close by about 11 am.

The inauguration was followed by an Ice-breaker session hosted by Rtr. Sasi Kumar. It helped the participants to mingle freely and get to know each other. We are sure that the Rotaractors surely enjoyed Rtr. Sasi’s session. They then geared up to focus their attention on what they had assembled here for – the training seminar.

The first to speak was Rtn. Ganeshan. He gave an inspiring speech where he outlined the projects he had planned for the coming year. He also gave the audience valuable pointers that will definitely help the President and Secretary elects in the effective running of their clubs.

Next in line was a very intellectual presentation by Rtn. Rajkumar. He oriented the gathering as to what exactly “WORK” meant and how to approach that concept. He also played a couple of videos of physically challenged persons who strove hard to come up in life. It left most of us with moist eyes and heavy hearts. He further motivated us to dream higher and “Take Flight” to achieve our dreams. The session lasted for about 100 minutes and was very informative.

The Rotaractors then briefly adjourned for lunch till 2.30pm. We all had a sumptuous meal courtesy Rtn. Ganeshan. The lunch break was proved to be a good opportunity for the participants to interact well and develop a good bonding.

We had a quick photo session followed by a talk by Rtn. Praveen Mehra – a session where the audience was all eyes and ears for what he had to say. He also listed out the guidelines, etc. for the board members and helped clear a lot of apprehensions in the minds of our young leaders of tomorrow.

The last session of the day was by Rtn. Kannan. He held a few management games for us which enthralled the participants and also, most importantly, taught us the need to have a good rapport among the team and to work as a team at all times. In short, he clearly reminded us that “Unity is strength”.

The valedictory ceremony was hosted by our DRR Rtr. Solomon Victor. He announced the winners for the Best President-elect and Secretary-elect of the seminar. Rtr. Roselyn from the Rotaract club of Soka Ikeda was selected as the Best President-Elect and Rtr. Yusuf from the Rotaract Club of Vishwahita was selected as the Best Secretary-Elect.

Rtr. Ashwin, our ZRR, then introduced to the gathering every single person who had worked behind the scenes and put in their invaluable efforts that helped make this event a grand success.

A special word of mention for a few people who’ve worked day in and out for his project - Rtr. Vishwanath ( the Chairman of Pets and Sets) Rtr. Pradeep( Secretary of Pets and Sets) , Rtr.Solomon Victor ( DRR RI 3230 ) , Rtr. Yasin Bijapuri ( President elect , RCLC ) and Rtr. Praveen ( President , RCLC ).

The event finally ended with all of us bidding adieu to each other on a sad note as the day had come to an end so fast. But, we were all happy at the thought of having made so many friends on this single day.

Pets and Sets 2010 - A gr8 success :)

Hi Rotaractors :) It is with profound joy and happiness that I inform you that the PETS and SETS 2010 hosted by the Rotaract Club of Loyola College turned out to be a tremendous success - a program that was widely appreciated by Rotarians and Rotaractors alike. At this juncture , we would like to whole-heartedly thank every single person who's helped us in organising this mega-event.

Know your History !! :)

You will find out on surfing that linked page that the first community Rotaract Club was the Rotaract Club of Madras which is sponsored by our parent club - the Rotary Club of Madras. :)

Three Cheers for our beloved Rotary Club of Madras :) :) :) C'mon guys !! Lets keep doing stuff that makes our parent club even Prouder :)

An Extract from the NET :

http://www.rotaryfirst100.org/library/organizations/youth/rotaract/first_community_india.htm

The First Community based Rotaract Club, The Rotaract Club of Madras With additional history of the other Rotaract Clubs sponsored by the Rotary Club of Madras From: A Timeless Legacy – Eighty Years of Service The Rotary Club of Madras Page 88 The Rotary Club of Madras sponsored its first Interact club at Vidya Mandir. The club was inaugurated on September 23, 1965. Soon after, the second Interact club was established at Doveton Corrie. In 1994-95, during the presidentship of V. Ramabhadran, Rtns. Prathap Kumar, Arun Sarathi and Dr. K. Rajan embarked on an enrolment drive and took the number of Interact clubs from 15 to 23. This set a world record though, shortly afterwards, the Club was overtaken by a club in Colombo. Today, the Rotary Club of Madras sponsors 25 Interact clubs. Not too far behind came the Rotaract movement in 1968, which allowed the Rotary to expand their service to young adults in the age group of 17-30. The purpose of the Rotaract is to stimulate among its members an acceptance of high ethical standards in all occupations, to develop leadership and responsible citizenship through service to the community and to promote international understanding and peace. At a club meeting on October 29, 1968, Rtn. A. Agarwal announced the Club’s intention of sponsoring a Rotaract club to be known as the Rotaract Club of Madras. He requested Rotarians to sponsor the club by enrolling their children and their friends. Twenty members were necessary for the club to get started. Today, the Rotaract Club of Madras has closed down but in its time it had the distinction of being the first community-based Rotaract Club ever. The Club also co-sponsored the Rotaract Club of Ethiraj with the Rotary Club of Chennapatna. This joint venture was a first in the district. In the late 1990s, however, the Club relinquished the Rotaract club to the sole ownership of the Rotary Club of Chennapatna. Today, the Rotary Club of Madras sponsors six flourishing Rotaract clubs; five are in colleges — Presidency College, Queen Mary’s College, Loyola College, New College and Madras Medical College — and the Vepery Rotaract Club is community based. Both the Interact and Rotaract movements came into being when the world was witnessing war on several fronts. In Africa, old colonial powers were being overthrown. In 1967, Israel won a six-day war against the rest of the Arab countries. USA and the erstwhile USSR entered the period of the Cold War after teetering on the brink of nuclear war. And as the first club came into being in Madras, Indian troops were pushing back invaders on the frontier. In this climate, the Rotary felt the urgency of training youngsters to be responsible leaders, with a broad understanding and tolerance of other cultures. As Rtn. Lt. Col. Vasudeva Rao said in 1965, “... I believe that clubs like the Interact have a major part to play in answering the need of our country. Misunderstanding leads to war and if only countries understood each other’s aims better, I am sure that wars can be checked. Prevention is better than cure and it is here that the young come into play.” When it started, the Interact movement was meant only for boys. In 1969, the Board of Directors of Rotary International voted to admit girls to the Interact. The Board said: “The Interact was originally established as a programme for boys only and retains a primary emphasis on training in leadership and citizenship for boys. Nevertheless, should local circumstances indicate to the sponsoring Rotary club that good cause would be served by admission of girls, the sponsoring Rotary Club is at liberty to use its discretion accordingly.” For many years, the Club considered Youth Service a part of Community Service. It was only in 1978, that Youth Service was declared a separate avenue. Under able directors such as Rtns. N.K. Gopinath, Arun Sarathi, M. Pratap Kumar, Dr. K. Rajan, Archana Shri Sanjay and Indhra Subramanyam, Youth Service has developed into a vibrant channel of service. Interactors and Rotaractors look for opportunities to be of service to both the local and world communities. Leadership camps like RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards), started in 1971 to develop and build youngsters to be leaders with strong ethics and values. Their social talents and public relations abilities are honed. Youngsters develop both confidence and a conscience. Whether it is helping in old age homes, orphanages, organising blood donation drives and medical camps, or conducting fundraisers, these youngsters lead the way in their generation. Page 91 While the Rotaract clubs in colleges are doing well, the success of the Rotaract Club of Vepery suggests that community-based Rotaract clubs are the way to the future. The Vepery Rotaract came into being when a group of students from Doveton Corrie High School graduated, but were reluctant to leave their Interact days behind. The Interact club of Doveton Corrie is not only the second oldest Interact club in Chennai but also one of the finest. The motivation to form a community based Rotaract club came from the school Interact counsellor and Maths teacher, Mr. Natarajan. Rtr. Jaby John, one of the founding members of the Vepery Rotaract club recalls the early days of the club. "Boys that had passed out from Doveton Corrie five years ago, and quite a few from my batch had been avid Interactors. We formed the nucleus of the new club. We modelled it on a Rotary club." The first two to three years were spent consolidating the club. The club would meet twice a month at Hotel Breeze on Poonamallee High Road. Since fun had been an integral part of the Interact, the group decided to carry on the same spirit of fun as a Rotaract Club. Fellowship was emphasised and every month a different person took the responsibility of organising a fellowship dinner. As John says, "Given the age group of our club, we need a lot of fun activities to keep people motivated and interested in being a part of the club." Once members had bonded through fellowship, the club launched itself into community service. "We used to move from project to project. On public holidays we would visit orphanages and old age homes. But now we’re setting up some projects that are ongoing in nature like a medical centre at Kolathur." To raise funds, the club held Planet Rotaract, a fun fair on the lawns of Abu Palace, a hotel on Poonamallee High Road. Planet Rotaract has now become a yearly affair and is a crowd-puller. Forging a bond with the Rotary Club of Madras, the club can be depended upon to help the Rotary’s ongoing projects. In 1996, they made contributions to Rotary Nagar. A function was organised at the Community Hall of Rotary Nagar and the following donations were handed over to the residents: A Singer Fashionmaker sewing machine to the students of the Rotary Nagar tailoring class; Rs. 2,100 towards the cost of medicine administered by the Primary Health Centre; Schoolbags, pencil boxes, water bottles and stationery to the Class V children attending the Rotary Nagar night school; Rs. 1,000 to assist a handicapped resident in setting up a public call office at Rotary Nagar. The club won the Best Rotaract Club Award 2000-2001. That year, the club completed a record 35 projects in 350 days. Just days after Gujarat was devastated by an earthquake, a three member team from the Vepery Rotaract Club rushed to the State to assist aid and rescue operations. They also sent aid in the form of cash (Rs. 2,00,000), 1,000 new blankets, old clothes, milk and other essentials. A team of three doctors also went. The Vepery Rotaract Club is both the legacy of the Interact movement and the pioneer of the Rotaract movement. Most of all, it is proof of what young people can achieve when their hearts, minds, and souls are opened. Our Rotaract Clubs: Rotaract Club of Vepery Rotaract Club Of Loyola Rotaract Club of New College Rotaract Club of Queen Mary’s College Rotaract Club Of Chennai Rotaract Club of MOP Vaishnava Rotaract Club of Presidency College We had also jointly started the Rotaract Club of Ethiraj College along with The Rotary Club of Chennapatna The worlds Largest Rotaract Club under our fold, The Rotaract - Club of Loyola (Based at Loyola College, Madras) with a membership of around 2500.

Lock and Load =) Total Fun :D

On the 8^th of June 2010, about 25 Rtrs. from our club set out from our club office in a procession of cars at about 3 pm to start what was going to be our first club service project of the year. And our destination – the paintball centre near Thiruvanmiyur. We reached there by around 4.30 and from then on completely had a blast of a time for nearly three hours. We stopped for Refreshments on the way and then returned to the club office by around 8 pm, with bodies really tired to the core but with hearts really warm thanks to the Amazing experience.

Rtr.Theja conquers Cyc.Laila =)

On the 19^th of May , inspite of Cyclone Laila lashing the city , four Rtrs. From our club including the outgoing president Rtr.Praveen visited Rtr.Lakshmi Theja at her house and celebrated her B’Day. We made her cut a cake specially ordered for her and then we distributed it to her family members as well. We are sure that Rtr’Theja was totally caught unaware of this sudden celebration and we are happy that we could go on with inspite of the “Natural” hurdles .. ..

Lending a Helping Hand

On 16^th May , four Rotaractors from our club including our President-elect Rtr.Yasin Bijepuri and Secretary-elect Rtr.Pradeep Ravi visited Good Life Centre in Tambaram ( a Home for Orphans and Mentally Challenged persons ) and distributed about 150 sets of clothes to the inmates there. They spent some time interacting with the children there who seemed to be very lively and active.

Doing Our Bit for the Society

On the 13^th of May, a few of our Rotaractors distributed about 50 sets of clothes to the non-teaching staff of our college. This was the first event of the year for our club after the new board had been elected. The non-teaching staff were really happy and whole-heartedly appreciated our efforts in doing what best we could.