Rotary Vocational Service

Rotary Vocational Service

 By PDG Rodolfo Balmater

One of the core values of Rotary organization is SERVICE.  And this service connotes delivery or performance of  one’s time, efforts or talents to community or a group of people. Hence, Rotarians are encouraged to perform the spirit of service for the upliftment on the conditions of the community.

For us to understand the meaning & value of vocational service, the following questions need to be answered:

(a)   What do we mean by vocation?

(b)   What is the philosophy of Rotary on vocational service?

(c)   How can Rotarians demonstrate the meaning of vocational service to the community?

 WHAT DO WE MEAN BY VOCATION?

Rotary defines “vocation” as one’s regular employment, calling, business, profession, or occupation. Rotary employs the word “service” to refer not only to the merchandise sold or work done in any business or professional transaction, but also giving the needs and continual thoughtfulness of the other people.

The key differentiating factor or unique characteristics of Rotary as compared to other service volunteer organizations (World Vision, Lions, Kiwanis, Habitat, etc) is Rotary’s CLASSIFICATION or VOCATION  for admitting in club membership.

A typical Rotary club will have a 20 minimum membership  with different classifications may include the following vocations: 3 medical doctors, 3 engineers, 3 accountants, 3 marketing/sales people, 3 businessmen/traders. 2 interior decorators, 1 oil specialist,  & 2

Radio operators.  Rotary will not allow a particular club of 20 active members  with similar vocations .

WHAT IS THE PHILOSOPHY OF ROTARY ON VOCATIONAL SERVICE?

Rotary’s expectations on vocational service is for each Rotarian is to respect his own profession. And to show respect to one’s vocation, each Rotarian is expected to continue to master or grow on his chosen profession. Meaning he has to continue to update himself by reading or attending seminars related to his vocation. In addition, Rotarian is expected to follow a high-ethical standards of his profession. If a Rotarian is a businessmen, he is expected to have a fair treatment of his employees in terms of salary & benefits.

Rotary recognizes the worthiness of one’s vocation to the society. This means Rotarian’s talents must contribute to the solution of the problems and needs of the community where the Rotarian lives in. This Rotarian, at the same time being a professional, must follow Rotary principles on fairness, creation of goodwill, truthfulness & beneficial to all concerned

Rotarian can also volunteer his service to community. Example, Past District Governor Ritjie Rihatinah , as a dentist, volunteered her services by going to amazon area in Brazil to treat dental problems in the community. Several Rotarians whose professions are medical doctors from Singapore went to Tangerang to perform free medical services to poor people. Similarly, Dentist & Rotarian Ibu Imam Mudjari from Ujung Pandang also went overseas to help perform dental services to poor  children.

HOW CAN  ROTARIANS IN THE CLUB PERFORM THEIR VOCATIONS FOR THE COMMUNITY?

Many Rotarians today are helping young boys & girls prepare for their future career by giving them guidelines or training on leadership & management. These Rotarians commit themselves in crafting the future vocations of the young generations.

Some Rotarians are also involved in setting up a training schools to prepare the young people for employment. An example is Rotarian Till Fryer who instigated to buy a piece of land and built up a training school specializing on textile training. Rotarian Till solicited donations from Germany on some machines and also overseas  specialist to help train the young Indonesians in Bogor. Today, many textile companies in Bandung & in Central Java secured their young recruits from Bogor Textile Institute because they were already familiar with operating textile machines and also familiar with the set up of the production process.

CONCLUSION

Giving service to community or fellowmen is a wonderful gift  from God to all of us. Hence a Rotarian is given this unique value to serve less fortunate people without any expectations of financial rewards nor recognition. And as Rotarians, we are encouraged to contribute our talents, time and energy for the betterment of our community.

Rotary celebrates VOCATIONAL SERVICE  in the month of October throughout the world.

"Why be a ROTARIAN"

It is not for Money..,

It is not for a Fame..,

It is not for any Personal gain..,

It is just for the LOVE of fellow man.

It is just to Lend a Helping Hand...,

It is just to give a Little of Self...,

It is to do something you can't buy with Wealth..,


It is not medals worn with Pride...,

It is for the feeling Deep Inside...,

It is the reward down in your Heart...,

It is the Feeling you've been part...

of helping others far and near...,


That make you a ROTARIAN


(Garry Krischock)

Rotary Fifth Avenue of Service

Rotary Fifth Avenue of Service - By. PDG Rodolfo C. Balmater

Rotary’s philosophy hinges on teaching and encouraging each professional the true meaning of DOING SERVICE TO HUMANITY in order to promote peace, understanding and goodwill among men. 

In more than 5 decades, Rotary has defined the four avenues of services such as (1) Club Service----undertaking activities to ensure the long –term existence of the Rotary Club (2) Community Service----undertaking activities to help & improve the less fortunate members of the community (3) International Service ----undertaking activities with overseas Rotary Clubs and (4) Vocational Service ---undertaking activities to enhance the skills & competencies of the people in the neighboring community. We are certain that many Rotarians do enjoy and find excitement in performing the above services . This means the each Rotarian has given his personal time, efforts & money to deliver the above services without any expectations of rewards or recognition. Rotarian’s rewards are described as inner satisfaction & peace to himself that he has given his service for the good of many without expecting recognition.

Starting this Rotary year 2010-11, Rotarians are now challenged to carry out the fifth avenue of service---now known as NEW GENERATION SERVICE which frankly speaking nothing new but elevated to a new height of recognition & awareness similar in emphasis as previously described above on the 4 avenues of service. Indeed, “it is a significant change -----a historic day in Rotary”. This avenue of New Generations recognizes the positive change implemented by youth & young adults involved in leadership development activities even though they were never part of the four avenues of service. This move strengthens the Rotarians commitment on the youth development.

Some of the Rotary programs involving the youth development are briefly described below:

ROTARY YOUTH LEADERSHIP AWARDS (RYLA)

RYLA is Rotary’s leadership training program for young people. RYLA participants can be ages 14-30 but most clubs and districts choose to focus on a narrower age range, such as 14-18 or 19-30.

RYLA emphasizes leadership, citizenship, & personal growth and aims to:

(a) Demonstrate Rotary’s respect and concern for youth

(b) Provide an effective training experience for selected youth & potential leaders

(c) Encourage leadership of youth by youth

(d) Recognize publicly young people who are rendering service to their communities

ROTARY YOUTH EXCHANGE

Under this program, the youth (sponsored by Rotary Club) will spend up to a year living with a few host families and attending school in a different country. More than 8,000 young people each year have experiences like these Rotary youth Exchange. In particular, young Indonesians ( around 15 to 20 ) are sponsored by Rotary Clubs to go South American Countries like Brazil, Argentina, etc. These Indonesians learn to speak Portugese, Spanish & English languages.

Participating in Youth Exchange Program, young Indonesians learn new way of living, a great deal about themselves, and maybe even a new language. These young Indonesians become ambassadors, teaching people they meet about Indonesian culture and ideas. Bringing the world closer----make some good friends in the process

ROTARACT

Rotaract is a Rotary-sponsored service club for young men & women ages 18 to 30. Rotaract Clubs are either community or university based and they are sponsored by a local Rotary Club. This effort makes young Indonesians “PARTNERS IN SERVICE” and key members of the family of Rotary.

Today, Rotaract reaches 7,000 clubs in about 163 countries and has become a worldwide phenomenom------most significant & fastest growing service programs.

All Rotaract efforts begin at the local, grassroots level, with members addressing their communities’ physical and social needs while promoting international understanding & peace through a framework of friendship & service.

Rotaractors are doing these services:

(a) Assist in organizing interact clubs or mentor interactors

(b) Participate in RYLA

(c) Become Rotary Foundation Ambassador Scholars or Group Study Exchange team members

(d) Seek membership in their local Rotary club

INTERACT

M\embers in Interact ages 12 to 18 and these Interact Clubs are sponsored by individual Rotary Clubs which provide support & guidance, but they are self-governing and self-supporting. Club membership can be single gender or mixed large or small. They can draw from the student body of a single school or from two or more schools in the same community.

Each year, Interact Clubs complete at least two community service projects, one which furthers international understanding & goodwill. Interactors develop a network of friendship with local & overseas clubs and learn the importance of 

(a) Developing leadership skills & personal integrity

(b) Demonstrating helpfulness & respect for others

(c) Understanding the value of individual responsibility and hard work

(d) Advancing international understanding & goodwill.

Today, Interact Clubs reach 10,700 in 109 countries and with 200,000 young people involved.

Rotarians must be proud to be involved on the NEW GENERATION SERVICE because these are the seeds of the future growth of Rotary. Teaching the young generations on the value of DOING SERVICE TO HUMANITY at their young tender age will certainly promote greater peace & understanding among men. Rotarians are lucky because the above youth programs have been in existence in the family of Rotary. These involvement are our strengths or assets and therefore every Rotarian must put his hands in NEW GENERATION SERVICE activities

Rotary Leadership Program

"Rotary Leadership Program--- Incompatible Personality Traits"

by. PDG Rodolfo Balmater

One the benefits of joining Rotary is the opportunity to continue to learn on the subject of leadership. As mentioned in the  book “Spiritual Leadership”written by Henry & Richard Blackaby, “ the greatness of an organization will be directly proportional to the greatness of its leader. It is rare for organizations to rise above their leaders. Giant organizations do not emerge under pygmy leaders; therefore, the key to growing an organization is to grow its leaders. Ultimately, leadership is more about “being” than about “doing.”

What do we learn from this observation?

A successful leader must continue to grow personally. The essence of  effective leader is a  self-centered effort to broaden and widen his personal growth. Meaning that apart from his technical skills and industry knowledge, a leader must also be able to equip himself on  human behavioral skills. The ability to understand the dimensions of personality traits among men.  This issue of understanding  human skills is becoming more sensitive  in a service organization like Rotary .Just remember , when you join Rotary , you are not expected to gain financial  rewards  nor recognition of your efforts. Indeed, being a Rotarian is a thankless job. Why? The philosophy of Rotary is to provide service to humanity to promote goodwill, understanding and peace among men. In fact, it is an inner satisfaction of serving fellow human being whom you do not even know intimately.

What are the challenges of service organizations?

A service organization like Rotary is a grouping of volunteer professionals who perform service without any expectations of rewards. Rotary is in existence in Indonesia for more than 50 years. And worldwide, Rotary’s life is now more than 106 years.

The challenge in Rotary organization is that its growth on membership is not fantastically registering an increase worldwide. The existing membership in the last 5 years always hovered near 1.2 million members. In Indonesia, the number of membership in the last 4 years was reaching between 1600 to 1800 members.

The philosophy of undertaking service to humanity is an honorable action and yet many possible candidates are reluctant to be involved. Why? Is it expensive to join & maintain weekly meeting? Are the requirements too tough to be a member? These are not the clear answers for the candidates reluctance.

What about the existing membership in Rotary organizations?  Why some members who have been Rotarians for more than 5 years also leave the organizations.?

With above observations, one possible answer is the inadequate understanding of Rotary members in managing  different personality traits . Understanding human skills is an essential tool for a successful leadership.

How do we learn incompatible personality traits in service organizations?

A book written by Helen McGrath, PhD and Hazel Edwards, MEd, entitled  “Difficult Personalities”, presented several  types of incompatible personality traits as follows:

Personality Trait # 1---Extroverts & Introverts

The characteristics of Extroverts follows:

(a)    Often friendly, talkative, easy to get to know, easily express emotions, and what you see is what you get

(b)   Often take action and then think about it afterward

(c)    Use dramatic language for effect

(d)   Tend to think our loud

(e)    Like variety—like to socialize to relax & wide circle of friends

(f)     Relatively comfortable being the center of attention

(g)    Tend to talk more than listen and often interrupt.

The Characteristics of Introverts follows:

(a)    Fairly self-sustained and are often happy with their own company

(b)   Tend to think first and then act

(c)    Often very loyal to a few close friends, rather than wide circle of friends

(d)   Prefer constancy & routine

(e)    A strong need for privacy & not center of attention

(f)     Need privacy to mentally rehearse before speaking

(g)     Tend to listen more than talking

(h)    Reserved but rich in inner world of ideas, emotions and impressions

Given this type of  personality traits, a leader must be ready to manage the different characteristics of Extroverts & Introverts. A different strategy must be deployed how to talk, work and deal with people with these type of personalities. A typical example, if you are dealing with extroverts better use email to avoid wasting working time . While for introverts, phone calls are relatively short and personal contact is done only if deemed necessary.

Personality Trait # 2---Planners and Optionizers

The characteristics of “Planner” profile follows:

(a)    Prefer to have life under control with structure, set procedures, and established routines

(b)   Collect information for decisions in an orderly fashion

(c)    Make decisions relatively quick

(d)   Meet deadlines with little trouble

(e)    Use “to do” lists as a way of life

(f)     Usually give work priority over play

The characteristics of “ Optionizer” profile follows:

(a)    Prefer flexible lifestyle

(b)   Often meet deadlines by last-minute rush

(c)    Delay deciding in case something better turns up

(d)   Make last-minute changes

(e)    Feel there is never enough information to make decisions

(f)     Often give play priority over work

In different Rotary Club leaders, you may find these two types of personalities. We may expect conflict arises between the “Planners” who may press for quick decisions, whereas “Optionizers” may prefer to put things on hold. Consequently , both are frustrated. We need to understand the different strategy to be deployed in handling these type of personalities if we intend to achieve an effective results.

What lessons learned ?

As a leader, it is essential that we learn beyond our technical skills. As we grow in the ladder of organizations, the more we are sensitive on the behavior of the people we deal or work with. Having a better understanding, it will spell the success or failure of a club leader. Therefore, in a service organization, it is important to have a better understanding on the dynamics of human skills.

Rotary Membership

Rotary Membership

By PDG Rodolfo Balmater

Rotary Challenge on Membership Growth

Month of August is declared by Rotary International as Membership Growth. Each Rotary club ( numbering more than 31,000 clubs throughout the world ) is encouraged to grow in membership. This membership issue is always foremost in the minds of Rotary leadership simply because without the increase in Rotary membership there will be less hands to get involved in the humanitarian work in the community. The essence of Rotary existence in a community is to render service to the needs of the poor or disadvantaged people are living in marginalized level. The more professionals recruited into Rotary Club means more hands are involved in community projects.

What are the challenges and issues on Rotary membership?

Rotary, being a group of professional volunteers, are mandated to render service into the community. These types of services could be in the areas of (a) health & personal hygiene (b) literacy or education program, (c) livelihood or community self –sustaining activities (d) clean water & protection (e) environmental issues related to tree-planting (f) uplifting vocational program, (g) goods & relief supplies on disaster areas.

To address the needs of marginalized or disadvantaged sector of our community is a continuous commitment among professional volunteers like Rotarian. Indeed, in our lifetime, there is always poor or disadvantaged people who may need help . Hence, Rotary’s existence is primarily to address this needs in the community.

But the challenge of Rotarians today is how to recruit more membership. In the last 10 years , Rotarians in Indonesia only reached between 1650 to 2000 members. Every year, the number moves up and down within this range of below 2,000. The biggest number of Rotarians with more than 200 membership are registered in the following cities (a) Jakarta (b) Surabaya(c) Jogjakarta (d) Denpasar & (e) Bandung.  The other cities in Indonesia ranges from 20 to 70 membership.

Based on the above, the Rotary  membership in Indonesia is not growing. There are varied answers, among others, (a) expensive (b) too tough because of weekly meeting, (c) too many old members (d) boring & dull meeting, and many other reasons.

What are the benefits of joining Rotary organization?

When some active Rotary members were asked as to why they join and still remain as members of Rotary, the following answers were given:

(a)    Fellowship/Friendliness---some Rotarians expressed happiness and comfort in building up friends in the community. Friends who are coming from different disciplines.  Today, noticeably, professionals are grouped  according to their vocations such as Association of Medical Doctors, Association of Accountants, Association of Engineers, etc. Rotary organization does not allow membership of the same profession more than 3 people per Rotary Club. In fact, Rotary encourages diversity on the vocation of  membership. Hence, one benefit gains as Rotary member is to widen your network of friends.,

(b)   Leadership Training----being a Rotarian you will have  a chance to lead a group of professional volunteer or become a President of the club. The moment you become a leader, a training is prepared for you not only how to do your tasks but also how you do you manage your relationship with people . Relating yourself with fellow volunteers  also need a training. Being a Rotarian, you may have a chance to  learn many things

(c)    Affiliation with International Organization--- the major benefit of being a Rotary member is the access to worldwide membership of nearly 1.3 million members of more than  120 countries . If your business travel brings you to Russia, Middle East, Africa, Europe, Japan or America , you can access the directory of Rotary International and certainly there is a friend who can help you address your needs in a particular country. And the brand ROTARY is acceptable and well known in many countries in the world. 

(d)   Teaching the Meaning of Service to Humanity---As an individual, certainly, we can offer our help to poor people. But just imagine if you are attached/connected with a big organization like Rotary International, your humanitary service could become much bigger for the community. A good example, donating a complete Blood Bank Facilities like in Denpasar may cost a minimum investment of US$300,000. It is certainly too big to be donated by individual earning from Indonesia. With the initiative of few Rotarians in Denpasar and their little donations of US$ 5,000 , many got interested from other countries on this project , and they also contributed and matched by Rotary Foundation and brought in money to Indonesia at US$300,000. Many community projects similar to this like the donations of clinic and orphanage house in Banda Aceh which reached more than US$1 million from various Rotary Clubs overseas.

What are our action plans to grow Rotary membership?

It is obvious that Rotary today is facing a big challenge in terms of membership growth. There are so many equivalent organizations who are also aggressively campaigning for membership growth. In our local community, there are also many NGOs or social clubs that are in need of additional members.

But the real challenge for each Rotarian is how do we embrace the philosophy of  Rotary International. ?  How do we differentiate our Rotary membership from other competing organizations?  Are the benefits gained as a Rotarian as mentioned above no longer attractive to new members? Or are we happy to maintain a Rotary membership in Indonesia less than 2,000 people. And yet around us , we see opportunities to offer humanitarian service. In fact, we need more hands to help. We need more younger people to think how to help our community? We need the younger generation to prepare to take over the Rotary leadership.

As the saying goes, if an organization like Rotary membership  stops growing---that is the beginning of its decline and eventually obliterated like dinosaurs that remain instinct and only interested to see its skeleton & bones. Rotary’s motto is Service Above Self. A wonderful motto which is difficult to implement nowadays where people are more oriented on materialism and an attitude of “me-first” mentality. Self centered attitude is counter productive to building harmony & goodwill in our society. And Rotary’s motto of Service Above Self is a God given-gift for every one to embrace and implement. Hence, join Rotary and learn the true meaning of sharing & caring to humanity.