Rotary Involvement on Young Generation

Rotary Involvement on Young Generation

Rotary International observes the week 7-13 March as “World Rotaract Week”.  Who are called Rotaractors?  What is the rationale why Rotary pay attention to the young generation?

 

Rotaractors are composed of young adults, between the ages of 18 to 30 inclusive, who are residing, employed, or studying within the vicinity of the sponsoring Rotary Club.

The rationale of Rotary organization why encouraged to have Rotaractors are as follows:

  

(a)    The key success of the organization is  allowing the younger generation to be developed the essence & value of service to humanity. This effort is to transform the younger generation from self-centered approach (me-first or I-win-attitude mentality) to altruistic value of helping or sharing to less fortunate people. Hence, instilling to the minds of the young generation this God-given gift of sharing & helping the unfortunate people.

(b)   As a group of professional service volunteers, Rotarians are committed to spend time & efforts in developing the leadership of the younger generations. And this commitment is clearly explained in the execution of Vocational Service .Hence, Rotary organization strongly encouraged each Rotary Club to form Rotaract Club to assist in building awareness to the younger generation on the meaning of “Service to Humanity”

What are the goals of Rotaract Clubs?

As explained by Rotary organization, the purpose of Rotaract is to provide an opportunity for young men & women  to enhance the knowledge & skills that will assist them in personal development, to address the physical & social needs of their communities, and to promote better relations between all people worldwide though a framework of friendship & service.

Some of the stated goals of Rotaract Club follows:

(a)    To develop professional & leadership skills

(b)   To emphasize respect for the rights of others, based on recognition of the woth of each individual,

(c)    To recognize the dignity & value of all useful occupations as opportunities to serve

(d)   To recognize, practice, & promote ethical standards as leadership qualities & vocational responsibilities

(e)    To develop knowledge & understanding of the needs, problems, & opportunities in the community & worldwide

What are the progress of Rotaract Clubs in Jakarta & neighboring cities?

Several Rotary Clubs in Jakarta initially sponsored &  actively guided  the activities of Rotaract clubs as follows:

(a)    Rotaract Club Jakarta Gambir with 19 members

(b)   Roataract Club Jakarta Sunter with ~10 members

(c)    Rotaract Club Jakarta Metropolitan with ~15 members

(d)   Rotaract Club Jakarta Sentral with ~18 members

(e)    Rotaract Club Cosmopolitan with  ~20 members

(f)    Rotaract Club Gothenborg with ~10 members

(g)   Rotaract Club Semanggi with ~50 members

Rotarians are committed to develop the leadership skills of these young generation of between 18 years old to 30 years old. Rotarians normally hold one-day seminar on different skills such as communication skills, interpersonal skills, negotiation skills, problem-solving skills, & project management skills.

In addition, these young Rotaractors are trained how to raise funds to finance their chosen community projects. Some of these fund raising activities include: fashion show, painting gallery show, selling T-Shirts or locally crafted materials. These funds are allocated to finance their community projects.

The major benefit of these training & supervising the activities of the younger generation is to develop awareness of everybody’s responsibilities to share & help the less fortunate members of the community. At the younger age, it is the Rotarians commitment to share their time & effort to pay attention to the leadership development of the younger generation to ensure the continuity & long term success of serving humanity which is the mission of Rotary organization.  Learning to serve the less fortunate is a gift that every human being must always do in order to promote peace & harmony in the community.

Therefore, the members of Rotary organization worldwide which now reached 1.2 million members must observe this Rotaract Week March 7-13  to remind all of us on the importance & role of the young generation to the future of mankind. As a group of professional volunteers , Rotarian must be committed to develop the leadership skills & instill to the minds of the younger generation the meaning of “SERVICE ABOVE SELF” which is the motto of Rotary International.

- Rotary Club Jakarta Gambir -