Editorial-View-Point

Rotary Clubs in Ethiopia: One more brick towards poverty alleviation

— August 25, 2019 489 comments

A few days ago, I was a witness to the Rotary Club of Addis Ababa (RCAA) at an annual event upon the invitation of a member. The event took place at the Hilton Hotel. It was the day a new Rotary president was to be ordained in place of the outgoing one who reigned for a year.

The out-going president stressed the need to grow the clubs and members while the new president presented the targets and the main areas of focus for the 2019/2020 Rotary Year. The past district governor also briefed the gathering about the mission of Rotary International and the main activities in Ethiopia.

It was mentioned that in a country such as Ethiopia there is this need to expand the rotary activities now more than ever with so many people living in poverty and destitution. It was noted that compared to Kenya and Uganda, the number of Rotary clubs and members still leaves a lot to be desired. Because the idea of giving service is well rooted in these societies given their past records and the kind of awareness they have.

This is something that we lack here and that is why we need to create more awareness about the noble causes Rotary Clubs in Ethiopia could achieve. There is tremendous need of organisations and philanthropists that engage themselves in giving such services to the disadvantaged communities, and no doubt, there are plenty of them here in Ethiopia.

Voluntary service is at its infancy in our country and it needs to be enhanced and promoted so that it reaches every corner of the country. Hence the wonderful work that Rotary Clubs such as the RCAA should be commended and encouraged and more promotion and awareness raising activities are needed to attract and convince people to join these ventures. There is nothing more gratifying in life than taking part in improving the lives of poor people and this we can do with just a fraction of our resources most of which we have in excess.

Rotary International is a global network of businessmen and professionals who are committed to render service to those who are disadvantaged and live in need of assistance. It has more than 1.2 million members across the world with over 35,000 clubs.

Members of Rotary International extend its service to the needy communities by building schools where there aren’t any, clinics where there are people with no access to medical facilities badly needed especially for the mother and child care, roads and bridges where raging rivers that prevent communities from travelling from one village to another and sustain basic trade ties with one another. They also engage in polio eradication campaigns and other similar activities.

The idea of Rotary started with the vision of one man called Paul Harris, a Chicago attorney, who formed the first Rotary Club of Chicago on 23 February 1905 with the intention of having businessmen and professionals with diverse backgrounds exchange ideas, form meaningful, lifelong friendships, promote business and give back to their communities.

Rotarians are committed to serve, and they are not afraid to dream big and set bold goals. For instance, they began the fight to eradicate polio in 1979 with the collaboration of WHO, UNICEF and other humanitarian agencies. Today, polio has stopped to be a worldwide threat remaining endemic in only two countries, from a presence in 125 countries in1988.

As I was one of the guests of the evening, I was able to observe that this particular Rotary Club was the oldest in Ethiopia and one of the oldest in Africa. In fact it was founded in 1964 when many African countries were still under colonial yoke. The Rotary Club of Addis Ababa was established by the Royal Decree at the time of Emperor Haile Selassie and it is now just 65 years old.

It was the second oldest club in Africa after the Nairobi Club in Kenya . At its best time the Club had some 130 members composed of a wide variety of nationalities including an Armenian, an Austrian, a Belgian, an Egyptian and a German, to name only a few.

The RCAA had met a challenge with the military takeover of power in1974 as the club was perceived as an “agent” of capitalists/imperialists with reactionary elements. However, the RCAA proved that its main mission is to support materially the vulnerable and poor segments of our society.

At the peak of severe drought and malnutrition affecting millions of Ethiopians, the RCAA mobilized $600,000 and donated it for the construction of a series of boreholes in the drought-affected areas. That did indeed establish the credibility of Rotary in Ethiopia.

Subsequently, while the RCAA remains the parent Rotary Club, seventeen more rotary clubs, 15 Rotaract clubs and 15 Interact clubs have been established in the country.

Over the years the RCAA has supported a number of service projects that have positive impacts on the welfare of the poor communities in the country. Some of the main projects include the following:

– Polio Eradication Project,

– Support to the Addis Fistula Hospital,

– HIV/AIDS project,

– Integrated Holistic Urban Development Project,

– Support to Project Mercy,

– Hunger+Project of Ethiopia,

– Rural Water Supply projects,

– Eye care projects (cataract surgery

cases),

– Primary schools and Secondary

schools Eshet Amba and Beklo

Mankiya),

– Resettlement Project (Babile,

Hartishek),

– Birthing Kits Project,

– School Feeding Programme. (Qusquam School)

– Support to Women inAgriculture,

and,

– Sand dams water supply projects

Yet a lot more needs to be done to alleviate the hardships to the poor and the vulnerable in this country; and this can be done by expanding activities of Rotary and other similar charitable organisations that can inject the much needed capital and knowhow to the country. In this regard we can mention the contribution of the Ethiopian diaspora who are always concerned about their compatriots back home. That was why it was one of the signature initiatives of the current Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his government.

Indeed organisations such as Rotary International cannot replace the government and do its work nor can it fill every gap in the society but it can initiate and encourage others to contribute their part . In Amharic there is a saying Dir biyaber Anbessa Yasser meaning literally, if threads get rolled together, they can tie a lion. ‘Unity is force’ and that is why the current motto is “synergy” or “medemer”.

 THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SUNDAY EDITION 25 AUGUST 2019

BY FITSUM GETACHEW

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