President Wilfrid J. Wilkinson and his wife, Joan, dancing at the Zone 19A and 20 Institute in Belem, Brazil, September 2007.
September 2007
My wife, Joan, and I continued to emphasize world peace and
understanding by beginning the month of September traveling to Istanbul
and participating in an extremely successful conference on peace in the
Middle East.
There were many outstanding speakers at the
conference, such as the former prime minister of Jordan and the former
foreign minister of India. Rotarians attending from Egypt, Israel,
Jordan, and Lebanon made a significant contribution, expressing a
desire for Rotary to try to do more for the conflict-riddled part of
their world and emphasizing the need to bring youth together. ( Read more about the peace conference.)
Following
the conference was a very successful multiclub meeting held in Istanbul
and Bursa. Then Joan and I flew to the capital, Ankara, to attend
daylong meetings. First, we laid a wreath at the mausoleum of Mustafa
Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic. We also had
the opportunity to meet several major religious leaders, including His
All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the patriarch of
Constantinople, who is the head of the Greek Orthodox Church. During
this meeting, we were fortunate to have in attendance the archbishop of
the Greek Orthodox Church responsible for all of North America, who was
also visiting Ankara. This was followed by a meeting with several
religious leaders of the Islamic faith in Turkey.
The second
week of September found us in the Amazonian state of Belem, Brazil,
which was the site of another excellent Rotary institute. We heard
speakers from Rotaract, Interact, and Youth Exchange. The event’s Mardi
Gras-style celebration was memorable, and certainly RI Director
Themistocles A.C. Pinho should be very pleased.
I returned to
my Rotary office in Evanston to attend to Rotary business, which
included attending meetings regarding the 2008 RI Convention in Los
Angeles and to prepare for the next series of Rotary institutes. These
upcoming travels would take us to three continents in less than three
weeks!
In Halifax, Nova Scotia, we had a wonderful reunion with
Rotarians from Zone 22, which included friends from Siberia, Alaska,
Canada, and many parts of the USA. It was another first-class
institute, and RI Director Monty Audenart and his team outdid
themselves.
On Sunday, 16 September, we visited the province of
Prince Edward Island where we first planted a tree at a wonderful
soccer (football) complex that the Rotary clubs helped build. The
following day we visited some excellent projects in the cities of
Charlottetown and Summerside, including a food kitchen, a library, a
museum, and a park conservation site. That day we also met with
Lieutenant Governor Barbara Hagerman and Premier Robert Ghiz, as well
as the mayors of Charlottetown, Summerside, and Montague. The highlight
of the evening was a multiclub dinner that had an estimated attendance
of 400 Rotarians!
On 18 September, we started the long flight
from Halifax to Nairobi, Kenya. Nairobi was the site of a Rotary
institute for Zone 10A, which covers virtually all of Africa! It was
convened by RI Director Örsçelik Balkan and included Rotary Foundation
and membership development seminars, and governor-elect and spouse
training programs. All of these outstanding programs revolved around
the unique Reach Out to Africa peace conference. The conference was
attended by many dignitaries, including former Kenyan President Daniel
arap Moi, who opened with a keynote address.
It was fascinating
to learn about the projects being done in Africa on water, AIDS, polio
eradication, malaria, and other health and hunger initiatives. In
addition, there were projects on literacy and microcredit. These topics
were addressed by a rich combination of speakers from Africa, India,
North America, and Europe, all of them focusing on how Rotary could
better assist the people of that important continent.
From
Africa, Joan and I traveled to Oslo, Norway — and our third continent
that month. Here, we were able to rest for few days, and I had the
opportunity to answer a lot of overdue Rotary e-mails. We then traveled
the few miles to Lillestrom for another fine institute, that of zones
15 and 16. RI Director Kjell-Åke Åkesson did a first-class job. The
program, the booth displays, and the entertainment were all very
special.
We ended the month with a trip back to Evanston. Joan
and I look forward to October when we will join Rotarians in the
celebration of Vocational Service Month.