Futa, Klinginsmith Address Final Plenary from Rotary International on Vimeo.

 

Banerjee and Hewko Address Plenary Four from Rotary International on Vimeo.

Bill Gates, cochair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, served as the keynote speaker for the third plenary session of the 2011 RI Convention. Gates stressed the need to finish the job of eradicating polio.

 

Gates Speech Highlights Plenary Three from Rotary International on Vimeo.

In this session you can get an idea of what Rotary did for Hurrican Katrina, also listen to PDG Patrick Chisanga a good mate of ours, talking on engaging Africa and finally some great advice from Michael McQueen who we also know and met in Orange.

Katrina Panel Highlights Plenary Two from Rotary International on Vimeo.

Michael McQueen, who spoke at the second plenary session of the RI Convention, is a social researcher and best-selling author of two books on bridging the generation gap. As a leading authority on youth trends, he is regularly featured on TV and radio programs. McQueen sat down with RI News in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, to talk about how Rotary can best connect with Generation Y.

Read the interview with RI here:

McQueen at New Orleans

We met Michael at the District 9700 conference in Orange in March and he inspired us to look to Gen Y for our future members.  Great to see that Michael was a plenary speaker at our International Convention in New Orleans.

NEXGEN Web Site

Opening Plenary from Rotary International on Vimeo.

Rotarians celebrated past accomplishments and future friendships during the opening plenary session of the 2011 RI Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, on 22 May.

“Let’s celebrate Rotary this week while we are here together in this special place,” said RI President Ray Klinginsmith.

During the traditional flag ceremony, South Central Rotary Youth Exchange students presented flags from the more than 200 countries and geographical areas in the Rotary world. The group’s participation highlighted Rotary’s fifth and newest Avenue of Service, New Generations Service.

Attendees were treated to a variety of entertainment features. Internationally renowned opera singer Simon Estes, an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Des Moines, Iowa, performed the national anthem. Rotarians Steve Selvick and Jerry Mills, who wrote the song “Come Join Us,” performed with the Youth Exchange students.

Country music star Lucy Dalton received an enthusiastic response for a song she wrote about Rotary’s “This Close” public awareness campaign for polio eradication. And singer-songwriter Michael Martin Murphey performed “Cowboy Logic,” a song about the common-sense solutions for everything. Klinginsmith has used it as the theme song for his presidency.

Klinginsmith urged Rotarians to use the convention as an opportunity to visit the House of Friendship, meet new people, and learn about service projects from other Rotarians.

“Greet everyone and talk with as many people as you can,” he said. “You do not need an introduction to talk with other people here. You are free to converse with anyone and everyone. And regardless of where you are from, you will eventually meet someone who can help you with a project or who knows someone you know.”

Klinginsmith also encouraged Rotarians to attend some of the convention’s many  workshops to learn how to make their clubs bigger, better, and bolder.

“The best days of Rotary are still ahead,” he said.

The Photos section 12 exclusive Photographs of House of friendship at NOLA Convention dispatched by Ron Nethurcutt for eFlash created by PDG Sunil K Zachariah .  Ron is in Rotary for more than 25 yrs and presently settled in Philippines. He is a TRF Major Donor and former ROTI Chair 07-09. He was a GSE Team Leader from 6840 to 1050 in 1995 and TRF Visiting University Professor to University of the Philippines 2000. He has attended Rotary meetings in 15 countries.

Michael L. Gill, of the Rotary Club of Franklinton, Louisiana, USA, and his wife, Betty, show their Mardi Gras spirit during the Sounds of the South Concert on 21 May at the 2011 RI Convention in New Orleans. Rotary Images/Alyce Henson

Thousands of Rotarians from around the world are celebrating Rotary at the RI Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Attendees enjoyed the first day of the House of Friendship.

Convention Kick Off – House of Friendship Opens from Rotary International on Vimeo.

Ride to End Polio.

Ride to End Polio from Rotary International on Vimeo.

Before the Convention started Rotaractors helped Habitat for Humanity build and renovate houses damaged by hurricane Katrina;

Rotaract Teams with Habitat for Humanity from Rotary International on Vimeo.

Also before the convention Rotary Youth Exchange students go house to house helping homeowners switch to energy-saving light bulbs. They must have got the idea from Coolamon when Past President Grahame Miles and our club did the same thing for Coolamon!

Youth Exchange Lights Up New Orleans from Rotary International on Vimeo.

Here is a very recent story on the Mountains of the Moon which will give you a good idea of what the conditions are like today.  The article is by Tom Knudson who writes about natural resources and the environment for the Sacramento Bee. Over the years, his reporting has been singled out for numerous journalistic honors, including two Pulitzer Prizes and a Reuters-I.U.C.N. Global Environmental Media Award. In a previous article for Yale Environment 360, he wrote about the impact of the biofuel boom on Indonesia’s rain forests.

In the Mountains of the Moon

The view west across the Stanley Plateau to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The glacier atop Mount Stanley is the largest ice mass remaining in the Rwenzori Mountains, and one of the few glaciers left in Africa.

This is a project of the Rotary Club of Coolamon and for any further information please contact John Glassford:

Contact details [email protected] phone 61 2 6927 6027