The moment when I learned of my nomination to be president of Rotary
International was one of the most exciting and joyful moments of my life. I
think this is true for every RI president and for everyone who is elected to a
Rotary office for the first time. There is a feeling of great happiness, great
honour, and great anticipation. There is also as understanding that your life
will never be the same again. In the long term, I know I will be forever
changed by the experiences I will have as president. And in the short term, I
know that the responsibilities that I face, now and in the year ahead, will be
unlike any I have faced before.
All of us have been in Rotary long enough to know and understand Rotary’s
power. Alone, we might be able to help individuals here and there, to make
small changes to help in small ways. Together, our abilities are stronger.
Together, we really can make a lasting difference on a global scale. Together,
there is no limit to what we cam accomplish.
But when we truly understand the power that we have through Rotary, we must
also understand that with this kind of potential comes tremendous
responsibility. In each of our clubs, every year, we Rotarians decide how best
to use the resources that we have: our time, our skills, and our funds. These
decisions are not always easy or obvious. They are not simple questions of
right or wrong. They are complicated questions of who needs our help the most
and whom we can help the best. We want to use our resources efficiently, to
maximize the good that we can do. Often, we are drawn toward needs that our
hearts will not allow us to ignore. We aim always to strike a balance, to find
the projects that will give the maximum benefit for our Rotary investment. We
know that if we make our decisions well - if we do our research and understand
the needs and are wise and careful with our resources – we will do the most
good with everything that we have.
That is our responsibility as Rotary leaders: to do the most good we can and to
inspire other Rotarians to do the same. In the end, the responsibility for
successful service projects lies with each individual club. But it is the job
of the district governors and senior leaders to guide, to motivate, and to
encourage our clubs to focus their efforts wisely. And it is my responsibility
as president-elect to choose the year’s theme and service emphases, which help
to channel and define the work of the year ahead.
Like the project decisions of individual clubs, a president-elect’s choice of
emphases is a very serious matter. It is one that I spent many months
considering. I though carefully about the emphases of past presidents and
looked at some of the many projects that these emphases had inspired. Water,
literacy, health and hunger - these are the categories of Rotary service that
have endured now for several years and with good reason. These are the areas in
which local Rotary clubs, working individually and in cooperation with other
clubs, can do the most good. They are areas in which we now have many years;
experience and expertise. They are areas of wise Rotary investment. They are
areas that let us do the most good with everything that we have. I knew with my
mind that these were the emphases we should continue.
DONG
KURN LEE
President, Rotary International 2008 – 09
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