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Cynthia Salim: Former Rotary Scholar makes clothing with a conscience
From the July 2016 issue of The Rotarian
The way Cynthia Salim sees it, the fashion industry doesn’t have much to offer a young, socially conscious woman like her when it comes to work clothes.
“The fashion industry often does ‘sexy’ or ‘fun’ or ‘hip,’ and things that encourage frequent purchases,” the 29-year-old says. “It’s very rare that the design community will design something that will make a young woman look credible and influential as well as timeless.”
Add “and is ethically made” to that list, and it becomes a tall order that Salim became increasingly frustrated trying to fill when…
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Member Interview: Susan Davis uses social entrepreneurship to fight poverty
From the July 2016 issue of The Rotarian
Susan Davis has devoted the past three decades to using social entrepreneurship and microfinance to address extreme poverty, particularly in Bangladesh. A Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship in the early 1980s allowed her to study international relations at the University of Oxford. A decade ago, she co-founded BRAC USA (previously the Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee) to help the world’s poor through self-empowerment. She is co-author, with journalist David Bornstein, of the book Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to…
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Rotary changes travel company
Rotary International has selected Raptim Humanitarian Travel as its official travel management company.
The connection between Raptim and Rotary will allow them to offer more services and support to those traveling on Rotary business.
“In selecting Raptim, we found an agency that shared our DNA and understood how best to meet the needs of our volunteers and staff,” says Robert Mintz, Rotary’s global travel manager.
Rotarians will work with Raptim to arrange Rotary-related travel through Rotary International Travel Service, known as RITS, beginning 24 June.
“We are honored to collaborate with…
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Changes to the Official Directory
The CD and full-length print version of the Official Directory will no longer be available starting for the 2016-17 Rotary year. A full-length PDF version will be made available and is only accessible with a My Rotary account.
The front portion of the directory will be printed in a smaller, spiral bound edition. This version may be purchased for US$10 by contacting our Rotary staff or calling 847-866-4600.
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Open to interpretation
Whenever I arrive in a new country, one of the first places I go is a bookstore. I do this for several reasons. Having spent much of my life and income in them, I always find them to be comforting spaces. And they often stock more specific maps and guides than you can get outside the country.
But the real reason I love these places is that by scanning the titles for sale – just gazing down the spines – I can get a glimpse of how people in that country see themselves. What stories do they tell? What stories do they read? What books do they print? And what do they import from abroad? And though…
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Contribution forms now available in additional languages
Forms in additional languages are now available to help you record individual donations to The Rotary Foundation or single donations that combine gifts from several club members. You can get blank or personalized versions of the forms in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish by signing in to My Rotary and visiting the Manage My Club section of the Club and District Administration page. You can also contribute at www.rotary.org/give.
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Foundation’s achievements and future spotlighted at Korea convention
In his address to convention attendees on Tuesday, 31 May, Trustee Chair Ray Klinginsmith proclaimed that The Rotary Foundation has never been stronger than it is today.
Bolstered by generous contributions from members and robust programs like PolioPlus and the Rotary Peace Centers, the Foundation’s good work is drawing public notice, Klinginsmith said: CNBC, a leading consumer and business news outlet in the U.S., ranked Rotary No. 5 among the top 10 charities changing the world in 2015.
“Isn’t it clear that our Foundation is truly better than ever before?” said Klinginsmith, who reported…
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UN chief Ban Ki-moon opens Korea convention
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was among the first to welcome Rotary members and friends to the 107th Rotary Convention, heralded as one of the largest-ever gatherings of Rotarians and the most multicultural assembly of nonprofit leaders in Korea.
He offered a message of gratitude: “Rotarians do remarkable work around the world,” Ban told the thousands of attendees gathered at KINTEX, the Korea International Exhibition and Convention Center in Goyang city, on the outskirts of Seoul. “You help the United Nations reach our goals, and you help the world understand the United…
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Global movement needed to reverse water crisis
This year’s World Water Summit on 27 May in Seoul highlighted the progress being made:
Over the last 25 years, more than 2.5 billion people gained access to improved drinking water, and 2 billion who didn’t have adequate sanitation now do.
Child deaths from water-related diseases dropped from 1.5 million to just over 600,000.
The UN Millennium Development Goals’ target for clean drinking water was met five years ahead of schedule.
But for the 1.8 billion people whose drinking water remains contaminated and the 2.4 billion without access to proper sanitation, progress is still too slow, said…