Y’s Times BULLETIN OF Y’S MEN INTERNATIONAL INDIA AREA Vol. 1 No. 3 “To acknowledge the duty that accompanies every right”
Y’s MEN INTERNATIONAL INDIA AREA 2010-11 Area President Ym Adv Philip Mathai Area Secretary Ym T. Thomas Area Treasurer Ym M. Isaac Area Bulletin Editor Ym K.C. Samuel Area Assistant Secretary Ym V.K. Joseph Area Assistant Treasurer Ym E. Jacob Kurian Associate Bulletin Editor Ym Koshy Mathew IP’s Theme
Once more we stand IP’s Slogan
Build a bridge to the future AP’s Theme
Be the light of the world AP’s slogan
Share our blessings in love
April 2011
From the Area President Dear Friends , It is with a heavy heart that I write this letter to you. As you know, on 11th March the world witnessed one of the most savage earthquakes followed by a devastating Tsunami in Japan. Never perhaps in the history of the world has such a natural disaster struck so suddenly on so splendid a nation teeming with an industrious population razed to a pile of debris. It was heart-rending to see the damage caused by the disaster. The threat of nuclear leak from the reactors is all the more dangerous. We, Y’s Men of India, pray for the thousands of our brothers, sisters and children who lost their lives and property, and place on record our deep grief and sorrow on the sad and sudden loss of life of our brothers and sisters in Japan. While expressing our solidarity, it is our bounden duty to help the victims of the disaster who lost everything in their lives. Let us stand up once more as one and share our blessings in love and light up the lives of our suffering brothers and sisters. The IHQ, AP of Asia Area, Takatasan and the Regional Directors of various Regions in Japan are doing their best to provide relief to the victims. Let’s join them and do our best. Area India has set up an earthquake relief fund for Japan with an initial sum of Rs. 50,000. Details and an appeal for your generous contribution are published elsewhere in this issue. Friends, we have almost come to the end of our activities for 2010-11. After this Area Council
in Chennai on April 3, we go to the Area Convention scheduled to be held in 26th June in Cochin. At this Convention Ym Finn Pederson of Norway and myself will be installed as IP and IPE, while Ym Isaac Palathinkal will be installed as Area President. Regarding the activities of our Area, I am happy to note that all the RDs have done their best in implementing the Area and other community projects. Though I did not give much importance to extension, except in the unexplored States in North India, almost all RDs have reported chartering of many new clubs, which I hope will live for ever as a standing monument of their sincere ser vices. My hearty congratulations to all the RDS, especially to those who extended Y’sdom to North India and Gulf countries. Those who feel that there is still scope for extension in such areas may try their best as IHQ will give them credit during this year itself. May I now request all RDs, DGs, ASDs, RSDs, Club Presidents and other office bearers of Y’s Men, Y’s Menettes and Y’s Lings clubs to collect maximum amounts to the Earthquake Relief Fund and our International Project Funds. Finally, I thank each and every Y’s family who prayed and helped me in the discharge of my duties and bestowed on me the highest honour in Y’sdom by elevating me as your International President for the year 2012-13. A big thank you! Yours in Y’sdom, Philip Mathai Area President & IPE 2011-12
Excerpts from IP’s Letter The YMCA and Y’s Men in Japan have been quick to respond to this disaster. Sendai YMCA buildings were damaged by the earthquake, but in spite of this, the YMCA has been providing food to the sufferers. Y’s Men, Y’s Youths and others have joined in the effort. The Japan East Region and the Alliance of YMCAs in Japan have set up headquarters for the relief effort. Once again, I extend my deepest gratitude for all your prayers, support and compassion as a Y’s Man in Japan as well as International President. Sincerely yours, Hirotoshi Fujii International President 2010/11 (For the full text, visit: www.ysmen.org. See page 4 for an appeal for help – Eds)
Y’s Men, Menettes, Youth and Lings of India Area pray for the safety of those affected and for a speedy return to normal life
Y’s Times
Area Events
Editor’s Corner
Area President Ym Philip Mathai addressing the Third Area Council meeting that was held in Hyderabad on 31 October 2010. The Council meeting was hosted by the Hyderabad Club of Central India Region.
We have been preparing this bulletin in the shadow of death and destruction caused by the earthquake and tsunami that hit northeast Japan in the second week of March. As if misery has no end, the added threat of radiation from Fukushima nuclear power plants looms large. Three generations have suffered from the nuclear radiation following the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings in 1945, and, it appears, that Japan’s woes are not yet over. In this hour of trials and tribulations, we pray for the people of Japan and wish them well in their struggle for recovery. An abridged version of Ym Easaw John’s presentation at an earlier Council meeting is published here. This is a point we have to take cognizance of since most of what ails our movement is the unethical race for points, as opposed to service to humankind. This issue of Y’s Times carries a good number of pieces on Area and International events. We also tried our best to accommodate news of service projects executed by clubs and districts. Local interventions to benefit the most needy and the local community are the real reason why we have come together as a service club. Without it, we are just another social organisation. Whatever news of local projects that reached us at the time of finalising this issue have been included. In case there are any more, please send them and we shall carry them in the next issue. Yours in Y’sdom K.C. Samuel Area Bulletin Editor Regional Directors-Elect Training
The India Area Youth Camp was held in Kany Kumari from 27 to 30 December 2010. In the picture above a youth representative presents her viewpoints.
IP-Elect Ym Finn Pedersen lighting the lamp (left) and PIP Ym V.S. Bashir delivering the inaugural address on the occasion of the training of Regional Directors-Elect held at Munnar, Kerala, between 4th and 6th February 2011
PIP Ym V.S. Bashir lighting the lamp marking the inauguration of DGs-Elect Training Programme at Ayoor on 26 and 27 February 2011.
Area Convention 2011 on 26th June at Gokulam Park, Kochi Register early and attend in lar ge numbers! large
Regional Directors-Elect and their Teams with International and Area Leaders
International Election Results 2010/11 Ym Philip Mathai of Cochin, India, has been elected International President Elect of Y’s Men International for a period of one year, starting 01 July 2011. On 01 July 2012 he will assume the office of International President for one year. New International Council Members (ICMs) from India taking charge in July 2011 for a period of three years are Yw Susy Mathews (South West India), Ym Rabi Panigrahi (Central India) and Ym K.G. Varghese (South West India). Participation in the voting Based on the membership as at 31st December 2010 of 1,598 clubs, the participation rate was 54 per cent. Out of the ballots received, 10 Page 2
Yw Susy Mathew
Ym Rabi Panigrahi
Ym K.G. Varghese
were late and the IEOs had to declare 197 invalid for various reasons leaving a total of 659 valid voting ballots.
Y’s Times
Training of Area Webmasters
Reflections
Image Building (What With?) This ia an abridged version of the paper that was circulated at the first Area Council held in Bangalore in August 2010
India Area Webmaster Ym Philips Cherian (seated left extreme, in the front row) attended the training programme conducted by the IHQ in Denmark in February this year. He filed a report along with his personal impressions of the host nation. In this issue, we carry the business part of his report. An intensive training programme was held from 24th to 27th February at Aarhus, Denmark where Area Webmasters from all the nine Areas of Y’s Men International were given hands-on training to upload data. As part of the consolidation and to provide easier access and navigation, Y’s Men International has initiated a process to provide details of worldwide Y’s activities in a single website. The International has allotted us separate pages for the India Area on the website ysmen.org with facility to update content from Area, Regions and Districts on separate pages. This will ensure that all the information relating to Indian Y’sdom is available on the International website instead of trying to locate/host them on different websites and locations. All Regions and Districts will also have separate pages and individual club activities will appear under the respective Districts. Separate links can also be provided to individual websites of Regions, Districts, and Clubs. News, programme schedules, details of office bearers, action photographs, etc. may be sent to the India Area Webmaster preferably in MSWord and JPG formats for updation. The data will be uploaded subject to availability of space and conditions laid down by the International. All webmasters are requested to kindly furnish details to the Area webmaster so that the same can be uploaded. India Area Webmaster: Ysm. Philips K Cherian, Tel: 91–80– 9448496520 or Email: philipsca@gmail.com
World Malaria Day — A Day to Act
25 April is a day to commemorate global efforts to control malaria. The theme of the fourth World Malaria Day – Achieving Progress and Impact – heralds the international community’s renewed efforts to assess progress towards zero malaria deaths by 2015. World Malaria Day represents a chance for all of us to make a difference. Whether you are a government, a company, a charity or an individual, you can roll back malaria and help generate broad gains in health and human development.
Reducing the impact of malaria is key to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, agreed by every United Nations Member State. These include not only combating the disease itself, but also goals related to women’s and children’s rights and health, access to education and the reduction of extreme poverty. Hundreds of RBM partners – international organizations, companies, academic and research institutions, foundations, NGOs and individuals – are already gaining ground against malaria. Diverse partner initiatives are guided by a single strategy, outlined in the Global Malaria Action Plan.
If we are afraid of openly sharing our perceptions about, and our insights into, the workings of our movement for fear of rocking the boat, then we are not being intellectually honest. And, sending anonymous letters, for whatever reason, is not the right approach either, because it lacks moral courage and is no different from a cowardly act of attacking someone by stealth. I recall an incident from SWIR that happened in 1994–95. The President of a Club had written, of course in response to tiresome exhortations to increase membership and to view such increase as a lifeline that is connected to awards criteria. The thrust of the president’s letter was that his club did not see much in the race for points and awards and that they would rather be motivated by community service that the clubs were duty-bound to render to the needy. The leaders were not amused. They harrumphed. In the sixteen-odd years that I have been in Y’sdom, I have, time and again, heard the rhetoric that unless we registered a marked increase in membership in India, our voice would not be heard in international committee meetings. Pray, tell me, do our ambassadors all speak with one voice, if they have it in them to speak at all? And, in any case, isn’t one, or maybe two, spokesperson/s from India good enough? We have to move beyond merely attending dinners, having fun and fellowship and doing not much more than generally flaunting our increasing membership. The leadership, especially at the club level, has to rise above taking the line of least resistance and go out to the community which they are pledged to serve. And they must resist the urge to induct all and sundry merely to create vote banks and plotting how they can upset others and win elections and, having won, how their own positions can be consolidated. Whatever has happened to the hallowed principle of ‘the office seeking the candidate’, I wonder. Can we look back with unmixed pride on the years that have gone by and claim that we have achieved the goals we had set for ourselves? Our Own Worst Enemy Some time ago I read a book titled, ‘Our Own Worst Enemy’ by Norman F. Dixon, (1988: Futura Publications), the central theme of which is that the survival of modern man is threatened not so much by the elemental forces of nature such as inundating waters or raging epidemics or global warming and such like as by the elemental passions of his own psyche (inner self). That is, this book is about why man might, and probably will, destroy himself of his own volition. It argues that by working against each other, we indeed become our own worst enemy. Dixon says that leaders who are unfettered by moral scruples have a huge advantage over those who are held back by notions of fair play. If the leader is unscrupulous, he frees those who accept his leadership from constraints of morality. And, if such a leader has a frank, open countenance, it induces a level of trust far beyond what he or she deserves. It is a sugar-coated pill, like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, which is best dressed to deceive, he adds, mixing metaphors merrily. They can, with such disarming ease, make their followers accept their barefaced deceptions to marginalize and silence those sincere workers who they perceive as a threat to their entrenched positions. Instead of sharing their ideas and insights, such leaders of Y’sdom spend time taking jabs at those they dislike. Probably being captive to past hurts, real or imagined, they continue to nurse them indefinitely without any thought of letting bygones be bygones. How much more creditable to our movement would it be if ‘friend and foe alike’ sit together, share ideas and insights and discuss the common challenges the movement faces. The more they discuss them, the more their opposing visions would converge and become one common vision. Ym Easaw Joseph John ASD-Image Building Page 3
Y’s Times
“Gambare Nippon!” – An Appeal Members of Y’s Men International and the general public are invited to send donations to support the recovery process in Japan. An account will soon be established by Region Japan East called “Gambare Nippon!” and in the meantime, donations can be sent directly to IHQ in Geneva through the Area, clearly stating that the payment is for Gambare Nippon!
This money will be remitted to the Region Japan East account to support Y’s Men and YMCA tsunami recovery projects in Japan.
“We are with you, Japan”
Area India has set up an Earthquake Relief Fund by opening an account with the Panampilly Nagar–Cochin Branch of the Union Bank of India with an initial contribution of Rs. 50,000 (approximately 90,000 Yen) from the Area President, Ym Philip Mathai. Ymt Elizabeth contributed Rs. 5,000 and the Area Team followed suit with their personal
contributions, as indicated below. The Area Team suggests that each Y’s family in India contribute at least US$100, taking into account the gravity of the situation. Donations may be made by DD/ cheque favouring “Y’s Men International India Area Earthquake Relief Fund for Japan” and sent to the Area Treasurer. For those wishing to make a direct bank transfer, the account details are: Bank: Union Bank of India SB A/c No. 396701010035441 Branch: PANAMPALLY NAGAR–COCHIN IFSC Code: UBIN0539678
Donations will be routed to Japan through the IHQ. The list of donors will be published by Area India and sent to the IHQ for acknowledgement.
News From Clubs
Y’s Men’s Club of Hyderabad (CIR) has taken up “Project Education” with the slogan “Motivate, Educate,Empower.” In the picture above (left), IPE Ym Finn Pedersen and ISG Ym Takao Nishimura interact with students during their visit in February 2011 to the Government High School adopted by the club. They spent quality time in the school and distributed lunch plates and biscuits to over 300 students. Y’s Men’s Club of Ernakulam (MWIR) organised a walkathon as part of cancer care programme on 28 February 2011. The walkathon and public meeting was organized in association with the Cancer Relief Society Cochin. The walkathon was flagged off by Miss Sarayu, cine artist, and the public meeting held at Durbar Hall Ground was inaugurated by Justice Shri V.R.Krishna Iyer.
Y’s Men’s Club of Karaikudi (SIR)has reported several service projects including a medical camp. In the picture on the left, PRD Dr Paul Chellappa and other members are seen distributing uniforms to over 50 school children on the eve of Christmas 2010. Y’s Men’s Club of Bangalore (SIR) handed over a brailler, which helps type published text in braille, to Snehadeep Trust for the Disabled in February 2011 in the presence of the District Governor Ym C.A. Joseph and PRD Ym K.C. Samuel.
Donations Received as on 28th March 2011 Name Ym Philip Mathai Area Presdient Ymt Elizabeth Philip
INR
Ymt & Ym V.K. Joseph Area Asst. Secretary
5,000
50,000 5,000
Ymt & Ym E. Jacob Kurian Area Asst. Treasurer 5,000
Ymt & Ym T.M. Mathew International Treasurer 5000
Ymt & Ym Koshy Mathew Associate Bulletin Ed 5,000
Ymt & Ym T. Thomas Area Secretary
5,000
Ym T.M Jose ISD-Endowment Fund
Ymt & Ym M. Isaac Area Treasurer
5,000
Ymt & Ym Philips Cherian Area Webmaster 5,000
Ymt & Ym K.C. Samuel Area Bulletin Editor 10,000
Ym V.A. Thankachen RD-MWIR
5,000
Y’s Men’s Club of Kakkanad Town (MWIR), renovated the clock tower at NGO Quarters Junction of Kakkanad town. A direction board was also mounted on it. Sri K.Babu, MLA from Tripunithura inaugurated the clock tower on Independence day. Bangalore District II of South India Region conducted a series of career guidance sessions in several schools and colleges in North Bangalore in February 2011. In the picture above (right) Ym Mohan Sundar, DG, speaks while other resource persons Mr. Manoj Subramaniam, Ym Aby Abraham and Ym Koshy Mathew await their turns.
50,000
Obituary Ym P. Narayana Swamy, Regional Director, SWIR, passed away on 30 December 2010 after being involved in a car accident, while returning from a Club meeting. He leaves behind his wife and a son. We pay our homage to the departed soul and pray for the solace of the bereaved family.
Y’s Times is the official bulletin of the India Area Team of Y’s Men International and is published four times during the year. Edited by Ym K.C. Samuel and Ym Koshy Mathew. Printed at the National Printing Press, Bangalore. For Private Circulation only.
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