Reconnecting with the community

The relationship with the community has been an important component of service in Rotary.

In the different parts of the Rotary world, a growing gap between clubs and the communities they serve, or should be serving, has been observed.

From the evaluation of possible projects a club plans to implement, to the definition of its territory, and even the selection of new members so that the club will continue to represent the community, all of those aspects should be analyzed by the community.

Different alternatives, like dividing an area or sharing a territory to create new clubs, have been explored in order to increase membership and assure that the community a club serves is being attended. By using those strategies, it is important to analyze the Club Constitution to review its locality and area (in case it already has clubs), to avoid starting a process of not knowing which community the club serves.

More recently, in place with more than three clubs, these clubs have been, in conjunction with the governor and under his/her orientation, analyzing and reviewing their respective territories, in order to identify and update the definition of the community they serve, or should be serving.

With a clear definition of a club’s territory, it is possible to assess public resources, businesses, schools, clinics, self-employed profess-

sionals, and mainly the existent needs of the area and a more precise definition of the community’s profile. If we ask our club members the following questions:

 Which community does our club serve?  Does the community we serve know the members of the club? If we obtain convincing answers instead of an embarrassing silence, we can also ask:  Would the community notice if our club shut its doors? According to the answers, we would be able to evaluate how much their club identifies with “our” community. Nowadays, we have hundreds of thousands of functioning nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Among those that are committed and responsible, the ones that have showed a larger increase in numbers of volunteers are those that have, among others, the following similar characteristics:

 Its members are in direct contact with the community they serve;  The projects they implement, that benefit the community directly or even immediately, are simple, have fast results and, in most cases, are sustainable.

It is necessary, and it has been clearly demonstrated, that in order for our Rotary clubs to influence the characteristics of the communities, it is necessary that they know these communities and become known for completing projects that are relevant to that population.

The connection with the community is not supposed to simply demonstrate the projects we are implementing and show that we did this and that ... Through this connection, we would be promoting our

accomplishments so that when we invite members of that community to join us for a project or campaign, they would accept it because they know us. Those same people, when asked to join us in service, would already know who they will be serving with.

Membership development starts by bringing new fellows to a club, and that is easier if they come from a community which we identify with. The absence of this identity makes it hard for assessing needs, implementing projects and increasing the pleasure of service.

If the new clubs’ organizers really practice the spirit of Rotary, the wheel that symbolizes us will engage the community and take the underprivileged population to a new level of dignity. That is how new successful clubs have been organized, by the creation and preservation of a strong identity with its communities. Those clubs will always be alive, finding new opportunities of service. Its new members will immediately know first hand what Rotary does and

easily understand what Rotary is.

More than ever, the principles and values defended by Rotary need to be practiced and conveyed to the community. We have, as part of the social order, responsibilities in a dynamic and integral way towards the community in which we live in, which is why we need to take up all the spaces still available, expanding the actions of Rotary. New needs in the communities demand new actions; therefore, it is important to understand the causes of such needs, whether they are political, social or economical, and face current situations with courage, courage to see them ... and change them.

All of our efforts, all of our donations are important. But even more important than the donations is the certainty that they will get to those who need it. If we reconnect with the communities we serve,

we will realize the vast amount of opportunities to serve, right there, within our reach.

Rotary is big and small at the same time. The same way we dedicate ourselves to the international community supporting polio eradication, by identifying and interacting with our own community we will feel satisfied and able to appreciate almost immediately the results of our labor, as well as maintain the interest of our members in the community and the interest of the community in Rotary.

The community is available; all we need to do is reconnect with it.