Young Rotarians’ Transformative Experience
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Editor’s note: The Rotary District SE PA provided support for two young members to attend the Rotary International Convention recently held in Taipei, Taiwan. One is a member of the Rotaract of Temple University and the other, from the North Philadelphia Rotary Club, Los Madrugadores. The letter was addressed to Past District Governors, Janice Biros and Treasurer, David Houtz.
My name is Rachel Harmon, and I am the President of the Temple University Rotaract Club. Around a month ago, Yesenia Rodriguez Pizarro Vice President of the North Philadelphia Rotary Club, Los Madrugadores, and I had the honor of attending the Rotary International Convention in Taiwan. This was made possible due to the generosity of District 7450 in their stipend allotment.
We spent June 13th-18th in Taiwan attending the convention, and June 19th-25th in South Korea at the recommendation of Los Madrugadores club treasurer Christiaan Morssink through an introduction to the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) and networking with other Rotary clubs.
The convention was simply incredible. I have never attended a convention this long and this involved, and it surpassed my expectations in every way. There were so many breakout sessions, and the ones that I attended offered tangible steps that we can apply in our own lives. I was not expecting to, but I found myself taking notes on these because there was simply so much impactful information to remember. I even had the honor of speaking at one of these breakout sessions, representing the voice of young people in Rotary and advocating for older clubs to support younger Rotaract clubs.
The general sessions were a mix of inspiring speakers and cultural performances. One of my favorites was an Italian group of singers. At first, the Italian Rotarians in the crowd started waving their flags. Before long, however, it seemed that everyone around us was waving the flags of their home country. It was an incredible reminder that, while everyone may come from drastically different backgrounds, we are all united by service.
The real standout, however, may have just been the House of Friendship. It was there that Yesenia and I truly engaged with other Rotarians. For example, we met a Rotaractor from Niger who is passionate about supporting his community. My Rotaract club has already collaborated with him on an initiative to support infant health, and is looking forward to maintaining this relationship between our clubs. From my opportunity to speak at the breakout session, a Rotarian from Malawi approached me in the House of Friendship to help support his Rotaractors. I am arranging a time to speak with them in the near future. These are just a few examples of the quality of connections that arose from spending time in the House of Friendship.
Our time in Seoul was centered around connecting with GGGI, but it ended up being so much more than that. Our time at GGGI was fascinating. We had a personalized tour, with discussions with people from all sorts of different backgrounds. What we did not expect, however, was that our time in Taiwan would lead to connections in Seoul. We had around four meetings with other Rotarians/Rotary clubs while there!
This experience was not only transformative in a professional manner, but a personal one. I am a college student, and there is no doubt that the ability to travel to and attend this convention would not have been possible without your support. I have not traveled internationally much before, and this summer I will literally be doubling the amount of countries that I have visited. This is something that I will never take for granted.
Thank you for supporting Yesenia and I.
Sincerely,
Rachel Harmon