MANILA, Philippines - It is not a single incident or project of the Rotary Foundation that inspires. It has been the faces of those who have been helped, who have helped, and who could have been helped which makes one committed to work for the Rotary Foundation. There is David and this is his story. It was almost 10 in the evening, when Amy and I reached Barangay Imelda on Araneta Avenue in Quezon City. We had come to inaugurate the livelihood training center, preside at the ground breaking ceremony for the deep well funded partly from a Matching Grant from the Rotary Foundation, and participate in a Thanksgiving Program that the local residents had prepared. I was very tired coming from a club charter anniversary and various Rotary activities earlier that day but I was energized as I saw the smiling faces of the men and women, heard the laughter of the children as the Group Study Exchange teams from Sweden and Norway tried to sing a Filipino folk song and felt the warm embrace of the barangay chairman hugging me with deep appreciation. On the way home, Amy asked if I had noticed a boy of 10 who had crawled to the edge of the crowd to witness the proceedings.
I confessed I had not. He had to crawl because he was a victim of polio. She asked whether we could do something for him. Early the next morning, I called President Amy Santos and asked her to locate that boy and see what we could do. They found David, fitted him with braces and for the first time in his life, David could now walk upright just like the kids around him. Today, David is married with two kids of his own. None of them crawl like their father. The Rotary Foundation and the Rotarians were there with the polio oral vaccine. There are the smiling faces of the orphans of Sri Lanka, victims of the tsunami, but like the fishermen and the other folks facing a better future because of the Rotarians of Sri Lanka who put together the help from the Rotary Foundation and Rotarians the world over, to give food and clothes, to build homes, reconstruct schools and hospitals, and replace fishing boats. I went there in July, 2005, and what I saw made me so proud of being a Rotarian and a contributor to the Rotary Foundation. There is Reiko Umemura, ambassadorial scholar from Japan. I was her host counselor. She was determined to imbibe the Philippine culture by learning Filipino and adapting to the local customs, including food. Taking up Community Development and Social Work, she like the other scholars I have engaged with gave life to Rotary and TRF's vision of world peace and understanding. There are the Group Study Exchange teams from all over the world. Amy and I have hosted a few and met all. We are so impressed with their passion for learning and sharing. They make us realize the oneness of service. Most importantly, there are the Philippine Rotarians whose dedication to service and generosity of spirit inspires. They are one with the hundreds of faces that are in one's mind, in one's heart. They all uplift the spirit and lead us to do more for the Rotary Foundation and Rotary. Business Bits. In this Season of Sharing, we wish more will have that strong Rotary commitment to ''Service above Self'' and help ''Build Communities and Bridge Continents.''
