Let’s aim for quality education for all children
The last few weeks have been hard. In addition to the pandemic, we were witness to an earthquake in Haiti, uncontrolled fire in Greece and the developments in Afghanistan. While our thoughts are with those affected, incidents like these only reinforce the relevance of organisations like Rotary. Rotarians have been working tirelessly to improve the lot of the less fortunate around the globe.
Our commitment to world peace is stronger than ever. Peace is not just an absence of war. There can be real peace only if each and every one in this world is assured of food, clothing and shelter. There can be peace only if we can create a disease-free world. There can be peace only if every one has access to affordable basic education. These are precisely the areas which Rotary clubs and Rotarians are focusing on in their quest to make this world a peaceful place.
To make a difference, one has to dream big and aim higher. We cannot be content with small changes as these changes may not last if they are not significant enough. Our service has to change lives. Large service projects, with significant impact, are the need of the hour. I urge every club to set their sights higher and soon you will realise that you have found a way to reach those goals. That is the magic of good intent and selfless thoughts.
Rotarians in India have pledged to make this nation fully literate and in this month, which is designated Basic Education and Literacy month, let every club do an activity that will propel us closer to this goal. This pandemic may have pushed many children out of the education network and it is our duty to locate, identify and put them back in school. Let every child in this country have access to quality education. Let every school be a happy place that a child looks forward to going to. In short, let us make quality education available, accessible and affordable to every child in this country. A literate population can make a difference to several other spheres of activity as well.
We do not know what Rotary will be in future but it will depend, to a large extent, on what we do today. Let us do all we can to script our organisation’s future.
A S Venkatesh
RI Director, 2021–23
