Rendering my Services

"I'm too scared to donate my blood... too scared I tell you!" - Me

I have been in the Rotary for about more than a year now. And did I learn anything from this experience? Absolutely! Basically, the Rotary Club is an organization of service. Helping in any way is charity. I however, belong to a younger group of Rotarians called the "Rotaract" which means Rotary in Action. To tell you honestly, I did not know what Rotaract means till last week when a woman was asking me what "Rotaract" meant, and I was stuttering and did not know how to respond. Good thing my colleague was there to back me up. Maybe I really did not know, or maybe because I was idle for about less than 6months because I was way too busy with vacation trips last year as well as this year too. 

Rotary is fun. The first time you hear the word might bore you or "the hell I care" would do too. I tell you, Rotary is fun. Being of service to another gives you a great kind of meaning to yourself. I want to share pictures of how a normal Rotary meeting would go.

It all starts off with an invocation.

Then Followed by the national anthem and the singing of the Rotary hymn.

The RC President then opens the meeting in Session.

The 3rd regular meeting is all about classifying your recruits

A member introduces the guest speaker. Rotarian Elisa Tay.

Ms. Tay conducted a simple exercise on classifying recruits.

After the brief talk, a token of appreciation is given to the speaker.

Rotaractors attentively listens to the subject matter.

Facebook is commonly practiced while on meetings.

Raffles are done after talks.

Then comes the RC President's time. 

In the end, we have fellowship, which means the game part.

The faces of intensity.

Its all in an hour's work. Its a serious and fun organization. Maintaining balance while achieving a certain goal. My life wouldn't be the same without the experiences I gained from this. 

And oh, we get to have conferences and assemblies yearly. This November, we'll be having the annual Asia Pacific Regional Rotaract Conference which will be held in Sydney, Australia. Looking forward to be attending this event. It comes with a price though. 

And on August 7, 2010, there will be blood. I mean, a blood letting program in hospital down south of the city. I am not sure yet whether to donate my blood or cowardly back out from this event. It'll be for a good cause though. 

Here are some pictures taken candidly after the meeting.