Avenues of Service | The Object of Rotary | The 4-Way Test
What is Rotary?
Rotary is...
Projects
Rotary clubs participate in a broad
range of humanitarian, intercultural,
and educational activities designed
to improve the human condition.
Rotary’s humanitarian grants support
club projects that provide health care
and medical supplies, clean water,
food, job training, youth development,
and education to millions of
people in need — particularly in the
developing world.
Peace
Rotary builds understanding through
international scholarships, exchange
programs, and humanitarian grants.
In 2002, Rotary launched the Rotary
Centers for International Studies
in peace and conflict resolution,
an innovative program designed to
educate tomorrow’s peacemakers. Some 35,000 students from 110
countries have also studied abroad
since 1947 as Rotary Ambassadorial
Scholars. Rotary’s Group Study
Exchange has helped more than
45,000 young professionals explore
their career fields in other countries.
And, each year some 8,000 secondary-school students experience life
in another country through Rotary’s
Youth Exchange program.
Polio Eradication
In 1985, Rotary launched PolioPlus,
an ambitious program to immunize
the world’s children against polio.
Rotary’s grassroots leadership, volunteer
support, and initial funding
for vaccine provided the catalyst for
the World Health Assembly’s resolution
in 1988 to eradicate polio
worldwide. Spearheading partners
of the Global Polio Eradication
Initiative are the World Health
Organization, Rotary International,
U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, and UNICEF.
As a result of this partnership’s
efforts, polio cases have dropped
by 99 percent since 1988, and
the world stands on the threshold
of eradicating the disease.
Progress
Paul P. Harris formed the world’s
first service club, the Rotary Club of
Chicago, on 23 February 1905. The
Rotary motto is Service Above Self
and Rotary continues to concern itself
with truth, fairness, improved relations
between peoples, and world
peace. During World War II, Rotary members
increasingly became involved
in promoting international understanding.
A Rotary conference held
in London in 1942 planted the seeds
for the development of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO),
and some 50 Rotary members served
as delegates and consultants at the
founding of the United Nations.
Today, Rotary holds the highest
consultative status with the United
Nations that a nongovernmental
organization can obtain. In this
capacity, Rotary has a voice within
the UN system allowing access to
its people and resources worldwide.
People
Belonging to a Rotary club gives
men and women an enjoyable and
organized way to make a contribution
to their community. Rotary
members meet weekly to plan
club, community, and international
service activities. By using their
skills and expertise globally, members
also enhance their professional
network, career development,
and cross-cultural understanding.
Rotary clubs are nonreligious, nongovernmental,
and open to every
race, culture, and creed. Members
represent a cross section of local
business and professional leaders.
Avenues of Service
One of Rotary's mottoes is "Service Above Self." There are four avenues through which Rotarians carry out this service:
- Club Service involves all of the activities necessary for Rotarians to perform to make their club function successfully.
- Vocational Service is a description of the opportunity each Rotarian has to represent the dignity and utility of one's vocation to other members of the club.
- Community Service pertains to those activities which Rotarians undertake to improve the quality of life in their community.
- International Service describes the many programs and activities which Rotarians undertake to advance international understanding, goodwill and peace.
The Object of Rotary
Rotary's purpose is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise. This "ideal of service" is fostered through the:
- Development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service
- Promotion of high ethical standards in business and professions
- Service in one's personal, business and community life
- Advancement of international understanding, goodwill and peace.
The 4-Way Test
One of the most widely printed and quoted statements of business ethics in the world is the Rotary "4-Way Test." Conceived by Chicago Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor in 1932, it remains a convenient measuring stick for all human relations.
Of the things we think, say or do:
- Is it the Truth?
- Is it fair to all concerned?
- Will it build good will and better friendships?
- Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
Visit Rotary International on the web to learn more about the organization and its initiatives