My fellow Rotarians and friends of Rotary,

The Greek philosopher Aristotle once said that the essence of life is "to serve others and do good". It seems that there's an increasing number of people starting to wake up to that philosophy and realise why volunteering is important. People are starting to understand why serving and helping each other benefit, not just others but themselves too. The ethos of Rotary and our motto of "Service Above Self" is still relevant and will be relevant into the future.

People are looking to organizations like our Rotary Club to mend the societal divide and facilitate connections they are so desperate for. This is what our club is thriving to do today.

People inherently want to be brought together, we all crave human connection, and this is where Rotary has positioned itself for 115 years. We offer friendship and make a tangible difference. To me, this is still what makes Rotary relevant, this is what makes it special, and this is why I get encouraged to contribute and be significant.

For the Rotary Club of Strathfield to stay relevant, we need to keep up with what is going on in the changing world around us. We must indeed recognize the importance of tradition and the past that came before us. Rotary has established a history that is so full of rich examples of service around the world. Our club always embraces changes, and we tend to thrive on them.

In conclusion, I would like to remind all my friends of two significant events happening this week:

1. Our Youth Service Director, Ying Ho, is organising a Rotaract Club in Strathfield. We have an information evening this Thursday (30th September 2021) at 7 pm. Please encourage any young adults you know to join the virtual meeting. This is a good opportunity for them to check whether or not they would like to join and serve with the Rotaract Club of Strathfield.

2. As we have already discussed, our inaugural "Ahimsa (non-violence) Peace Symposium 2021" will be this Saturday on zoom at 4 pm. This is a cultural diversity initiative of SRf Creatists and the Rotary Club of Strathfield. We will commemorate Mahatma Gandhi's 152nd Birth Anniversary also observed as the UN International Day of Non-Violence on 2nd October 2021. We would like to encourage all the members to join this symposium which is chaired by our Assistant Governor and Community Service Director PP Rick Vosila and our young and energetic Rotarian Saroni Roy. We will have great keynote speakers covering some interesting topics like non-violence, the UN's Sustainable Development Goals and the global "Women, Peace and Security".

We have more information in the Bulletin (click) and on our Facebook (click) regarding the above-mentioned events.

 Yours in Rotary,

Thaya Ponnia