Brief History of Rotary
The world's first service club was founded on 23 February 1905 when lawyer Paul Harris and three friends met in a small office in downtown Chicago. They named their new club "Rotary" to describe the practice of meeting in rotation at the members' various places of business. During the 1911-1912 Rotary year, the association became international. The National Association of Rotary Clubs, which became the International Association of Rotary Clubs in 1912 adopted the name Rotary International (RI) in 1922.
Today, Rotary Internationl is a humantarian service organisation and we currently have 34,000 clubs around the world. We are clubs of business and professional leaders joined together to volunteer their expertise and channel their passion to improve the communities both at home and abroad. |
What are we about?
"Everything is possible when we Unite for Good."
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We invest in people and build peace & international understanding through education and our "Six Areas of Focus" are:
Rotary clubs around the world are united under the motto "Service above Self" to service our communities locally, regionally and internationally.
- Peace and conflict prevention/resolution
- Disease prevention and treatment
- Water and sanitation
- Maternal and child health
- Basic education and literacy
- Economic and community development
Rotary clubs around the world are united under the motto "Service above Self" to service our communities locally, regionally and internationally.
Links to Interesting Reads
Pictorial History of Rotary in New Zealand:
a_pictorial_history_of_good_old_rotary.pdf
Message from Mr Shekhar Mehta, President RI
ri_presidents_message_in_full.pdf
Our Principles
Service is our core principle and as a Rotarian, we often apply the 'Rotary 4-ways' questions in respect to thinking, saying or doing:
- Is it the truth?
- Is it fair to all concerned?
- Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
- Will it be beneficial to all concerned
