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RI
President-elect Dong Kurn Lee announces the 2008-09 RI theme, Make Dreams
Real, to incoming district governors at the 2008 International Assembly.
Rotary International President-elect Dong Kurn Lee addressed incoming
district governors today at the 2008 International Assembly, urging them
to use their resources to help curb child mortality. Lee
said he was in disbelief when he learned that 30,000 children under the
age of five die every day from preventable diseases such as pneumonia,
measles, and malaria.
"Once I understood the issues behind that terrible number, I knew
what I needed to do," Lee said. He told the incoming governors
that Rotary will keep the service emphases of recent years -- water,
health and hunger, and literacy -- but asked them to focus their efforts
in each of these areas on children.
"In 2008-09, I will ask you all to Make Dreams Real for the world's
children," he said. "This will be our theme, and my challenge to
all of you."
"Children are killed by illnesses that become deadly in combination
with poor sanitation and malnutrition, " Lee said. In addition,
families stricken by extreme poverty are trapped in a cycle that only
leads to more unnecessary deaths. "It's a cycle that is not
interrupted because there is no access to education."
He challenged the audience to do their part to give children "hope
and a chance at a future" by reducing the rate of child mortality in
the world.
"We will bring clean water to their communities and create sanitation
projects that keep children healthy," Lee said.
As the incoming governors begin preparing for the year ahead with the
training and inspiration they receive at the International Assembly, Lee
reminded them of Rotary's power and encouraged them to use their resources
efficiently to maximize the good done around the world.
Governor-elect Geoffrey Mathis, of District 9930 in New Zealand, thinks
the upcoming RI theme allows Rotary to dream big. "Make Dreams Real
will be an easy theme to sell around the world. We all like challenges;
Lee has allowed us to put our dreams to practice."
Rotarians can improve children's health, Lee said, even in small ways,
such as delivering mosquito nets, rehydration salts, vitamins, and
vaccines. "So much more can be done with just a little more: a
trained birth attendant, a simple clinic, a school feeding program, a
visiting nurse," he continued. "These are simple and direct ways
to save children's lives."
In 2008-09, Rotarians will be asked to open their eyes to the needs of
children in communities near and far, Lee said.
"Children die not because nobody can help them, but because too
often, nobody does. But you and I, here in this room, are Rotarians, and
helping is what we do best," he said, adding that "our job is to
Make Dreams Real for children. If every one of us does this, at the end of
our year, we will all have achieved something wonderful."
Source: R I Website
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