While protocol has been observed, please allow me to greet our RIPR Moon Eun Soo and his lovely wife Yang Hyun Joo, Top Gun Governor Jay Tambunting, other dignitaries, fellow rotarians, guests, ladies and gentlemen, good morning.
When I received the email from Past President Doris Ensomo to speak during this district conference, I was asked to talk about my plans and programs for my year of service. Immediately I thought of all these ideas I had in mind and what it is I wanted to be able to do. But the email also said I only had 8 minutes to talk, which immediately sobered me up and reminded me to keep things short. To this instruction I shall comply.
Given the myriad of details I have in mind, I think that in my year of service as governor I would want to emphasize two very basic concepts, namely: tell your story and know your impact. Not exactly groundbreaking but nonetheless important.
Two years ago I was tasked to make a presentation of successful global grant projects undertaken by our district. I had all the data and reports available to me but I wanted to find more appealing materials to present. I searched on YouTube for videos showing our wonderful global grant projects. To my disappointment, not only did I “not” find any video from our district, I only found 1 video about a successful global grant project from the entire Philippines.
Truth be told, for many, rotary is perceived as simply being a social club, a club of parties, galas and balls. Not many hear about our projects, our initiatives, our good works that benefit so many. We are suffering from a gross misconception of who we really are. Why don’t people know what we do? Why are our stories of our projects not reaching the great many? Just in this present rotary year I have had the pleasure of witnessing beautiful projects undertaken by our district-mates. Makati Olympia with their talks and programs on teenage pregnancies. Makati F. Zobel with their mural painting along the south cemetery. Paranaque North and their amazing multi-outreach program in Palawan. Makati Premier District and its cancer screening bus. Metro Pateros and its medical equipment global grant. Makati San Lorenzo and its trans-catheter pulmonary valve implantation program. And even my own club, Makati’s peer counseling program. And many, many more. So much good done. So much good done in the shadows. We need for the world to know about all the good we do. We have to tell our stories.
Rotary is in the business of inspiring good. We can only inspire if people know what we do. Together let us, collectively, drive up our brand image such that when people hear Rotary they immediately think service.
Aside from telling stories I would want for our clubs to identify the impact they make for their beneficiaries. Please allow me to relay a little story.
Back in the year 2020, right after the pandemic hit, then Governor Ador Tolentino contacted me and asked me to spearhead the application for a global grant to address the challenges of COVID. In applying for the grant we identified the problems, the inputs and of course the measuring standards for the outcome. We, then, set off to apply for a global grant in the amount of US$155,000 with money sourced from here and abroad. In the end, we provided 675 PPEs, 10 Hepa Filters, 8 Air Purifying respirators, 118 face shields and 100 pulse oximeters for each of 8 hospitals and 1 municipal health center. After the respective turnovers, I prepared the global grant report, which was approved and the project was successfully closed with the needs, inputs and outcome all properly presented.
Should success however be measured by merely meeting numerical standards?
In the turnover of the donated items to the Narra Municipal Hospital, as coordinated with Past President Dra. Arlin Josue, we had a zoom call where we had a ceremonial, albeit virtual, handover of the donated items. Dra. Arlin expressed much gratitude for the donation. But at one point she started to cry. She said that one of the challenges of surgeons during this pandemic is that they would operate for hours using multiple facemasks, much to their discomfort. We all remember how difficult it was to breathe using multiple facemasks, but imagine if you had to do so for several hours, while conducting surgery, in a hospital where the fear brought about by the airborne virus was quite palpable. When they received the air purifying respirators, doctors, like Dra. Arlin, were finally able to work without fear and difficulty. As such, they can finally attend to their patients without having to be bogged down by their personal concerns. They can finally be there for their patients as full-serving doctors again. That my friends is impact.
Please allow me to end today by talking about one of my favorite songs entitled, Paraiso. It is a story about a land called Paradise, though it is anything but. It is a place where a dying river ends, where smoke fills the air such that no birds dare fly over it. It is a place where people wear matching rags for their clothes and plastic bags for the cold. In spite however of the squalid conditions in Paraiso, the one thing they hang on to is hope. It is a hope anchored in the belief that if people work together, stand side by side, that their hoped future can be fulfilled and that one day birds will, again, fly over Paraiso. And with its fulfillment, they can finally regain some dignity and respect in their lives. The chorus of this song goes:
Paraiso … help me make a stand
Paraiso … take me by the hand
Paraiso … make the world understand
That if I can see a single bird, what a joy
This tired and hungry land could expect
Some truth and hope and respect
From the rest … of the world I implore you my dear district mates to start, even now, telling your stories, and seeking out your impact. Let us make known to the world that we do so much good to make a difference in the lives of the people we serve. Then perhaps we can truly be agents of hope.
Thank you, mabuhay ang District 3830 and good morning.
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