THE EXTENDED FAMILY OF ROTARY
By Frank Deaver
Rotary Club of Tuscaloosa, Alabama USA
 

     December, “Family Month” in Rotary.  But is the “Family of Rotary” limited to Rotarians?  Certainly not!  Included in the spirit of Rotary fellowship and service  are Interact, Rotaract,  RYLA, Ambassadorial Scholars, and Group Study Exchange teams.  They are all members of the extended Rotary Family, sharing in the principles and practice of Service Above Self.

     A non-Rotarian who exemplifies the spirit of Rotary is a Portuguese Catholic priest, once a GSE team member to the United States.  His parish is the small county of Alandroal, in east central Portugal.  There is little population there because of so little economic opportunity.  The soil is thin, covering worthless rock.  Olive trees find little room to sink their roots.  Grain crops are sparse.  Grazing land will only sustain small herds of goats.  And there is nothing to attract industry. 

     Young people with employable skills leave.  Those who stay behind are the very poor, the illiterate, the dependent.  They need a shepherd.  They need a friend.  And in Father John they have found both.  These are his people, to him an extended family. He has been their shepherd for many years, and they have learned that he is truly their friend, their father and brother, their family.

     Father John ministers to twelve congregations, with six services every Sunday. His messages are rather informal, quite personal.  He has no manuscript and no notes, but his words and manner are encouraging, optimistic.  He walks among the people as he speaks. He genuinely cares, and they know it, for it shows.

     During the week he is among his people, actively demonstrating that he cares.  He sips coffee with them at sidewalk cafes.  He affectionately pats the heads of infants, playfully chats with children, tenderly comforts the sick and handicapped, and personally addresses the concerns of many others.  He is there whenever someone needs a friend.

     Father John is not a Rotarian.  There is no Rotary Club in Alandroal County.  But he was selected by District Rotary to be one of its GSE goodwill ambassadors.  And back home he is a daily goodwill ambassador among his own people.  Like a good Rotarian, Father John is family to his people, the poor.  He is family to those who desperately need family.

     Father John, not a Rotarian, is a daily example of living the Rotary motto, “Service Above Self.”  He is an example of the extended “Family of Rotary.”