It’s About Time We ‘Open Opportunities.’

When I joined the Rotaract Club of Nairobi Central (RCNC) 3 years ago, I never imagined serving this club as your President. But I knew I would benefit immensely from the wisdom and insights of club members. After my transfer I joined the Professional Leadership and Development team where I got to slowly understand and learn the deep culture of Excellence at RCNC. I remember how nice the then Secretary was (She is now a very honorable member of the Rotary club of Nairobi) to me as a newbie, as she still is. Little did I know her smile & guidance was a hint of what was in store for me.

We all join Rotaract for different reasons.

 Six years ago I joined the Rotaract Club of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) because a friend told me I would interact with beautiful ladies, the club would offer me a cup of coffee every Monday evening & all I needed to do; is hold my cup of coffee in my left hand, pick a girl and say, “Hello, do you like it Black or White?”

RCNC is special to me. Special because it feels like a family. Special because we are more than a Rotaract club. We are a community of young professionals, who, for 42 years, have been on a journey towards building the best youth-led & youth-focused institution in Kenya & in Africa. We have already walked the first few miles of this journey, which truly, have been inspiring. As we begin this New Year, where we are asked to “Open Opportunities” for our communities, my promise to you is that; we will walk together, we will keep the vision of our founders and we will challenge both our limits and our ways.

The role of a president is often viewed as one that requires superhuman abilities. However, I am taking on this new role, not because I have any supernatural abilities, but because I am convinced that we are on a journey to create something amazing.

You might be wondering what this journey is.

Well, during the year we intend to;

Grow Membership

Rotary is a membership organization, and so is our club. We are able to carry out our projects in the community because we have a pool of committed and dedicated members. We intend to strengthen the expertise & skill set of our members with important social skills that will give them an edge in their professional endeavors. Through mentorship, life skills training sessions & coaching, our members will have a chance to better themselves not only as professionals but also as reliable members of the community.

The other critical aspect of Membership growth is increasing our membership.

Disclaimer: Thank you for reading this article up to this point, you have made it to the membership challenge.

Many are the times we have looked at increasing membership from an overall point of view. How about making the challenge more personal? We are not looking at increasing our membership by 20 or 30 new members, instead I challenge you as a member of the club to introduce & guide your friend into membership. We all have friends that are not members of the family. Please tag along that one friend, help them join a committee & guide them towards membership. If only half of us take up this challenge, our membership will increase by 50%. I’m convinced that we all can guide a friend towards membership.

Invest in the Rotary Foundation

For 103 years, Rotary has been investing in our community through the Rotary Foundation. Most of these investments have been made possible by the contributions which Rotarians across the world make year in, year out, to the foundation. With #ElevateRotaract we have a duty to make the good works and deeds happening in our community, courtesy of the foundation, more impactful. There has never been a better time for Rotaract to invest in the Foundation. For us as RCNC, we have to see this as the opportunity that we have been preparing for, for the past 42 years of our existence. Having proven we can come together, identify and solve a problem within our community, the opportunity to request for grants from the foundation is one that we cannot let go. But to do that, we have to invest, first. It’s against this background that we have created the new TRF docket in our club, whose key mandate will be to encourage you to contribute to the Foundation, not just as a mere donation, but as an investment in the club’s future fundraising endeavors.

Setup the club’s Trust Fund

Lastly, we are a club with a rich history. Part of that history includes many ‘firsts’ for a Rotaract club in our District. Over the past one year, the Board & members of the club have worked tirelessly to create a Trust Fund for our club. This is informed by the fact that looking into the future – Fundraising needs to be more than just asking for donations. We are looking at creating a future where the club will be able to conceive & fund its own projects with minimal request for donations from the club members. Its this thinking that informed the initiation of a process to create the ‘Rotaract club of Nairobi Central Trust Fund.’ This is a process we intend to see through and finalize on the amazing work that the outgoing board has done.

I deeply believe in what we are doing, how we are manifesting our vision and where this club can go. And the best part about it is that we truly believe we’re just getting started. As we embark on this journey, we only ask you to do three things for the club;

• Open the Rotary Door to your friends and family.
• Show up – lend us your skills, time & capabilities.
• Become an ambassador of RCNC.

By actioning these commitments Together, “we will have united our people, we will have taken action to create lasting change — across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.”

We will have opened Opportunities for our communities.

We will have achieved the very basic goal why Rotary & Rotaract exist.

Thank you, God Bless you.

Article By; Ambrose Mbuvi (Rtr) |President, Rotaract Club of Nairobi Central.