What is Rotary?

Rotary is a worldwide organisation of business and professional leaders that provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world. Approximately 1.2 million Rotarians belong to more than 32,000 clubs in 168 countries.

The first Rotary Club in the world was organised in Chicago in 1905 by Paul Harris, a young lawyer. He wanted to organise a club which would represent business and professionals, a club where members might recapture the friendliness and comradeship of the small town life many of them had known in their youth.

On 23rd February 1905, the Rotary Club of Chicago's first meeting took place, and the nucleus was formed for the thousands of Rotary Clubs later formed throughout the world. Today's Rotary club membership represents a cross-section of the community's business and professional men and women. The world's Rotary clubs meet weekly and are nonpolitical, non religious, and open to all cultures, races and creeds.

Why Join Rotary?

Membership of the world's most active and respected service organisation enables you to:

Become connected to your community
Work with others in addressing community needs
Interact with other professionals in your community
Assist with Rotary's international humanitarian service efforts
Establish contacts with an international network of professionals
Develop leadership skills
Involve family in promoting service efforts.

Avenues of Services

Rotary has the following Avenues of Services, the foundation on which club activity is based:

Club Service focuses on strengthening fellowship and ensuring the effective functioning of the club
Vocational Service encourages Rotarians to serve others through their vocations and to practice high ethical standards
Community Service covers the projects and activities the club undertakes to improve life in its community
International Service encompasses actions taken to expand Rotary's humanitarian reach around the globe and to promote world understanding and peace
Youth Service fosters programs that can open up channels of communication between the youth of their community and the leaders of the community. Through various youth programs Rotarians can serve as role models for the many service activities that can be developed.

The main objective of Rotary is service - in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the world. Rotarians develop community service projects that address many of today's most critical issues, such as children at risk, poverty and hunger, the environment, illiteracy, and violence.

They also support programs for youth, educational opportunities and international exchanges for students, teachers and other professionals and vocational and career development.

The Rotary motto is Service Above Self.

Object of Rotary

The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and in particular; to encourage and foster:

Firstly:
The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service.

Secondly:
High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all usefull occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotatian's occupation as an opportunity to serve society.

Thirdly:
The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian's personal, business, and community life.

Fourthly:
The advancement of international understanding, goodwill , and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.