DISCURSOS - Rotary International

devoting these resources to malaria or HIV or poor sanitation or other public health problems
that at the moment are costing far more lives. The answer is simple: If we were to stop our fight
against polio now, we would lose everything we have worked for over all these years. Very soon,
we would see a resurgence of polio to the levels some of us remember from 30 years ago, when
more than a thousand children were paralyzed every day. Polio would again be epidemic — and
we would have lost the opportunity of a lifetime.
This is something that we cannot and will not consider. We are in the fight until the end — and,
my friends, the end is truly “this close.” Polio is a global health emergency not because the end is
so distant, but because it is almost in sight.
Our second goal is the reason that our audience today is twice the size it usually is, with district
Rotary Foundation chairs joining us for this day of the International Assembly. And it will be the
focus of much of your Foundation training here in San Diego. That goal, of course, is the successful
launch of Future Vision. After three years of partial rollout in pilot districts, of carefully refining
and fine-tuning details, we have been extremely pleased and excited to hear overwhelmingly
positive feedback. The simplified grant structure has made it easier than ever for clubs to apply
for Foundation grants, and we have already seen the benefits of focusing our monetary efforts on
sustainable projects that address our six areas of focus.
We have adopted this new grant model after a great deal of thought and planning, and with the
input of many thousands of Rotarians. Many considerations were involved in every decision. But
underlying all of them is one idea: that we in Rotary can, and should, be doing more with the
resources we have. The motto of our Rotary Foundation is simple: Doing Good in the World. And
the reason for Future Vision is equally simple, because by using this new model, we will be able
to do more good, for more people, with a longer-lasting impact. We will be motivated and challenged
to take each of our projects a step further, to engage Rotary that much more — so that
we can change more lives for the better.
Between now and 1 July, you will have a great deal to do, in cooperation with current district officers,
to prepare your district for this transition. Much of this preparation will be administrative,
but some of it will also be very personal. The Future Vision grant model is a tremendous change
to adjust to, and for some Rotarians, the adjustment will be difficult. The best thing you can do to
ease the transition is to make sure that everyone in your district understands exactly what Future
Vision is changing, what it is not changing, and how the changes will affect Rotary service.
One of the most common concerns voiced about Future Vision is the perceived loss of the Group
Study Exchange program. As you know, GSEs were a wonderful part of our old grant structure
and fostered relationships — professional and social — with other Rotarians. But everything
that we achieved through GSEs can be achieved with Future Vision, through the new vocational
training teams. And if a district is set on running a GSE in the traditional way, this is still possible
through the use of district grants. Nothing has been lost — and a great deal has been gained.
The concept that by working together we can achieve more is absolutely fundamental in Rotary.
Through PolioPlus and other partnerships, we have seen how much more Rotary can do when
we join forces with other organizations — and how such cooperation can build bridges to better
understanding. This is why our third goal for the coming Rotary year is to engage in innovative
projects and creative partnerships that build a more just and peaceful world — as we are doing
this year through our theme of Peace Through Service.
So much of what we achieve in Rotary we achieve with the support of our Rotary Foundation.
But awareness of our Foundation’s role is not what it should be, even among Rotarians. This is
why our fourth goal for 2013-14 is building ownership and pride in our Foundation. The success of
PolioPlus is a direct result of the generosity of Rotarians all over the world who believe that the
52 International Assembly Speeches 2013