District Governor Doris Lockey was our speaker at the Rotary Club of The Woodlands.  She educated, inspired and challenged those in attendance with her program. 
 
Recounting the story of our current Rotary International President, K.R. “Ravi” Ravindran she inspired the packed house to accept the challenges that are put forth before them, just as Ravi did. 
 
Growing up on a tea plantation, there was very little thought put to what he would do when he grew up.  The plans of a government, seizing his family’s land changed all of that though and he quickly found himself needing a new plan.  After being sponsored by his banker into Rotary, Ravi determined that he would stay in the tea industry, but rather than growing it he would fill a need for local printing – becoming CEO of one of the world’s best known printing companies. 
 
Ravi sees his mission to now, in some way, thank all of those people that have helped him along the way – all the way back to his sponsor in Rotary.  Often you don’t realize until after they are gone that you really need to thank these people for all they did for you.  Beyond just those that helped him, he wants to thank the people and the world for what he has been given and taught.
 
District Governor Lockey had two thoughts from both the outgoing and incoming RI Presidents as well:
-Outgoing:  The Rotary Foundation being built to support all the great work that Rotarians do.  Without this Foundation, many of the projects that clubs are doing could not be funded.  This includes a matching grant project that our club, along with three others in the region is undertaking. 
-Incoming:  Engage our members globally in ways that we have not in the past, through technology.  Paper is going away, but right now there is not a large draw for the average Rotarian to visit Rotary.Org  His hopes are that programs like Global Rotary Awards will drive more involvement on the site. 
 
Her closing remarks revolved around Polio and the great work that started 30 years ago.  “We are this close” has never been truer.  With the World Health Organization (WHO) removing Nigeria from the list, we are down to just three countries.  Afghanistan has a total of 44 cases this year versus 350,000 cases before Rotary became involved.  While high-profile partnerships and matching monies from the likes of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation have brought our efforts into the spotlight, it is still the efforts of Rotarians over the decades that got us this far to begin with.  This really hit home when District Governor Lockey recounted the fact that the WHO credits Rotary International’s work as a key factor to being able to curb the Ebola outbreak in 2014 through our infrastructure, boots on the ground and knowledge. 
 
Go out and Be a Gift to the World!!!