DISCURSOS - Rotary International

The Family of Rotary
Jetta Burton
Spouse of RI President-elect
Good afternoon.
To Ron and me, Rotary is a family — a tremendous extended family that we are so lucky to be a
part of. And the more we have embraced this family over the years, the more we have benefited.
In 1983, when Ron was the incoming president of his Rotary club, we decided to combine the RI
convention with a family vacation, and we headed off to Toronto. Until then, our children had not
seen much of the international side of Rotary. Then, one evening at dinner, we sat next to a group
of Japanese Rotarians. One gentleman told our children about the Children’s Day celebration in
Japan and gave them one of the carp windsocks that are traditionally hung on that day. We still
have it, and it is a treasured souvenir of a wonderful evening. It was a moment when the internationality
of the family of Rotary became real — because this man from Japan, before he left
for Toronto, had packed his bag with gifts for the children of the family of Rotary that he knew he
would meet. He is part of our family of Rotary to this day.
A few years later, we hosted a Group Study Exchange team from Australia, and Steve came into
our lives. Steve was a sheep rancher from New South Wales. He talked so differently from us
that at first the kids couldn’t understand him. But soon they understood him perfectly. Steve had
a gift for playing the piano by ear. If you hummed a few bars of a song, he could play it. This fascinated
all of us, and the children came up with song after song for Steve to play. Thank goodness
he was a patient man who liked children! One night, the children came to me and said, about
this man who was literally from the other side of the world, “He’s just like us!” What an amazing
revelation!
Both children stood on the front porch and cried as he left. Steve and the many other GSE team
members I’ve met are cherished members of my family of Rotary.
Then there is Nai. Nai is a young lady from Taiwan who had studied at the University of Oklahoma
and was referred to Ron when she inquired about applying for a peace fellowship. The Rotary
Club of Norman, Oklahoma, and our district agreed to sponsor her. We got to know Nai well
while helping her get her application in order. We kept in touch during her studies at International
Christian University in Tokyo, during her field experience in Africa, and afterward.
She says that the opportunity to learn about conflict resolution was the best experience of her
life. Nai joined Rotary when she returned to Taiwan. Today, she is completing her doctoral studies
in strategic management at Texas A&M University. Her research concentrates on social networks
and corporate social responsibility. I know that she will do great things, and I’m proud to have her
in my Rotary family.
When Ron and I attended the annual peace seminar at the University of Queensland in Brisbane,
Australia, in 2009, I met Kevin. His thesis concentrated on a different view of peace-building that
mixes conflict resolution with social science. I remember his passion for this theory. Today, he is
putting his theory into practice as he advises the NATO International Security Assistance Force in
Afghanistan on matters of counterinsurgency and peace-building. Because of him, more families
will have hope for a peaceful future.
Nai, Kevin, and the other peace fellows I have met are now part of my family of Rotary.
18 International Assembly Speeches 2013