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