October 2025

𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐍𝐓’𝐒 𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐄

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲-𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 by FRANCESCO AREZZO, President, Rotary International, Rotary Club of Ragusa, Italy

  October is Rotary’s Community Economic Development Month, a time to spotlight our efforts to help communities build thriving, sustainable futures. This month’s observance aligns perfectly with the Rotary core value of leadership.

 Leadership means empowering people to guide their own progress. That is precisely what Rotary’s economic development projects aim to achieve.

 Take, for example, a recent initiative in southern India in which Rotary members unlocked the power of women of the Adivasi tribal groups through sewing training to earn a living and regain social inclusion. Historically, widows and abandoned women in this region lose social standing and are shunned by society or blamed for their misfortunes. Opportunities to support themselves or obtain training are minimal.

 This year, the Rotary Club of Windsor‑Roseland, Ontario, partnered with clubs in Districts 3203 and 3234 in India — and with the Indian organization Sevalaya Trust — to provide sewing machines and training to 80 Adivasi women. They learned to stitch saree blouses, kurta tunics, and salwar suits, enabling them to support themselves and their families. Each woman received a certificate for completing the program, and the sewing‑machine provider offered free long‑term maintenance for the machines. The project offered vital income and dignity to women ostracized by society after widowhood.

This story is one example of Rotary leadership in action: local people guiding solutions that address their community needs. Our role is not to deliver charity or to impose outside models, but to foster self‑reliance by investing in leadership, skills, and sustainable enterprise.

 This October, I invite Rotary members worldwide to reflect on economic leadership in their communities. Who is stepping forward to lead local economic initiatives? Where is there untapped talent that could be supported with training or mentorship? How can your club catalyze opportunity through partnerships with local businesses, vocational schools, or savings groups?

 Leadership is not always about being visible. Sometimes it means listening, working collaboratively, and amplifying the voices of others. That approach lies at the heart of Rotary’s philosophy and our lasting impact on economic development.

 By building capacity — whether through microcredit groups, vocational training workshops, or entrepreneurship programs — we enable communities to lead their own transformation. When people take ownership of their progress, change becomes sustainable.

 Let us lead with good intention and provide support with heart. By nurturing local leadership, we can create opportunities that ripple through communities, empowering individuals, families, and societies.

Together, we can support economies that work for everyone and enact community development projects that last.

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐍'𝐒 𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐄

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝

by SUE VILLA SANTA. MARIA Chairman, Philippine Rotary Media Foundation Incorporated

Rotary members around the world unite to mark World Polio Day on October 24 — a powerful reminder of Rotary’s enduring commitment to end polio for good.

For more than four decades, Rotary’s steadfast efforts have driven an amazing 99.9 percent global reduction in polio cases, bringing us closer to a complete eradication of the disease.

We Filipinos can take pride in knowing that this global mission began right here.

On September 29, 1979, in Guadalupe Nuevo, Makati, where the Rotary Club of Makati Clubhouse now stands, the first Rotary Health, Hunger and Humanity (3H) project was launched.

The historic signing between then Philippine Secretary of Health Enrique Garcia and Rotary International President James Bomar marked the start of organized polio immunization in the world.

On that day, President Bomar personally administered the first oral polio vaccine to a Filipino child — an unforgettable moment made possible by then District Governor Rafael “Paing” G. Hechanova.

This pioneering effort, which vaccinated six million Filipino children, became the foundation for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) launched in 1988.

Today, GPEI brings together Rotary, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the U.S. CDC, Gavi, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, alongside national governments, to ensure every child is protected.

The Philippines was declared wild polio-free in 2000, yet the 2019 vaccine-derived outbreak reminded us that vigilance must never wane.

Sustained immunization remains vital to keeping the disease at bay.

Today, only Afghanistan and Pakistan remain endemic.

The finish line is near — but the final steps are usually the hardest. Rotary’s long-term investment and global partnerships make finishing the job possible.

One day, polio will exist only in history books

𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄

𝐓𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 by SONNY COLOMA Philippine Rotary Magazine Editor-in-Chief Whenever Rotarians engage in light banter, vignettes on how the most serious matters could be wrapped in humor emerge.

Try asking a club president how he or she reached the peak, and you are likely to be told, “I stepped out of the meeting for a comfort break, and when I returned, they told me I’m the new president-elect.”

Yet, the same narrators of such folk tales will quickly tell you that, indeed, they regard being elected to lead a club as a most auspicious attainment.

In Rotary, it’s the club president that is pivotal in determining how well Rotarians will combine their talents and resources to bring about beneficial outcomes in terms of service to the community and beyond.

Through my more than four decades of being a Rotarian, I have been privileged to witness how new leaders have emerged, stepped up and risen to the occasion.

By dint of their native talent, as well as their extraordinary devotion to duty, they invariably chalk up notable deeds that have continually raised the bar of service excellence.

Since the pandemic era when our toughness and resiliency as Rotarians were put to test severely, we have been blessed by a procession of young and emergent leaders.

They deftly evaded being sidelined by the contagion and crafted imaginative ways of delivering services under the most stringent quarantine and lockdown conditions.

I salute our Rotaractors who never seemed to run out of simple yet effective ways of gathering resources such as face masks and shields, personal hygiene kits, and food stuff, that were conveyed to needy communities in a timely and orderly manner.

Kudos, too, to our present crop of club presidents and leaders whose vigor and enthusiasm in showing Rotary cares seem unbounded.

They provide proof positive of Rotarians’ seemingly unlimited capacity to unite for good.

𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐑'𝐒 𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐄

𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏

By HOLGER KNAACK, The Rotary Foundation Trustee Chair Friendship in Rotary often bears fruit that can change the world.

When I was Rotary president-elect, I served on the Board of Directors alongside then-Vice President Olayinka “Yinka” Hakeem Babalola from Nigeria.

My wife, Susanne, spent time with Yinka’s wife, Preba “Precy” Babalola. Yinka and Precy support The Rotary Foundation, not only as Arch Klumph Society members, Benefactors, and Major Donors but also as Rotary members who are deeply involved in Foundation projects.

Susanne and Precy’s friendship led to their clubs joining forces.

For October, as Rotary marks Community Economic Development Month, I thought Precy Babalola could best capture the impact of their collaboration in her own words:

“𝑶𝒃𝒖𝒂𝒎𝒂, 𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒂, 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑪𝑶𝑽𝑰𝑫-19. 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒔, 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒖𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈-𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔.

𝑴𝒚 𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒃, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑪𝒍𝒖𝒃 𝒐𝒇 𝑷𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝑯𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒕 𝑷𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕, 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒅.

𝑾𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝑬-𝑪𝒍𝒖𝒃 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒂𝒎𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒈-𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒍 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒄𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚.

𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓 250 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒊𝒔𝒉, 𝒑𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒓𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒏𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈.

𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔-𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒔, 𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒔.

𝑭𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒍.

𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒚.

𝑾𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏, 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒄𝒌, 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒃𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒆, 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒋𝒐𝒃𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔.

This is what change looks like when dedicated Rotarians work together with the support of The Rotary Foundation.

Community economic development is an area of powerful projects for many reasons.

We have experts in our clubs who know how businesses can strengthen their local economy.

Such projects can be adapted nearly anywhere and often show early signs of success.

Our Foundation, too, provides the expertise of an engaged professional staff and the Cadre of Technical Advisers.

What began as dinner conversation led to a lifechanging global grant.

Isn’t it remarkable that in Rotary, the friendships we make can create opportunities that transform lives for generations?