2025 December

TO HEALTH AND HAPPINESS

FRANCESCO AREZZO, President, Rotary International

This month’s special issue of Rotary magazine is all about happiness, that most elemental of human yearnings. More than a feeling, though, this state of positive well-being, and the conditions necessary to create and sustain it, should be considered a universal right. 

December also marks Rotary’s Disease Prevention and Treatment Month, when we highlight our members’ work to promote health and wellness, including mental wellness. Globally, nearly 1 in 7 people have a mental health disorder, according to a recent World Health Organization report.  Yet only 9 percent of people with depression receive adequate treatment. 

We are fortunate in Rotary to have a powerful way to support emotional well-being and happiness: friendship. The connections we build in Rotary can be a powerful force for change. 

I know this from personal experience. 

When my fellow members first proposed that I become club president, I demurred. I had a stutter. I was terrified of speaking.  But having club members who supported me and surrounded me with affection enabled me to face my fear, and I found a way to stand confidently before a crowd. 

Today, I regularly address audiences — some numbering in the thousands — in a language that is not native to me. The Rotary members in my life helped me create lasting change within myself.

That fellowship gives us the courage and means to create lasting change in the world as well, and mental health services are in desperate need of improvement. The WHO reports that governments on average devote only 2 percent of their health budgets to mental health, and only 11 percent of that funding reaches community-based services. In some countries, only one trained mental health professional is available for every 100,000 people. The WHO has called for strategic and urgent action to close the gap. 

Rotary can answer that call by championing mental health awareness in our clubs, working with local health systems, funding training for community health workers, and supporting initiatives that bring care to places where none exists. Even small investments in mental health yield enormous returns in productivity, public health, and happiness. 

While we are creating lasting change in the world, we cannot forget to take care of each other.

Past RI President Gordon McInally wisely reminds us that we must go beyond asking, “How are you?” We owe it to each other to instead ask, “How are you really?” 

As we transition to a new year filled with new possibilities, let us Unite for Good — for healing, friendship, and access to happiness.

YULETIDE WISH FOR PH ROTARY

SUE VILLA STA. MARIA, Chairman, PRMFI

In some countries where Rotary thrives — particularly in Asia, including the Philippines — politics places a heavy weight on personality, patronage, and affiliations. Elections can be fiercely competitive, and too often hinge on personal networks and loyalty rather than platforms. Campaigning – which is explicitly prohibited in the RI Manual of Procedures and its Code of Policies – often takes the form of “gapang” or crawl politics, a guerrilla-style, highly personal approach built on one-on-one reach-outs. 

In September 2023, RI President Gordon McInally and then incoming President Stephanie Urchick released a joint video and letter urging Philippine Rotary leaders to end election-related conflicts tied to the selection of District Governors and RI Directors.

They warned of serious consequences. More recently, with the Philippine delegation to the Council of Legislation, now-President Urchick again raised concerns about ongoing “challenges” in Philippine Rotary politics. 

Still, there is reason for hope, especially at Christmas time. A better and more peaceful Philippine Rotary is possible. Our guiding principle, “Service Above Self,” reminds us what truly matters. 

By refocusing on Rotary’s core priorities - fighting disease, providing clean water, supporting education, growing local economies, protecting the environment, and promoting peace through understanding — we can move beyond divisive politics and return to the purpose that brought us together in the first place.             MERRY CHRISTMAS!! 

ROTARY SPARKS HOPE

SONNY COLOMA, Editor-in-chief

Being a Rotarian for four decades has revitalized my spirit and fired up my zest for life. 

By way of sparking hope this Christmas, allow me to quote from a famous long passage from Samuel Ullman:

“Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is a freshness of the deep springs of life.” 

Through the years of Rotary service and fellowship, I have not just aged and matured; I have discovered that by constantly tinkering with new ideas, and embracing fresh options, one remains as young as one’s children and their peers. 

“Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease… Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.” 

I have learned that daring is not simply bravado; it means crossing beyond one’s comfort zone; opening oneself up and embracing new ideas and ways of doing things. 

“Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirits back to dust.” 

Self-knowledge and self-love are not manifestations of egoism or selfishness. As a memorable line from the famous movie theme song from Muhammad Ali’s biopic, The Greatest, constantly reminds me: “Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all.” This begins with the acceptance that we were created by God in His image and likeness. 

As we celebrate Jesus’ birth, let’s affirm and manifest love of self and love of neighbor. Truly, Service Above Self is a life changing belief that transcends membership in a Rotary club. It empowers us to affirm the essence of being human. 

A blessed Christmas to one and all!

ON A GRANDER SCALE

by HOLGER KNAACK, Foundation trustee chair

As 2020-21 Rotary president, I shared our hopes for a new initiative: Programs of Scale. The seeds we planted then are now bearing remarkable fruit. 

After the success of Rotary’s first Programs of Scale grant recipient, Partners for a Malaria-Free Zambia, the Gates Foundation and World Vision approached us to do more and bigger projects. They know Rotary can make great things happen. From that partnership grew the Rotary Healthy Communities Challenge, now Rotary’s most significant disease prevention initiative after polio eradication. 

The Healthy Communities Challenge aims to combat pneumonia, malaria, and diarrheal diseases, the leading killers of children under 5 in many parts of Africa.  Despite progress, these diseases still claim 1 million young lives annually. 

This strategic partnership between The Rotary Foundation, the Gates Foundation, World Vision, and PATH, a global nonprofit dedicated to health equity, is now saving lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zambia. 

Let us not forget that our partnerships are made up of people — volunteers, Rotary members, and professionals — striving to make a difference. One of them is Gisela Bettencourt Mirção, of the Rotary Club of Chimoio-Planalto, Mozambique, Healthy Communities Challenge national coordinator and assistant governor for District 9210, who reports:  

In Mozambique, preventable diseases remain leading causes of death of children. 

With support from our partners, District 9210, and the Ministry of Health, the Healthy Communities Challenge mobilizes resources, technical expertise, and volunteers to strengthen community health systems in two provinces in the country’s west. 

Community health workers are trained to deliver lifesaving education, prevention tools, and early treatment to families in hard-to-reach areas.  The program expands access to testing, diagnosis, and treatment, ensuring children receive timely care.  Rotary coordinates advocacy, procures essential supplies, and ensures local ownership alongside government health structures. In its first year, the Healthy Communities Challenge reached thousands of households across four districts, supporting more than 4,400 community health workers to protect children. 

I have been involved since the planning stages, but I hadn’t grasped the true impact until seeing it firsthand. 

Through the Healthy Communities Challenge, Programs of Scale, and polio eradication, Rotary proves that partnerships, community engagement, and vision can transform global health and save lives. 

Your support of The Rotary Foundation makes you part of this life-changing work.