Aziz Memon’s keynote speech brings out tears

RCKA Bulletin Desk

Governor Aziz Memon has a track record of delivering inspirational speeches but touching scenes were also witnessed when he spoke his heart out in the ‘Aman Ki Asha’ session organized during the District Conference in Ludhiana, India, recently.

“Trust me quite a few Rotarians and their families present on the occasion had broken into tears when I ran a video of one minute and 45 seconds, during the course of my speech,” he recalled after his return from Ludhiana where he was the keynote speaker in the programme which was a part of the Annual District Conference held there from February 3 to 5.

Here are excerpts from his keynote address:

“History may have divided us but geography binds us. How long are we going to play games and deny the future generations?”

“When we in Rotary work for peace, we don’t do it by negotiating treaties or demonstrating in the streets. Instead we build peace by example, by working together whatever our nationality or background, and putting others’ needs above our own.”

“We build peace by dealing with the problems that disrupt people’s ability to live normal, peaceful lives-whether those problems relate to lack of water, or sanitation, or safe, affordable housing; whether they stem from shortage of education or health care, or a need to build productive and positive connections between communities. In every thing we do, we rely on our good name.”

“This is why all of us have a responsibility to be sure that our good name is indeed known. We need to not just work through Rotary, but talk about Rotary, letting the world know about the work we are doing, the differences we are making, and the benchmarks we are setting. Our Rotary work speaks to our belief that a better, more peaceful world is possible, and we need to be sure that our voices are heard.”

“We have been proactively playing their part in achieving peace through service. The outstanding work of Dr Satyajit Bose, a famous cardiac surgeon, and Chairman, Mission Hospital, Durgapur and Dr Devi Shetty in Bangalore deserves special mention. Hundreds of surgeries have been performed under the Rotary’s Gift of Life project.”

“The pacemaker bank has also been immensely beneficial, having brought smiles back to the faces on many people. Now there are plans to build a hospital in Karachi, with the help of Rotarians from India, which will be rather appropriately titled Peace Hospital. The Youth Exchange programmes as well as the goodwill cricket tours have helped the cause. The Rotarians have set the example. The need of the hour is to capitalize on our efforts.”

“We have been setting examples by our deeds and noble acts. The subject of Indo-Pak relations is widely discussed on both sides of the border. Efforts continue to be made to keep the ball rolling and move in the forward direction to bring about a change for the sake of the peoples of these two neighbouring countries.”

“Whatever the magnitude of the differences or the bitterness of the past might have been it’s never too late to do something worthwhile to accomplish the mutual objective of prosperity and progress in the region. As they say there’s light at the end of every tunnel. The past cannot be changed but we have every right to put our acts together to make our present and future better than before.”

Rotary’s ‘End Polio Now’ campaign illuminates Frere Hall

By Rtn Mohammad Nazakat Ali

The historic building of Frere Hall in Karachi was illuminated with great fanfare on February 17 as a part of the awareness drive launched by Rotary International’s Pakistan National Polio Plus Committee.

The Committee’s National Chair, Aziz Memon, informed the dignitaries and the media corps present on the occasion that the illumination ceremony was a part of an annual tradition in which community-based Rotary clubs illuminate landmarks and iconic structures around the world with the humanitarian group’s pledge to eradicate polio, a crippling childhood disease.

Besides the historic Frere Hall in Karachi, another famous building in Pakistan, the distinctly modern WAPDA House at Lahore will glow brightly with Rotary’s illuminated message ’End Polio Now’ on February 23.

The lighting ceremony in neighboring India is perhaps the most symbolic of the progress made by Rotary and its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. In January, India, until recently an epicenter of the crippling disease, reached a historic milestone by marking a full year without recording a single new polio case.

Other illumination sites this year include the City Government Building in Taipei, Taiwan (Feb. 23-25); Melbourne’s Federation Square, one of southern Australia’s top tourist draws (Feb. 25-27); Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, Tokyo’s fifth tallest building (Feb. 20); and Palácio Garibaldi, a neo-classical architectural treasure in Curitiba, Brazil (Feb. 23).

Significantly, India’s success sends a message of hope across the border to Pakistan, one of the last remaining polio-endemic countries (the others are Nigeria and Afghanistan).

In 2011 Pakistan reported 198 polio cases; Afghanistan 80; Nigeria 57 and India 1. Worldwide, fewer than 650 polio cases have been confirmed for 2011, less than half the 1,352 infections reported in 2010.
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Overall, the annual number of polio cases has plummeted by more than 99 percent since the initiative was launched in 1988, when polio infected about 350,000 children a year. More than two billion children have been immunized in 122 countries, preventing five million cases of paralysis and 250,000 deaths.

“These global illuminations carry Rotary’s pledge to end polio—saying to the world that we will fight this crippling disease to the end,” says Rotary International President Kalyan Banerjee, a native of India. “But we are not there yet. Rotary and our partners will continue to immunize children until our goal of a polio-free world is achieved. And we must remain vigilant against a resurgence of this terrible disease.”

Rotary club members worldwide have contributed more than US$1 billion to polio eradication, including nearly $190,000 raised by the 3,120 members of Pakistan’s 150 Rotary clubs. Rotary International has provided almost $73 million in grants for polio eradication activities in Pakistan.

Todate, the government of Pakistan has provided nearly $50 million in domestic resources. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani have made polio eradication a national priority by launching the National Emergency Action Plan in 2011 and an Augmented Action Plan for 2012, aimed at increasing the capacity and effectiveness of the polio immunization programme with Begum Shahnaz Wazir Ali having been appointed as the Focal Person of the Prime Minister’s Task Force Committee.

In January, Rotary leaders announced Rotary clubs worldwide had raised more than $200 million in response to a $355 million challenge grant from the Gates Foundation, which in turn contributed an additional $50 million in recognition of Rotary’s commitment. All of the resulting $605 million will be spent in support of immunization activities in Pakistan and other polio-affected countries.

“Rotary continues to be the heart-and-soul of polio eradication,” Gates Foundation Co-Chair Bill Gates wrote in his annual letter issued in January.

The other spearheading partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative are the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Rotary is a global humanitarian organization with more than 1.2 million members in 34,000 Rotary clubs in over 200 countries and geographical areas. Rotary members are men and women who are business, professional and community leaders with a shared commitment to make the world a better place through humanitarian service. Rotary’s top priority is the global eradication of polio.