ROTARY INTERNATIONAL WORLD HEADQUARTERS:
One Rotary Centre, 1560 Sherman Ave, Evanston, Illinois, 60201, U.S.
Telephone: 847 866 3000. Fax: 847 328 8554.
General officers of R.I. for 2003-04
President, Jonathan Majiyagbe, Nigeria; President-elect, Glenn E. Estess Sr., U.S.A.; Vice President, Frank C. Collins Jr., U.S.A.; Treasurer, Gennaro M. Cardinale, Italy; Ronald L. Beaubien, U.S.A.; John J. Eberhard, Canada; John F. Germ, U.S.A.; Sushil Gupta, India; Michael D. McCullough, U.S.A.; David D. Morgan,Wales; Samuel A. Okudzeto, Ghana; Luiz Coelho de Oliveira, Brazil; John M. Pinson, U.S.A.; J. David Roper, U.S.A.; Ómar Steindórsson, Iceland; Kozo Sugo, Japan; Sakuji Tanaka, Japan; Constant A.G.M. Tempelaars, The Netherlands; John G. Thorne, Australia.
General Secretary: Edwin H. Futa, U.S.A.

R.I. South Pacific and Philippines Office
McNamara Centre, Level 2, 100 George Street, Parramatta, N.S.W., 2150 or P.O. Box 1415, Parramatta, N.S.W., 2124. Telephone: (02) 9635 3537. Fax: (02) 9689 3169. Office hours: Open daily from 8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. except weekends and public holidays. Administration: Manager, Harley Tarrant; Co-ordinator, Leanne Mackenzie; Literature Clerk, Michelle Fuller; Receptionist, Barbara Stuart. Club and District Administration (formerly service): Supervisor, Tony Quinn; Correspondent, Nicole Raymond: Co-ordinator, Graham Pretty. Finance: Supervisor, Brian Carroll; Co-ordinators, John Jiang and Wendy Tran; Assistant, Rebecca Tucke; Junior finance assistant, Cecille Costello; The Rotary Foundation: Supervisor, Terry Davies; TRF Assistant, Amabel Pante. How to e-mail staff: Start with the staff member’s last name (up to seven letters), then add first letter of the first name, except John Jiang (jiangx) followed by @rotaryintl.org Example: smithj@rotaryintl.org for John Smith.
R.I. Internet address:www.rotary.org

Rotary Down Under — The Council
R. I. Director John Thorne, District Governors Doug Pascoe (9450), John Simmons (9460), Ron Geary (9470), David Moore (9500), Graeme Dodsworth (9520), Michael Rennie (9550), Hector Garrick (9570), Tony Holmes (9600), Ray Brand (9630), Max Wortman (9640), John Burkey (9650), Cheryl Bentley-Howard (9670), Danny Low (9680), Warwick Tester (9690), Peter Chivers (9700), Anne Louttit (9710), Elaine Lytle (9750), Robert Furner (9780), Bill Holman (9790), Donald Jago (9800), Jenny Coburn (9810), Ray Martin (9820), Kevin Shadbolt (9830), Charles Wilson (9910), John Rennie (9920), Trish O’Reilly (9930), Allan Birrell (9940), Lyn Holmes (9970), John Henderson (9980).

The Committee:
R.I. Past Director Bill Boyd (chairman), R.I. Director John Thorne, Past District Governors Paul Gillett (treasurer), Colin Martin (vice-chairman), Keith Mitchell, Terry Edwards, Peter Williams, Bob Aitken (Secretary) and Rotarian Barry Antees (business manager).
Advisory Committee New Zealand, Pacific Islands:
R.I. Past Director Bill Boyd (chairman), R.I. Past Director Grattan O’Connell, Past District Governors Geoff Dainty, Mark Tregidga, Fergus Cumming, Lindsay Knowles, Bruce Knowles and Stuart Heal.

Dear fellow Rotarians, February is World Understanding Month, an opportunity for Rotarians everywhere to reflect upon the fourth point of the Object of Rotary: “The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.”

You will notice that this month I’m wearing a fez, a hat named for the
Moroccan city of Fez, where it is believed to have originated, and which is traditionally worn by men in Egypt, Turkey and other Muslim countries. My purpose is to demonstrate that the family of Rotary is made up of Rotarians from all backgrounds, cultures, religions and regions. Despite continuing international tensions and conflicts, Rotarians will always transcend such barriers by joining in service to assist families and communities in need anywhere in the world.

And it is very important to remember the connection between humanitarian service and peace. Hunger, poverty, and ignorance breed despair, anger and fear – the emotions that too often lead to intolerance, conflict and war. People who suffer the ravages of abject poverty feel cut off from hope for a decent future and they are the ones most vulnerable to the rhetoric of violence.

But through the wide array of humanitarian and educational opportunities offered by Rotary International and The Rotary Foundation – from Group Study Exchange to World Community Service to Matching Grants, just to name a few – people’s lives improve and that improvement spawns hope.
Of course, one very important Rotary program contributes directly to the goal of achieving world peace and understanding. Our seven Rotary Centres for International Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution are now in their second year of training outstanding, committed scholars, who will become skilled agents for peace after they complete the two-year, post-graduate program.

Their potential is great, and we must do all we can to support them and to help recruit new candidates of the highest calibre. We can only imagine what these Rotary World Peace Scholars will accomplish in the years to come.

Indeed, the need for peace and understanding has never been greater. The world seems to have a surplus of hate and a shortage of tolerance. For many of us, it is hard to open a newspaper without becoming overwhelmed at the gravity of it all.

But remember when we Lend a Hand by working together in Rotary
service, we encourage each other and continue to build hope for the future, both in ourselves and in the families and communities that benefit from our efforts.
And with hope, anything is possible.

Jonathan Majiyagbe
President, Rotary International

Jonathan Majiyagbe
President, Rotary International.