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 Tucker; Junior finance assistant, Cecille Costelo; 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 As the Rotary year winds down, I look forward to seeing many of you at the R.I. Convention in Osaka, Japan, later this month (May 23-26). All indications suggest we can expect near-record attendance for the convention, the third hosted by Japan, following the 1961 and 1978 events in Tokyo. The members of the 2004 Osaka Convention Committee, the 2004 Osaka Convention Promotion Committee and the 2004 Osaka Host Organising Committee have done a tremendous job to ensure that this year's festivities will be a huge success.

This year also marks the 10th anniversary of another very successful R.I. Convention in Asia, the 1994 meeting in Taipei, Taiwan, not coincidentally the origin of my traditional costume this month. To the Rotarians of Taiwan "Happy anniversary!"
Whenever we hold our convention in this part of the world, we look forward to a strong turnout from all of the Rotary countries of Asia. And in the not-so-distant future, those numbers may well increase, thanks to the careful groundwork being laid by R.I.'s Extension to Non-Rotary Countries Committee and its sub-committees on China and South and Southeast Asia.

Imagine the increase in humanitarian assistance Rotarians will be able to pro-vide fur needy families in those regions once clubs are allowed to operate freely and openly, a requirement for extension.

Introducing new countries to the time-tested principles of Rotary is an exciting and important component of our mission to make the world a better place for all of humanity.

And it is especially gratifying to observe Rotarians from new Rotary countries as they attend their first R.I. Convention and grasp the true breadth and scope of the organisation. This is where Rotary fellowship in its purest form occurs. National boundaries and cultural barriers melt away in the aptly-named House of Friendship as Rotarians, united by the motto of Service Above Self, share their successes and dreams and forge friendships that will last a lifetime.

This also is how Rotary's goal of achieving world peace and understanding meshes with its commitment to help families in need, wherever they live. As we improve people's lives in our own communities and in communities worldwide through volunteer service, we help alleviate the stresses, pressures and frustrations that boil over into despair and anger and lead to-violence.

As we approach the final month of another Rotary year, let us use the positive energy generated by the annual convention to reinvigorate ourselves, so that we enter Rotary's historic 100th year with an even stronger resolve to LEND A HAND to those in need. As former German Chancellor Conrad Adenauer once observed: "We all live under the same sky, but we don't all have the same horizon."

So if you attend the R.I. Convention, plan to harness its energy and bring it back to your club. In doing so, you will brighten wad broaden someone else's horizon. You will be amazed at the positive results.

Jonathan Majiyagbe
President, Rotary International