Vocational

Vocational Service Update

November 2009

Welcome to the November edition of the Vocational Service Update, designed to keep you informed about the latest developments with vocational service worldwide and provide useful information and resources to enhance your Rotary club and district vocational service projects. Comments and suggestions for future issues are welcome at vocationalservice@rotary.org.

Goodwill-RI tool kit

As part of a continued cooperative relationship to help people find and keep good jobs, Rotary International and Goodwill Industries International developed a new tool kit to encourage clubs to work with their local Goodwill agency on projects related to job growth and stability.

Goodwill, a community-based organization in the United States and Canada, provides job-training programs for people who have physical, mental, or emotional disabilities; those who lack education or job experience; and anyone else who is struggling with finding employment.

The new tool kit provides resources and information that clubs and districts can use to help support the common goals of Rotary and Goodwill.

Download the tool kit to learn how your club or district can become involved.

Read the fact sheet about the RI-Goodwill cooperative relationship.

New vocational service award for district governors

The new RI Vocational Service Leadership Award recognizes district governors who conduct a forum to promote, celebrate, and advance the district's dedication to the Avenue of Vocational Service during their year in office. This forum should support the goals related to vocational service outlined in the RI Strategic Plan 2007-10:

Influence ethical decision-making by encouraging Rotarians to join and take leadership roles in business and vocational associations
Find new ways to develop the vocational skills of others, especially people without jobs, by fully utilizing Rotarian expertise and experience
Develop more vocational forums for learning and information exchange to encourage professional development

District governors may apply at any time during their year in office. Visit the RI Awards pages on the RI Web site for more information.

Project spotlight

Microbusiness manufactures water filters in Honduras

Since 2006, the Rotary Club of Forest Hills, Pennsylvania, USA, has sponsored a project to establish a microbusiness in Honduras that manufactures and distributes ceramic water filters coated with colloidal silver for household use in remote areas of the country. The filters were perfected by Potters for Peace and eliminate 99.7 percent of all pathogens in polluted water. Thousands of filters have been distributed by Rotary clubs and clinics in Honduras, and the owner of the business has assisted in the research and development of second-generation filters. Now water sources that had been unusable are available as resources to remote communities. Waterborne disease rates have dropped to almost zero in the communities that routinely use these filters. Learn more at www.purewaterforall.org. Find other projects like this at www.rotary.org/projectlink.

Project in Romania teaches vocational skills to youth

The latest issue of Rotary World features a vocational service project sponsored by the Rotary clubs of Modesto-Sunrise, California, USA, and Oradea, Romania, that is providing vocational training, jobs, and food to orphaned and abandoned youth in Oradea.

View this story on the RI Web site, and learn more about Rotary World.

New RYLA publications

Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA) is Rotary's leadership training program for young people. The RYLA program is proud to announce two newly revised publications: the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Handbook (694) and the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Brochure (636). Use the new brochure to promote RYLA among youth in your community; use the revised handbook to inform Rotarians interested in developing a new RYLA event or volunteering at an existing one.

Both publications are available in English, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. Purchase them at shop.rotary.org, or download them at www.rotary.org/ryla.

Does your Rotary club have a successful vocational service project to share? Do you have any comments or suggestions for future editions of the Vocational Service Update? Send them to vocationalservice@rotary.org.

Club Leadership Plan

Take advantage of the Club Leadership Plan to make sure your club meets its goals in each Avenue of Service. The Club Leadership Plan is available for download on the RI Web site.

Join us at the Concert to End Polio

Rotary International is teaming up with violin virtuoso and polio survivor Itzhak Perlman and the world-renowned New York Philharmonic to present the Concert to End Polio, a benefit performance supporting the global effort to eradicate this disabling, sometimes fatal, childhood disease.

The one-night-only performance will be held on 2 December at 7:30 p.m. in New York City. Learn more and purchase tickets for this historic event at www.rotary.org/endpolioconcert.

Calendar

November - Rotary Foundation Month

2-8 November
World Interact Week

14 November

World Diabetes Day (WHO) Visit the Rotarian Action Group for Diabetes Web site for information on how Rotary clubs can help to prevent Diabetes

20 November

Universal Children's Day (UN)

December - Family Month

1 December

World AIDS Day (UN)

Visit the Rotarians for Fighting AIDS: A Rotarian Action Group Web site for ideas on how Rotary clubs can help to fight AIDS

5 December

International Volunteer Day for Economic and Social Development (UN)