D3211 - PETS

It has been a hectic weekend with two PETS to attend and address. I shall talk about my home district later. First D3211 PETS at Kovalam near Trivandrum.

DGE Scaria Jose should be complimented for having the vision and the courage to see it through. I understand this is the first occasion in recent times that a PETS of that district has been conducted with the funds collected through registration. RID Ravindran's bold initiatives in the last one year have started yielding results. I believe, D3211 PETS was, in the past, a sponsored affair funded by rotarians who intended to contest for elections to DG. Congratulations Scaria! You have succeeded in your mission. It was a well attended programme with earnest rotarians' participation.

I had an opportunity to address them on Bigger, Better and Bolder service projects. Eventhough many would have been hungry and some thirsty (!) when I took the mike, I was impressed with the number of people who chose to stay and listen to me. I had to convey my message quickly lest they lose interest. I decided to highlight the role of a club in ensuring the sustainability and workability of a service project and how it is necessary to implement a 'signature' project to keep the members motivated and instill in them a sense of pride and belonging.

I believe the future of our organisation depends to a large extent on the pride which members feel, which in turn would motivate them to invite their friends to join and to actively participate in the projects of their club.

Kudos to trainer PDG.Ramachandran Nair for putting together a series of meaningful sessions. The foremost challenge for DGE Scaria is to make the clubs bigger as the average size of a club is lower than in most Indian districts. His initiatives on 'enable the disabled' with PDG Dr.George at the helm of that, certainly deserves appreciation . I am planning to keep myself updated about the progress of this initiative.

In all, a vibrant district with a bold leader waiting to take charge!