As an exchange student I had the chance to take part in the
Rotary Youth Leadership Awards 2010, in Port Dickson, from the 4th to
the 7th of March.

On the 4th early morning, Luca from Germany and I arrived at
the train station at KL Sentral, to meet with the Rotarians that were
organizing transportation to the venue in Port Dickson. We took the
KTM straight to Seremban and then jumped onto the bus dedicated to
the transport of the RYLA participants going to Port Dickson. Along the
journey we got started with the fellowship process, and created some
bonds very quickly with other participants, especially Ibrahim from
Pakistan and Azubuike from Nigeria.

When we arrived at the Eagle Ranch Resort, we all queued up for
registration, got our t-shirts and got acquainted with our respective
groups with whom we were going to spend the whole RYLA adventure.
We were allowed to take our lunch and settle down in our dormitories
before coming back for our first session, an educational talk by Dr.
Suresh Govin. The talk was definitely interesting, and in my opinion
was giving a different point of view on the way we should make the
choices we, youths, have to make every day. After the session we
gathered on the field for the telematches, which were very
fun team games. The icebreaking session earlier went well and so the
team spirit in the team was therefore very good.
In the evening, we all gathered again for our second session, a talk by a
banker from HSBC about financial management. In my humble opinion,
this talk was not very instructive, and I found the speaker very businessminded
and his promotional presentation a bit inappropriate. We ended
the day with a debriefing and went to bed. Very tiring first day!
The second day began extremely early, with the Rise and Shine, a bit
of exercise to start the day properly. After that we had breakfast and
headed to the beach for rafting. Gathered in our teams we had to build
a raft of our own and paddle to the flags floating away from the beach
and come back. Great team spirit and a lot of fun! It was an interesting
experience in the way we had to make emergency decisions, manage
to lead the team efficiently without disagreeing with each other.
After that we all had a long break for lunch and the Friday prayer,
which most of used to take a rest. The long days and the shorts nights
left us tired! The break was followed by a Rope course that, although
very fun, in my opinion, did not bring us much in terms of leadership
or even fellowship. After dinner we all went back to the hall for a talk
by Sivapragasam Arumugam, a professional Law of Attraction trainer,
who, on top of being an ex-Rylarian of the year, turned out to be a very
good speaker, and managed to introduce us to the law of attraction.

We ended up with another debriefing and went to bed.
On Saturday morning we all gathered for the Rise and Shine once
again, but this time it was very soft, and those who were late
weren’t punished (probably because our beloved commandant was
not around!). The programme went on with a talk by Dato’ Arthur
Edmonds about juvenile delinquency. Fairly informative! That talk was
followed by a treasure hunt and an unforeseen talk about Rotaract
by Rotaracter Kulvinder Kaur and finally, we reached the session that
I, as an ex-Interact conference participant, was longing for: the talk
by Gerard Lazarus. Even though his talk involved a couple of points
already exposed in the talk given at the interact conference, it was,
as expected, very funny, lively, informative and inspiring!

The afternoon went on peacefully with the free time that we were
given to prepare the following day’s team performances. The evening
–the last that we spent in the camp- went on with a barbecue dinner
and a show time. Our future Rylarian of the year, Mansoor from Pakistan
entertained us with his guitar, his voice and his impressive knowledge
of Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi songs. After supper and debriefing, we all
went to bed, more tired than ever.

Thanks to our most merciful commandant, we were exempted from
Rise and Shine and enjoyed our extra-sleep very much. We were given
a short time to revise our performance of the day, and gathered in
the hall for the evaluation, the debriefing, the closing ceremony, the
show-time and the presentation of awards and certificates. Mansoor
was elected rylarian of the year and we all got our certificate. After
thanking the organizers, we all took the bus back to Seremban, and
returned home.

In conclusion, I would say that RYLA was a tremendously enriching
and fun experience. Very interesting and inspiring talks, a great
fellowship, and a great deal of new friends!

Thibaut Dalle
France

Short Term Student Exchange

The District YEP Committee Is Calling For Applicants For A Short Term Youth Exchange To RI D3060, Gujarat, India.

The Programme Will Be Very Exciting And Our Outbound Team Will Have The Very Special Experience Of Being Hosted By The Rotarians Of RI D3060.

The Dates : 2 Weeks In Mid-December ’10

Closing Date For Applications – Once I Get My 7-Members

Who can apply : Youth between the ages of 15-19years.

Can Rotarians’ Children Apply? – YES

Our Youth Will Be Provided Homestay & Meals In A Safe Environment By Rotarians Of RI D3060.

A Full Itinerary of Activities & Visits will be Planned By The Host District.

This includes Homestay, Attending Rotary Club Meetings, Projects, Meeting Interactors, Rotaractors, Tours In The State Of Gujarat.

Requirements

1. Complete the Short Term Application Form in Quardruplet

2. Purchase Return Airfare (Committee will coordinate so that team leave & return on same flight together)

3. Purchase Insurance (around RM100)

4. Processing Fee – RM200-250 ea

5. Internal Travelling Expenses USD200 ea

6. Coordinate With Team To Prepare A Presentation

7. Attend Orientations Organized By YEP Committee

If you are interested please contact Rotarian Arthur Yeong either at arthuryeong8888@yahoo.com or 012 530 1888.

Interactors build homes for Mexico's poor

Interactors build homes for Mexico's poor

The Interact Club of La Jolla High School, California, USA, is making a difference by helping to build new homes for some of the poorest residents of Tijuana, Mexico.

Interactors and the sponsor Rotary Club of La Jolla have collaborated with Project Mercy, a San Diego-based nonprofit that brings groups to Mexico for a day to build simple single-family houses.

"This is a unique opportunity for the students to understand the incredible difference they can make in communities in need," says Rotarian Calvin Mann, the La Jolla club's youth service committee chair. "It's a universally good experience."

Through Project Mercy, Interactors have built 11 homes for families in the last three years. A group of about 15 to 20 Interactors, parents,and Rotarians can build a home in one day. Interactors raise $3,500 per home through school fundraising activities and Rotarian contributions.

Project Mercy works with communities to identify needy families, many of whom live in flimsy shacks with dirt floors and tarp roofs. The organization hires local construction workers to pour concrete foundations, then brings in volunteers to build the homes.

The project is just one of five stories highlighted on the new Interact promotional DVD, Interact: Make a Difference,designed to inspire young people to join Interact and to motivate Rotarians to sponsor a club in their community.
http://shop.rotary.org/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=&products_id=215


Watch the video

http://www.rotary.org/en/StudentsAndYouth/YouthPrograms/Interact/Pages/\
ridefault.aspx .

In the series, Interactors and Rotarians explain the effect Interact has had on their lives and how the program is making a difference in their communities and around the world. The four remaining stories will be posted on the RI website in the coming months.

The videos also will be available on RI's YouTube channel so club members can embed them on their own social networking pages, sharing the Interact message with a broader audience.

Kids passionate about raising pennies to fight polio

With the help of friends, 11-year-old Tyler Dorsey is collecting
thousands of pennies to help in Rotary's effort to eradicate polio.

After Tyler heard about a man in Alabama, USA, who had cashed in 1.3
million pennies in 2005 for $13,000 in paper bills, he set out to
surpass that feat and give the money to PolioPlus.

Though the children have not reached the million-penny mark yet, Tyler,
Aida Alonso, Lindsey Hutchinson, and Connor Smith presented a check in
February for $1,008.04 to Shane Burr, governor of District 6910
(Georgia), and Gary Moore, district PolioPlus subcommittee chair. They
will turn another check over to the district after 30 June and plan on
continuing to raise funds for polio eradication after that.

The foursome started collecting pennies in July in memory of Wilford
Ash, a local educator who had contracted polio as a child. The friends,
members of the Better Home Town Junior Board in Cleveland, Georgia, also
plan on selling jigsaw puzzles with historic scenes of Cleveland and
donating a portion of the proceeds to PolioPlus.

"I've just always wanted to help people," says Tyler, who
said he is excited the pennies are helping more than 1,000 children. It
costs as little as 60 cents to protect a child against polio.

"Just thinking about people not being able to walk is a very sad
situation," says Aida.

To collect the pennies, the children distributed 20 jars and three
plastic tubs among downtown businesses. The White County Fire Department
donated a 5-gallon bucket of pennies, and White County Rotarians made
contributions and picked up some of the containers.

Tyler learned about Rotary through Maria Jurado-Flynn, president of the
Rotary Club of White County and executive director of Cleveland Better
Home Town. Tyler's father, a police officer, had introduced him to
Jurado-Flynn after Tyler expressed an interest in historic preservation.
In addition to revitalizing downtown, Cleveland Better Home Town
organizes community events, so Jurado-Flynn asked Tyler, then age nine,
to chair an autumn festival. He later received permission to create his
own junior board and attended several Rotary club meetings.

On his own initiative, Tyler hosted a food drive last year that netted
two truckloads of items and $1,800, including donations from Rotarians.

"He's really fallen in love with what Rotary does, and I really
think it's helped shape who he is becoming," says Jurado-Flynn.
"It's going to shape what these kids do for the rest of their
lives."

SMI IU DAY

Theme for IU Day

THEME

Theme of IU DAY 2010 -

I LOVE MALAYSIA, HOW ABOUT YOU?

The theme is pretty much very simple : to create an understanding of our diverse cultures and traditions of the different races in our beloved country, Malaysia.
Our history is so rich and we are very international with many many races and cultures built into our lifestlyes. Whether Malay, Chinese, Indian, Punjabi, Kadazan, or wherever else our ancestry is from, we are still Malaysians and we love this country. If you do, great. If you don’t, we’ll help you see that there is so much to love about Malaysia !

Programme

PROGRAMME for THE DAY
IU DAY 2010

• 0930 - Registration starts
• 1000 - Welcoming Slideshow
• 1015 - INTRO(SKETCH)
• 1040 - Ice-Breaker
• 1100 - Rotarian’s speech
• 1110 - President’s speech
• 1115 - Performances
• 1200 - Games
• 1305 - Lunch
• 1345 - ‘Being less selfish’ session
• 1420 - Highlights
• 1500 - Performance (closing)
• 1330 - End

We are proud to present our IU DAY !

welcoming all of you (interactors n leos) to our annual-

SMI INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING DAY 2010

date - 17 th april 2010
time - 1000 to 1500
venue - SMI school hall
attire -semi formal
fees -RM10
theme - I LOVE MALAYSIA, HOW ABOUT YOU??

visit our blog again(next week) to get more INFO!!

CLUB MEETING

GENERAL MEETING

date - 5th April 2010
time - 1400 sharp to 1515
venue - 5sc6
agenda theme - knowing urself and others

*Interactors, pls bring along your koko book and be punctual for the Meeting

tq-

IU DAY

MAIN CONVENT INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING DAY

organiser - SMK Convent Ipoh
date - 11th April 2010
time - 0830 - 1200 (registration -0800)
theme - korea, discover your seoul
fee - RM10
dress code - semi formal

Pls submit ur names to president Kah Chun!

IU DAY

INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING DAY

organiser - SMK Jalan Tasek
venue - Open Hall (block D)
date - 3rd April 2010
time - 0900 - 1230 (register -0830)
attire - semi formal
admission - RM10