This has been a remarkable year for the world, for Rotary and for our club. The
challenges were great. The writer Madeline L’Engle wrote “Maybe you have to
know the darkness in order to appreciate the light.”
Despite being confined to our homes for most of the year, we were able to continue
meeting virtually, to plan and execute a successful fundraiser, to continue
supporting a student at university and award a second scholarship, renovate a
medical center, gather medicines and reading glasses to donate, receive a district
grant allowing us to place eight new computers in a community center and a
primary school, donate new and used computers to deserving students, send a
representative to the Manos de Esperanza clinic to help fit hand prosthesis, plant
close to 100 trees to mark the 100 th anniversary of Rotary in Mexico and to
promote peace. And that is not all…..
MEMBERSHIP
We started the year with nine members. In this past Rotary year we added seven.
By the 30 th of June we will add another two members. Unfortunately we have lost
two members, but with the addition of two incoming members we are now at 17
members. This has not been accomplished in many years. You did a great job of
inviting guests and friends who became prospective members. We also attracted
members through our new and expanded social media presence Congratulations!
Secondly, as far as membership is concerned, we increased the ratio of male
members in the Club by over 25%! We now five male members. That is another
awesome achievement. We started the year with three. Thank you to all of our
members who sponsored a new member this year.
It is imperative that the clubs in our District 4195 increase their membership in the
coming year. If we lose too many members we will have to be absorbed into
another District and lose our autonomy. So we will continue to attract new
members via our Networking socials, fundraisers, and media campaigns.
Remember that volunteers often turn into Rotarians, so invite your friends to
participate in some of our service days. There are more and more people moving to
Tulum and many of them will want to give back once they understand that
“Service Changes Lives”, our new logo for 2021-22.
I particularly want to focus on increasing the diversity of our membership; let’s
attract more Mexicans and Europeans, more young professionals and more
business owners.
FELLOWSHIP
While we were unable to meet in person for many months our virtual meetings
kept us in touch. Our first live event, Una Noche de Arte saw us together at Hotel
BIWA enjoying food and drink while raising money for University scholarships.
COMPUTER DONATIONS AND A DISTRICT GRANT
Our club was the proud recipient of a District 4195 grant of eight new laptops
donated to La Ceiba Community Center in Chemuyil and the Yaxche Primary
School in the village of Yaxche. The laptops will be used by students to continue
their studies during Covid while schools remain closed.
We donated 18 new and used laptops to deserving students over the course of the
year and will continue with this project. Even when schools re open there are still
many students who do not have access to the technology that they need to continue
their studies and successfully move on to areas of higher education like technical
schools and colleges.
SERVICE PROJECTS
Our club planted 100 trees in the community of Villas Tulum, working with
Sendero Verde, an environmental nonprofit, and in the Tulum Sports Complex.
This project aligns with Rotary’s areas of focus, the environment and promoting
peace, and was part of a District wide celebration of 100 years of Rotary in
Mexico.
In addition we painted benches and park areas in Macario Gomez and sidewalks in
front of the Heka be library in Akumal.
Volunteering at the Tulum Recycling Center one day a month was begun and will
continue as a sustainable service project aligning with Rotary’s area of focus, the
environment.
Our final project of the year was painting in the Tulum Rotary Park, placing two
Rotary wheels and a plaque commemorating 100 years of Rotary in partnership
with the Club Rotario Empresarial in Playa del Carmen.
MEETINGS AND PROGRAMS
I am really proud of how we continued to meet virtually almost every week and
how that kept our club cohesive during the Pandemic. We hosted the Brooklyn
Rotary Club on Zoom and Rotarians from Zurich, Nepal and Lake Chapala, in the
Mexican state of Jalisco.
OTHER PROJECTS
Thanks to generous donors we were able to renovate parts of the Yaxche Medical
Center so that the doctor has access to clean water as well as installing a proper
sink in the bathroom and doing some painting. We delivered reading glasses to
some of the community’s abuelitos and medicines to the doctor. In July we return
to place the plaque on the building, and distribute more glasses and medicines.
FUNDRAISING
Our Noche de Arte fundraiser was a success and we will be using this template
again to raise money in the future.
MEDIA AND MARKETING
Our media presence was enhanced greatly this year. We will
we will continue posting on our FB page and Instagram, and creating content for
our web page, aligning ourselves with Rotary’s media guidelines.
ONE LAST THING
I would be remiss in excluding the amazing mural painted by Emma Rubens “Ni
Una Menos” in the center of Tulum. Thank you to the Zurich International Rotary
Club and to Bill Ward and Tunich Cabanas and Restaurant for their support.
YOU
Finally it is all of you who make this Club what it is. Without your enthusiasm,
your passion for service and changing lives we would could not have accomplished
what we did this year. Whether it was attending meetings, painting benches,
breaking down cardboard, visiting Yaxche, working on the auction, coming up
with ideas for projects and connecting with other clubs, each one of you helped to
make this year a success.
I look forward to working with you in the coming year.
In friendship and service.
Aline