District Governor Chuy Challenges Us to Imagine an Even Better World through Rotary Service

by Robin Loving​

​September’s stone is sapphire, and the Midday Rotary Club had a royal blue month when it was visited by District Governor Jose de Jesus de la Cruz, otherwise known as Chuy. Chuy is a professional engineer, and is engineering great opportunities for Rotarians in Mexico. His support has helped us to become an excellent club, but we are headed for extraordinary, and following Chuy’s lead, no doubt we will achieve that.
 
One of Chuy’s focuses is peace, and he asked us to share that and more with all we meet. We did just that at the Peace Pole on the International Day of Peace Sept. 21, prompting several passersby to join us in a moment of peace, plan to visit our club, and tune into our Facebook page.
 
Chuy’s vision is to better connect clubs of English- and Spanish speakers, so his annual conference in Guadalajara May 7 will be bilingual. He is keen on innovation, so encouraged teaching folks to use digital tools and providing youth internships. Chuy saw that we are doing those things when he visited the Escuela for Educacion Especial that Rotarian John Doherty established and has run for 10 years.
 
Chuy feels that his Rotary mission is a calling. He emphasized that having heart is essential, that we should all set good examples, and that we don’t need money to provide service. He emphasized that what we do as Rotarians has worldwide impact, and to amplify that he would like to create an association of service clubs across all sectors for collaborative idea exchanges.
Chuy also wants clubs to have brother clubs so that we may be diplomats to one another for capacity building.
 
He stressed sustainability, which he saw in action when he visited Boca de Canada to meet with the women who have led Rotary’s rainwater harvesting and dry composting projects. The education they have received as a result of these Rotary projects has allowed them to grow all they need for balanced meals throughout the year; and create a living pharmacy of herbal potions to heal their community, for they are far from any doctor, and do not have resources to pay doctors.
 
This amazing community of women now make their own shampoo, soap, and honey from their plants and beekeeping operations, and the word they use for the difference between their lives before Rotary and now is transformation. They also sell and trade things they now make, such as marmalade, vinagre, and syrups. They are proud of their new-found economic and community development skills, and feel dignified that they are doing things ecologically.
 
Their sustainability measures will soon include making fertilizers from human waste, which will add to their self-confidence and empowerment. They said it is a pleasure learning and subsequently making all they can now make.
 
Watch for more from Rotary. One way to do so is to attend our meetings Tuesdays a 9:30 at Sala Quetzal at the Biblioteca Publica via the Relox entrance to Café Santa Ana, which Zenteno is now operating. In fact, Zenteno is offering breakfast options the hour before meetings.
 
Imagine a better world through Rotary service!

---