Public Image Chair

Hi, my name is David Button and I am the current District 9820 Public Image Chair.

 

I am self-taught in most skill sets I currently possess and I have a fairly firm opinion on what works and what doesn't (Cash strapped small business owner, no time for fluff, no budget for the big guns). That doesn't make me right, it just means I don't like seeing people trying to do a good job wasting time doing fancy stuff that will only frustrate them. Keep it simple and work it out from there as your skills develop.

 

I have been a Rotarian for 18 years. I am self-employed in a seven-day-a-week business and like to use my volunteer time to make the most impact. I also like to mingle with a broad range of people over the world to "centre" my place as an active member of society. Rotary is a terrific organisation for this because of its diversity in focus, projects, people and resources. 

 

The best form of communication about Rotary and the things we get up to is through storytelling. Sharing the journey through pictures and video can bring Rotary to life to the public, the local community and Rotarians across the world.

 

We all want to see how others are making a difference in their own communities, so tell the story so that others can make a difference in their own communities using your example.

 

The Rotary story behind my photo: This was taken in 2018 at a primary school in the Balibo District, Timor Leste. The main school building (background right) was destroyed by an invading Indonesian army and the replacement school (background left) was more akin to a four-stall horse stable than a school. The school system in this area is severely disadvantaged.

My Club along with other Clubs in District 9820, 9800, and 9830 and coordinated by Rotary Donations in Kind (DIK) have been part of many school and health projects in the area. We knew that schools required stationery for the students and some schools with electricity wanted computers. Our job was to review our current Rotary projects and identify potential future projects in the education area such as school buildings, toilet blocks, school equipment and of course stationery. In the background in blue is DIK 9820 Chair Roger Thornton, Greg Peck (RC Pakenham) and in red was the coordinator for the day-to-day running of our projects from Palms Australia: https://palms.org.au/. I should mention that a well-run project may involve many different people from many organisations to be effective and sustainable.

 

The purpose of this visit was to pass out backpacks containing used pencils and stationery that were specially collected and collated by a Melbourne-based school specifically for that school. You can see them in the photo with the students (yellow). We knew how many students went to the school, so there was no margin for error. The teacher (in the middle of the photo) was very grateful for our visit but the students were unbelievably excited! As you might see from the three people behind me (Rotarians and Palms) there is much that needs to be done at this school, the first being understanding how this school is still there after all that has gone on before our visit. 

 

Our impact on the day was quite dramatic. Excited children, appreciative teachers and support staff. The greater impact was on the Rotary team including myself who has never witnessed first-hand the impact of war or the substantial basic need for education to bring Timor Leste out of poverty. Figuring out the question of how Rotary fits here. How do I fit here? What can we do to make a difference?  

 

This was just one of quite a number of school sites we visited on the trip and only one of the hundreds of Rotary moments that I could talk about over the last 18 years

 

In a nutshell:  We tell our Rotary story to attract people and organisations to Rotary so that we can make our projects work. 

 

From people willing to help at simple fundraising BBQ, to people willing to run a local community event, we need people with organisational skills, marketers, analysers, communicators, helpers, visionaries, changemakers, connectors, doers and believers. We need them all to make Rotary a sustainable, financially stable and compassionate organisation. So don't underestimate the reasons why telling our Rotary Story is so important.