Comienza un nuevo año Rotario
Lema 2012-2013
LA PAZ A TRAVÉS DEL SERVICIO
El
presidente electo de RI Sakuji Tanaka anunció el lema de RI para 2012-2013, La paz a través del servicio, en la
sesión plenaria de apertura de la Asamblea Internacional
de 2012, evento de capacitación para los gobernadores de distrito electos
de Rotary.
El
presidente electo de RI Sakuji Tanaka exhorta a los rotarios a construir La
paz a través del servicio en 2012-2013.
"La
paz, en todas las acepciones de la palabra, es una meta verdadera y realista
para Rotary", afirmó el presidente electo. "La paz no es algo
que solamente pueda alcanzarse mediante tratados, gobiernos ni heroicas
batallas. Es algo que podemos hallar y lograr todos los días mediante actos muy
sencillos".
Tanaka también
señaló que "cada persona tiene un concepto distinto de la paz" y que
"no hay definición correcta ni incorrecta", porque "la paz adquiere
el significado que le demos".
El
destacado líder rotario añadió que "independientemente de cómo utilicemos
o interpretemos la palabra, Rotary nos ayuda a que su logro sea una
realidad".
Tanaka,
empresario del área metropolitana de Tokio, expresó que Rotary le había
ampliado sus horizontes, y que tras su afiliación al Club Rotario de
Yashio en 1975, tomó conciencia de que el propósito de su vida iba mucho más
allá de ganar más dinero y que "lo importante era ser útil a nuestro
prójimo".
"Me
di cuenta de que al ayudar a los demás, aunque fuera con el gesto más sencillo,
estaba contribuyendo a construir la paz", afirmó Tanaka.
El
presidente electo puso de relieve la tradición japonesa de dar prioridad a las
necesidades colectivas de los ciudadanos por encima de las necesidades
individuales, lo cual facilitó la reconstrucción de su país tras el
terremoto y el tsunami del pasado marzo.
"Fue
una lección que todo el mundo puede aprender, en forma positiva. Las cosas
cambian radicalmente cuando consideramos que las necesidades de los demás son
más importantes que las propias, cuando focalizamos nuestras energías en una
meta común para el bien de todos. Cambia nuestra visión de las cosas",
añadió Tanaka. "Cambia nuestra relación con el mundo, nuestras
prioridades de manera esencial y nuestro concepto sobre la paz".
En
2012-2013, Tanaka exhorta a concentrar toda la energía de los clubes en las
tres prioridades del Plan Estratégico de RI y a promover los tres Foros de
Rotary para la Paz Mundial
que se celebrarán en Hiroshima, Berlín y Honolulu.
Asimismo,
el presidente electo expresa que "en Rotary, nuestra razón de ser no es
obtener ganancias. Nuestra entidad está abocada al logro de la paz. Nuestra
recompensa no se traduce en dinero sino en la felicidad y la satisfacción de
vivir en un mundo mejor y más pacífico, un mundo que hemos de lograr a través
de nuestro propio esfuerzo".
RI President-elect Sakuji Tanaka will ask Rotarians to build Peace Through Service in 2012-13.
Tanaka unveiled the RI theme during the opening plenary session of the 2012 International Assembly, a training event for incoming Rotary district governors.
"Peace, in all of the ways that we can understand it, is a real goal and a realistic goal for Rotary," he said. "Peace is not something that can only be achieved through agreements, by governments, or through heroic struggles. It is something that we can find and that we can achieve, every day and in many simple ways."
Peace has different meanings for different people, Tanaka said.
"No definition is right, and no definition is wrong," he said. "However we use the word, this is what peace means for us.
"No matter how we use, or understand the word, Rotary can help us to achieve it," he added.
Tanaka, a businessman from the greater Tokyo metropolitan area, shared how becoming a Rotarian broadened his understanding of the world. After joining the Rotary Club of Yashio, in 1975, he said, he began to realize that his life's purpose was not to make more money, but to be useful to other people.
"I realized that by helping others, even in the simplest of ways, I could help to build peace," Tanaka said.
He noted that the Japanese tradition of putting the needs of society above the needs of the individual helped his country rebuild after the tsunami and earthquake in March.
"This is a lesson that I think the whole world can learn from, in a positive way. When we see the needs of others as more important than our own needs -- when we focus our energies on a shared goal that is for the good of all -- this changes everything," he said. "It changes our priorities in a completely fundamental way. And it changes how we understand the idea of peace."
Tanaka will ask Rotarians to focus their energy on supporting the three priorities of the RI Strategic Plan , he said. He added that he will ask the incoming leaders to promote three Rotary peace forums, to be held in Hiroshima, Japan; Berlin; and Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
“In Rotary, our business is not profit. Our business is peace,” he said. “Our reward is not financial, but the happiness and satisfaction of seeing a better, more peaceful world, one that we have achieved through our own efforts.”
Tanaka unveiled the RI theme during the opening plenary session of the 2012 International Assembly, a training event for incoming Rotary district governors.
"Peace, in all of the ways that we can understand it, is a real goal and a realistic goal for Rotary," he said. "Peace is not something that can only be achieved through agreements, by governments, or through heroic struggles. It is something that we can find and that we can achieve, every day and in many simple ways."
Peace has different meanings for different people, Tanaka said.
"No definition is right, and no definition is wrong," he said. "However we use the word, this is what peace means for us.
"No matter how we use, or understand the word, Rotary can help us to achieve it," he added.
Tanaka, a businessman from the greater Tokyo metropolitan area, shared how becoming a Rotarian broadened his understanding of the world. After joining the Rotary Club of Yashio, in 1975, he said, he began to realize that his life's purpose was not to make more money, but to be useful to other people.
"I realized that by helping others, even in the simplest of ways, I could help to build peace," Tanaka said.
He noted that the Japanese tradition of putting the needs of society above the needs of the individual helped his country rebuild after the tsunami and earthquake in March.
"This is a lesson that I think the whole world can learn from, in a positive way. When we see the needs of others as more important than our own needs -- when we focus our energies on a shared goal that is for the good of all -- this changes everything," he said. "It changes our priorities in a completely fundamental way. And it changes how we understand the idea of peace."
Tanaka will ask Rotarians to focus their energy on supporting the three priorities of the RI Strategic Plan , he said. He added that he will ask the incoming leaders to promote three Rotary peace forums, to be held in Hiroshima, Japan; Berlin; and Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
“In Rotary, our business is not profit. Our business is peace,” he said. “Our reward is not financial, but the happiness and satisfaction of seeing a better, more peaceful world, one that we have achieved through our own efforts.”
