In Rotary, we do not divide our work by nation, culture, or language. It does not
matter what is printed in your passport. What matters is that you believe in Service
Above Self. But even in Rotary, it is easy to think in terms of countries or communities.
This project may help someone in my own community, or that project may help
someone from Germany, or Kenya, or South Africa. Sometimes we think of different
types of borders. This project, we think, helps the young. This helps the elderly. This
helps people who are hungry, poor, or sick, or who have disabilities.
The truth is that Service Above Self does not know such borders. When we serve,
the impact is not limited to our community, or the community we are helping. We are
not only helping the young, or the elderly, or this school, or that orphanage. When we
serve, we are helping all of humanity. The effects of what we do go on and on.
When we put Service Above Self, we are making a choice. We are choosing to put
other people’s needs ahead of our own desires. We are saying, “Your problems are my
problems, and I care enough to help you.”
Rotary brings peace by addressing the needs that cause conflict: the need for clean
water, for nutrition, sanitation, and health care. When these needs are met, there is
opportunity. And there is hope. Hope has no borders. It is the garden from which
peace can grow.
Peace Through Service brings out the best in us. It makes us aware of the borders we set up around ourselves – and it helps us tear them down.
