Rotaract Mid-Year Conference, what a blast!

What a nice week-end with over 40 Rotaractors who came from Cyprus, Lebanon and Egypt to attend Rotaract Mid-Year Conference.

The event was organised in collaboration with Rotaract Jumeirah and Rotaract Dubai. Both clubs worked hard to set that up but the level of positivity was at its
highest!

The two-day workshop started with a ‘unique’ Egyptian ice-breaker (thank you Karim). Then we discovered that our President Mehdi had hidden artistic skills and an
affinity to music (you were gorgeous by the way).

Fruitful discussions sparked during these two days and participants get to know each
other better, understand how Rotaractors in the region work and raise funds. The group had a lot of fun discovering Dubai and partying together!

The gala dinner was organised in such a nice restaurant that we have to name it. All
Rotaractors have been extremely well welcomed at Vivaldi restaurant, Sheraton
Dubai Creek. The food was just exquisite.

Then everybody went to Cavalli to spend the last night just enjoying being together and sharing the same Rotaract value which ask for the promotion of friendship.

We look forward to a next edition.

Can you keep with the Rotaract Club of Jumeirah

2012 started with a lot of activities and we are really proud of our achievements! Just to give you an idea, Rotaract Jumeirah organised the first Youth Leadership Summit ever in the region, in collaboration with Rotaract Dubai. All the proceeds of this event were used to sponsor a child as part of the Palestine Children's Relief Fund program.

A great sport tournament has been organised at Senses Residential and Day Care for Special Needs to show our affection to Senses' endearing residents but also empower children with severe disabilities.

Rotaract Jumeirah helped Rotary Jumeirah to organised charity concert aiming at classical music aficionados and AED 77,360 has been collected by the volunteers. All the proceeds will go to Senses School.

Because at Rotaract Jumeirah we believe that we can overpass expectations, the Club has been working on a series of twinning agreements with regional Rotaract Clubs to share its dynamism and learn from each other.

Finally, thanks to the generosity of our members, the money collected for our Club membership will go to sponsor another child in need of medical support.

Please, spread the word and don't hesitate to ask for any information about the club by emailing pr@rotaractjumeirah.org

Awareness around the Arabian Ghaf tree

Ghaf trees are vital for our eco-system, but they are succumbing because of urbanisation and infrastructure developments, which are leaving water-tables and wadis dry.

The Rotary Club of Jumeirah in collaboration with Ecoventure organised a day of sensitisation where volunteers planted 400 seeds and were introduced to the Ghaf tree benefits.

Ghaf trees are of paramount importance as it provides food to animals which are eating from their leaves. They are also key spots to provide shade for animals during day time and arid summers in the desert.

Ghaf trees are symbol of life and its woodlands also support large populations of insects, which in turn provide food for reptiles, birds and small mammals. For centuries it has been an essential food source, as well as a source of fuel, shelter and medicine. Its roots can go as deep as 60 metres to find a source of water.

The team of volunteers had a wonderful time planting these seeds and is looking forward to see the outcome of their efforts!

Follow us on Facebook to find out more on our upcoming activities.

The power of mentoring

Who has never been in a situation where he or she needed advises to feel that they can grow and achieve their best potential? Who never wanted advises to create a better work environment where risks can be taken and objectives fulfilled?

The people who grow and overcome these hurdles are usually the ones who regularly put things into perspective and always question themselves to ultimately improve. In order to find the answers to many questions young professionals may have, the Rotaract Club of Jumeirah recently created a mentoring program.

Mentoring is a relationship in which an experienced person (mentor) assists another (mentee) in developing specific skills and knowledge that will enhance the less-experienced person’s professional and personal growth.

With the help of our well-established Rotarians, the club aims to share knowledge but also; create a unique relationship based on trust and senior guidance between Rotarians and Rotaractors. Through this type of program, mentees gain invaluable insight beyond their own education and experience.

If you’d like to receive more information on our mentoring program, please send an email to pr@rotaractjumeirah.org

“Be selfish, go help someone”, Bobby Sager and social entrepreneurship

Imagine if you were a millionaire and you suddenly decide that instead of buying 5 houses in premium areas or 10 luxury cars, you’ll go on the road with your family in the most devastated places in the planet to simply help and offer hope. This dream and pure desire to offer a sustainable solution and improve the life of people who were less fortunate, was achieved by the Bobby Sager family.

The Sager Family Traveling Foundation and Roadshow began in 2000 when the family made a commitment to travel the world with the hope that they can instigate the efforts of leaders. Since then, Bobby Sager and his family spend 10 months a year on the road and invested on entrepreneurial projects that hold people responsible and give them back a strong sense of honour and achievement.

Bobby Sager is known as an extremely successful entrepreneur, philanthropist, author, photographer and traveller who met touching and powerful public figures such as the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton or Sting.

His passion for sharing and strong sense of philanthropy pushed Bobby Sager to countries like Congo where he helped a rehabilitation centre for child soldiers. He launched a programme in Rwanda were women from different ethnicity partnered in a business project in spite of the difficult past history.

Bobby Sager also brings hope everywhere he goes. Bobby has taken photographs showing the transcendent power of hope in the eyes of children he met in war-torn countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Palestine. These images have been viewed by over 4 million people around the world.

http://teamsager.org/home
For Bobby, being on the ground and empowering leaders in these countries – the Sagers think of leaders as people who have the ability to impact many others and multiply this positive effect – offer them amazing life moments full of learning, feeling and accomplishing. This is the main message behind “Be selfish, go help someone”.

Cultural Mapping & Navigation

Hi There,

It’s been some time since I haven’t blogged. The reason is that our Club has been working on so many exciting projects – which you will hear about soon – that we’ve just been swamped... Which is always good.

We’ve recently received a short training or let’s call it test called Cultural Mapping & Navigation (CMN). So, what is that? Basically, this program was developed to assist people and organizations to deal more effectively with their Inter-Cultural realities through their Inter-Cultural Intelligence.

This means... that CMN program is brilliant if you’re looking for developing competencies or just reflecting on yourself.

Leaving in Dubai with so much nationalities around, I felt that this program was just amazing and so objective that it pushes me to question yourself and improve. It’s also great if you’re looking for developing leadership skills or looking at how you stand in regards to leadership; assessing the type of emotional intelligence you have or simply seeing how your team alignment.
If you’re curious to know more about this program, just visit https://www.knowledgeworkx.com

The joy of being part of Rotary international network

Have you ever been to a country where you were introduced to people via email, who were so kind enough to greet and welcome you, as if you were part of their family? A network where you know without meeting these people that you share the same values, visions of life and desire to help.

This is in a nutshell how it feels when you are part of the Rotary family. If I take my personal example, I’m travelling tomorrow to Brazil which is the complete unknown. Through the Rotary network, I managed to get in touch with Rotaractors based in Rio de Janeiro who generously proposed to take care of me. Isn’t it brilliant?

Other Rotaractors travelling to Kazakhstan, Kenya or Asia received the same very warm welcome and desire to learn about the country we are representing and our activities over here.

If you’d like to also be part of the Rotaract network, don’t hesitate to email us on pr@rotaractjumeirah.org or sign up for our newsletter to keep up on what we do!