The month of August is in its way special. Amidst the cancer run and other Rotaract club activities, this month is essentially centred on Membership and new Clubs Development and as Rotaractors are mandated to create lasting change on the globe, this can only be achieved if the Rotaractor has quality to them at their initial joining of the clubs they choose or their quality is built from the mentorship sessions through inductions up to and when they enroll into rotary. As the Rotaract Club of Bweyogerere Namboole (Club De’Stadia), we were on 2nd August 2024 blessed by a visit from Rotarian Xavier SSentamu, deliberating and expounding more on the topic of how to attract and build quality rotaractors.
In his very informative and well-structured presentation, he fronted that in order to attract quality Rotaractors, the existing Rotaractors need to have quality by themselves specifically as individuals and generally as a club. What one does as an individual has a lot to play in determining their own quality. On his part, he never wanted to be recognized as just a member of the club but he wanted to be an outstanding member. He was never reminded of anything but acted upon whenever there was need and that’s how he managed to serve as the first alumni president from Rotaract Club of Kololo after he had shifted to the Rotaract Club of Kiwatule even though he never served any position while in the Rotaract Club of Kololo.
Both on individual and club basis, there is need to do valuable things as those actions could make or break the club. In his own experience, after he was invited by a friend to his very first Rotaract fellowship at the Rotaract Club of Kololo, what the club did and the projects in general anchored him to join the rotaract fraternity in that it got to a point where he never needed invites to attend club fellowships even though he had not yet been inducted as a member.
Inviting guest speakers to address the club members can also build quality Rotaractors. Sometimes quality is not looked at at the entry but rather developed which is the role of the club as this aligns with the first goal of Rotaract. This can be through the environment provided to the Rotaractors, the training programs, the speakers brought and the topics chosen. Usually learning should be self-driven but that does not cut for everyone so it’s better to bring the guest speakers at the members’ disposal
Inviting people, we find fit to be part of the Rotaract clubs is also one way to keep quality Rotaractors.
Educating oneself about the organization they are joining can help build quality Rotaractors. He asserted more about the existing grants as they can be taken up by Rotaractors which can challenge the status quo as no one comes to Rotaract/Rotary as a passenger. Everyone joins to offer something and has a role to play and that can be best done if one has educated themselves enough about the fraternity
Club collaborations especially in the same projects too can build and attract quality Rotaractors through attracting bigger global grants in order to do impactful projects. The bigger the Rotaract club projects the higher the impact and likelihood of success to serve the community as this will eventually inspire other members of the society to join in. Clubs playing big alone does not cut if quantitatively, they cannot work with and uplift other clubs There is no point in clubs being major clubs among mediocre. Those clubs too will be mediocre
Creating leadership spaces for Rotaractors will help in building quality Rotaractors. Rotarian Xavier asserted that leadership opportunities go beyond the presidency seat and giving different people responsibilities and roles to play at a particular time drives the cause home.
By Margret Katusabe (Maggie Atwooki). Writer is the Public Image Chair of the Rotaract Club of Bweyogerere Namboole.
