Saturday 10th November 2018 was the Rotary Day at the UN. This is the first time the conference comes to Kenya and the African continent.
Rotary International is a global network of 1.2 million people around the world who have different ideas on how to make the world a better place.
The clubs work together to
- Promote peace
- Fight disease
- Provide clean water, sanitation, and hygiene
- Save mothers and children
- Support education
- Grow local economies
Rotary International is available in most countries across the world and are divided into districts and locations.
This year the theme was “Youth innovation: Crafting solutions to emerging challenges” and focused on what the youth, which is from 18-35 years, have been doing in their communities.
The UN keynote was read by Ms. Hanna S. Tetteh who is the Director-General of the UN in Nairobi and the Rotary keynote was by Mr. Barry Rassin, the President of Rotary International 2018-2019.
What was mainly discussed in the keynotes and speeches is that it is time for the youth to take up their place in society. With 1 million youth in Africa currently looking for jobs, innovation seems to be the best thing.
Dr. Wale Akinyemi who is an author, asked the audience how it we are supposed to innovate when nothing in our classrooms have changed. The world out there is changing but the classrooms and the ways of learning aren’t.
He told that we should pass on everything we learn to our peers and the next generation to make sure the circle of learning continues and that our strength is the ability to pass on what we know and not the classroom but that still education is needed for innovation.
After the speeches, the workshops included,
- Technology and its impact on Decision Making
- Inter-generational Mentoring/Knowledge transfer in the Digital Age
- Concerns of Today’s Young Leaders
- Innovation in learning
Transolution Services was represented by its Business Support Manager Ms. Fatoumata Njeru and she attended the second workshop entitled Inter-generational Mentoring/Knowledge transfer in the Digital Age. The Panelists were Ms. Sanda Ojiambo, the Head of Corporate responsibility of Safaricom and Mr. Joe Munene, the MD of Broadcast of the Standard Media Group.
What was discussed was that mentorship goes 2 ways as the older generations need to learn from the new ones especially in this digital age but that the mentorship must have value and a moral foundation. With 78% of Kenyans under the age of 35, the youth need mentors and trainings to go through the right path.
The conference was closed with a session on what Rotary is doing for the environment and their fight against polio.