Here is a message from our President.
The Rotary Club of Macau was formed as a provisional club by the 36 founding members on January 11, 1946. On June 16th, 1947, it received official recognition by Rotary International. Today, the Rotary Club of Macau is the only English-speaking Club in Macau with 39 members who have seven different native languages. The Club has 15 Paul Harris Fellows, 2 Paul Harris Society members, 4 Benefactors and 3 Major Donors. The Rotary Club of Macau is proud to have five sister clubs, the Rotary Clubs of Bangkok South, Kyoto Nishiyama, Makati North, Taipei, and Sydney CBD.
From its inception as a provisional club in 1946 the Rotary Club of Macau set its course to fulfil the ideals of Rotary by creating the “Welfare Fund of the Rotary Club of Macau” which was to help many worthy causes in Macau such as the Homes for the Destitute and Aged, the Portuguese Red Cross, Kiang Wu Hospital, the Salesian Orphanage and many other needy causes. In the 1960s, assistance was given to building a reservoir at the Ka Ho Leper Colony and in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s the Club was involved in the construction of new facilities for the orphan’s dormitories at the Sao Jose School in Ka Ho along with smaller projects such as providing bus shelters and subsidies to school canteens, old people’s homes and refugee centers, and environmental projects.
In 2000, the Club organized the first of the yearly Christmas parties for special children and their families in cooperation with the Macau Association of the Mentally Handicapped. In 2002, along with the 5 Rotary Clubs in Macau and the Blood Transfusion Center the Rotary Blood Donation Day was launched and has continued yearly. Additional projects in Macau have focused on the elderly with dental care being provided to homebound elderly as well as support for single parent children and other local projects.
The Club has been very active internationally providing emergency funds and support for disaster relief in China, Ethiopia, Columbia, Bangladesh, and Haiti and most recently a major donation to the Japanese tsunami and earthquake relief fund through the Japanese Consulate in Hong Kong.
Working with our partner Club, the Rotary Club of Kowloon North, the Rotary Clubs of Taipei North, Ama of Nagoya and the Macau Catholic Social Services, seven primary schools have been built in mountain villages of Du’an, Guangxi province as well as a fully equipped Experimental and Technical Building and new student dormitories for the Experimental Middle School in the city of Du’an.
The Rotary Club of Macau is looking toward the future and sponsors two Rotaract Clubs, the Rotaract Club of Macau and the Rotaract Club of the University of Macau Students’ Union, with a total combined membership of over 150. Two of the last three presidents of the Rotary Club of Macau have been former Rotaract Presidents. These two Rotaract Clubs work closely with the Mother Club in service projects in Macau and China.
President Keith Pharis 2011-2012
RC Macau
