Day 4: Closing session: People of Action
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accepts Rotary’s Polio Eradication Champion Award in recognition of Canada’s contributions to polio eradication. "Let there be no doubt we are winning the battle against polio," he said. "I want my children to grow up in a world without polio. Together I know we will make that happen."
"It's clear that vaccination is a key part of the solution," Trudeau said. "Protecting kids from disease keeps them healthy so they can do well in school and lift up their friends and family."
RI President Ian H.S. Riseley talks with Helen Clark, the former prime minister of New Zealand and former administrator of the United Nations Development Programme.
RI President Ian H.S. Riseley presents Helen Clark, the former prime minister of New Zealand, with a Rotary International Award of Honor.
RI President Ian H.S. Riseley, left, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and International Polio Plus Committee Chairman Michael McGovern.
Jane Nelson discusses how the business community can make a difference in economic development. “My year as a Rotary Youth Exchange student was one of the greatest gifts and opportunities I have ever received. Simply put, Rotary changed the course of my life.” Nelson is the director of the Corporate Responsibility Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
A dance party broke out with attendees doing the “YMCA” dance before a general session.
RI President Ian H.S. Riseley at the closing ceremony.
President-elect Barry Rassin and his wife, Esther. Rassin becomes president on 1 July.
Rotarians from the Bahamas cheer for Rassin, who is a member of the Rotary Club of East Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas. He stressed to the audience the importance of building sustainability in everything Rotary does.
Rassin’s 2018-19 presidential theme is Be the Inspiration. He stressed the importance of building sustainability in every project and initiative Rotary clubs and districts conduct. “We need to look in all our areas of focus and every one of our projects through the lens of sustainability,” he said.
RI President-nominee Mark Daniel Maloney, of the Rotary Club of Decatur, Alabama, USA, told attendees that expanding Rotary’s partnerships with governments and organizations around the world will help Rotary tackle some of the world’s toughest challenges.
Past presidents of Rotary International take the stage at the closing general session.
Rotarians celebrate the close of Rotary International’s 109th convention.
Rotarians celebrate the close of Rotary International’s 109th convention.
Rotarians celebrate the close of Rotary International’s 109th convention.
Michael Cavanaugh performs at the closing session.
Rotarians celebrate the close of Rotary International’s 109th convention.
Rotarians celebrate the close of Rotary International’s 109th convention.
Day 3: Economic and Community Development & Peace
RI President Ian H.S. Riseley watches Rotary’s newest VR film as he tells Rotarians about it.
Dr. Isis Mejias, a former Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar and member of the Rotary E-Club of Houston, USA, discusses the importance of water, sanitation, and hygiene. “During the time it took you to brush your teeth, a child under 5 died of diarrhea,” said Mejias, an ambassador for the Water and Sanitation Rotarian Action Group.
District 7020 Governor Jeremy Hurst announces HANWASH, an initiative by the district and the Haitian government's water agency. They partner with other nongovernmental organizations and aim to provide sustainable clean water and sanitation to all residents of Haiti. Hurst spoke after a video message from Jack Guy Lafontant, Haiti’s prime minister and a Rotarian.
James Marggraff, of the Rotary Club of Lamorinda Sunrise (Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda, Rossmoor), California, USA, talks about creating LeapFrog’s LeapPad tablet to teach illiterate women about clean water, sanitation, disease, immunization, and pregnancy. Oral learners absorb information better through interactive stories, he said. “Rotary is an enabler of dreams for Rotarians and for all people,” he said.
RI President Ian H.S. Riseley, left, and RI Trustee Chair Paul A. Netzel, right, present John Caulfield, a career diplomat and former Ambassadorial Scholar, with the 2017-18 Rotary Alumni Global Service Award Tuesday at Rotary’s Convention in Toronto, Ontario Canada.
Rotarians attend sessions at the Air Canada Centre.
Rotarians attend sessions at the Air Canada Centre.
Legends Row outside the Air Canada Centre depicts the greatest players in the history of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey franchise.
A Rotarian tries out an elaborate vehicle at the House of Friendship booth for the International Fellowship of Motorcycling Rotarians. Larie Trippet II, right, a member of the Rotary Club of Reno Centennial Sunset, Nevada, USA, says fellowship members go on tours multiple times a year. He recently met four Rotarians in Nancy, France, while touring there.
Day 2: Intersections and Impacts (Water, Sanitation, and Literacy)
Dr. Tedros Adhanom, director-general of the World Health Organization, praises Rotary’s work in eradicating polio worldwide.
RI General Secretary John Hewko gives the Secretariat policy update to convention attendees. Hewko highlighted several upgrades and improvements to Rotary’s online resources and sites.
Convention sessions were held at the Air Canada Centre.
RI President Ian H.S. Riseley and his wife, Juliet, share a laugh with fellow attendees before a general session.
Caryl M. Stern, President and CEO of UNICEF USA, shares her story of being a child refugee. Her family was forced from their home in Austria when she was six years old.
Brittany Arthur, of the Rotaract Club of Berlin, Germany, was the master of ceremonies during the second session.
RI Director-elect Olayinka Hakeem Babalola, from the Rotary Club of Trans Amadi, Rivers State, Nigeria, moderates a session on Rotaractors with Rebecca Fry of Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia; Muhammad Talha Mushtaq of Jhang Saddar, Pakistan; and Raquel D'Garay-Juncal.
Rotarians fill the Air Canada Centre to get an update from RI General Secretary John Hewko.
Dr. Ann Gloag, founder of the Ann Gloag Foundation and Freedom From Fistula Foundation.
Rotarians fill the Air Canada Centre.
First-time convention goer Serge Sourou OGA, from the Rotary Club of Accra East, Ghana, enjoys exchanging ideas and meeting diverse people. “The peacebuilding summit was inspiring,” he says of the preconvention event. “We need to be able to build a mindset for peace in our young people.”
In the House of Friendship, convention attendees get to create their own harmony. Freenotes Harmony Park provides outdoor musical instruments for Rotary club projects. In 1995, Rotary clubs in Utah installed Freenotes instruments in Moab's Rotary Park, which has consistently ranked among the best parks in the U.S.
Ogbonaya Catherine Ngozika and Sunny Akpodiogaga Emeyese (in the Little Polio costume) visit the polio booth in the House of Friendship. Both are members of the Rotary Club of Ekpan, Delta State, Nigeria.
A ShelterBox representative talks to convention attendees about the organization’s work in areas around the world affected by disaster.
Day 1: Call to Action: Areas of Focus
Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, addresses the 2018 Rotary International Convention on 24 June in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
In welcoming Rotarians to Toronto, Chief R. Stacey Laforme, leader of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation, noted that Rotary is known as an international organization that supports those in need around the world. “Honestly from my heart, I tell you the Indigenous Peoples of this land and the rest of the world are in need. Stand with us, work with us, and walk with us.”
The Canadian national anthem accompanied by aerialists.
President Ian H.S. Riseley honors Sam F. Owori, who died a few weeks into his year as president-elect in 2017. Riseley presented Sam’s widow, Norah Owori, and their son with a posthumous Rotary International Award of Honor for Sam.
Flags of the Rotary world will the stage. The flag ceremony honors the service of Rotarians worldwide.
Magicians dazzled the audience.
Dancers started the convention off in style.
Aerialists perform, accompanied by the Canadian national anthem.
Lion dancers perform a traditional dance of good luck at the House of Friendship grand opening. Diversity is everywhere in Toronto and at our convention.
The House of Friendship opens.
The House of Friendship opens.
RI President Ian H.S. Riseley and his wife, Juliet.
Gordon R. McInally, a past Rotary International director, is the 2018 Toronto Convention chair.
Rhonda Panczyk, of the Rotary Club of Rochester, Michigan, USA (right) saw Ijeoma Pearl Okoro, past governor of District 9140 (Nigeria), in the crowd at the grand opening of the House of Friendship and ran to embrace her. The two met at the West African Project Fair last October, took part in an immunization drive together, and have kept in touch on Facebook. "Now we are sisters forever," says Panczyk.
Edwin Velarde rode his bicycle 1,200 kilometers from Chicago, IL USA through the Great Lakes Region to Toronto to raise money to fight diabetes.
Ralph Zuke, president of the Rotary Club of Fairview Heights, Illinois, USA, rode his rickshaw to Toronto.
Ralph Zuke is greeted by RI President Ian H.S. Riseley as he arrives in Toronto by rickshaw for the Rotary International Convention. Zuke’s trip took 22 days and raised $22,000 for polio eradication.
Preconvention: Peace and younger professionals
Rotaractors and Youth Exchange officers hold preconventions Friday.
Rotaractors and Youth Exchange officers hold preconventions Friday.
Rotaractors celebrate the 50th anniversary of Rotaract.
Rotaractors celebrate the 50th anniversary of Rotaract.
Rotaractors and Youth Exchange officers hold preconventions Friday.
Rotaractors and Youth Exchange officers hold preconventions Friday.
Rotaractors and Youth Exchange officers hold preconventions Friday.
Rotaractors and Youth Exchange officers hold preconventions Friday.
Rotaractors celebrate the 50th anniversary of Rotaract.
Rotaractors celebrate the 50th anniversary of Rotaract.
Dr. Tererai Trent, founder of the Tererai Trent International Foundation, speaks at the Rotary Peacebuilding Summit.
Rotarians participate in a peace mapping exercise.
Rotarians participate in a peace mapping exercise.
