Rotary’s way forward

Newly elected president of the Rotary Club of Barbados West, Horace Cobham, is looking to revitalise the service organisation.
?“I want this Rotary year to be one of renewal for Rotary West under the Rotary’s theme for 2014-2015 – Light Up Rotary. We will be encouraging vocations that are underrepresented in our club, such as tourism, the priesthood, dentistry, offshore financial services, agriculture, media, teaching and nursing, to join Rotary West to more fully reflect the social and commercial landscape of Barbados,” Cobham said.
He was delivering an address at the Rotary Club of Barbados West president’s installation ceremony last Saturday night at Port St Charles, St Peter.
“Rotarians are improving lives in communities around the world every day through thousands of service projects and this is an opportunity to show our own community what Rotary is and what we can do, and our club has tackled important issues in our community over its 39-year history, in areas such as health, education and infrastructure, among others.
?“We intend to show off Rotary, by holding a Rotary Day to showcase the many projects that Rotary West has undertaken and how these projects have changed lives across our communities,” Cobham said.
He was also concerned about youth mental health in Barbados which, he said, was a serious societal issue that was not receiving the required level of support.
“Emotional issues can occur at any stage of life and there was a time when it was believed that children would get over hurt easily just because they are children, but the stark reality is that children hurt too and often they cannot express their hurt and sometimes they do not have the vocabulary or have someone who is supportive, whom they can turn to or the very people who they should turn to are abusers,” he said.
Children are the future and deserve to be allowed to grow into meaningful and responsible adults instead of being burdened with unresolved childhood problems, Cobham said. (RL)