Regina Eastview’s 2nd gathering at Regina Public Library’s Sunrise Branch on August 27, 2026, was the perfect location for this story-telling adventure. President Jayna set the stage with tables in a circle formation so hearing and seeing were key. Jayna reminded us of RI President Yinka’s message in the July issue of Rotary: ‘Don't just tell people about the projects you have run or the funds you have raised. Tell them how Rotary has shaped who you are.”
Using a Rotarian Storytelling Guide, attendees selected from a list of 24 questions what they would like to be asked about their Rotary experience. What drew them into Rotary and what has kept them involved in Rotary, and that is how this sharing of stories unfolded.
Eghosa told us of a time when he was setting up his medical practice in a rural Saskatchewan community. To become visible in the community he had the opportunity to participate in the community library reading to children. He did this once each week– it was a way of introducing himself to the community. This rule applies to being in Rotary, involvement is key. Eghosa was invited into Regina Eastview and became part of the Club’s International Service Projects Committee with responsibility for ShelterBox. This put him in a place where he has responsibility of getting club members and the Regina community connected with communities living in natural and man-made disasters.
Peter P responded to the question of everything you have been a part of what's the thing of which you are most proud. Viewing things over a period of decades one can get a bigger perspective on what can be achieved, Peter recalled his first Rotary Club’s experience of donating a $1000 to a project which was to create a nursing program in a Malawi community. Matched with The Rotary Foundation’s $1000 the funds went to the Malawi Rotary Club to create a nursing program. The power of the story is that 30 years later news came back from this African community that they had just celebrated the 25th School of Nursing graduation. Regina Eastview’s initial involvement with the Ripple Effect program was the building of a 3-classroom school in 2008. Over the years 15 more school initiatives in Guatemala have created a partnership where a hand up has resulted in local communities taking great pride in what they have achieved.
Deidre recalled her first Rotary visit, when Peter N bought her a 50/50 ticket and she unexpectedly won. More memorable than the prize was realizing that Rotary offered a way to continue serving through small, practical acts and through club projects with worldwide impact. As the Jamaican saying goes, “Every mickle mek a muckle.”
Peter N was visited at his business by 2 member from Regina Eastview inviting him to join Rotary. From their discussion Peter saw this as useful to his business interest and he joined the Club in 1978. One of the things that has kept him in Rotary was the focus on polio eradication. Rotary took on the brave position of worldwide eradicating polio and in 1988, with the support of three partners organizations, PolioPlus was launched. In 1988, 1000 cases of polio were diagnosed each day in the then 125 Polio endemic countries. In 2024, there were less than 100 cases of wild polio diagnosed in the world in the 2 remaining Polio endemic countries – Pakistan and Afghanistan. Focus, partnerships and commitment, the same pillars on which the Ripple Effect Program functions.
Sephina responded to the question what do you think Rotary was before you joined? Sephina's response was that she thought Rotary was a Cult. It seems a Rotarian came to her school in 2001 looking for students who might wish to become part of a Rotaract Club which would have had service as its focus. Although it sounded ‘Cultish’, she decided a little bit of service would probably be a good thing and she signed up. Six months later she felt, “As though I belonged. I still have a friend from 2001. Sephina explained when I realized that it was a community of service, of service above self, she was hooked. She sees Service aligning itself with the first statement in Rotary’s Four Way Test which powerful.
Toshi shared a personal connection to Rotary’s fight against polio. Born before the polio vaccine was available, he remembered a childhood neighbour who was paralyzed from the waist down and walked with sticks. That memory stayed with him and has become one of the reasons Rotary’s commitment to ending polio mattered so deeply to him. Being in Rotary he provides him with the opportunity to help in the polio eradication effort by leading in a fundraising initiative.
