Barbados is fortunate to have a variety of service-oriented clubs filled with those intent on helping others in need while developing their own members.
Clubs such as Kiwanis, Optimists, Lions and Soroptimists are a few of the more well-known ones although there are also indigenous clubs such as Pride of Wilson Hill and others who do their parts as well.
This week, Street Beat takes a look at one of the larger service clubs in Barbados, the Rotary Club. Specifically, at the leadership of the main club and the south branch.
Ron Davis is the president of the Rotary Club of Barbados. He said he had a long history of community work but realized there was only so much a single person could do.
“I used to do a lot of community work on my own but it got to be too much so I looked for an organization where everyone worked together to achieve more.
“I already knew a few people in Rotary so it was easier to ask them about it and in 2003 I was invited in,” he said.
Davis said he never imagined he would one day lead the club he just joined. He said all he wanted to do was continue to work with special needs children, which is his passion. However, fate had other ideas.
“I didn’t even want to be president but it got to the point where other people thought I was good enough,” he said.
Davis also addressed the notion service clubs were elitist organizations meant only for those with means. He said they may seem that way from the outside but the truth was a different story.
“I don’t believe service clubs are for the rich, I mean I certainly am not one with money. If there is anything you want to do you have to pull your pocket; at the meetings it may look like we’re all rich people but that is how we collect dues for the club, by getting members to pay up.
“Yes, you have to be invited to join but this is because we are looking for people who want to work not who just want something to put on a resume. There is a big difference between being a Rotarian and just being members of the Rotary Club – being a Rotarian is to do something for someone other than self so to be a Rotarian means not thinking of self,” he said.
Richard Kennedy is another Rotarian with a background of community work. However, he started with another organization – the Kiwanis.
“I was in my school’s key club and then Circle K but when I got older I was invited into Rotary and I accepted. I liked the work they were doing and it peaked my interest more,” he said.
Today, Kennedy is the president-elect of the Rotary Club of Barbados South, a position he is eager to take on.
“This club is worthwhile and is involved in so many meaningful activities and I am happy to be the president of such an internationally recognized club. As a banker, I have seen how giving back has helped others and I am now in a position to help others in less advantageous positions than I am so I thought I would do that instead of just sitting back and doing nothing,” he said.
As for his future plans, Kennedy said his pet projects involved raising awareness of chronic non-communicable Diseases and focusing on green initiatives.
Kennedy will have the full support of his outgoing president Peter Thompson. But before he goes, Thompson said there was one thing he hoped to accomplish which he said would be his crowning achievement in Rotary South.
“There is a lady who has no bathroom who is in need of assistance. One of the things we decided upon was to build her one and if we can get that completed within my presidency then that will be the highlight for me,” he said.