Chairman

INTERNATIONAL SERVICE

(Advancing International Understanding and Good Will)

What Is International Service?

“To encourage and foster the ad-
vancement of international under-
standing, good will, and peace through
a world fellowship of business and pro-
fessional men united in the ideal of
service’—this is the fourth object of
Rotary. It is an international extension
of the other three objects.

To understand “international serv-
ice” one must appreciate that this phase
of service is the Rotarian’s effort to
extend his horizon of thought and ac-
tion beyond the borders of his own
country. While he is a sincere and
patriotic citizen of his own country, he
desires to be thoughtful of and helpful
to men of other lands and with them to
advance international understanding
and good will. This he seeks to accom-
plish by

developing his own understanding
and good will with regard to peo-
ples of other countries;

getting acquainted with people of
other countries through personal
contact in the Rotarian’s own com-
munity, or by travel and attend-
ance at conventions, etc., through
reading and correspondence;

extending his knowledge of other
countries and their culture, cus-
toms, accomplishments and aspira-
tions;

trying to understand the point of
view of peoples of other countries
with regard to their problems;

becoming informed about the poli-
cies and issues which draw na-
tions together or cause conflicts be-
tween them;

helping to arrange events such as
forums, lectures, pageants, ex-
hibits, etc., by which such knowl-
edge of other countries and their
peoples may be acquired;

studying what he, as a citizen, can
do to make and keep his own
country a worthy member of the
family of nations—and then do-
ing it;

studying post-war problems and Ro-
tary’s place in a post-war world.

encouraging others to do all or some
of these things.

Many Avenues Still Open

Rotarians should continue to work
increasingly and with their best thought
and effort to achieve the fourth object.
While it is true that some opportunities
have been lost, many others remain,
providing a greater opportunity for
Rotarians than before.

The war, with all of its cruelty and
devastation, has opened a wide avenue
for the development of understanding.
Certain countries, whose people gen-
erally thought they had little in com-
mon, have been brought together in. a

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