The 2003-04 RI theme, Lend a Hand, expresses the reason that so many service-minded individuals around the world become Rotarians: They want to help. Extending a hand in assistance and support is a universal gesture, one that cuts cross every cultural and ethnic boundary. As RI President Jonathan Majiyagbe explains, it is more than a metaphor it is the ultimate expression of hands-on Rotary service.

In our world today, millions of people subsist in abject poverty, their stomachs empty and their hearts filled with despair. Without access to health care and education, disease and ignorance fester and another generation grows without hope for a better life.

This grim scenario is not uncommon throughout the developing world, a fact that many Rotarians know well, For years, Rotary clubs and districts have tacked the enormous problems found in places where people do not have enough food, clothing, or shelter, let alone clean water, schools, and clinics.

Poverty has many different faces. In my homeland of Africa, it wears a visibly wretched face. In wealthier countries, poverty’s face is frequently concealed, making its existence easier to ignore and even deny. Yet almost every community of the world is home to people in serious need. I ask Rotarians to open their eyes to those around them who cannot afford shelter , health care, food, and other essentials of a productive life and address these problems with compassion and pragmatism.

Most Rotarians have the good fortune to live in relative comfort, but in today’s global village, the effects of war, famine, and natural disasters reach all parts of the planet. Because the despair that arises from poverty ignites and fuels so much of the world’s conflicts, we Rotarians must first provide hope if we are ever to achieve our ultimate goal of worldwide peace. In 2003-04, I will be asking Rotarians to face these challenges and make the alleviation of poverty their number-one aim.

A key strategy in this campaign must be be the education of women. In most of the developing world, literacy rates are substantially lower for women than for men. This lopsided means of education ignores the fact that women are generally responsible for the education of children. Women who can read and write will pass on these skills to their daughters and sons, guaranteeing that the next generation will achieve a higher level of literacy.