TransAmadian Weekly Bulletin of Rotary Club of Trans Amadi Page 1

President’s Desk My Dear TransAmadians,

Welcome to Magazine Month.

I wish to use this oppor-tunity to express my sincere gratitude to our editor in chief, Rtn Olu Adejola for his commit-ment, support and love for Rotary. He has been our editor in chief for a while now, may God bless him real good.

May I remind us that our rescheduled busi-ness meeting will hold today Ist April.

I thank our club trainer AG Nze Anizor and our resource persons PDG Yinka Babalola and PAG Philip Mebradu and indeed all the participants for a very successful New Mem-bers Orientation Seminar held at our meeting venue last Tuesday.

Please note that our Annual Rotary Quiz will take place during our next week fellowship and our club trainer Nze Anizor will be the

conductor.

My thanks to these Rotarians: Julius Aguni, Bola Oladmeji, Nkeiru Enyia, Jane Onyeabor and Ngozi Oputa who accompanied me for visit to Rtn Stanley Ndu whose wife gave birth to a bouncing baby girl.

Have you registered for the welcome recep-tion being organized in honour of TRF Trus-tee Chairman D K Lee for April 16th -18th? Registration fee is N2,000 only.

Please donate all your excesses, be it cloth-ing, shoes, etc to charity through our contact points Jane Onyeabor, 08062129586 & Bola Oladimeji, 08060596208. You can also do-nate cash to enable us buy food items.

May I remind us once more not to relent in doing good at all times and in all places, give to The Rotary Foundations for GIVERS NEVER LACK.

You can pay to the Club's GTB A/C 0137659017. Account name is Rotary Club of Trans-Amadi.

Rotary, the way to go. Have a fruitful week

Edu Ikegwuani President

Rotary Club of Trans Amadi, Port Harcourt

RI District 9140 Club No.: 22993 Chartered: June 1985

Weekly Bulletin

RI Convention Register early and save End Polio Now Help Rotary meet the challenge

Every Rotarian, Every Year Make your annual gift today

CONTENT

President’s Desk 1

Secretary’s Desk 1

Editorial 1

National Anthem 2

Rotary Prayer 2

Rotary Grace 2

Club Officers 2

Council of Past President 2

Birthday 2

Events to come 2

The 4-Way Test 3

The Object of Rotary 3

Rotary Code of Conduct 3

News from the Web 4

Pix @ last week fellowship 5

Volume XII Issue 32 April 01, 2014

Editorial Dear Friends,

We gladly welcome you to this issue of our weekly bul-letin. A big apology that we were unable to roll out last issue. But, glad to be back.

This month is the magazine month in the Rotary calen-dar. I encourage us to al-ways have a glance at the Rotarian magazine and oth-er rotary publications. We would continue to ensure that we publish this e-bulletin regularly. Thanks to our regular con-tributors. Together, we shall Engage Rotary change Lives.

We will be back next week.

Secretary's Desk Dear Trans Amadians,

I heartily welcome all of us to the first meeting in the month of April: the Mag-azine month in Rotary calendar.

I am most delighted to have us back again as this month is a very special one to us.

How many of us have religiously been reading the rotary magazine called the ROTARIAN or other publications of the Rotary International? What about our club e-bulletin, The Trans Amadian? The time is here once again to remind us of the importance of all these publications. They are indeed educating and informa-tive.

Let me use this medium to announce to us that the club is on track to achieve another feat for the year; the Charter of

the Interact Club of DC International Royal Academy, Rukpokwu Port Har-court, the 1st runner up school in our just concluded spelling bee contest. Election of club officers was concluded on Mon-day March 31. We are good to go.

Our average attendance last meeting was 65.50%. We are doing well but we can always do better. Lets continue to use the membership grouping. It is indeed pay-ing off.

Finally, today is our business meeting as we deferred it last week due to the club's training that took place. Remember, guests are not allowed.

Together, We shall Engage Rotary change Lives.

Warm regards.

Stanley Gozie Echefu Club Secretary

TransAmadian Weekly Bulletin of Rotary Club of Trans Amadi Page 2

The Nigerian National Anthem

Arise O' Compatriots, Nigeria's call obey To serve our fatherland With love and strength and faith The labours of our heroes past Shall never be in vain To serve with heart and might One nation bound in freedom, peace and unity

O God of Creation, direct our noble cause, Guide (thou) our leaders right, Help our youth the truth to know In love and honesty to grow And living just and true Great lofty heights attain To build a nation where peace and justice shall reign

ROTARY PRAYER

Inspire Rotarians, Lord we ask To live as we profess

To dignify our daily task And serve in selflessness.

For fellowship which here we share

We offer thanks to thee We pray that will be our care

To spread it bounteously

ROTARY GRACE

O Lord and giver of all good, We thank thee for our daily food,

May Rotary friends and Rotary ways, Help us to serve thee all our days.

CLUB OFFICERS

Rtn. Chinedu Ikegwuani President

Rtn. Uyobong Uko Vice President

Rtn. Dike Onyiri President Elect

Rn. Nkem Okereke Imm. Past President

Rtn. Stanley Echefu Secretary

Rtn. Isaac Ukachukwu Treasurer

Rtn. Vera Obaze Club Admin Chair

Rtn. Kalu Kalu Serv. Projects Chair

Rtn. Charles Emamoke Foundation Chair

Rtn. Chinwe Asanga Public Relations Chair

Rtn. Kokomma Fintan Youth Service Chair

Rtn. Gracia Eyibio Sergeant-at-arms

Birthday

April 05 RotaryAnn Nneka Kalu

April 07 RotaryAnn Ijeoma Nwokeoji

April 14 RotarySpouse Ekong Asanga

April 16 Rtn. Valentine Okpala

April 22 RotaryAnn Abiola Deinabo

April 24 Rtn. Tonia Osugba

April 26 Rtn. Ben Wokoma

April 29 RotaryAnn Ann Amene

April 30 Rtn. Nnamdi Umeh

Wedding Anniversary

April 08 Rtn. & RotaryAnn Ajibola Somoye

April 12 Rtn. & RotaryAnn N. Okwuadigbo

April 13 Rtn. & RotaryAnn Ben Wokoma

April 22 Rtn. & RotaryAnn Julius Aguni

COUNCIL OF PAST PRESIDENTS

Rtn. Nnamdi Okwuadigbo 1990-1991

Rtn. Mohammed Sedenu 1993-1994

Rtn. Francis Amene 1994-1995

Rtn. Sunday Nwachuku 1995-1996

Rtn. Yinka Babalola 2002-2003

Rtn. Olu Fubara 2003-2004

Rtn. Joseph Asole 2004-2005

Rtn. Benoni Wokoma 2005-2006

Rtn. Olu Adejola 2006-2007

Rtn. Philip Mebradu 2007-2008

Rtn. Soki Dakoru 2008-2009

Rtn. Chima Nwokoye 2009-2010

Rtn. Nze Anizor 2010-2011

Rtn. Abiye Festus 2011-2012

Rtn. Nkem Okereke 2012-2013

TransAmadian Weekly Bulletin of Rotary Club of Trans Amadi Page 3

Rotary Code of Conduct

As a Rotarian, I will

1. Exemplify the core value of integrity in all behaviors and activities.

2. Use my vocational experience and talents to serve in Rotary.

3. Conduct all of my personal, business, and professional affairs ethically, encouraging and fostering high ethical standards as an example to others.

4. Be fair in all dealings with others and treat them with the respect due to them as fellow human beings.

5. Promote recognition and respect for all occupations which are useful to society.

6. Offer my vocational talents: to provide opportunities for young people, to work for the relief of the special needs of others, and to improve the quality of life in my community.

7. Honor the trust that Rotary and fellow Rotarians provide and not do anything that will bring disfa-vor or reflect adversely on Rotary or fellow Rotarians.

8. Not seek from a fellow Rotarian a privilege or advantage not normally accorded others in a busi-ness or professional relationship.

The Object of Rotary

The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:

FIRST. The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;

SECOND. High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian's occupation as an opportunity to serve society;

THIRD. The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian's personal, business, and community life;

FOURTH. The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fel-lowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

The Four-Way Test

Of the things we think, say or do

1. Is it the TRUTH?

2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?

3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

4. Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

TransAmadian Weekly Bulletin of Rotary Club of Trans Amadi Page 4

Like attending a Rotary club meeting, reading Rotary maga-zines is an essential part of the shared experience of being a Rotarian. When you pick up a Rotary publication, whether it's Rotary Down Under in Austral-ia and New Zealand, or The Rotary-No-Tomo in Japan, you'll find that every single one does just what it's meant to do: It informs, and it inspires. It keeps you up to date with Rota-ry news, brings you new ideas for your Rotary service, and tells stories that are relevant and meaningful to you. To me, these publications around the

world are a tangible representation of Rotary's greatest strength: that each club is a local, community-based entity, engaged in a truly global network.

This organization is incredibly large and diverse, and as much as we all have in common in Rotary, we are not a place where one size fits all. Our expectations of a magazine, both culturally and linguistically, are naturally going to be differ-ent. With our regional publications, Rotarians in Bulgaria can find out what's going on in Rotary in Bulgaria, and what's

going on elsewhere in the Rotary world, along with the latest news from Evanston. Because each one of our Rotary publi-cations belongs to the family of Rotary magazines – each one is, like every Rotary club, both fully local and fully part of our international identity.

One of the greatest privileges of being RI president is the ability to speak directly, every month, to every one of our 1.2 million Rotarians. It's awe-inspiring to me, as I write this, to think of all of you, sitting down in your living rooms or at the breakfast table or maybe on the train to work, reading these words, and then turning the page to find out what's new in Rotary. And overwhelmingly, that is exactly what each of you does. Not just because your Rotary magazine turns up in the mailbox, or because you feel you have to – but because Rotary magazines are good magazines. I hope that when you pick up your publication – whichever one you're reading right now – you get the same feeling of pride, and ambition, that I do.

Rotary magazines remind us that as Rotarians, we are all part of something larger than ourselves. They show us just how much we can achieve through Rotary. Through them, we see what our Foundation dollars do, we see what our fellow Ro-tarians are doing, and we are inspired to Engage Rotary, Change Lives even more.

PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE - APRIL 2014

Ron D. Burton

President 2013-14

Celebrate Magazine Month.

Today, with Rota-

ry's club member-

ship spanning

more than 200

countries and ge-

ographical areas,

its publications

are more vital

than ever. The RI

Board of Directors

has designated

April of every

year as Magazine Month, and it is a time to

recognize the role that our Rotary publications

play in our Rotary lives – and the role that we

should play in our publications.

The Rotarian, which is edited here at RI head-

quarters in Evanston, Ill., USA, has a circula-

tion of about 500,000. Around the world, 31

more magazines are published in more than 20

languages. In total, these 32 magazines reach

more than 1.2 million people. To make this

happen, it takes more than just an editorial

staff – it also takes the good work of Rotari-

ans. I always feel that the best part of reading

any Rotary publication is the opportunity to

find out what other clubs are doing. Each is-

sue, each article, is a chance to be informed

and inspired.

In an era when electronic communication

seems to be everywhere, the role of paper

magazines is still important to our organiza-

tion, but we must be open to new formats to

get the word out. That's why, this April, I en-

courage you all to explore The Rotarian mag-

azine's new digital experience: TheRotari-

anMagazine.com. Email the stories to friends

and family. Share them on Facebook and

Twitter. This is a chance to take the great

ideas and great work of Rotarians even further

and to inspire future generations to do the

same.

Dong Kurn (D.K.) Lee

Trustee Chair 2013-14

TRUTEE CHAIR’S MESSAGE - APRIL 2014

TransAmadian Weekly Bulletin of Rotary Club of Trans Amadi Page 5

Consider the Goal Before Giving a Presentation

We rarely think about whether presentations are the best way to express our ideas; we just blindly create and deliver them. But sometimes, a conversation is much more appropriate and effective. How do you know when that’s the case? Ask yourself what needs to be accomplished in the time you have with the group. Do you need to simultaneously inform, entertain, and persuade your audience to adopt a line of thinking or to take action? Or do you need to gather more information, have a discussion, and drive the group toward consensus on a goal? Generally, if your idea would be best served by more interaction with your audience, you should probably en-courage discussion rather than deliver a presentation.

Adapted from “A Presentation Isn’t Always the Right Way to Com-municate” by Nancy Duarte.

Sometimes You Have to Be the “Bad Guy”

The best way for mangers to be successful is to build a top-notch team. But when taking on new positions, they often hesitate to re-place poorly performing incumbents. New team leaders don’t want to seem harsh, and they’re weary of offending key stakeholders who may have relationships with individuals on their team. In these situ-ations, remember why you were given the reins – to lead your de-partment to a higher level of performance. Assembling the strongest team as quickly as possible is the way to do that. If you have doubts about employees, test them quickly with an assignment, or do a rapid performance assessment by talking with their subordinates, peers, and partners. If you’re still not convinced that you have the best team, it may be time to make some tough calls. Adapted from “If You've Just Taken Over a Team, Quickly Let Un-derperformers Go” by Ron Ashkenas.

Three Ways to Listen More Actively

Active listening, combined with trying to understand others’ per-spectives and points of view, is the most effective form of listening. It can help you get the best from your employees — and propel you to a class of your own as a leader. To listen more actively:

Recognize verbal and nonverbal cues, such as tone, facial expres-sions, and other body language. Pay attention to what others are not saying, and probe a bit deeper: “You seem excited (happy, upset…), and I’d like to hear more about your perspective.”

Assure others that you’ve heard what they have to say, and encour-age ongoing communication with appropriate replies such as verbal acknowledgements, clarifying questions, or paraphrasing, as well as non-verbal behaviors such as facial expressions, eye contact, and head nods.

To show others that you’ll remember what they said, summarize key messages at the end of your conversation.

Adapted from “Three Ways Leaders Can Listen with More Empa-thy” by Christine M. Riordan.

Listen to Your Customers — Especially When They Disagree

When you’re faced with a decision that’s going to make some cus-tomers angry no matter what you choose, it’s hard to know which voices to listen to, or whether to listen at all. But there is no more valuable time to listen to your customers than when they disagree.

Figure out which groups of customers feel which way. If you learn that some customers are alienated by your decision but others are prepared to pay richly for it, you can at least make an educated deci-sion. If you end up making a decision that you know will make one set of customers unhappy, look for opportunities to change their minds.

Whichever consumer group you end up siding with, equip your employees (including your social media community managers) with the information and the tools they need to answer people’s questions and address opposition to your decision.

Adapted from “Listening to Your Customers When Your Customers

Disagree” by Alexandra Samuel.

How Couples Can Cope with Professional Stress

Work stress can cause us to be impatient with our partners or to neglect our duties at home, creating a cycle of anxiety outside the office that makes work pressures even harder to face. To cope with work stress as a couple:

Recognize that you and your partner may have different ways of dealing with stress. Neither way is “right,” so find ways to accom-modate one another. For example, let a partner who needs downtime after work have 30 minutes alone, but ask that partner to engage more later — over dinner or out on an evening stroll.

Resist the urge to compare stress levels with your partner. Learn to simply listen and offer help. Try to solicit your partner’s help and empathy in your own stress, without drawing direct comparisons or judging. Each partner is an equal, and all stressors are valid and important.

Adapted from “How Couples Can Cope with Professional Stress” by Jackie Coleman and John Coleman.

What Do the Best Job Candidates Want?

To attract the best and brightest, tune in to what executives look for in new employers. The answer is more nuanced than wealth accu-mulation. Executive candidates assess:

The firm. Working for a successful company is of the utmost im-portance to executive-level candidates. Many job candidates focus on a firm’s platform, track record, and current and future prospects. Candidates also care about an organization’s people and culture — they want to work with people they respect and can learn from.

The job. The single most sought-after characteristic is opportunities for career advancement and personal growth. Candidates assess the training and development that the position offers, the resources that would be available to them, and the degree of autonomy the job entails. They also think about how the outside world would perceive them in the role, particularly if it is a highly visible one.

Adapted from “Headhunters Reveal What Candidates Want” by Boris Groysberg.

How to Encourage Trustworthiness

Success in business requires some willingness to trust people. When your company’s money and resources are on the line, how can you do a better job of gauging trustworthiness and thereby improve your likelihood of success? Try these tips to prompt trustworthiness in new or potential partners' behavior:

Be generous. Feelings of gratitude foster trustworthy behavior. Giving new partners a reason to feel grateful to you is a win-win: They benefit in the short term from your generosity, and you reap the rewards of their loyalty.

Find commonality. Emphasizing common ground increases the likelihood that your counterpart will see you as someone with whom it’s possible to build a lasting and beneficial relationship.

Don’t punish. Threats of punishment can prevent untrustworthy behavior in the moment but can be counterproductive in the long term: new partners may be less likely to take risks to support one another.

Adapted from “Who Can You Trust?” by David DeSten

MANAGEMENT TIPS

TransAmadian Weekly Bulletin of Rotary Club of Trans Amadi Page 6

Small clubs band together for big results in Ghana villages

A primary school without desks, a secondary school in need of floors and windows, and a health clinic that lacked beds. These are some of the challenges that have faced three villages in eastern Ghana — and that Danish Rotary members have taken on over the last four years.

The Rotarians learned about the communities from Danish artist Hans Kjær, who teaches in the village of Nnudu. They quickly realized they could have a great impact on residents' daily lives, says Kaj Knudsen, a past president of the Rotary Club of Rudkøbing. "Even a small amount of money can make a huge difference," he notes.

The Rotary Clubs of Rudkøbing, Sct. Jørgens (Svendborg), Svendborg, and Svendborg Sydfyn pool some of their financial resources in a col-laboration called International Activity Group (INTAG). With invest-ments from $5,000 to $9,000, INTAG finances one project each year; it launched its most recent in January.

The first one took place in 2010-11 at the Nnudu primary school, which serves 200 children in grades one through six and needed new class-

room furniture. The recent construction of a school on the Danish island of Langeland had left an entire building's worth of spare school furni-ture, so, with Kjær as a liaison in Nnudu, Rudkøbing club members and several other groups financed the shipment of a 40-foot container filled with 200 tables, 400 chairs, and educational materials. The Rotary Club of Koforidua-New Juaben, Ghana, helped get the container from the port city of Tema to Nnudu.

The project went so well that the INTAG Rotarians teamed up with Kjær again in late 2011, this time on the renovation of a secondary school serving Nnudu and two nearby villages. Kjær enlisted help from a teacher at the school, Seth Agyarko, to manage the project. Over two weeks, the effort included casting concrete floors and stairs, repairing walls, making doors and windows, and repainting the whole building.

Working with Kjær and Agyarko, village residents participated in every step. "It is a farming community, so money is difficult to come by," Agyarko says. "The community has embraced the projects. Now people feel proud to say, 'This is my school' or 'This is my community.' For-merly we hardly did that, because we felt ashamed to show anyone that this is the school I'm attending or teaching in."

Knudsen concurs: "The genius of the method is that every local link in the chain makes money — the timber merchant, carpenter, blacksmith, bricklayer, and electrician. In that way, they gain ownership, which brings huge responsibility for and pride in the end result."

Following this model, the group next took on the renovation of a cultur-al hall and meeting place, furnishing it with tables, chairs, and a com-puter and setting up Internet access. Last year, they made improvements to a health clinic that serves the three villages, purchasing basic equip-ment including beds, a refrigerator to store medicine, and supplies such as stethoscopes and thermometers. INTAG funds also went toward health insurance for single mothers. This past January, Kjær traveled to Ghana to purchase computers for the secondary school and to arrange health insurance for more mothers.

To finance these ventures, the Danish clubs hold fundraisers and accept individual donations. A recent event with Danish singer Stig Rossen raised $10,000. All funds go directly to the projects; there are no over-head or administrative costs. Kjær, who travels between Nnudu and Denmark, covers his own expenses.

Knudsen credits Kjær for the partnership's success: "Every time he has returned from a project in Nnudu, he has brought home a new idea for the next important project." Last year, the Danish Rotarians honored Kjær, who is not a Rotarian, with Paul Harris Fellow recognition.

Kjær, in turn, says the efforts work "because we start from the bottom, and because we have found a good and intelligent man on the ground, Mr. Seth."

The INTAG projects have improved the lives of residents in Nnudu and surrounding communities, but the work also has benefited the Danish clubs. "It shows what we, the smaller Rotary clubs in Denmark, are capable of creating when we stand together," Knudsen says.

Alaskan Rotarians see membership hike while uniting to build park

The Rotary Club of Eagle River Area in Alaska experienced a 50 per-cent increase in membership after building a playground designed for children with disabilities to play alongside their classmates.

Former club president Tonya Gamble says the club is always looking for ways to increase membership, but it wasn't until they took on the park project that the club saw its membership rise from 29 to 43 mem-bers. Rotary members helped raise funds and assemble the park equip-ment.

"When children get together and play, they realize they have more in common than differences," Gamble says. "That concept is what the community really liked."

Club members sent fundraising letters to local businesses, held a com-munity meeting, spoke at the chamber of commerce, and had their pro-ject featured in the local newspaper. "With this project, we had such good PR in the community that we had people coming to us," Gamble says.

The project resulted from a suggestion made by club member Seth Kel-ley, who was also the executive director of FOCUS Inc., a local non-profit that provides services to the families of children and adults with disabilities. The parents of his clients had expressed their desire for a playground that their children could also use. The playground area in the local park had just one set of swings and a couple of other play-ground pieces that had been hand-me-downs.

Thomas Wilder was one of those people who responded to the publicity. After retiring and settling down in Eagle River in 2008, he started look-ing for a place where he could make a difference among friends.

"The Eagle River Area club clearly had a lot going on. My friends were always talking about service projects, firesides, and other activities that appealed to me," Wilder says. "But what sealed the deal [of joining the club] was the ability to immediately get involved in a big, worthy, and tangible project."

The idea to build the first all-inclusive playground in the state came out of the club's five-year plan, which Gamble says was essential in deter-mining their club's overall goals. Finding what members deemed a "signature community project" would help the club fulfill its goal of working to build healthy communities.

As a new member, Wilder says he enjoyed having an immediate effect on the community. In addition to helping construct the playground, he secured a grant that helped pay for it.

NEWS FROM THE WEB

This primary school in Nnudu was the site of the Danish Rotary members' first project in Ghana.

Members of the Rotary Club of Eagle River Area in Alaska, USA, with some of the parents and children who will benefit from the all-inclusive playground the club helped build.

TransAmadian Weekly Bulletin of Rotary Club of Trans Amadi Page 7

LAST WEEK AT FAMILY OF ROTARY

Trans Amadians @ Mantees brother’s wedding

Trans Amadians @ Mantees brother’s wedding

TransAmadian Weekly Bulletin of Rotary Club of Trans Amadi Page 8

Trans Amadians @ Aguni’s party

Trans Amadians @ Aguni’s party