Who Is My Brother?
In briefAI summary — tap to read
Dr. John Philip shares his transformative 12-year journey with Rotary on a remote island in Tanzania, where he and volunteers have built schools, hospitals, and support systems for underserved communities. He emphasizes that lasting global change requires deep commitment, genuine partnership with local communities, and addressing root causes rather than seeking quick photo opportunities.
Key takeaways
- Long-term, community-based projects built on trust and genuine partnership prove far more effective than short-term service trips focused on external recognition.
- Healthcare professionals can multiply their impact by connecting through Rotary fellowships to collaborate on sustainable projects like patient safety protocols and medical equipment sustainability.
- Effective international development requires listening to community needs first, building consensus locally before implementing solutions, and sometimes stepping back from professional expertise to empower local leaders.
- Rotary's strength lies in its credibility, non-political nature, and ability to attract diverse professionals willing to work together on problems others avoid.
- Personal transformation of volunteers often matters as much as the tangible projects—participants report gaining more than they give through these experiences.
About Dr John PhilipDr. John Philip is a long-time Rotarian and surgeon from the UK who serves in the International Fellowship of Healthcare Professionals. He has led Rotary volunteer efforts in Tanzania for 12 years.
AI-generated from the meeting recording — AI can make mistakes, so check the recording for anything important.
Meeting for the week of July 05, 2021 - July 11, 2021
This Meeting at a Glance:
Program: Who Is My Brother?
Speaker: Dr John Philip
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Welcome to the Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley!
Here’s a message from our Club President.
Brett Sham
President, Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley
president@siliconvalleyrotary.com
Guests, we are happy to have you join us this week!
As we see it, our flexibility as an online, asynchronous club allows a special type of service to Rotarians around the world: we make it easier for anyone to strive for and maintain 100% attendance. That keeps you engaged with Rotary's events and ideas, and provides a moment of inspiration for devoting your creativity, talents, and resources to good causes.
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The Four-Way Test
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Of the things we think, say or do
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Is it the TRUTH?
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Is it FAIR to all concerned?
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Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
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Weekly Funny with Shags
We believe laughter is an important part of life, and we should all make time to laugh a little. This segment of our meeting is meant to tickle you just enough. These funnies are curated by member Steven "Shags" Shagrin !
Avalanche!!!
Mr. Jacobson decided to take a week off from the pressures of the office and went skiing. Alas, no sooner did he reach the slopes than he heard an ominous rumbling. Moments later a sheet of snow came crashing toward him.
Fortunately, Mr. Jacobson was able to jump into a cave just before the avalanche hit. Just as fortunately, he had matches with him and was able to light a fire.
Hours later, when everyone but Mr. Jacobson had returned, a rescue team was sent to search for him.
After several hours they saw smoke curling from the cave and went to investigate.
Poking his head into the entrance, one of the rescuers yelled, "Mr. Jacobson, are you there? It's the Red Cross."
Bristling, the harried executive called back, "Get lost. I gave at the office!"
Weekly inspiration
Every week we start our meetings with a short video highlighting innovation, inspiration, entrepreneurship, or social change.
What device, if simplified, could save thousands of women in poverty-stricken parts of the world from dying in childbirth? This commercial is for a point-of-care ultrasound device and could foster some strong discussions about health, science, economics, innovation, and more.
World of Rotary
Every week we will focus on a particular story that tells of our organization and the work of Rotarians in the world.
Through a Rotarian's Lens
Sometimes a photo can capture an amazing moment. In this section Member Keith Marsh shares his incredible photography!
If you'd like to submit a photo for this section please contact Keith.
Thanks to Raquel for a wonderful Rotary year. I am sharing my winning photography from the 2016 Rotary Magazine Photo Contest. It was also featured by National Geographic as their photo of the day in 2015. It was taken at Crater Lake Oregon. The glow on the horizon is light pollution from Klamath Falls about 60 miles away.
Learn something new
This section is curated by members Shags Shagrin and aims to teach our members and guests something new, fun, and useful! If you have any ideas on a fun trick or skill you'd like to share please contact Shags.
Don't Holler: The Harmonious Comedy of The Ritz Brothers
I'd forgotten all about these three great performers. Thank goodness it popped up as a suggestion on YouTube! It's a bit longer at just over 7 minutes, but it's a great story to learn. Watch more of them by doing a simple search!
Service report
Tell us about service you’ve done recently in your community.
Click here to fill out The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley Service Survey
Our events & projects
We hold our meetings online, but we do regular service projects and social events in the Silicon Valley! The section is updated every week with our upcoming events. We welcome guests to all of the events and service projects listed here.
Upcoming events
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District 5170 events
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More events coming soon! All events are open to guests, unless otherwise mentioned. Feel free to join us! If you ever have questions, please email inquiries@siliconvalleyrotary.com
Happy Dollars: do good by sharing something good
Each week we ask our members to share stories with the club and toss in a few dollars to support our efforts. The primary goal of this section is to provide a fun way of getting to know each fellow members and guests, while giving back to a good cause.
Happy dollars is an opportunity to share something positive that has happened in your life whether it is personal or business. Think of it as your opportunity to brag a little, but also put a little bit into a karma jar. The money donated through happy dollars is put to charitable use, and the message that you leave for happy dollars will be posted in our online meeting the following week for the entire week for folks to see! (Pending that it’s appropriate!)
Here are the happy dollars contributions from last week!
This section is usually updated in the early hours of Saturday, so contributions made over the weekend may not be listed here.
Rory Olsen made a $20 donation.
It has rained intermittently for the last two weeks. So far no flooding. Give my gift to Polio Plus. I noticed when logging on the computer turned last week's g*r*a*n*d*d*o*g to granddad. Please forgive me for not catching it.
Christopher Major made a $20 donation.
Had a wonderful meeting with Parkland College, Rushton Hurley, and our Ugandan chess partner, Christine Namaganda, Rotary Club of Kampala Naguru D9211. We are formulating a chess mission - in South Africa for
February 2022. Peace and literacy through chess.
Program: Who Is My Brother?
Speaker: Dr John Philip
Every week we bring to you a new program on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education, and how those contribute to service to others.
The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley seeks to explore perspectives on service from across the world. The views of the speakers in our programs are their own, and unless stated otherwise, are not necessarily reflective of the views of our eClub nor Rotary International.
If you have an idea for a cool speaker, please feel free to reach out to them directly or submit THIS FORM so our Program Committee can contact them!
Since 2009 Dr. John Philip has led multiple voluntary teams to an island in Lake Victoria to help improve healthcare, literacy, water supply, sanitation, and other community development projects. Their work has changed the lives of people there, but more importantly, it has changed the lives of those who have traveled to be of service.
Our speaker, John, is a cancer specialist, Rotary Past District Governor, Chairman of the International Rotary Fellowship of Healthcare Professionals, and The Rotary Foundation Cadre Coordinator for Disease Prevention and Treatment.
Members and guests, please welcome John Philip!
To learn more:
http://www.rotariandoctors.org
Upcoming program recording schedule
All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online over Zoom video conference. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 minutes long and are subject to change without notice.
Our online video conference room link for these recordings is always http://zoom.siliconvalleyrotary.com/. You are welcome to join us! Please note the timezone listed for all recordings is US Pacific Time (San Francisco, California, USA).
If you can’t join the live recording, please send your questions for an upcoming speaker to programs@siliconvalleyrotary.com.
