MY ROTARACT STORY

Charles Rukwaro

My name is Charles Rukwaro, and I have been a Rotaractor for the since 2014. I’ll start with a disclaimer: I didn’t have noble reasons for attending my first Rotaract meeting. I was to meet up with a lady friend of mine, then she bailed out. I reckon it was due to the Nairobi weather, or perhaps it was my insubstantial value proposition (back then) …maybe a little bit of both.

Anyway, my friend Brian asked me to tag along for a Rotaract meeting instead. “It’s going to be fun”, he said. The meeting ended with the president appointing me to head a committee to organise the next cookout. Until then, the only responsibility I could handle was being first born, and even that was decided without my input. So I skipped several meetings hoping they would get someone else, and the semester ended without the cookout happening.

I would say that 2015 was when I actively got involved in club activities. We organised a weekend camp to Ol Donyo Sabuk, as well as other activities for our annual community week. I was then elected president-elect in 2016, and subsequently became president of the Rotaract Club of the University of Nairobi (Tibim) in 2017/18. In that year we were feted as the most outstanding institution-based club in the district. Now I’m serving as Assistant DRR(District Rotaract Representative) of eight clubs within Nairobi Region, including the Rotaract Club of Multimedia University who asked me to share my story here.

What made me stay in Rotaract? Originally, I must say it was the snacks. Then I realised that this is an organisation that offers young people a platform to make a positive impact in community while learning vital skills in leadership. One also gets an opportunity to interact with established professionals in various fields, with a chance for mentorships and internships. Of course, there’s also the fun activities: swallowships, camps, hikes, hangouts, home visits, mutura (exclusively by Rotaract MMU and Rotaract Ongata Rongai). There’re also the district events: RYLA, DCA, REACT…the list really is endless.

Looking back, I wish I had joined much earlier, or at least participated much more in my first months. I recently made the transition to the Rotaract Club of Nairobi East (Ahoooo) and look forward to much more personal growth before I transition to Rotary. If you are reading this and have recently been introduced to Rotaract, then do not hesitate in joining a Rotaract Club. If you are in a Rotaract Club and just moving with the current, it’s time you stepped up and took up some responsibility, however small. The greatest joy in Rotaract comes not from the membership, but from active participation.

So, there’s my journey in Rotaract so far. Catch me at a Rotaract or Rotary event near you.

As always, I’ll be the guy with the snacks. 

Cheers to more Service, Personal and Professional growth, friendship, fun as we spread the inspirational light and Rotary/Rotaract to the world over.

#serviceaboveself

#betheinspiration

#racmmucares

#TFTwithRacMMU

#TransformationalTuesdayswithracmmu

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