Today, 3 December 2019 has been designated “Giving Tuesday”. Maybe it should more suitably be “Sharing Tuesday”. The needs of people throughout the world continue to be unprecedented. Thankfully, it is human nature that people generally share what they have, even though some themselves are experiencing difficult times. Rotarian Stuart Batty has seen it all.

“Extreme poverty in India, Africa and closer to home in South West Pacific countries is difficult to comprehend, unless you have been there” he says. Yet, in the midst of poverty, those people most affected often share what little they have. On two separate occasions in rural Fiji this year the whole community turned out to greet him. The occasion was thanking Rotary for establishing clean water and sanitation systems which Rotary had funded with donor support.

In his address Batty congratulated them on “the strong family units which made up their vibrant communities, thus allowing them to collectively determine their future and quality of life”. On another occasion Batty witnessed a community leader addressing high school students where he challenged them to make donors redundant in their life time. Otherwise the speaker said “the world would always be aid dependent”. Batty says Rotary and other NGO’s should focus on that goal when establishing partnerships to support communities. “Donors are entitled to be assured that they are making a positive change for positive outcomes.”

“Rotary encourages all those who are able this Giving Tuesday, to consider making a difference for someone they will never meet, by supporting them or one of the many registered charities to assist the most vulnerable out of poverty” he said. www.rnzwcs.org

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