ROTARY CLUB CURAÇAO

Rotary is a worldwide organization of more than 1.2 million business, professional, and community leaders. Members of Rotary clubs, known as Rotarians, provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.

There are 33,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and geographical areas. Clubs are nonpolitical, nonreligious, and open to all cultures, races, and creeds. As signified by the motto Service Above Self, Rotary’s main objective is service — in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the world.

Rotary Club Curaçao was founded on March 10th, 1937. The very first Club consisted of 29 members. Since then the Rotary Club Curaçao has enjoyed a period of uninterrupted growth and now is stable and about 100 members. The club form part of iRotary District # 4370, which comprises Venezuela (Eastern part), Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire (fondly referred to Rotary "ABC")" Our Rotary Club Curaçao has been host to six District Conferences, in 1941, 1960, 1973, 1982, 1992 and 2003 and at least one District Assembly. It has been honored five times by visits of a President of Rotary International. It has produced two District Governors, Sha Capriles in 1944 and Rene Moreno in 1965. Rene Moreno thereafter served Rotary International on various occasions as a special Representative of the President of Rotary International.

The Rotary Club Curaçao did not waste anytime in spreading the message of what it means to be a Rotarian to our neighbors. Slightly over a year after its establishment the Rotary Club Curaçao sponsored the formation of the Rotary Club Aruba, chartered December 10th, 1938. Then in 1953 it sponsored the Club of Paramaribo in Surinam and in 1982, the Rotary Club Curaçao sponsored the creation of the Rotary Club Bonaire.

The Club has always been an active contributor to the Rotary Foundation and it is at present a substantial contributor, thirty-five of our members are 'Paul Harris-fellows'. We have been fortunate enough to obtain three Rotary Foundation scholarships for candidates presented by our club.

Those wishing to exchange club banners were till 2009 presented with our unique, locally hand-crafted,goat skin banner produced by the Foundation for the Promotion of Handicraft, one of the many worthy enterprises sponsored by the Club. Now we have our nes more modern banner since the goat-skins who used to be abundand over the Island are now a scarce product.

In professional service Rotary Club Curacao has been consistently active in giving vocational information to graduating high school classes. Club members representing various professions hold talks with students setting forth details about each alternative and counseling them on how to follow higher studies in their chosen fields.

Many club members take active part, often as chairman, in local business and professional organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Association for Trade and Industry, the Curacao Medical Association, the Association of Pharmacists, the Bar Association, the Association of Certified Public Accountants, the Association of Insurance Brokers, the Royal Society of Engineers, etc.

Community Service is the Avenue in which the Club has been most active. In 1938 our very first project was to help bring back to Curaçao local laborers that were stranded in Cuba after the collapse of the sugar-cane boom. During World War 11 the Club spearheaded a drive to acquire a Red Cross lifeboat, helped establish the "Prins Bernhard" Foundation, founded the Curaçao chapter of the Fellowship of the Bellows, and pushed for the creation of a direct telephone connection with New York.

International Service comes naturally to our club because almost all its members are in one way or another involved in tourism, international business, shipping or finance. Intrinsically our Rotarians help improve international relations, promote the island to the world outside, host visiting foreigners, and maintain close and friendly contact with official representatives of foreign nations.

On occasion several members of our club organize projects to bring our island and our Club closer together with other nations and other Clubs throughout the world.