N e w s l e t t e r

Vol 3. Issue 2

FINOTClub News Speakers Service Entertainment

Providing “Service above Self” requires us to put our-selves in another per-son’s shoes and walk a mile.p. 4

February Speakers

News & Messages

January Speakers March Speakers

Vol. 3, Issue 2Finot Newsletter

It has been more than fifty years since Rotary started in Ethiopia. However, the first national Rotary Day was celebrated on February 10, 2012.

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Induction of Rahel to the Rotary Club of Finot on March 28, 2012.

Women economic empowerment is about increasing women’s access to economic resources and opportunities including jobs, financial services, property and other productive assets, skills development and market information. Finot invited Joshua Alemayehu, National Director of EAGC ADA to share their experiences with Finot.

Why don’t we ask about the mind though we use it everyday? What is the mind? The brain? Where do we store love info - in the brain cell or heart cell? What do we benefit if we mind the mind? The driving force, the ability, the usage and basic functions of the mind was discussed by Dr. Mehret Debebe on March 14, 2012.

A business plan is a set of business goals that stipulates why the projected business is believed to be attainable, and the way for reaching those goals. One of our member speakers, Fisseha Shanko discussed the concept of formulating a business plan in relation to micro and small enterprises.

In the 1960s and 70s, there were arguments that corporations make more long term profits by operating with a perspective of fulfilling their corporate social responsibilities, while critics argue that it distracts from the economic role of businesses. Dawit Hailu shares his experience on the benefit of the business world by incorporating CSR as a strategy to address the business plan of an organization and supporting the poor.

Bethlehem Tilahun, who was one of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders last year was the guest speaker on February 1, 2012. Bethlehem shared her inspirational experiences on what it meant to be “an innovator who succeeded in creating the first global African consumer brand while creating wealth and prosperity in our home community.”

Neurology is a medical speciality that deals with disorders of the nervous system which includes diagnosis and treatment of central, peripheral and autonomic nervous system. Tsega H. Orcutt from Minneapolis, Minnesota was the guest speaker, who provided an overview of the neurological disorders focusing on the causes, diseases and treatment on March 7, 2012.

As the Rotary International designated the month of March to focus on literacy, Samuel Asnake, an education specialist from UNESCO was invited to share his views about literacy vs. illiteracy on March 21, 2012. What crisis would you expect from literacy and illiteracy?

Computer safety and security includes protection of information and property from theft, corruption, or natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to remain accessible and productive to its intended users. Genet is the member speaker who shared her vocation urging members to remain technologically safe as we enjoy the services.

Sugar affects the human body in many ways. Some of these ways are good but some are bad. Energy created from sugar ingested into the body is one of the good ones ‘cause humans need energy to function. As much as we need sugar in the body, we need to manage it carefully not to let it destroy the body. Sisay was a member speaker who presented the effects of sugar on human body on January 18, 2012.

“Voluntaryism is what changed my life in terms of allowing me to live meaningfully and reach to the cry of many who suffered from Malaria. They needed a hand to save.” Abere Mihrete was a member speaker who shared the second part of his testimonies about his life and involvement in humanitarian associations.

Life skill, HIV/AIDS and reproduc-tive health training were given to about thirty orphans on mid- January for two days.

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Dynamite is an explosive material, which name is derived from Greek roots that literally means connected with power. Yodit began her presentation with an explanation of the use and power of a dynamite. The metaphoric use of it was a motivating factor that describe the potential power each Rotarian has and can use for the well being of others.

Service above Self

4 Object Lesson8 Increasing Club’s Involvement34 Membership - a way to Service38 Service - the Timely Focus 42 The Seven Habits44 New Grant Structure of TRF46 Entertainment48 Raising Rotary’s Public Profile

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The President’s Heart Beat

Seble Hailu, President, RC Finot

2011/2012

peaceful, gives us the perspective to come out of our comfort zone and think of others. Indeed, life looks a whole lot different when seen with others’ spectacles. This helps us to understand people better, find their wave lengths to communicate best, think creatively how to support them in shouldering their burdens.

In the past three months, Finot focused on the services we render to our communities. We are learning to put aside our lenses, finding solace in identifying with the less advantaged, and contributing to the betterment of their lives. I cannot rejoice more except seeing members on service mode and acting.

After coming back from a marriage seminar, my sister told me what they exercised. Each couple was asked to stand up, they did. The ladies were asked to come forward and then asked to walk and then run around the auditorium. They did. Same instructions were given to their husbands after their wives returned to their seats. The husbands did as requested.

Next request. The men were asked to take off their shoes and give it to their wives, the wives were asked to take off their shoes and put on their husbands’ shoes. They did. Now the ladies were asked to walk and then run around the auditorium with their hubbies’ shoes. The husbands watched and could not help laughing watching their wives awkward and clumsy moves.

The laughing men then found themselves in a position they would not want to be. Same instructions were given to them to walk and then run with their wives shoes. As my sister described the situation, my imagination went wild especially picturing all men with lesser size and high heel shoes, folding and damaging their wives shoes, stumbling and falling. The men did their assignments painfully. Now everybody was asked to go back to their seats and reflect on what it felt to be in another person’s shoes.

The facilitator wanted to give them an object lesson and make a point that it takes one to come out of his/her comfort zone and put oneself in another’s shoes to see how life looks and feels from others perspectives. Understanding others and adding their perspective to our world comes from trying to see things from their vantage point.

I think Rotarians are willing to see how life is when lived with lots of limitations. Putting ourselves in the place of those whose lives are unequally favored, the hungry, the broken-hearted, the disadvantaged, the poor, the uneducated, the sick, and the un

Service above self requires us to come out of our comfort zone, to understand others better and to act as own agenda of

life.

Object LessonService above Self

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Past District Governor, Rtn. Tadesse opening speech

Cheshire Home Director thanking Rotary.

Country Chair, Rtn Teshome opening the day with remarks

Rtn. Yohannes Berhe donating 10 pins to Finot.

Rtn. Tsehay, the active orga-nizer of the Day

WHO Director appreciat-ing Rotary’s commitment to

eradicate Polio

Rtn. Yemane fund raisingPresident Rtn. Terefe bidding the Turkish airline ticket.

President Rtn. Terefe bidding the airline ticket.

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The club has teamed up the members into seven groups to plan the weekly club activities in terms of fun and fellowship. This has increased the members’ involvement in the meetings as well as improving communication amongst the groups to plan and implement action together.

A special fellowship day was also organized at Jossy’s place visiting his new baby with the mother.

This quarter, Finot hosted seven guest speakers who presented on poverty alleviation of women, using one’s potential, neurological health, literacy, international experience of entrepreneurship, minding the mind, corporate social responsibilities of the business world.

Rotarians have the dual responsibility of representing their vocation within the club and exemplifying the ideals of Rotary within the workplace. Vocational service opportunities include Rotary club presentations. This quarter, four member speakers: Sisay, Fish, Abere and Genet shared their vocation with the club members on: the role of sugar in the body, preparing business plan for small and medium enterprises, voluntary interventions and safe and secure computing.

Increasing the Club’s Involvement

Service above Self

1) Is it true? 2) Is it fair to all concerned?

4) Will it be beneficial to all

concerned?

3) Will it build good will and better

friendship?

“Every Rotary club should be made a forum before which vital economic and social problems may be fairly and intelligently discussed. Club programs should stimulate thought, widen the horizon, and deepen conviction.” - The Program for the Year,

THE ROTARIAN, August 1920

Club Administration Director Selamawit Yilma

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Finot invited the first guest speaker of the New Year, Joshua Ale-mayehu, the National Director of The Ethiopian Assemblies of God Church Aid and Development Association (EAGC-ADA) to share their experiences with Finot in women economic empowerment and the award given by the government recognizing the impact of the project.

Finot: How did you start the project?Joshua: EAGC-ADA’s major donors are USAID Ethiopia and Convoy of Hope; their fund has helped us to provide startup capi-tal, skill-based trainings, food for about 1850 direct beneficiaries and 8000 indirect beneficiaries. Socio-economic baseline survey has been carried out before implementation. This baseline was very useful to identify feasible business ideas in the sub-city and assess the socio-economic background of the women. Based on this survey, we found that Lideta is one of the poorest sub-city. The donors requested EAGC-ADA to select and train the top 16-35 women who would get special training on micro saving. As a pilot, twenty women were trained. 6500 birr capital was given for 96 selected individu-als. However, due to appeals from the beneficiaries, the number of people who would get training on micro-enterprise grew up to be 550. Seed grant of 5000 birr worth materials were bought and given to them after successfully completing the trainings.

Finot: What were your selection criteria for the ben-eficiaries and what did you do with them?Joshua: A selection criterion was developed in collaboration with the local government. The criterion was mainly of: age, disadvan-taged individuals who haven’t got support from other NGOs, women family head, who has residential ID cards and interested individuals. The women were selected from the poorest of the poor. We did wealth screening by visiting each women. We gave them ten days theoretical and ten days practical training before they start their business. There was also an entry-exam, written and interview, right after the ten days training. Later on refresher training was organized after three months.

Finot: What types of training do you give?Joshua: Fast food, sewing and embroidery, injera baking, leather work, handicraft, traditional coffee, breakfast and mini restau-rants, male and female beauty salons, poultry, and other micro trading businesses.

Finot: What kind of changes did you see in the lives of the trained women who started their business?Joshua: More than 80% of the targeted groups have started to generate an average income of 60-600 birr per day, which is a tre-mendous result of the project. As a matter of fact, we were sup-posed to train 550 destitute women. We, however, went beyond that and reach out to 940. These women have also started to de-posit some amount of money. This can be considered as one of the strategic moves that the project has passed. Our beneficiaries have learnt the value of saving. Now, almost all of them have managed to save birr 200 monthly.

The women have also organized themselves in twelve cooperatives and got a legal license from the government. These women became a good example in their surroundings by bringing a remarkable re-sult. After starting their business, the ladies began to send their children to school, provide their families with food, clothing, and other necessary materials. Some excelled to the extent of hiring others to run their business.

Finot: What do you think enabled these women to change?

Joshua: Government support, internal control system such as high-ly organized book-keeping system, recording their income and ex-penses have helped. There is an intense monitoring of the women’s saving, business process, and they were taught how to diversify their business so that they would gain in one even if they lose in another.

Finot: What were your challenges?Joshua: The project started on a shaky ground of corruption and was handed over to us. Hence, there was a mistrust by government, beneficiaries and donors. However, this was curbed as we developed a transparent system whereby all concerned parties are involved to make decisions on purchases, fund management and expenditures. Second, we had big challenges from the beneficiaries. They could not accept the donor’s decision to select only top twenty women to benefit from the economic empowerment project. This was dis-cussed with donors and settled. The transparent fund management also convinced the donors to allow us to increase the number.

Finot: Tell us about the success of your organization?Joshua: I believe the transparent system, the seed money in terms of material, the training, the follow up and the reporting system have paid off. Our success is based on our policies and methodologies. The community-based participatory ap-proach has helped us to get today’s achievements. For example, our ben-eficiaries directly involve in purchase of goods- this has helped them to build trust and push the organization to success. Our organization is also a

corruption free organization which has also played a great role for our success. We fight careless usage of financial and other resourc-es, which is a direct cause for our success. The other thing is that EAGC-ADA has applied a social accountability scheme. We directly bring the voice of the poor to a stage and engage them in decision making. We help them exercise their rights to audit the implement-ing agency- EAGC-ADA. Our commitment to work jointly with the government and other stakeholders has also played a great role in making the organization successful.

Each beneficiary had 60-600 birr income per day. There is a lady who gets 15,000 per month from her three restaurants she runs in big construction sites by selling food and drinks to workers. To see lives changed of the poor women means to see a self-sustained fami-ly, her kids have proper education, hope and future. Hence women’s economic empowerment with the above system available was found to work out well.

Though the startup and the process to establish the integrity of the project faced lots of challenges, through time and efforts as well as the commitment of the workers, the face of the project has changed enhancing visible impact in the lives of women. Hence, the govern-ment wrote a letter of acknowledgement to the organization about the exemplary work that should be scaled up by involving many oth-er poor women in the sub-city.

Finot: Why did you choose to buy materials with the seed money instead of establishing revolving fund?Joshua: At first the project was designed to be revolving for sus-tainability sake, however, it did not get acceptance by the funding agencies.

Finot: How could Rotarians involve in communities?Joshua: The poor always live with us. Finot can design projects for children who live in the street, destitute women, orphans, and many others who do not have sustainable support.

Inspired by the presentation, Finot submitted a project on women eco-nomic empowerment to TRF sponsored by Rotary clubs in Switzerland. Finot would like to appreciate Joshua and is looking forward to working closely with EAGC-ADA.

Experience Sharing on Women Economic Empowerment

By Joshua Alemayehu,

January 11, 2012

Service above Self

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At the beginning of the Rotary year, Finot established a member speaker session. Sisay was the first member speaker for the New Year. Sisay is a chemist by profession who has a good deal of experience in plastic technology and industrial chemistry and the immediate past president of the Club. Today, Sisay talks about sugar in relation to human body.

Sucrose is commonly known as sugar. It is made up of sugar cane or sugar beets. The composition of sucrose is a combination of glucose and fructose, which separates during digestion. Pure sucrose is devoid of any nutrients. Glucose is the simple sugar made by human body through digestion of carbohydrates. It is the body’s chief source of energy. Sometimes glucose is called dextrose.

There are two major sources of sugar: natural sugar and processed sugar. These are classified in to five major classes: fruit and milk; raw honey; agaves nectar; plant crops and corn syrup. Natural sources of sugar are those naturally gained in fruits, honey, milk, and cereals. Fruits like bananas, prunes, pineapples, tangerines, oranges, grapefruits and grapes are known to have particularly high sugar content; while from vegetables potatoes, peas, carrots and corn have high content of sugar.

Processed sugars are extracted from plant sources such as sugar cane and sugar beets. Other factory processed products that have high sugar are: soft drinks, cakes, ice-cream, candy, and chocolate.

Energy from glucose is obtained from the oxidation reaction. Carbohydrates along with fats and proteins represent the three main types of foods that we eat. Sugar metabolism is an ongoing process that breaks down sugar, or glucose, into energy required by the body to function properly.

This sugar (glucose) is changed to glycogen through glycols for future needs. The changing process from glucose/sucrose to glycogen is facilitated by insulin which is produced by pancreas. If the proportion of insulin is less than the sugar deposited in the body, then bulk amount of sugar will start to be deposited in the blood. This will be the onset of crisis whereby insulin produced by our body will no longer effectively address the deposited sugar.

Insulin is a hormone (a protein) secreted by groups of cells within the pancreas. Food gets digested, and glucose is absorbed from the intestines into the bloodstream after a meal. The cell with insulin attached can absorb sugar glucose from the blood stream and burn it for energy. In people who do not have diabetes, the body makes the right amount of insulin on its own. However, those who have diabetes, require certain quantity of external insulin for the body to function properly.

Diabetes is group of metabolic, a lifelong (chronic) disease in which there are high levels of sugar in the blood, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced.

If the body does not produce insulin, we may eat food and yet feel starved since the cells cannot absorb glucose without insulin. In fact, for a person whose insulin production fails, s/he must get insulin shots everyday to survive. People with Type 1 diabetes or no insulin secretion must have a replacment of artificial insulin through injection.

Those who suffer from Type 2 diabetes, commonly known for high blood-glucose, there is insulin deficiency. Hence, oral medicine is given for treatment and they rarely need insulin shots.

Major negative impact of sugar on human health are: • Sugar affects the brain (serotonin), teeth, and pancreas.

• Sugar affects bones for it has an acidic effect by releasing calcium ion.

• Sugar affects the body by creating deficiencies: it takes all vitamins, mineral and essential substances from the food we eat. Moreover, whenever there is an excess energy, whether from sugar, protein or fat, they all get converted to and stored in fat cells creating obesity.

• Sugar affects the immune system.

• Sugar affects the heart making it susceptible to clogged arteries, hypertension (high blood pressure), weak arteries, strokes and heart attacks.

Symptoms of diabetes: frequent urination, frequent thirsty, lack of energy and feeling tired, blurred eye vision, too much hunger feelings than usual, unusual sudden weight loss, dry and itchy skin, losing sense or tingling in feet, sore heels.

Diabetes Management: controlling the type and amount of food, being physically active, losing overweight/mainianing a healty body weight, monitoring glucose level, taking A1C test, taking prescribed medicine, having regular check ups, controlling blood pressure, ensuring foot care, taking aspirin, smoking cessation, and avoiding stress and alcohol.

Globally, as of 2010, an estimated 285 million people have type 2 diabetes, making up about 90 percent of all diabetes cases. Hence, attention should be given to the effect of sugar on the body.

TIPS: Here is the daily intake for an average 70 kg person. Protein: 180 grams = 720 calories; Carbohydrate: 600 grams = 2400 calories; Fat: 75 grams = 675 calories which total Caloric Intake = 3795 calories.

Let the one who has listening ears, let him/her take heed! Thanks Sis for drawing our attention to this side of health reality!

Sugar and the Human Body By Sisay Kifle,

January 18, 2012

Service above Self

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Experience Sharing on Involvement in Humanitarian Works

By Abere Mihrete, January 25, 2012

Service above Self

The Founder of Finot started to share his testimony about his life especially in relation to humanitarian activities and family life. Abere continued the second part of his story emphasizing his voluntary humanitarian activities and his family life.

Finot: The other time you discussed how you started Anti-Malaria Association and its Accomplishments thus far. Now we would like to know about your future plan.Abere: In 2015, we have planned to control malaria by increasing our interventions from thirty-nine woreda to ninety-three. We have included cross-cutting issues to work on along with malaria interventions. We budgeted about 145 million birr to work on HIV/AIDS, environmental health, as well as reproductive health in addition to malaria control initiatives.

Finot: How many members does Anti-Malaria Association have? Abere: We have about 540 active members who pay membership fee regularly by which thirty-eight of them are life-long members.

Finot: Apart from Anti-Malaria Association, tell us about your humanitarian involvements? Abere: I am a life time member of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society, the Ethiopian Family Guidance Association, the Ethiopian Public Health Association, the Children Heart’s Fund and the Health, Development as well as the Anti Malaria Association. I am a member of Dire Dawa Trust Fund, Gojjam Development Association and Mathiwos Wondu-YeEthiopia Cancer Society. I am a board member of an American based foundation called, Health and Climate Foundation and of course I am the President Elect of Finot Rotary Club for 2012/13.

Finot: What motivates you to be involved in so many voluntary works? Abere: I believe in voluntaryism. I believe that the face of our country will change if we have the attitude of providing voluntary services in different areas of life. Anti-Malaria Association could be a very good example of voluntaryism. It was established by volunteers, sustained by volunteers, and reached this far by volunteers and we are changing the history of people who die to Malaria. Hence, same thing can apply in other areas of our lives. If we all contribute some money for big project one time, we can build schools, factories, business entities that support many others.

Finot: What did you accomplish being a Rotarian? Abere: Before I became a member of RC Finot, I was a member of RC of East. Four years ago, in collaboration with Rotary Club of Bahirdar, and a sponsoring club of Rotaplast, we managed to have lip and gum surgery for 115 people at Felege Yordanos Hospital. After I joined the RC of Finot, in collaboration with RC of Greenland, we managed to get five hand dug wells and one foot bridge for Amhara region.

Finot: How did your involvement in all these humanitarian activities affect your family life?

Abere: By the way, I am married to Adere woman and we have two children. I love my wife for she is such a committed person in all my life’s ups and downs. We learned how to live with our religious and ethnic differences so we never had big fights over these issues.

Before I established Anti-Malaria Association, I was complaining about how the government did not take action when malaria killed thousands in Gojjam. My wife questioned my unsubstantial complaints and asked me what role did I assume to curb the problem. That was how I revisited my complaints and started acting on the problem.

Finot: Have you ever had any challenge in implementing your vision in terms of your family life? Abere: Of course, it lowered our income. I used to teach at the Italian school and earned additional 5000 birr and I also had many other part-time work to support my family. All those were cut off for I could not devote my time chasing part-time jobs and establish the Association at the same time. In addition to the income cut off, my precious time with my family was compromised severely.

Of course, after tolerating for some time, my wife and kids gave me an ultimatum: either you choose your family and live with us or marry your voluntary work and leave us alone. I gave the challenge back to them drawing their attention to see the situation. In the beginning, I reminded my wife her convicting conversation, the present success obtained just because I was willing to sacrifice and let many live. I enumerated the lives we were able to redeem after the interventions through the years and let thousands survive. Then I let my wife and kids compare that with the time and money for the family’s luxurious life style. They changed their attitude and were willing to reconsider their request and let me live for what I believe and we deciding to go with bare minimum of livelihood: food, clothing and school. So I was able to win the family back and asked them to go on sacrificing for that cost of our comfort is meant to save the lives of many. They basically did cost-benefit analysis between their comfort versus the survival of many people. I was happy that they decided to let me be where my heart aches. Fortunately, we never lacked a thing to live on. Of course, we do not have luxurious life yet lead incomparably meaningful and fulfilled one.

Finot expresses its gratitude again to the Father of the Rotary Club of Finot, Abere for showing

exemplary attitude of voluntaryism. May your plans be fulfilled and dreams come true!

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Growing Towards Global Brands Viz a Vis. AID Renown Entrepreneur - Bethlehem Tilahun

February 1, 2012

Service above Self

Bethlehem is mentioned as one the panelist in the innovation column of the 22nd World Economic Forum on Africa, held in May 2012 for the

first time in Africa. soleRebels’ founder and CEO, Bethlehem Tilahun, a fair trade certified green footwear company based in Ethiopia was the guest of honor and speaker, who motivated Rotary Club of Finot

members to think outside the box. Thanks Beth for the motivational presentation!

Finot: Tell us about your family and educational background.Bethlehem: I was born and raised in one of Addis Ababa’s most impoverished neighborhoods, Zenebwok, from poor family. I studied accounting. I am married and a mother of three.

Finot: How did you get into the business world?

Bethlehem: I established soleRebels in 2004/5 hoping to increase employment in my community. I was employed by different organizations but was very dissatisfied with my life, the lives of my family and neighborhood. So I thought about how we can use locally available material like the tyre to create a job for myself, my family and many others.

Luckily, the business I started, soleRebels, has not only created hundreds of local jobs, but it has since become an internationally recognized eco-fashion brand. We use local artisans who craft comfortable footwear. We combine modern design and cultural heritage giving authentic and yet stylish shoes. There are about 200 supply chain in the business who work on leather, cotton, etc.

Finot: Tell us how you do business?Bethlehem: As I said, we started with locally available material but used technology to accept and send online orders abroad. We provide handmade shoes and send by DHL. Our customer service is very strong, accepts orders every day and ensure dispatching within 3-5 days. However, we started very simple with flip flap shoes. E-commerce is not very much known and practiced in Ethiopia so we use franchising system and/or our company which operates abroad to track our accounts.

Finot: Why on earth would you add the word “rebel” in your brand?Bethlehem: I have observed the lives of many Ethiopians who get support from family members who live abroad. The recipients would sit hands folded and expect financial support to come every month from those who sweat out day and night to earn their living. I believe this easy money sent monthly demotivates the recipients to strive to overcome their poverty. At the country level, I also see the amount of aid we receive from donor countries and yet did not observe sustainable change in the lives of the citizen. In a sense, I am rebelling against the status quo of “aid” and promoting hard work, creativity, networking, commitment to fight against poverty and capitalize on the available artisan talents.

soleRebels is based on the revolutionary idea that to tru-ly enjoy lasting development, developing nations produc-ers must create, grow and control successful global brands and the equity developed in them.

Finot: What made you think about shoes business?Bethlehem: I wanted to start from what is available in our community and create a job for many who specialized in their skills. I saw that we can harness the potential of artisan skills and indigenous eco-sensible craft heritages and wanted to channel them into a sustainable, global, fair trade footwear business. Footwear was an excellent platform to begin explor-ing the business world.

Finot: What is your vision or future plan?Bethlehem: As Nike, Addidas, Timberland, and Puma are

very well known quality brands, I would like soleRebels to be a known, and preferred African quality brand shoes. By the way, almost all our materials are locally available, thereby cre-ating an export product from 100% local inputs. We recreate the traditional “selate” and “barabasso” shoes from a recycled car tyre to sole shoes.

Finot: Do you have lo-cal market?Bethlehem: We have opened a shop around Sar Bet, Adam’s Pavil-ion building for local consumers. However, most of our buyers are still foreigners.

Finot: What are your challenges in business?Bethlehem: It is not without hardships that I reached this far. Online business is risky but we minimize the risk by not producing large quantity for store. We do it on-demand basis. Second, local communities who would like to get a job are of-fered but they despise to start from the scratch and build their way up. So working on the attitude of some people to value work has been quite a challenge.

Finot: How do you see yourself now?Bethlehem: Thriving. I believe in myself and wanted to rec-reate that in others. We all can change the color of our country by working harder and creatively. I am a person who would not want to settle for less. I got some tempting opportunities to sell my organization for bigger companies. However, I decided never to get rid of my baby for immediate satisfaction. I want to see my baby grow bigger and I want to decide on my com-pany’s destiny not on a short-sighted immediate benefits but on the sustainable results.

Finot: Tell us about your international recognition?

Bethlehem: soleRebels is the first WFTO/IFAT FAIR TRADE certi-fied footwear firm and the number one footwear exporter to the US market. This marks us as the forerunner of a changing dynamic in Ethiopia, a his-toric and vital shift away from aid and towards trade as well as a critical push

to control our destiny by exporting higher value branded fin-ished goods instead of low value commodity exports. Recently,

soleRebels won $50,000 USD prize at Africa’s elite business awards and gained business icon Sir Richard Branson as new fan at the Africa Awards for entrepreneurship, sponsored by Legatum, the Omidyar Network, and Google!

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Corporate Social Responsibilities of the Business World

By Dawit Hailu, February 15, 2012

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is about understanding your business’ impact on the wider world and considering how you can use this impact in a positive way. It also means taking a responsible attitude, going beyond the minimum legal requirements and following straightforward principles that apply irrespective of the size of business. CSR is a global initiative and a human right issue. There are guiding principles on business and human rights by the United Nations “Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework recommendation. This recommendation states about governments duty and the corporate responsibility of business people.

Some take CSR as a business strategy, I take CSR as a poverty alleviation strategy. It is thinking for our neighbors and putting other people in mind when doing business. For me, it is being human to care for the less advantaged and benefiting others. Moreover, assuming CSR provides personal satisfaction.

In Ethiopia, CSR is not as such very well known by business entities nor given emphasis to make impact on others. Nevertheless, there are local initiatives such as tele-tone, fund raising for NGOs [lib himuman, autism, orphans, etc.] There is environmental protection for business organizations need to take into consideration if it affects the environment. Big projects are asked to incorporate HIV/AIDS in their proposal.

For Wudassie, our communities are: workplace, neighborhood, and government hospitals. We are commited to support local causes, involving within our local community and the wider environment initiatives. Caring for the health and well being of our staff and ensuring they have sufficient training and development is one way to address the workers community needs. Staff development involves training of staff members beyond the work related issues and providing training for weavers.

Second, WDC focuses on being actively involved in societal causes. Providing FREE CT scan for patients who could not afford to pay for the diagnosis service;

providing a feeding center; training to mothers of less privileged families, clothing for Christmas to juvenile prisoners; providing sandal shoes for less privileged children within our Kebele are some of the initiatives for community service.

How does WDC Benefit from the CSR? From workplace community perspective, WDC is a workplace that provides training to its staff members. This encourages workers in their personal development and increases personal belonging. Training takes place every six months and each employee is encouraged to have personal development plan. On the other hand, engaging in social programs has increased cohesion amongst staff members which in return created good working atmosphere therby increasing efficiency. Third, it gives WDC the opportunity to identify what type of skill we have and what kind of skill we need to acquire. Fourth, it gives us the opportunity to see the unseen gap within our community.

From the wider community perspective, WDC provides free CT scan services for those who come from government hospitals. Few chances are given to doctors to refer patients when they were found eligible.

PAGUME FOR HEALTH is a program that was started three years ago. All staff members were enthusiastically involved to provide free CT scan service to the poor who were referred by the health professionals from government hospitals. WDC writes to government hospitals about the provision and those who are eligible for the free scan service would benefit from this expensive diagnosis. Normally, one CT scan service costs about 1000 birr. Obtaining this opportunity for free is a dream come true for the poor.

From social responsibility perspective, it motivates us to see especially children, to come for a CT scan diagnosis and thereafter their lives changed due to identifying their health problems. It also benefits employees in different ways. Employees found it rewarding working for company that cares for the community. It avails the opportunity for employees to get them involved with lots of different less privileged people and handle massive cases within short period of time whereby increasing their efficiency. I believe we gain by building good will from the community and has increased efficiency of service provision. Goodwill also has its own business advantage. Hence, I encourage business entities to come up with their own ways of involving in communities both as a way of fulfilling their responsibilities and increasing demand for their business as well as to increase their satisfaction for living.

Finot would like to express its deep gratitude for the challenging experience sharing by the owner and General Manager of WDC - Wishing Ethiopia has multiplied Dawits who care for their communities as they succeed in business!

Use Your Business to serve your com

munity! “Man’s instinct for making

and amassing wealth…the profit motive…cannot be rooted

out from human nature either by the sword or by legislation. Let us make all the

legitimate profit we can, but, in doing so, let the basis of that profit be service to all concerned.

Idealism in practice should be characteristic of the Rotary movement.”

— That’s a Good Question, THE ROTARIAN, March 1963

Service above Self

1918

How to Prepare Business Plan for Small and Medium Enterprises

By Fisseha Shanko, February 22, 2012

Our forefathers, in the business community had successful business but never had as such a written plan. Why do we need to have it now? Big businesses of course use consul-tants to conduct feasibility study before they invest, but do small and medium enterprises need business plan?

Fisseha, the Treasurer of the Club, is the member speaker who is at present in the sercice sector who provides pro-curement, cusom clearance, stationary and other business-es. He presented how to prepare a business plan from both theoretical perspectives and practical experiences. Thanks Fish for the wonderful presentation and sharing your ups and downs in business with the Club members!

Business plan is a document compiled to reflect the vari-ous dimensions of a businesses like:

• Why the business plan is needed,• The objective of the business,• The business concept,• The operational process,• The outcome from the business, and• Forecasted problems with problem solving strate-

gies. It is also prepared to provide framework of long-term busi-ness prospective so as to reach new goals by separating into short-, medium- and long-term targets. If this is the case and the purpose, then why do many entre-preneurs or business people fail to have business plan? The following are major reasons not to develop business plans:• Lack of awareness of the value of a business plan,• Considering the preparation as a difficult task,• Absence of qualified staff,• Thinking that no need for it as market by its nature is

volatile, and• Some think that it is only useful to obtain bank loan.

Service above Self

The advantages of preparing business plan are:

• It shows or reflects the business situation,• It provides management framework to business and keep

track of performance and arising opportunities,• It provides information to business lenders, investors and

bankers,• It shows the feasibility of the business,• It shows all aspects of the business currently and into the

future,• It is a guide to the making of business decision, to change

or to modify the business.

“Some small and medium enterprises are now emergng fast but dying fast too. This is because the order of the day in doing business has changed. Hence, the wise investor would go for developing business plan to survive the current challenges and sustain the business.”

Service is our specialty

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In front of Yared Church,

on the way to M

eskel Flower

•Procurement Service• Customs Clearing Service• Lab Equipment and Chemicals• Stationary Supplies• OfficeMachinesandFurniture• Computers and Accessories• Gift Articles• TeMDrinkingWaterFilter• Books

FITS

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Tel 251-11-466-3489/93,Fax 251-11-4663490, P.O. Box 2107,

E-mail fits@ethionet.et

20

You Are a Dynamite!!! By Yodit Hizikiel,

February 29, 2012

Service above Self

A teacher by profession, Yodit won a Toast Master Award on public speech. Today she is here to motivate Finot members to unleash our power and live life in its fullest. Finot did not have to be a certifying body to recognize and appreciate Yodit’s ability and motivational speech. Thanks Yodit - the Dynamite!

Do you know what a dynamite is? A powerful explosive invented by Alfred Nobel. It is used for war and mining. It is a potential energy that is stored within a system.

Human beings are created with a lot of energy - Potential that is supposed to work by cultivating extraordinary power that are lie within us. These potenails are largely untapped but reside in all people. As Rotarians do you have talents not yet tapped? A balloon has a power but if you do not let it go, does nothing.

First, using your potential starts with how you look at yourself. What do you see when you look at your-self? Do you see a person with great potential or do you see incapable, tied, person? The way we see our-selves matter the way we act? When the cat sees itself, it sees a big lion. The perception of a lion in the cat

makes the cat act differently. Our eyes should be on the finishing end points, and not on our difficulties.

Second, to use your potential to the fullest, it requires taking a risk. What are the blocks that hinder us to take a step in our lives, to unleash the power within us? Usually, it is the fact that we would not like to take a risk to move out. We would rather stay in our place that are familiar. Fear is an incapacitating emotion that imprisons us not to cultivate our potential. Third, choosing complacency is

a hindrance not to explore what we can possibly do higher, bigger and better. Our potential is thwarted by the complacency of life. If you stay where you are, you’re not gonna get where you want to be. Take a risk!!! Either you succeed or fail. If you fail, you’ll discover that apporach did not work, so you will search another that works but don’t stay where you are.

Fourth, Eleanor Roosevell stated, “Do one thing that scares you everyday.” If you do it, it’s not gonna be scary any more. Hence to unleash our potential, we can work on our limitations

that binds us not to move forward, one day at a time.

Are you going to just sit there with all your potential...?

Words To Live By

It’s not how much you accomplish in lifethat really counts,

but how much you give to other.It’s not how high you build your dreams

that makes a difference,but how high your faith can climb.It’s not how many goals you reach,

but how many lives you touch.It’s not who you know that matters,

but who you are inside.Believe in the impossible,

hold tight to the incredible,and live each day to its fullest potential.

You can make a differencein your world.

~ Rebecca Barlow Jordan ~

“I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Honorary Rotarian, Thomas Edison,

Electric Bulb Inventor and owner of 1900 patents for

new products

“One person can make a difference and every person should try.”

President John F. Kennedy.

“Never, Never, Never, quit!”

Honorary Rotarian,

Winston Churchill

2322

An Overview of Common Neurological Disorders

By Tsega H. Orcutt, March 7, 2012

“To be relevant to the Ethiopian context, I tried to google and find in-formation on the pattern of neurological diseases, interventions avail-able, material/equipment and human resources. Unfortunately, not available in the web and the info I got through friends has some dif-ferences from the practice in the US.” Today’s guest speaker is Tsega H. Orcutt, RN, MSN, CNP who lives in USA and practices neurology. Finot is grateful to find such a brilliant professional.

Tsega started with explaining what neu-rological diseases are: These are diseas-es that affect central and peripheral ner-vous system, which include the brain, spinal cord, cranial nerves, peripheral nerves, nerve roots, autonomic nervous system, neuro-mus-cular junction, and muscles.

The diseases include epilepsy, Alzheimer disease, cerebrovascular dis-eases including stroke, migraine and other headache disorders, multi-ple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease (PD), neuro-infections, brain tumors, traumatic disorders of the nervous system such as brain trauma, and neurological disorders as a result of malnutrition.

To assess neurological disorders, thorough history and complete phys-ical exam are needed. Physical exam includes mental status, cranial nerves, heart, lung, abdomen, muscle strength, tone, coordination/gait/balance, sensation, and reflexes.

Diseases that affect Mental Status have an effect on: 1) Level of alertness 2) Language: fluency, repetition, naming, comprehension, reading and writing and 3) Memory: concrete thinking, abstraction, calculation, executive function.

Decreased Alertness: Causes could be due to lack of oxygen to the brain, high /low blood sugar, epilepsy (seizures), tumor, trauma (Eg. motor vehicle accidents), toxins – (Eg. Alcohol), cerebrovascular dis-ease, and others. Treatment varies depending on the underlying cause.

Epilespy is an abnormal firing of the brain cells that affects level of consciousness. In between seizure episodes, people experience normal neurological function. Worldwide, there are 50 million people who suf-fer from epilepsy, out of which 3 million are Americans; almost 90% are found in developing regions. Epilepsy responds to treatment 70% of the time and 75% of affected people in developing countries do not get the treatment they need. People with epilepsy and their families can suffer from stigma and discrimination in many parts of the world.

Language Problems: Causes could be due to cerebrovascular dis-ease (stroke or “brain attack), blood clot plugging blood vessel in the brain or breakage of a blood vessel in the brain. The acronym – FAST is used to describe stroke signs: Facial droop; Arm weakness; Speech changes and Time. Stroke can affect the language center, which can cause difficulty speaking or understanding. Brain tumor can also have similar effects. Treatment includes surgical intervention, medication, and rehab.

The WHO statistics shows that 15 million people suffer from stroke worldwide each year. Of these, 5 million die and another 5 million are permanently disabled. Each year in the U.S. > 700,000 strokes occur. It is the 3rd leading cause of death in the U.S. 75% of all strokes occur in people above age 65. High blood pressure contributes to more than 12.7 million strokes worldwide. Up to 80% of strokes are preventable. In developed countries, incidence is declining due to efforts to lower blood pressure and reduce smoking.

Memory Problems: Causes could be due to Dementia, a syndrome that can be caused by a number of progressive disorders that affect memory, thinking, behavior, and the ability to perform everyday activities. World-wide dementia is es-timated to increase to 65.7 million by 2030 and 115.4 mil-lion by 2050. Near-ly 66% live in low and middle income countries.

Most common form of dementia is Al-zheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s is NOT a normal part of ag-ing. It is the 6th lead-ing cause of death in the U.S. According to World Alzheimer Report, (2010) about 35.6 mil-lion people have dementia worldwide. 5.4 million Americans of all ages have AD (Alzheimer’s Association 2011). 5.2 million are 65 and older; 200,000 are under 65 (younger-onset Alzheimer’s). Medications are used to treat behavioral disturbances and improve cognition.

Movement Disorders are neurological disorders that cause involun-tary abnormal movements. Abnormally slow or excessive movements usually affect: walking, coordination, rapid alternating movements and fine motor movements such as, using utensils, writing, typing, knitting, shaving, buttoning and so forth. Parkinson’s Disease is a progressive neurodegenerative movement disorder that is caused by degeneration of dopamine cells in the brain. It is the 14th leading cause of death in the U.S. Worldwide, it is estimated that 4 - 6 million people suffer from PD. Prevalence and incidence rates of PD in Africa appears lower than Europe and North America. Various medications are used for treatment to control symptom. There is no cure or treatment to delay the progres-sion of the disease. Surgical treatment with Deep Brain Stimulation is also used.

Tremor Disorders, another common movement disorders, is a rhyth-mic and fluctuating movement of a body part with relatively constant frequency and variable amplitude. The most common one is Essential Tremor, which is a progressive neurological condition that causes a rhythmic trembling of the hands, head, voice, legs, or trunk. Predomi-nantly occurs with action and posture holding. Up to 50% of this is in-herited and there is no medication for it. Heart and seizure medications are used for symptom control. Surgical option is available with Deep Brain Stimulation.

Headache (HA) is another neurological problem. According to the In-ternational Headache Society, primary HAs are migraine, tension-Type, Cluster, and other primary headaches; and secondary HAs are various types of diseases that cause HAs like infection, head/neck trauma, sub-stance use or its withdrawal. Treatment consists of various oral (abortive and preventive) and injectable medications. Botox injections are also used.

Sleep Disorders: Insomnia is a Latin word, which means “no sleep.” It is the inability to fall asleep or remain asleep. Insomnia is also used to describe the condition of waking up not feeling restored or refreshed. Half of all those who have experienced insomnia blame the problem on stress and worry. Sometimes it is caused by pain, digestive problems, de-pression, anxiety, or other underlying medical, neurological, or mental conditions.

According to the National Center for Sleep Disorders Research at the National Institutes of Health, about 30-40% of adults have some symp-toms of insomnia within a given year. About 10-15% of adults say they have chronic insomnia. The treatment includes medications, behavioral therapy, stimulus control therapy, relaxation techniques, and establish-ing and maintaining healthy sleep habits.

In your bulletin, I read that March is Literacy Month – Literacy means knowledge, learning, mastery, familiarity, awareness, and understand-ing. So I urge you to increase your awareness of neurological disorders, epilepsy, and stroke signs – FAST. Monitor your blood pressure, control high blood pressure, set good example to others, and finally maintain healthy sleep habits.

Service above Self

2524

Minding the Mind Mx“”Mw�”uM! By Dr. Mehret Debede,

March 14, 2012

Service above Self

“Isn’t it surprising that we do not give attention to the mind though we use it everyday and lead our lives with it?”, said Dr. Mehret Debebe, a Psychiatrist by profession who lives in the USA, the guest speaker for March 14, 2012. Thanks Dr. Mehret for your thought provoking message for us to mind our mind!

Understanding this thing called, “The Mind” is a critical point in our lives. The mind-body connection has been argued to fig-

ure out one’s role in relation to the other.

Why is it accepted when some express love by putting spear in the heart and if one puts spear in the mind, he is considered murdering?

There was a Mexican guy who had heart transplant and he used to mention the name of a lady whom he did not know and expresses his love to his

wife in particular private moment mentioning that name. When discovered, the person whom he had his heart had a wife whose name this person was calling. Are our organ cells have brain storage? In the psycho-immunology study, smallpox, measles were considered to have a brain in their cells. How about our organs - do they have brain cells? Our brain is the headquarters of the mind but our other organs must register information too.

Some people try to compare the brain with man made computer in order to understand how the human brain functions. How-ever, we cannot compare them for a computer is created by hu-man and the emotional, reasoning, judging, valuing aspects of the brain is missing in computers.

It is said that the difference between a scientist and a technician is a scientist keeps on asking but when s/he stops asking, s/he becomes a technician. Meaning - a technician’s job is maintain-ing the status. We become maintenance workers when we stop asking, thinking inventively, inquiring for new things. Same as Children, who ask questions all the time. When they grow up, they reach a stage of being adults, and stop asking for they are now expected to “know.” It sounds ridiculous. Inquiring is one way we use our minds to invent.

Why do we have to think about the mind? Let me ask you a question. If we all Ethiopians go to German and send all the Germans to Ethiopia, what will happen to the two countries? Is it the physical place that matters or our attitudes, motivations and actions? We need to stop the “Blame Game!”

Today I want us to focus on the fundamental brain functions: First, Imagination. Children have great imaginations before they develop and become “adults”. Science fiction is the work of those people whose imaginations were stretched. Albert Ein-stein said, “Imagination is greater than knowledge for the later is limited but the former is unlimited. When we study cultural heritages such as Konso, we see their imagination which cre-ated their reality.

Second, Creativity. Wherever our imagination is, there goes our creativity. Creativity is lateral thinking. We cannot cre-ate what we have not imagined about. Patent rights are to be enforced by governments because people’s greed, laziness, ly-ing, and corruption limit creativity of those who would like to

stretch higher.

Third, Reason. Questioning and reasoning are very im-portant functions of the mind that help us to live an exam-ined life. The “Ws” and the “H” questions help us to debate and let our minds be sharpened. At times, Ethiopians feel intimidated when they are questioned, or feel bad if our ideas fight, or we personalize and start to attack others if they have different opinion. Round table discussion, one-to-one men-toring, reasoning are the ways we develop critical thinking. Have you ever questioned why the people who built Lalibela did not transfer the knowledge to others? Would that be an indicator that it could be done by foreigners? We need to explore and fight suppressive thinking for us to develop our mind. Not questioning is a sign of ignorance, not knowing.

Fourth, Attitude. This is an aspect of the mind that de-termines where we should go. It is a mind’s direction set-ter. Some hold the attitude of “You are innocent until you are proven guilty.” Others keep “You are guilty, until you are proven innocent.” How we operate is determined by our inner inclination towards life, people, service, etc. We can work on our attitudes and change it to the desired direc-tion. I believe we need to start with trust and not mistrust. It is more powerful to operate on trust and positive attitudes than downers. The eastern philosophy of law of attraction is sometimes taken too far. It has truth but not all truth. ViKtor Frankl’s book “Man’s search for meaning” states that the ultimate human freedom is the freedom to control our attitude toward the situations we inherit. We do not have to respond to stimuli like Pavlovian dogs. No one can take this ultimate freedom away.

Fifth, Motivation. This is a fuel for mind. Why do you do the things you do? What ticks you? Fear of punishment, reward, obligation to fulfill responsibilities given, or others? One thing I believe in is that human beings would not thrive if their motivating factor is fear. The brain operates in free-dom, which includes thinking, imagination, creativity and expression.

Sixth, Language. This is the facilitator of brain use. It is the power of language that determines civilization, under-standing, and communication. Learning language is a cru-cial factor for brain development. People develop as they express themselves with languages. This is the best way we communicate with the outer world.

Seventh, Knowledge and Wisdom. This is the highest stage whereby data is translated into information then we acquire knowledge and when we live out what we know as

truth, wisdom is gained with novelty.

Decisive discipline of the mind includes thinking, praying, asking/listening, debating/discussing, planning/implement-ing, reading/writing, researching/experimenting.

I would like to urge the Club members to know, think and use consciously your mind and make the most out of it for that is what directs our lives. Mind your mind! Mx“”Mw�”uM!

2726

Scaling up literacy is accelerating national efforts against poverty. In this regard, since 1905, Ethiopia is fighting against illiteracy through various approaches including organizing a campaign, project and integrat-ed functional literacy programme.

Nevertheless, there is still a long way ahead to make a literacy programme worth to life and livelihoods. Build-ing on the minds of the communities, is building on helping communities realize and act on their problems. In order to realize this, the context of learning, the cul-ture of learning and the commitment to learning shall be the key road map of the program.

When formal education started in Ethiopia during the fourth century, Christianity was the recognized reli-gion. The church controlled all education for about 1,500 years.

Educational opportunities were seen as the preserve of Ethiopia’s ruling urban minority. However that ended and public education became an option for all citizens and modern education started in 1898 EC.

Prior to 1974, Ethiopia had an estimated illiteracy rate well above 90% and compared poorly with the rest of Africa in the provision of schools and universities. Af-ter 1974 revolution, emphasis was placed on increasing functional literacy in rural areas. By 1995 the rate of il-literacy had dropped substantially to 64.5%. According to the World Bank, the literacy rate of youth, total (% of people ages 15-24) in Ethiopia was reported at 44.61 in 2008. Youth literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15-24 who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life.

Hence, we have long way to improve illiteracy and use literacy for personal and societal change.

Literacy vs. Illiteracy Crisis By Samuel Asnake,

March 21, 2012

Rotary International designated the month of March for Literacy. Hence Finot invited a guest who would speak on the direct subject matter by relating it to the Ethiopian context. Samuel Asnake is an Education Specialist who works at UNESCO with the education sector. Finot feels honored to have him present on this interesting topic. Appreciate it, Samuel!

Literacy may mean many things to many people, to the illiterate or to the literate. In its narrow sense, basic literacy is about maintaining meaningful com-munication and interaction through reading and writ-ing. In its border sense, however, literacy is empower-ment. In literacy for empowerment, the core matter is not the learning output but the joint planning and process toward the desired results; personal or com-munity. Literacy is a dynamic asset; continuum in personal and social capital for better change within lifelong learning process. No single literacy model en-ables mankind live safe and better.

Hence, genuine planning to empower learning is far beyond attendance and curriculum completion. It em-phasizes on the learner’s liberty, critical thinking and action on the “why?” the “what?” and then, the “then what?” of the subject and object of learning. If not, literacy efforts will hardly bring about added value on the learner and the nation.

In reality, illiteracy is not the end of life nor literacy is the magic bullet for better life. However, unless treated well, both may lead one to a stage of crisis on their own way. While the illiteracy crisis emanates from being marginalized and disadvantaged to the opportunity for learning to empower; literacy crisis emanates from the narrow concept of literacy and its dysfunctionality for personal and social change. In such a context, the value and motive for literacy and learning declines, assertiveness and the power of reasoning get halted, productivity and transformation get weak.

Service above Self

2928

Safe and Secure ComputingBy Genet Tesfaye,

March 28, 2012Genet is an Information Technology (IT) specialist, who works at FAO. She was the Past President of Finot and current-ly the Club Trainer. We are thrilled to have Geni to share her vocation with the members. Thanks Geni!

Computers are enablers used either as a standalone or net-worked. In either case proper care should be taken to protect data and avoid service disrup-tion. Networked can be two or more computers sharing resources. The sharing can be typically via a local area newtork or an enterprise Intranet, trans-parently as if it were a resource in the local mahcine.

Information techonology has become intermingled with busi-ness processes and an enabler for companies. Organizations have become so dependent on technology that an interruption of these IT processes can have direct effect on productivity. Mobile phone is a simple dependency example. Hence, we need a safe, stable and se-cure computing; with protection, monitoring and maintaining.

Protection: Computer system needs just as much protection from Internet viruses that own body needs from the viruses that affect us. Without proper prevention and protection, your computer could ac-quire an infection and that infection could damage your computer beyond repair.

Not only must you think in terms of protecting the data on your computer, but also protect personal identity from computer hackers, identity thieves and physical protection.

What should we do to protect computers?• Protect against theft /loss or damage• Install a good anti-virus and regularly update to protect

against virus, spyware / malware • Patch / update to protect against vulnerabilities• Install only what you need to use to prevent attack to your

computer. • Disable services not in use• Choose strong passwords and take good care of your pass-

words• Avoid clicking on URLs or links in which you do not know

where they go or where they come from• Avoid opening e-mail if you do not recognize the sender• Scan attachments in your e-mail before opening• Avoid opening any files you do not know the contents of• Be careful of the websites that you visit• Avoid downloading any program from a website that you are

not familiar with• Minimize the Use of Administrator Accounts / use lower priv-

ilege account• Apply Firewall ; which is a fence to the network or local PC• Regular backup of data /files; make it secured [To an external

media; consider off site storage]• Try to use web filtering tools• Apply e-mail /spam filtering• In an enterprise or critical system, avoid single point of failure

-- Always have plan B /option B /Way B

Monitoring: The importance of monitoring can be illustrated by relating it with the health status of a human being. The differ-ent parts of a human body should function properly so as to stay healthy. If one organ fails, the person’s day today activity may be disrupted based on the severity of the failure as well as which part of the body is. In order to prevent this, a regular check-up is required. Likewise a computer or an enterprise networked system requires a regular check-up.

Monitoring also helps to forecast future requirement of the system, helps avoid major/critical problems, helps to visualize usage, helps detect intrusion.

What should be monitored?• Status of anti-virus scan and its logs• Regular check for updates • Status of backup • Log files which give indication on the health of system• Critical Resources on Servers, routers, switches, firewalls:• CPU usage – Ensure that a processor’s usage does not go

beyond a certain level • Disk drive – Monitor the physical status of the disk • Disk space usage– Check if sufficient disk space is available • Memory utilization-- info about physical and virtual

memory • Log file size – Monitor the size of particular critical log files. • Network services (SMTP, HTTP, ….)• Device / host availability• LAN /Internet bandwidth utilization• Network traffic and activity monitoring• Check bandwidth consuming applications, protocols, and

users. • Network performance/capacity• Response time • End to end latency (between source and destination)• Network audit which is basically security• Configuration changes on devices• Shared drives/applications• Device access logs • Device physical security

Service

Before the ComputerAn application was for employmentA program was a TV showA cursor used profanityA keyboard was a piano!Memory was something that you lost with ageA CD was a bank account! And if you had a broken disk, it would hurt when you found out!Compress was something you did to garbage, not something you did to a file; And if you unzipped anything in public, You’d be in jail for a while!Log on was adding wood to a fire; Hard drive was a long trip on the road; A mouse pad was where a mouse lived and a backup happened to your commode! Cut--you did with a pocket knife; Paste you did with glue;A web was a spider’s home; and a virus was the flu!I guess I’ll stick to my pad and paper and the memory in my headI hear nobody’s been killed in a computer crash But when it happens they wish they were dead!

3130

above Self

Fellowship @ Jossy & Netsi. Congratulation on the arrival of your baby boy!

Tony Sharma, Guest from a Rotary Club of Tower Hamlets

Visit and presentation by the Incoming Country Chair, Rtn. Nasru

Water Project at Sibusire completed

Country Chair, Rtn Teshome Awarded Certifi-cate of Recogniton to Finot for its contributions

to the fund raising of the National Rotary Office and its role in the National Rotary Day.

32 33

The Rotary International Guide for memberships states that a comprehensive membership development plan must incorporate well-developed strategies for retention, recruitment and organizing new clubs. To keep pace with the growing need for service or to remain relevant to the needs and interests of Rotary club members, increasing the number of members was paramount.

One of the criteria for effective clubs is sustaining and growing membership. Finot has become a living proof for that. This quarter, we have increased the numbers of our club members by two and inducted one. The active participation of the new members provided new flavor to Finot both in the club meetings, fellowship as well as community services. New Member Orientation Kit was produced by the Club Trainer which has the club’s information; information on the District 9200 and general Rotary International materials.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Rtn. Yohannes Berhe, from Rotary Club of Muenga, Uganda who donated ten Rotary International pins to be given to the new members upon induction.

Finot established a system whereby new potentials are assigned to be mentored and when they express interest to join the club, the Rotarian who brought them will request the Board to approve the membership of the candidate. Upon approval of the Board and the club members, the Club Trainer provides orientation training. This will be followed by induction ceremony. Finot inducted Rahel Kassa this quarter. Inducted to serve!

As part of continued membership development and the Club Trainer’s plan for the five-minutes yearly program, in this quarter, twelve different topics on Rotary were addressed by assigned members.

Service above Self

“Team work is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments towards common objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncom-mon results.”

Andrew Carnegie

The Club Membership DirectorKuri Kebede

Membership, a Way to Service

34

One of the precious moments of Rotary’s life is In-duction. Potential Rotarians are invited after infor-mally examining their life and love to give. Friends or acquaintances are allowed to taste the flavor of club service, projects and fellowship amongst Ro-tarians. When they decide to be part of the Rotary world, they join Rotary with elaborate ceremony and public commitment to provide service above self and lead an examined ethical life.

Rotarian Fesseha invited Rahel Kassa and that club could never be the same ever after. A person with vigor, enthusiasm, and heart for the less advantaged. Rahel has shown remarkable commitment before in-ducted to the Club and her energy to mobilize others has an added value not only in terms of membership increment, but also in using networks to serve the poor.

We are honored to have Rahel. Her friends and fam-ily members highlighted the induction ceremony and the dinner afterwards at Villa Verde.

3736

As part of utilizing one’s vocation to commu-nity services, Finot members in collaboration with Gulele Sub-city provided training to thirty selected orphans at Debre Selam School. Pres-ident Seble, Rtn. Kuri and Rtn Genet Tadesse provided two-days training on life skills, re-productive health and HIV and AIDS.

Finot has given due attention to the projects it is implementing. The club meeting dedicated five minutes to update project activities, pro-posals and implementations. Moreover, five project proposals are posted on project links of the RI and awaiting for funding.

It is to be recalled that Finot signed an MOU with RC of Columbia-Patuxent to dig eight wa-ter wells in Gondar. At present, TRF approved the Project for 26,777 USD. Hence, the project may begin immediately after the rainy season is over.

The Rotary Club of Tacoma #8 (D5020) and Finot (D9200) in partnership with The World Vision International Water Project implement-ed a water project to increase access to po-table water to several communities in critical need of water; reduce water related diseases through the provision of safe drinking water, sanitation facility and hygiene education, re-duce burden of water collection on women and children, and provide water for livestock especially at the time of drought. This water project was implemented in Guraghe, Sibu-Sire, and Minjar districts from October 2009 to January 2012.

Finot has also submitted a project proposal on women economic empowerment which will be implemented by The Ethiopian Assemblies of God Church Aid and Development Association (EAGC-ADA). This process is now being re-viewed by TRF.

As per the focus of the last six months, Finot initiated many projects which are encourag-ing and we will maintain those in the coming quarter.

“Consciously or unconsciously, everyone of us does render some service or another. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadi-ly grow stronger, and it will make not only for our own happiness, but that of the world at large.”

Mahatma Gandhi

Service above Self

The Club Service DirectorHikma Ali

Service: The Timely Focus

38

Rotarians are willing to devote their vocation to serve their communities. Along with club, new generation, international and community services, vocational ser-vice is one of the avenues of services that encourage Ro-tarians to serve others through their vocations and to practice high ethical standards.

Rotary club of Finot members initiated a project to use their vocation in service of their communities. In col-laboration with Gulele Sub-City, Kebele 17 about thirty

orphans, 12-20 age range were selected by the lo-cal administration and two days life skill, repro-ductive health and HIV/AIDS training were given by three members: Sr. Kuri Kebede, Sr. Genet Tadesse and Seble Hailu

from January 14-15, 2012.

The meeting was opened by Ato Ephreme, the Bureau of Women, Youth and Children Affairs Representative.

“As you can see me, I am visually impaired. I came from a poor family in the rural area. My only way to flee from poverty was if I was determined to go to school. This meant, I had to leave my fam-ily and come to a city. In spite of the hurdles I faced, I made it through high school and to university. I am telling you my story to encourag you that nothing should stand between you and the place you want to reach. Being an orphan will definitely af-fect your life very much, but I want to instill hope in you to go beyond your circumstances and aspire high and be determined to reach your goal. You can because I could.”

The Club President, Ro-tarian Seble took the first session and started with self-esteem. Rtn. Genet focused on HIV/AIDS and Rtn. Kuri on reproductive health. In-teractive learning meth-odology was used which increased the participa-tion of the children. Finot

covered the expenses of the training.

Service above Self

The Object of RotaryThe Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy en-terprise and, in particular, to en-courage and foster:

1. The development of acquain-tance as an opportunity for service;

2. High ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignifying of each Rotar-ian's occupation as an oppor-tunity to serve society;

3. The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian's personal, business, and com-munity life;

4. The advancement of interna-tional understanding, good-will, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.

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The 7 Habits of Highly Happy People

Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be - Abraham Lincoln

1. Be a Part of Something You Believe In – This could be anything. People may take an active role in their local city council, find refuge in religious faith, join a social club supporting causes they believe in, or find passion in their careers. In each case the physiological outcome is the same. They engage themselves in something they strongly believe in. This engagement brings happiness and meaning into their lives.

2. Share Timewith Friends and Family– A happy life is a life shared with friends and family. The stronger the personal re-lationships are and the higher the frequency of interaction, the happier a person will be.

3. ReflectontheGood – Quite often people concentrate too much of their attention on negative outcomes and leave no time to positively reflect on their successes. It is natural for a person to want to correct undesirable circumstances and focus closely on doing so, but there must be a healthy balance in the allocation of personal awareness. It is important to mindfully reflect on the good while striving diligently to correct the bad. A continuous general awareness of your daily successes can have a noticeably positive affect on your overall emotional happiness.

4. Exploit theResourcesYouDoHaveAccess To – The average person is usually astonished when they see a physically handi-cap person show intense signs of emotional happiness. How could someone in such a restricted physical state be so happy? The answer rests in how they use the resources they do have. Steve Wonder couldn’t see, so he exploited his sense of hearing into a passion for music, and he now has twenty-five Grammy Awards to prove it.

5. CreateHappyEndingsWheneverPossible – The power of end-ings is quite remarkable. The end of any experience has a pro-found impact on a person’s overall perception of the experience as a whole. Think about reading a fairly well written, thought provoking novel. Now imagine the ending totally sucks. Even if the story was captivating up until the ending, would you still be happy recommending the novel to a friend? People always remember the ending. If the ending is happy, the experience creates happiness. Always tie loose ends, leave things on a good note, and create happy endings in your life whenever possible.

6. UsePersonal Strengths toGet ThingsDone – Everyone pos-sesses unique personal strengths. We all have different talents and skill sets. Emotional happiness comes naturally to those who use their strengths to get things done. The state of comple-tion always creates a sense of achievement. If this achievement is based exclusively on your own personal ability to get the job done, the physiological rewards are priceless.

7. Savor the Natural Joy of Simple Pleasures – The best things in life are free. They come in the form of simple pleasures and they appear right in front of you at various locations and ar-bitrary times. They are governed by Mother Nature and situ-ational circumstance and captured by mindful awareness. It’s all about taking a moment to notice the orange and pink sunset reflecting off the pond water as you hold hands with someone you love. Noticing these moments and taking part in them regu-larly will bring unpredictable bursts of happiness into your life.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective PeopleStephen R. Covey

Habit 1 Be Proactive: Principles of Personal Vision

“Taking initiative does not mean being pushy, obnoxious, or ag-gressive. It does mean recognizing our responsibility to make things happen.”

Habit 2BeginwiththeEndinMind:PrinciplesofPersonalLeadership

“(This habit)...is based on imagination-- the ability to envision, to see the potential, to create with our minds what we cannot at pres-ent see with our eyes...”

Habit 3PutFirstThingsFirst:PrinciplesofPersonalManage-ment

“Create a clear, mutual understanding of what needs to be accom-plished, focusing on what, not how; results not methods. Spend time. Be patient. Visualize the desired result.”

Habit 4ThinkWin/Win:PrinciplesofInterpersonalLeadership.

“Win-Win is a frame of mind that constantly seeks mutual benefit in all human interactions. Win-Win means that agreements or solu-tions are mutually beneficial and satisfying.”

Habit 5SeekFirsttoUnderstand,ThentobeUnderstood:Prin-ciples of Interpersonal Communication

“’Seek First to Understand’ involves a very deep shift in paradigm. We typically seek first to be understood. Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. They’re either speaking or preparing to speak. They’re filtering ev-erything through their own paradigms, reading their autobiography into other people’s lives.”

Habit 6Synergize: Principles of Creative Communication

“Synergy works; it’s a correct principle. It is the crowning achieve-ment of all the previous habits. It is effectiveness in an interdepen-dent reality-- it is teamwork, team building, the development of unity and creativity with other human beings.”

Habit 7Sharpen the Saw: Principles of Balanced Self-Renewal

“This is the habit of renewal...It circles and embodies all the other habits. It is the habit of continuous improvement...that lifts you to new levels of understanding and living each of the habits.”

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The Rotary Foundation has been engaged in testing a new model to transform its grant-making activities since 2010-11. All clubs and districts will begin using the new structure starting 2013-14. The plan calls for a new grants structure, with two kinds of grants: 1. District Grants offer clubs and districts

flexibility in carrying out activities that support the Foundation’s mission. Districts are encouraged to distribute these grant funds for relatively short-term activities, either local or international. Districts can request up to 50 percent of their District Designated Fund (DDF) in one annual block grant. Districts are responsible for administering the activities undertaken with these funds, with minimal involvement from the Foundation. The district may disperse these grant funds at their discretion for district- or club-sponsored activities.

2. Global Grants support large projects that have a sustainable, measurable impact related to one or more of the six areas of focus:

• Peace and conflict prevention/resolution• Disease prevention and treatment• Water and sanitation• Maternal and child health• Basic education and literacy• Economic and community development

Clubs and districts can either create their own global grant activities or sponsor packaged global grants developed by The Rotary Founda-tion in cooperation with its strategic partners. Clubs and districts can utilize the DDF or cash contributions to fund global grant activities and receive a match from the Foundation. The minimum award amount from the World Fund (WF) for a global grant is $15,000, which results in a minimum total financing of $30,000. The WF award is based on a 100 percent match of DDF allocations ($1.00:$1.00) or a 50 percent match of cash contributions ($0.50:$1.00).

As one of the Future Vision qualified Club, Fi-not renewed its MOU with District 9200, hence benefiting from the DDF by submitting propos-als.

Serviceabove Self

The Club Rotary Foundation Director - Yoseph Tilahun

New Grant Structure of The Rotary Foundation

“The difference between who you ARE and who you WANT to BE

is what YOU DO”

44

An old man walking along the river bank suddenly spotted a boy

drowning in the river. The man started shouting “HELP! HELP! I can’t swim”, a man

passing by the road shouted back “Will you ever grow up! I also can’t ride a bicycle but you’ll never hear me yelling

about it in the street”

The drunken defendant appears yet again before the tired judge, who says, “You have

been constantly appearing before me for the past twenty years.” Replied the drunk: “Can I help it if you can’t

get promoted?”

Qn: What do you call a woman who knows where her husband is 24 hours a

day/seven days a week? Ans: A widow.

The teacher asked little Peter; “If I have 5 mangoes in one hand and five mangoes

in the other, what do I have?”“ Big Hands, “ said Peter.

A couple is sitting on the porch sip-ping wine. The wife says, “I love you.”

The husband says, “Is that you or the wine talking?”The wife replies, “It’s me, talking to the

wine.”

It’s all in the punctuation:An English professor wrote the words, “Woman without her man is nothing” on the blackboard and directed his students to punc-tuate it correctly.The men wrote: “Woman, without her man, is nothing.”The women wrote: “Woman: Without her, man is nothing.”

A beautiful, good looking lady was sitting next to a guy in a plane...... The lady said to him ‘ Can you help me remove some-thing from my breast please? ‘The excited young man replied, ‘Wow! It will be my pleasure....... So what is it?’ “Your Eyes, idiot!”

The old man had died. A wonderful funeral was in prog-ress and the town’s preacher talked at length of the good traits of the deceased, what an honest man he was, and what a loving husband and kind father he was. Finally, the widow leaned over and whispered to one of her chil-dren, “Go up there and take a look in the coffin and see if that’s your pa.”

A man goes to the police station wanting to speak to the burglar who broke into his house the night before. ‘You’ll get your chance in court,’ says the desk sergeant.‘No, no, no! Says the man. ‘I want to know how he got into the house without waking my wife. I’ve been trying to do that for years!’

A college student challenged a senior citizen, saying it was impossible for their generation to understand his. “You grew up in a different world,” the student said. “Today we have television, jet planes, space travel, nuclear en-ergy, computers…” Taking advantage of a pause in the student’s litany, the geezer said, “You’re right. We didn’t have those things when we were young; so we invented them! What are you doing for the next generation??”

4746

Each Rotary club is responsible to raise Rotary’s public profile as one of its re-sponsibilities. As we endeavor for Rota-ry’s awareness, we can increase member-ship, services we render to communities and sensitize members to what is going on in the world around us.

In the RI publications we read that pub-lic relations is the function of each Rotar-ian and it strengthens awareness of club activities for the general public and club members.

Hence, in addition to developing a web-site and updating it quarterly, producing a brochure and disseminating it, each Ro-tarian has to promote the good work of Rotary by:• Wearing a Rotary pin everyday;• Understanding and discussing the Ob-

ject of Rotary and Rotary programs and activities;

• Sharing the good works of the club and Rotary with non-Rotarians through personal and professional contacts.

Success comes to people who can com-municate effectively. Be it in writing or oral, those who can deliver memorable messages that motivate others are more likely to become leaders. We increase our credibility when we are accountable for our projects and publicize whatever we do. People develop trust as we operate transparently with no agenda other than service above self.

Service above Self

The Club Public Relations Director - Tehut Tesfaye

Raising Rotary’s Public Profile

“In the promotion of understanding, it is important

to reach large numbers: non-Ro-tarians as well as Rotarians – and you cannot reach large numbers privately.”

– Paul Harris, Founder of Rotary

48

Finot Rotary Clubmeets every Wednesday

from 18:30-19:30 @Bole Ambassador Hotel

finotet@gmail.comfinotrotary@yahoogroups.com

+251-911-606055

Finot is a quarterly Newsletter that is distributed amongst Rotarians and business people in Addis Aba-ba. It contains club’s news, activities, services and other general information about Rotary.

This is the second issue of the third volume from Jan-uary to March 2012. We appreciate if you take time to read and give us your feedback. We believe this will contribute to advance Rotary in Ethiopia.

The Editorial.

Tel:-011-442 -2464;011-443-1738

Fax:-011-440-2104andnet@ethionet.et

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