Everything You Didn’t Know about Rotaract France
Rotaract France comprises of 18 districts, out of which districts 1510, 1660, 1690, 1700, 1730, 1720, 1750 and 1760 are part of Rotaract Mediterranean. Right before its annual convention that is taking place online this weekend, and before their presentation of #FreeIC at the Rotaract Post-Convention, we present Rotaract France to you.
Rotaract France has been an RI-recognized MDIO since 1994. This MDIO includes the 18 French districts (France, Andorra, and Monaco). In addition to the 18 districts, Rotaract France is made up of 110 Rotaract clubs and more than 1500 Rotaractors.
Rotaract France has three main missions:
– Inform
– Contact
– Serve
Overview
Rotaract France was founded in 1988 under the leadership of Lionel Bourgue (Rotaract Club of Lyon) and the 13 Rotaract District Representatives of the time before being officially chartered in 1994 at the national convention in Clermont-Ferrand. Rotaract France was created to allow each Rotaract club to benefit from the experience and help of others.
Today, Rotaract France brings together the 18 districts in its area. Numerous events (National Coordination and National Convention) are organized throughout the Rotary year to allow Rotaractors to meet each other. In addition to networking, these events provide opportunities for Rotaractors to receive training, attend conferences, discover new cities and regions of France, and learn about Rotaract news and the various MDIOs to which French Rotaractors belong (Rotaract France, Rotaract Europe, and Rotaract Mediterranean).
Understanding how Rotaract France works
The national office is composed of 12 entities: the national coordinator, the national secretary, the treasurer, the vice-national coordinator, the national action manager, the training manager, the communication manager, the shop & awards manager, the Country Representative Europe, the Country Representative Mediterranean and the appointed coordinator. You can discover the current team here.
At each national convention, a coordinator is elected and appointed. At the same convention, which takes place in June to close the year, the elected coordinator presents the National Team of the Year.
Each year, the national team presents one or more national actions. These national projects are managed by the Rotaract France national projects committee, which will promote and inform districts and clubs of the year’s projects. This year, the national projects chair has proposed to the French districts to work for:
– Life Straws and Fountains of Life: Operation Life Straw is a project carried out in several regions of Africa. The Life Straw is a straw designed to enable people to drink all liquids by making them drinkable thanks to an integrated filter system: muddy water, polluted liquid, parasitized, etc. Rotaract clubs raised more than $20,000 for the project.
– Children under Dialysis: The aim of this action is to get closer to hospitals that take in children under dialysis in order to spend time with sick children, whose days are long and trying.
Training weekend
The training weekend, proposed at the end of August early September, was created to allow a meeting with the national team and the DRRs. During this weekend, participants will benefit from trainings, presentations and cohesions activities.
National Coordination Weekend
Rotaract France proposes 2–3 national coordinations each year. These are selected in the previous year after an election following a call for nominations from clubs and districts.
The national coordinators bring together between 150 and 200 Rotaractors from all over France who come to a given location for a weekend. The event includes training, conferences,a social project, cohesions activities, and a gala evening; all of which is an opportunity to get to know each other and develop new friendships.
National Convention Weekend
Every year, the Rotaract France National Convention is held. This convention takes place at the end of June and beginning of July and allows the end of the Rotary year and the change of national office.
This convention is an opportunity to take stock of the year and to end it in beauty. As with the national coordination, a club or district hosts the event over the weekend. This weekend will also be composed of conferences, training workshops, cohesions activities, a social project and a gala evening. The gala evening will be used to present the awards to the winners of the year. This weekend is an opportunity to make a transfer of responsibilities with the change of national office.
Photo credits to the rightful owners.
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