Bits and Bytes from the RI Website

• The Rotary International Board of Directors has changed the tentative site of the 2009 RI Convention from Seoul to Birmingham, England. The event was provisionally scheduled in Seoul for 21-24 June 2009. The change was necessary because some segments of the planning for the convention were behind schedule. These delays and other associated issues hindered the ability of local Rotary clubs to organize and host such a large-scale, international meeting.

• President William B. Boyd and General Secretary Ed Futa presided over the election of the new RI officers (at the Salt Lake convention). The highlight came when the voting delegates cast their ballots for Dong Kurn Lee of the Rotary Club of Seoul-Hangang, Seoul, Korea, for president of RI in 2008-09. Lee will be RI’s first president from Korea. Mr. Lee is chairman of the Bubang Co. Ltd. and Bubang Techron Co. Ltd. manufacturing companies in Seoul and a former trustee of the Bank of Seoul. In 2005, Republic of Korea President Roh Moo-hyun appointed him as an international goodwill ambassador. Inspired by the volunteer work of his father, the late Won-gap Lee, Mr. Lee joined Rotary in 1971. He served as a director of Rotary International and a trustee of The Rotary Foundation, which is supported solely by voluntary contributions and works to improve health, support education and alleviate poverty. He has also volunteered for a variety of jobs around the world to oversee a follow-up project for Rotary International.Korea has the fourth-largest number of Rotarians after the United States, Japan, and India.

• Ray Klinginsmith, chair of the 2008 Convention Committee, invites Rotarians to join him next June in Los Angeles. More than 3,000 people have already registered.

• Bringing Clean Water and Hope for a Better Future: A recent RI Foundation Matching Grant allowed Rotarians in India to provide 36 hand wells to rural villages in Andhra Pradesh state where there is a severe shortage of water. Access to clean water will improve the quality of life for those living in these villages by helping to prevent disease and alleviate poverty. In partnership, the Rotary clubs of Vinukonda Central, India (D3150), and Castle Hill, Australia (D9680), have not only brought safe drinking water to these communities but improved health and hope for a better future as well. Every Rotarian, every project, and every contribution makes a difference every year.