Dear fellow Rotarians,
First week of September was quite traumatic for me, like all of you. We lost two Rotarians to died in road accident while on way to help flood victims of Chandpur. They were IPDS PP Munawwar Ahmad of RC Chittagong and Rtn. Shahedul Alam Quadery of RC Agrabad. I personally shared the agony of the near and dear ones of late Rtn. Munawwar, while he was in Appollo Hospital between September 4-6. Rtn. Quadery died on the spot on 4th September. We also lost PP Prof. Md. Abdur Rab of RC Faridpur while he was on way to club meeting on 3rd September. We mourn their deaths deeply. May Allah bless their souls and grant strength to their family members to bear this loss. I also wrote personal letters to their family.
Besides, the plight of the people badly affected by flood all over country also cast a spell of sadness on all Rotarians. But I must say, as always, Rotary clubs in the District came all out to help these unfortunate people. In addition, this year they also contributed to District Relief Fund. Big donor clubs were R.C. Dhaka North West who donated TK. 1 lac, RC Metropolitan Dhaka, Dhaka Midtown, Dhanmondi Dhaka, Dhaka Premier all donated TK-50,000.00 each. Rtn. PDG Salim Reza made a generous donation of TK-50,000.00. Asstt. Governor Rtn. Rashed Chowdhury donated TK-10,000.00. Details of receipt will be published in the next GML.
I also put on record our heart felt gratitude to American Chamber of Commerce for donating Tk. 6 lac towards our post-flood rehabilitation program. In addition to a donation of Tk. 5 lac to the Chief Advisors Relief Fund, we plan to undertake a permanent rehabilitation program of affected handloom owners (Taxis) of Serajgonj in collaboration with the Ministry of Industries. We plan to spend at least Tk. 12 lac in the project.
However, we also have some good news - the District Web Site www.rotarydistrict3280.org was designed properly and formally inaugurated on 13th September thanks to R.C. Dhaka who responded to my request to sponsor and accept the responsibility of designing and technical management.
Finally, this is the New Generation Month and we are reminded of our responsibility to mentor them and be an example to them. We should also do something tangible- some projects that would help them shape their lives.
Please take our world leader R.I. President's call to attend the R.I. Convention in L.A. in right earnest.
Rafiq Ahmed Siddique
