100 TH ROTARY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION, 2009 National Exposition Center, Birmingham, England

Birmingham a city of old and new

Birmingham Canals and Canal Boats There are more miles of canals in Birmingham than in Venice

The NEC 21 halls totaling 200,000sqm of exhibition space on a 650-acre site…the biggest exhibition centre in the UK.

The Rotarians…an estimated 33,000

Rotary Peace Symposium… Desmond Tutu Tutu shared how he envisions God looking down on His creation and crying when He sees all the bad things His children are doing to each other. But, Tutu said, then God looks again and sees Rotary. “God begins to smile through His tears, and the sun shines through. God says that is exactly why I created them, for goodness,” Tutu said. “You and I are created for goodness. You are helping wipe the tears from God’s eyes.”

Make Dreams Real… Rotarians bought a sticker for 5£ and left a message to end polio now!

The House of Friendship This is where you find out how vast and diverse Rotary really is…

Projects all over the world

Exchanges

A Rotary Group for all possible interests…

Opening Plenary parade of flags

Opening Plenary and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon

Deepa Willingham from Santa Ynez Valley Rotary Club founder of Pace Universal Half the human population living on less than $2 a day More than 1.5 billion people living with no access to clean water More than 2.6 billion people living with no access to proper sanitation 26,000 children dying each day from preventable causes More than 134 million children not going to school on an annual basis More than 300,000 children getting engaged as soldiers against their wishes More than two million children, mostly girls, getting sold each year as slaves or for the sex trade

The Paul Harris Fellows’ Tea and the President Elects’ Luncheon The Paul Harris Fellow recognition is somewhat different I the UK than here in the U.S. A lot of discussion on what all the new presidents wanted to do for their clubs.

The Plenary Sessions… Mia Farrow on polio and the struggle Darfur

The Plenary Sessions…Jane Goodall and Roots and Shoots Roots & Shoots groups plan and implement service projects showing care and concern for people, animals and the environment.

The Breakout Sessions This particular one was the Inter-Country Committees (ICC) “The Road to Peace”. It was reported that there are approximately 800 Rotarians actively engaged in conflict resolution around the world. The panelists came from four continents.

The Warwick Castle

Chris aka… Christine

Closing Plenary Session RI President John Kenney

Theme…