“WHATEVER ROTARY MAY MEAN TO US, TO THE WORLD IT WILL BE KNOWN BY THE RESULTS IT ACHIEVES.”
—PAUL P. HARRIS
Our 1.2 million-member organization started with the vision of one man—Paul P. Harris. The Chicago attorney formed one of the world’s first service organizations, the Rotary Club of Chicago, on 23 February 1905 as a place where professionals with diverse backgrounds could exchange ideas and form meaningful, lifelong friendships. Rotary’s name came from the group’s early practice of rotating meetings among the offices of each member.
OUR ONGOING COMMITMENT
Rotarians have not only been present for major events in history—we’ve been a part of them. From the beginning, three key traits have remained strong throughout Rotary:
We’re truly international. Only 16 years after being founded, Rotary had clubs on six continents. Today we’re working together from around the globe both digitally and in-person to solve some of our world’s most challenging problems.
We persevere in tough times. During WWII, Rotary clubs in Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, and Japan were forced to disband. Despite the risks, many continued to meet informally and following the war’s end, Rotary members joined together to rebuild their clubs and their countries.
Our commitment to service is ongoing. We began our fight against polio in 1979 with a project to immunize 6 million children in the Philippines. By 2012, only three countries remain polio-endemic—down from 125 in 1988.
About Malmö International Rotary Club
Known affectionately as by its members as 'MIRC', the Malmö International Rotary Club was founded in 1997 during construction of the Öresund Bridge. This spectacular structure was being built to connect Sweden's third largest city to the Danish capital of Copenhagen by road and rail. Our founding President, Lars Göran Elestam, understood the need for business and engineering professionals living in Malmö during the five-year project to be able to meet in an international environment without the local language being a barrier to participation. In keeping with this spirit, our official club language is English.
Apart from the fact that we speak English at MIRC meetings, we are also a Rotary Club that likes to learn from each other and have a lot of fun. Our membership is both professionally and culturally diverse, and our meetings are a bit less formal than older, more traditional Rotary Clubs.
Despite our casual, friendly style, we never compromise Rotary International's core values of Service, Fellowship, Diversity, Integrity, and Leadership. We also recognize our obligation to test and evaluate everything we do or say by the simple action of applying
the 4-way Test:
- Is it the TRUTH?
- Is it FAIR to all concerned?
- Does it promote GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIP?
- Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?
lf you are an established mid-career professional or business person living in or around Malmö who would enjoy being part of a lively networking organization with sound ethical and moral principles and a strong commitment to service, we would love to hear from you. Please feel free to visit us on any Monday evening at one of our meetings, which start punctually at 18.00 at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ostergatan 10 in Malmö.
We look forward to meeting you!