The quantum of service by Rotary in India highest in the world: RI Prez

You expect any Italian male to be charming… for after all charm is built into the Italian DNA. RI President Francesco Arezzo does ooze charm… but he is much more than charming… he is both cerebral and witty, but at the same time so easy to talk to as he wears his power lightly. He may falter a little while searching for difficult English words, or stumble a bit pronouncing the long ones… but his disarming smile and spontaneous laughter more than make up for it. When he delivers a speech, it takes a couple of minutes to cut through the heavy Italian accent, but once you’ve done that, its content leaves you thinking.

I catch up with Arezzo, and his genial, ever-smiling spouse Anna Maria, on the sidelines of the Lead25 Conclave in Chennai for an interview for Rotary News. The time given is 20 minutes, but the couple end up discussing for 55 minutes their Rotary journey and sportingly posed for pictures in the limited space of their hotel suite!

Having done several olive oil tours around Europe, Turkey and North Africa, I quiz him on his family farm in Sicily, Italy, producing olive oil for 200 years. “That farm is close to my heart because my mother, father of my mother, grandfather of my mother… were involved in the production. But today, more than me, Anna does all the hard work.”

Arezzo grew up in Sicily where his family has lived for 800–900 years. “We are completely Sicilian. I was born in a little city of 70,000 people… for you it’s a very tiny city. My childhood was great; the 1960s and ’70s were a wonderful time to be in Italy.”

He lost his father, a radiologist, at 10, and grew up with his mother. After training as a dentist elsewhere in Italy, he returned home to open his practice as a dentist. When and how did he meet Anna? “I met her when I was 2 years old,” he grins. “Our families are very close and I’d call her parents uncle and aunt! We grew up together!”

So, who was the one who proposed? With a mischievous twinkle in his eye, he says, “Well, what can I say; she did a very strong campaign!” They got married in Oct 1979, and have two daughters and two grandchildren, one named after him and the other after Anna. “Just like you do in India,” quips Anna.

Yes, there are so many similarities between India and Italy, I comment, like family bonhomie, sharing food when dining in restaurants etc. “Both countries have a long history and culture, so we are very similar… but we are also very different in some aspects,” he adds.

Asked when and why he joined Rotary, Arezzo says that soon after returning home after his education, his father’s friends, members of the Rotary Club of Ragusa, proposed his name in 1989. “I have to confess that when I joined Rotary, I didn’t know exactly what Rotary was. But as all friends of my father, and many people in the city I knew, were members of that club, so when they proposed my name, it seemed like a good thing to join. But as usual, you begin to understand what Rotary really is when you become club president. Then you understand how complex, beautiful and useful Rotary is for the community.”

It took him 10 years to become club president and another 10 to become governor, and he gradually developed “a network all over Sicily, Italy and the world. I met a lot of people who were very interesting, very passionate and very close to my soul! And now I have many of my best friends coming from Rotary. But,” he adds with a mock sigh, “only one thing went bad; I met John (de Giorgio),” pointing to his aide seated in the room.

So does he harass or bully him, I pick up the cue. “Oh yes, he tries everyday,” Arezzo grins, adding that when he was governor, he met de Giorgio, who was then president of RC Malta, which forms a part of the same RI district. “We became good friends very fast!”

I ask Arezzo to spell out his vision and priorities for Rotary as RI President, even though he had virtually no time to plan his year. He responds: “Well, I just had a few days before I became President… such a short time to prepare. There are some things which are very important for Rotary, two of them are historical. One, the eradication of polio. It is so vital for our organisation. India did a great job, and was able to eradicate polio, doing something they said all over the world was impossible! It was a great, great job.”

But now Rotary needs to finish the job as polio cases still remain in two countries, “where we are engaged — Afghanistan and Pakistan — and we have to complete the job.”

The second one is the problem of membership “which probably you (India) ignore because you are growing. Tomorrow (at the Lead25 Conclave in Chennai) they are going to present 250 new clubs, something that is impossible in Europe. Membership all over the world is a big problem, so that is my second priority.”

Another priority, or concern he has, is related to “the suffering caused by war. It is difficult for us to obtain peace between two countries that are fighting, but my aim is to work for peace.” And this Rotary can do in a myriad of ways; “we work for peace when we give to people fresh water, sanitation, good and clean environment, education… all these are small but definite steps towards peace. Together we can create, and we are creating, a great network of Rotarians who can enhance better comprehension between people all over the world.”

RI President gives the example of his visit to India, where he has met not only existing friends but made new ones. “For me, India is a country where my friends live. If we have millions of people around the world who can comprehend the feelings, problems and challenges that people in other countries near them face, it is another small step towards peace. We have to enhance the comprehension between people. That is my aim… to improve what we can do, and have pacifist dialogues between countries.”

Asked about Israel and Palestine, he says, “Yes, that is another big problem. We cannot stop the war but we can help people to connect, to speak to each other and have a better comprehension, because very often war is the result of fear, and fear is the result of ignorance. Because I am ignorant about another country, I fear it and its people. But if we can get to know each other, connect with each other, we will realise that they have the same dreams, the same problems, the same souls as we have. If we can meet, sit together and talk, we can have better understanding of one another. We can do small things, but we have to do them.”

These three are his main goals during this year…. “or should I say the remaining months? Because an RI President usually has one and half years to plan. But I spent two months to understand what I should do!”

So did he feel disadvantaged or pressurised, I ask him. His answer tells us why he has reached the top post in RI. “No, I was actually excited… and when you have something that is more difficult to do, you are more motivated.”

But he admits that “now that my term has started, I understand that to have one year to prepare would have been much better. But I have to do what I can!”

Why don’t Rotaractors become Rotarians? Because they don’t believe in Rotary. They don’t believe in us, because we don’t work together and we don’t know each other.

Does the shorter span make his job that much harder? “It means more hours of work. The life of any RI President is very busy; you have to travel around the world, you have to take pictures with the Rotarians (laughs heartily!) That is one of the main jobs of the president! I told RIDs Nagesh and MMM that I am here for the Rotarians, to speak to them, meet them and take pictures with them. I have to motivate them so I am available to them. I am very happy to meet people from the Rotary family.”

This was Anna and Arezzo’s third visit to India; the first was when he was RI President’s representative at a meet in Lucknow, and the second during the Rotary Centennial in India celebrations in Kolkata. Expectedly, Anna is disappointed that she had no time for shopping! “Both of us love the culture, history and food of India and hopefully when we come for the Zone Institute this November, we will have some time for all this,” he says.

“Oh yes, I would love to go shopping in India and I have told him to give me some time for shopping during the next visit,” Anna says firmly!

Coming to Rotary in India and the kind of community service projects that Rotarians do here, Arezzo says, “The good thing, the very good thing, is what we saw earlier today… the number of projects that were launched is unbelievable and in so many different fields. We saw 100 pink autos for women… through this you are giving 100 women the opportunity to earn and maintain their livelihood. It was an excellent project and so moving. In the House of Friendship there were so many projects on health, water, sanitation. The quantum of service that Rotarians in India do is probably the highest in the world. It is amazing.”

If millions throughout the world can comprehend the feelings, problems, challenges that people of other countries near them face, it is another small step towards peace.

The other thing is the money the Rotarians in India give to The Rotary Foundation; it is huge. “Yesterday we had 29 new AKS members; that is amazing and probably possible in the US. But this is impossible in other parts of the world. In Europe it is absolutely impossible. So that is great. It is a vibrant Rotary in India with a lot of good projects, a lot of enthusiasm and passion among the Rotarians.”

What about the negative aspects the last few RI Presidents have been talking about? “What is bad in India? In some places Rotarians are fighting each other. When we are in a Board meeting, we receive a lot of complaints about elections. In Evanston, if 10 complaints come, eight are from India. This is a problem. The level of internal fighting in Rotary in India is something that we have to find a way to reduce. It is a pity, because the Rotarians here are so active, enthusiastic and passionate.”

Asked for a possible solution, Arezzo shrugs and says, “I don’t know. It is not easy to find a solution. It is a cultural problem and we have to work on the Rotarians to convince them that there is room for everybody. If you don’t become a club president or governor this year, you can wait. It is not such a big problem. But it is not easy to find a solution. The only way is to talk to the Rotarians and convince them!”