REFLECTIONS: PE Lois Villanueva, RCM J.P. Rizal
When my Governor gives me an assignment on the day that I am preparing to leave for a Holy Land pilgrimage the next day and my mind is preoccupied with navigating and downloading volumes of information on Jerusalem, Nazareth, Galilee, Petra, etc. and what to pack to prepare for the fall season that awaits me in Israel, Jordan and Egypt, I started to wonder whether I can do justice to an article that describes my impressions of the Pre-Pets2 seminar I am required to submit the next day.
As I sat in the RC Makati seminar room waiting for the speakers to start, doubts whether I can focus or not prevailed. I looked at my classmates and wondered whether they too can focus considering the many week-end activities and tasks they have to forsake in order to attend a Rotary meeting. Was it all worthwhile? Would it be another one of those Rotary Academy seminars where speakers are assembled in a firing line, shooting at us overwhelming information that knock us down before we knew it?
Well…surprise…surprise! Contrary to my expectations, after the first salvo by PRID Paing Hechanova, asking us to reveal our age and acquainting us with what is international about Rotary, there was never a dull moment.
From the time the seminar started till the end, the speakers succeeded in diverting my attention from my pilgrimage preoccupations and from thereon kept it glued on each and every word they spoke— who thankfully brought their rich knowledge and experience into their presentations. Kudos to Incoming (and ex-) Rotary Academy Executive Director Sue Sta. Maria and her team for choosing a very interesting list of speakers.
The choice of speakers could never have been more appropriate and agreeable. Leading the faculty was the speaker par excellence, PDG Sonny Coloma —the most engaging speaker I have ever come across. PDG Sonny will never let you sit in your chair looking and feeling disinterested. Every session with him is an ultimate experience as well as adventure as you never know what kind of participation awaits you. He motivates, stimulates and energizes —- “tashi delay” – a Tibetan gesture of connecting with your classmates to offer peace and “honor the greatness in you” — certainly prepared us to open our minds and soul for his pep talk. His topic “The What and Why of Rotary – the Four Avenues of Service” was basically an appetizer only, giving a short overview. But what was more important perhaps were not all those concepts per se that he shared but his way of putting us, his audience, always in the heart of each and every concept. We connected.
The rest of the speakers were engaging as well. I liked the way PDG Tony Quila patiently itemized the various funding sources we can mobilize from Rotary International which we knew nothing of (of course- we are greenhorns!!). I guess the fact that he did not have computerized slides to assist his presentation made him talk to us in a more personalized manner, as we intently listened to the array of resources we can tap (3H Grant, Matching Grant, District Designated Fund, World Fund, etc.) which effectively held our attention up to the end. But who wouldn’t pay attention to any discourse on money and funds which we PEs have all initially agreed as the main root of our worries when we take over?
But lo and behold, not only was money available from Rotary Headquarters but PP Fritz Ocampo was so passionate and so adamant to assure us that we are not lacking with funding resources at the local level – if only we knew how to take advantage of them. I liked the way he threatened us to spend the funds correctly, if ever we are lucky to receive them and more importantly to account for it quickly after the project implementation—or otherwise, we will be forever banished from the face of Rotary resources. That is the way to go, PP Fritz!
IPP Pepito Bengzon’s presentation was a pleasant surprise! At this early, we already have a Public Image master plan!! He did well in giving us a peep of the Public Image (PI) master plan for 2009-2010 which impressed me to be comprehensive. His presentation came with many perks — offers of help to all to build websites, to plan and implement our PI activities, to get access to the media, etc. Hey, we can’t wait to start knocking at your door IPP Pepito! PP Chito’s presentation made us examine our present PI practices which stimulated lots of sharing and participation, and which ended with guiding posts to follow in rethinking and reshaping our current PI plans and activities.
Finally, in his usual charming manner, Governor Sid thanked everyone and promised more exciting learning experiences to come, announcing that the coming Pre Pets3 comes with a Christmas Party where he will provide a live band that will vibrate the house and shake our butts till we all drop. My kind of Governor – works hard but plays hard too!
Breakouts/sharing/discussion
What I valued most about this seminar workshop was its departure from the usual Rotary Academy “speakers’ firing line” approach. There was indeed a balance of presentations and sharing/discussions. While we were at our “contributing best” during the breakout sessions, most of the presentations did bring us in into a lively interaction with the speakers and audience, especially so when PDG Sonny took over the microphone. As I said in the beginning, there was never a dull moment with him.
The break-out sessions stimulated and reinforced learning. Group Three, where I was, benefited much from CP Sue Sta. Maria’s excellent moderating. Being a seasoned moderator, she made us reflect and analyze many issues dealing with Avenues of Service but at the same time filling in gaps to contribute to our knowledge enrichment.
Topics
Being greenhorns, the topics met our basic needs. More than that would have been a disaster! Of course, they were basic overviews which whetted our appetites to dig in more later. The presentations aroused more curiosities on the “how’s” of the what’s and why’s. More later…. As of now, our knowledge had been enriched and expanded.
Should have been
We PE’s are not Einsteins or Supermen/Superwomen who can ingest and remember all the volumes of information tossed to us. Most of us belong to the above 50 age bracket whose senior moments spring up more often than not. All of us agreed for the need to have handouts either in soft or hard copies so we can review our learning or re-study what we have missed out on. I guess all the speakers need to do is share their slide presentations or papers to the Secretariat who will in turn email to us these valuable documentation. This is a major weakness of many Rotary meetings and seminars which I have attended and which need to be addressed soon.
Time is of the essence especially when attention span gets shorter and shorter as one gets older and older. While I found the presentations and break-out sessions all engaging and interesting, information overload can be a bombshell and sitting long for hours can be back breaking, especially to us senior citizens. Overbooking the afternoon agenda indeed challenged our stamina! And so some sessions had to give way. My only wish is that for Pre Pets3, the agenda should be made lighter and the partying heavier! After all, it is Christmas!!
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