Keizo Furuta
(R.I. D-2660 Rotary Foundation Committee Chairman, and past governor)
(chairman of the Osaka-Tonan Rotary International Service Committee)
Thank you to each one of the team members. It is easy to see that you all had a very successful and fruitful time in America. Thank you for your hard work.
Thank you for listening to our reports. There are three main requirements for GSE team leaders:
1. an understanding of the culture in the country to be visited,
2. a good command of the language spoken there, and
3. instilling in the team members the Rotary mission
I believe the team members have gained an understanding of our mission. It's a bit difficult, but think that the "mission" of Rotary International can be summed up in a variety of ways.
The Rotary is a great organization, and learning what your type of workplace is like in a different country, expanding the horizons of your work once you return to Japan, joining the Rotary in the future, and finding a husband who is a Rotarian could all be said to be a part of the Rotary's mission, I think.
Anyway, thank you for coming tonight and spending your valuable time listening to our reports.
I would like to ask Mr. Keizo Furuta, past governor, to share his comments with us now.
(R.I. D-2660 Rotary Foundation Committee Chairman, and past governor)
Good evening. I am thankful to have been invited along with the GSE team members to speak to you this evening.
Before sharing my comments on the reports, I would like to say one thing. When I was serving as district governor in 1988, I had the opportunity to visit this club in the month of September. At the time there were less than 60 members, but what deeply impressed me at that time was that the club was just in its third year and the majority of your members were in their 30's and 40's. It had the youngest average age of any of the clubs in the region. For that reason, I was impressed by your club, and I still remember feeling the strength of all those young people as they sat listening to my speech. And as I had hoped, your club, which now has 63 members, is extremely active in many ways and has a very positive attitude. Also, as I look out this evening across the audience, I can see that your club still maintains its youthful atmosphere.
At present, the total number of members in the Osaka Rotary club, which I belong, comes to 307 members. The average age is 66.5, and accordingly the atmosphere of the club is noticeably that of the older generation. For that reason, I feel we need to do something to activate our club and their members, and I know that everyone is working hard to do so, but the fact of the matter is that things are not changing as expected.
After serving as district governor, I continued serving the Rotary on the district level, and I have been serving now for four years in my present position. In principle, the term of service is three years, but Governor Ohmori told me he wanted to have me help in organizing and preparing for the year-long GSE program, so I have been serving an extra year in that capacity.
One of the problems I faced in my GSE work was selecting a team leader to take the team to Nebraska and Iowa. GSE Chairman Mr. Hosoe asked me if I knew of anyone who would be appropriate, but, as Mr. Okuda mentioned earlier, such selections can be quite difficult. We don't just consider people from this district for team leaders. We search all over Japan for them. What person will come forward to serve as a representative to the participating foreign partner nation? The reputation of Japan will rest on his shoulders. For this reason, it is a very difficult job selecting a team leader.
The first person who came to mind was Mr. Okuda. Actually, his mother, Mrs. Hirabayashi, is quite healthy and lives across the street from me. For that reason, I have known a lot about both the Hirabayashi and the Okuda families ever since his grandfather's days. I've known Mr. Okuda since he was a boy, and I knew that he was good at English, an outstanding public accountant and a hardworking person. For these reasons, I didn't consider anyone else for the position, and told Chairman Hosoe so. He agreed to give Mr. Okuda an interview. After meeting him, Mr. Hosoe was able to recommend Mr. Okuda 100% for the position of team leader, and I was honored as the one who found a worthy team leader.
Next, the selection process began for the team members. Mr. Okuda also took part in the testing and interviews, and in the end we decided upon one man and three women. Frankly speaking, I was a bit worried. I wondered if it would be possible for Mr. Okuda to take care of everyone, particularly the three young women. I was worried about whether he could teach them everything they would need to know and give them all the guidance they needed during a 4-week long trip, and was also concerned about their language ability. When I asked Mr. Okuda what he thought about it, he said, "No problem. Leave it to me." He spoke with such confidence and power that I decided to leave the situation in his hands, and we chose those four young people.
And now, after hearing their speeches, I realized just how much people can change. What maturity and growth these four young people have experienced in the short time since I first met them on the testing day, to be able to stand in front of us all and speak as they did!
I haven't heard much about how they fared with the language, but it seems like they were able to get along rather freely. I'm sure they all worked quite hard to improve their English to such a level. And I imagine Mr. Okuda also had to work quite hard to fulfill his responsibilities too.
To be sure, I was most concerned about whether or not the team members would actually be able to do all they needed to do during those four to five weeks. They said they would do what they could, and I had some measure of peace about it.
But now, looking at all that they accomplished, I can say that their GSE trip was a great success. They succeeded for Japan, for our district, for all Rotarians and for all our Rotary clubs.
Thank you for your hard work. I have nothing more to say, except that in my book you scored a 100%!
The next GSE program will involve southern Sweden. Mr. Okuda, how about one more time? Of course I won't force you, but if you could give some guidance and cooperation to those who will be going, I would appreciate it. And Ms. Nakanishi, Ms. Harada, Ms. Oda and Mr. Kawaike, please kindly assist the new team members and share your experiences with them. I am truly surprised to see the splendid growth and maturity experienced by the female team members.
Thank you, again, for all your hard work!
