By Arne Lindholm.

Dear members of Rotary Club Marbella-Guadalmina,    
This is the report from 6th Congress of the District 2203, held in Ibiza.

Graciela Waen has been a very good Governor for Rotary. She was going about with a great zeal that was quite unique. The other governors (of districts 2201 and 2202) sometimes wanted to rest and look back at work done, but Graciela pushed them forward, by setting her goals which were tougher.

The Sargent of Arms was Fransisca Bennasar, and she did a very good job of it.

They brought in the flags of provinces that were reprented by the delegates.
After that, Graciela Waen opened the Congress by tapping on a bell.

The Congress started at 16:30 on Friday the 16/5.
The program was the following:

         16:55    Carmen Gomez said the Rotary invocation as representative of the
                        wife of the RI president Ron Burton.
1:1    16:58    The president of the Rotary Club of Ibiza wished us welcome.
1:2    17:01    The governors of the districts 2201 and 2202 wished us a pleasant and
                        fruitful Congress.
1:3    17:05    The Town Hall president of San Josep, Neus Mari, hoped that we
                        would have a good Congress.
1:4    17:10    The president of the Conseill (board), also wished us a good Congress.
1:5    17:15    The governor, Graciela Waen, explained in detail what she expected
                        from the Congress.  It was an inspiring talk about the good things
                        Rotary would bring to the world.
1:6    17:35    The RIP (Rotary International Presidency) representative, Eduardo
                        San Martin, presented Ron Burton and his wife Jetta, the current
                        president of RI. He reported directly to Ron Burton. He also talked
                        with inspiration about the future of Rotary. He told us how Bill
                        Gates sought efficiency in Rotary, after being disillusioned by
                        other organsations where less than 10 or 20% reached the final
                        purpose. Rotary was a marvel in comparison, they reached over
                        90%, due to the absense of corruption.

         18:00-18:20           Cofee-break  

2:1    18:20      Gotzone Mora Temprano was introduced by Graciela Waen.
                    She is a professor in the Bilbao university, and had bad
                        expriences from ETA. She escaped from injury 4 times in
                        attempts to kill her. Her sons have left Spain and are living
                        in other countries. She nevertheless carried out her
                        work in Bilbao. She is a true rotary member in Valencia.
                        She talked about Rotary being international, with emphasis
                        on engaging the young people in Rotary. She was worried
                        about seeing only old rotarians and the young were scarce.
                        It should be the other way around, and she saw a real
                        danger that rotary activities would diminish. That would be
                        sad, she belevied very much in Rotary. She is quite involved
                        in the program Rotary Universitas and is closely working
                        with Graciela in it preparing programs for the rotary clubs
                        in our district together with the University.
2:2    18:40      Uwe Bartl, governor of district 1841 in Germany, also talked
                        about Rotary being international. He held his speech in
                        German, which was translated into Spanish. I heard him
                        speak good English, but maybe the Germans are not used
                        to speaking English. He spoke as well about the  Spanish
                        youngsters that were sent to work in Germany all through
                        the Rotary Clubs.
2:3    18:57      Some statistics were presented: 50% of the clubs were
                        older than 50 yrs, 40% were older than 40 yrs. 10% of the
                        RC were younger than 10 yrs old. Many members of these
                        clubs are still young but the average age is rising.
2:4    19:05      Ramiro Gago presented  2 new  Rotarct clubs clubs: one
                        in Orihuela and one in marbella, two new Clubs one in
                        Mallorca and one on the internet.
2:5    19:10      My Rotarian Moment by Manuel Marco RC of Almoradi.
                        To him it was a Rotary virus, a phylosfical idea, very
                        contageous, which makes you dream of Rotary and
                        made you do good things according to Rotary ideals.
                        Then he wound up by singing a song about Rotary.
2:6    19:20      There was a panel on stage, about the youth in the
                        district. Marisa Barral was moderator/chairman and
                        the panel was composed of 4 persons: Jose Luis Tunez,
                        Graciela Waen (in replacement of Nina Jarlov who was
                        sick), Vivan Barelli and Cristobal Garre.
2:7    19:45      Dito Feliu and Laura Sanchez presented the activities
                        of Interact and Rotaract, (clubs for young people).
2:8    19:53      My Rotarian Moment by Gemma Cruz, president of the
                        RC of Torrevieja. She told us that the way to build the future
                        of Rotary must be by engaging the young people in Rotarian ideals.
2:9    19:58      The Sargent of Arms had some brief issues.

         20:00        End of 16 of May

                          Start of 17 of May

           9:25      Eduardo San Martin said the Rotary invocation and opened the
                        meeting.
3:1      9:27      Votation was carried out (by Sebastian Pons and Ramiro Gago) of
                        3 proposals in the district:
                            1) substitute the Rotarian magazine for a pdf version
                            2) increase in age limit for the members of Rotaract from 30 to 35,
                            3) the governor should propose a vice governor.
                        All proposals were carried.
3:2    9:45        Juan Manuel Arenas presented the economical results of the past
                        governor, 2012-13. The economical results were approved.
3:3   10:05       Sebastian Pons, Raul Giraldez and Ricardo Molina presented the
                        advances of the web site and thoughts about public image.
                        Anyone with an internet problem can mail to support@rotary2203.es
3:4    10:30      Then it was an outdoor event. All RC who had own projects had their
                        very own table that they could use to show their projects on. 
                        There were presented more than fourteen projects.  Then there is
                        choice the best project in the district.
4:1    12:30      Graciela Waen presented the work done by  the RC of Alcoy.
4:2    12:40      Ana Maria Ros presented the resultsof the workshop on leadership,
                        which was held during the project exhibition (10:30-12:30).
                        One workshop was about "masks and leadership". You must not be
                        dictatorial in your leadership, rather understanding the other person's
                        way of thinking.
                        The other workshop was about "others and me in my Rotary Club".
4:3    12:50      Ana Parra went through the project portfolio.
4:4    12:57      My Rotarian Moment by Ignacio Bauxauli from RC Valencia Center.
                        He defined the rotarian moment as friendship, teamwork and
                        solidarity. To him the moment was a van with a giant Rotary
                        emblem, that he saw.

         13:00      L U N C H     

5:1    15:10        Graciela Waen, Ricardo Buscemi and Pascual Rosser presented the
                          Rotary Club del Mediterraneo which is an E-Club, they hold their
                          meetings on the internet. It is an officially approved Rotary Club,
                          not as nice as we have it on Thursdays, but maybe it is the future.
                          Several members lived in Madrid, one in Albacete and one in
                          Alicante.
5:2    15:35        Antonio Navarro told us that the VII Congress will be held the first
                          week in May in the city of Cartajena, Murcia.
5:3    15:39        Jose Luis Carvajal presented the VIII Assembly in Sevilla next spring.
5:4    15:48        Antonio Vazquez, Ana Parra and Graciela Waen were on the
                          panel/stage of the Rotary Foundation. There is finaciation
                          available for joint projects.
5:5    16:06        The progress of the Polio project was reported by Ana Parra.
                          It is caused by virus and is totally dependant on vacination of every
                          baby. In Syria, due the war, polio has increased from 0 - 6 cases.
                          In Pakistan there are around 60 cases this year. It is hopeful,
                          we can not relax yet.
5:6    16:12        Manuel Raigon from Estepona, is the responsible for the treasuary
                          of district 2203 and explained FHRE (Foudation Humanitarian
                          Rotarian Españoles). He explained the donation process  free
                          of taxes and also there is money for joint projects there.
5:7    16:18        My Rotarian Moment by Simon Aledo, RC de Elche. To him there
                          were 3 actions: call up lost members (that have quitted),
                          fight social exclusion and Christmas card competition
                          for the children.
5:8    16:30        Antonio Gonzalez Barros held a very inspiring talk about "Values and
                          attitudes usefull in a changing world with increasing pace of change."
                          He  quoted Mother Teresa "You can not do charity without passion,
                          so where is your passion?".
                               
         17:25                  P A U S E

6:1    18:00        DGE Antonio Navarro Quercop, the next governor in July 2014-15,
                          DGN J.L. Carvajal, 2015-16 and DGP Isidro Ales, 2016-17
                          presented some ideas for the future of the district 2203.
6:2    18:15        Eduardo San Martin explained that rotarians are implicitly
                          trustworthy. He also was worried about rising average
                          age of the rotarian comunity.
6:2    18:35        Graciela Waen thanked all her collaborators in personal manner.
6:3    19:05        A film was shown about rotary values, in spanish.
6:4    19:10        Carles Guasch a local celebrity held a closing lecture about art
                          and Ibiza.
6:5    19:30        Graciela Waen thanked another group of collaborators,
                            also personal.

         19:40                    E N D     T H E       C O N G R E S S