Global Kalinga e-Rotary Club District 3780
ROTARY SERVING HUMANITY
History and Purpose of
Global Kalinga e-Rotary Club
The Global Kalinga e-Rotary Club, the 2nd electronic-based Rotary Club in the Philippines was
chartered on October 12, 2011 during the term of our indefatigable Past District Governor Jess
Cifra, with 40 charter members that included Past Rotary International President MAT Caparas
and Gawad Kalinga's founder, Tony Meloto, who lent their good name and reputation to attract
equally good hearted people. Our last name “Kalinga” literally means “giving tender care”
emanating from several countries of the world --- from Austria to China, from Canada to America
--- where our growing membership now resides.
Though chartered in the Philippines, our main core group and our founding president reside in
Southern California, USA with a smaller group in and near Quezon City, Philippines. We also
expect to grow in other areas of the Philippines, the USA, and other countries. Our vision is to
form small clusters of dedicated Rotarians throughout the world with the goal of serving our local
communities as well as serving those in the Philippines.
Despite the lack of fellowship opportunities that traditional clubs have every week, there are also many advantages of an e-club that primarily “meets” and communicates in cyberspace, with the 21st century social tools of communication, such as Facebook, Skype, Twitter, and a multitude audio and video conferencing services. The lack of physical meetings that nurture closer fellowships coupled with the reality that many of our older members are not quite savvy nor always wired to the Internet or Face Book is probably the # 1 challenge of e-clubs. However, e-clubs can attract many quality people, including former Rotarians, especially those very busy people or those who travel frequently that attending a weekly meeting is almost impossible.
Although it is not mandated by Rotary International, members of our e-Club have decided
that each local group, such as those in Southern California, USA and Quezon City,
Philippines, will meet in person once a month to enjoy Rotary fellowship. The optional meetings in
Southern California (where Disneyland is located) has become an invisible glue bonding our
members while our we presence connects us to the other core groups in the Philippines and
elsewhere.
Our e-Club has many ambitious projects that we desire to accomplish in the near future, like
our continuing support to Gawad Kalinga, our partner organization, in providing decent housing for
the homeless as well as providing them livelihood training opportunities and the
Entrepreneurial Training and Mentoring of the Youth.For a much deeper impact to the Filipino
youth, our e-Club has started exploring the creation of a “Peace Corps” style project with “SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), whereby retired professionals or business people in America, especially Filipino Americans and their friends will travel, as a volunteer, to share their expertise in businesses or professions with the young adults in the Philippines.These huge projects certainly need collaboration and support from many Rotarians in both the USA and the Philippines, as well as other countries interested in serving the Filipinos. Yet, these are the big projects which will have great impact on the lives of the needy.It is our e-Club’s raison d’etre!
