HARARE – Financial consultant Tatenda Tavaziva was on Friday inducted as the 29th Rotary Club of Msasa president and appealed for all hands on deck in the club’s bid to leave an indelible mark of service in action.
Tavaziva was inducted at a ceremony held at National Botanical Gardens. He takes over from Maxwell Ngangira who was in the hot seat from June 28 2021.
Tavaziva took up the challenge, reinforcing the club’s goal to engage in more projects, community engagements and grow more partnerships
“As I stand before you today as your newly inducted President, I ask what will the rotary club of Msasa be remembered for?” he questioned Rotary Club of Msasa members.
“If our beloved club were to die, what would our obituary say? Is our legacy the fact that we were the biggest club in Zimbabwe? Will our epitaph pay homage to our imbibers and consumption of alcohol? Or put differently If the Rotary Club of Msasa was no longer to exist who would miss us? Which person, club, group, community, town or province would feel the impact of our demise?”
Tavaziva implored members to be active and exude high enthusiasm in regards to service projects.
“Edward de Bono once said ‘when the story of these times gets written, we want it to say that we did all we could, and it was more than anyone could have imagined.’
“As we look back on 27 years of existence, can we say we have done all that we could? Yes, we were the first club in the District to accept women into membership but what does that do for the young mother with no access to adequate Maternal Healthcare,” Tavaziva continued.
“Yes it is true that we are the biggest club in Zimbabwe but have done all we could to bring clean water to rural communities. Yes it is true that every Msasa is one of the clubs with the highest number of members serving at Rotary District level, but have we done all we could for our local districts, towns and municipalities.
“I by no means want to diminish or disrespect our accomplishments but I do want to bring up a healthy conversation of what our great beloved club can do.”
Tavaziva appealed to the vision of the club reiterating that the club’s quality of service to the community remains under the microscope.
“Rotary Club of Msasa 12 months from now, we will have our first Global Grant in 8 years, revised Bylaws which haven’t been amended since 2011, impeccable administration, engaging membership and life-changing projects. Imagine where we will be and it will be so,” he said.
As at June 2022, the total membership was at 64, climbing from 46 at the beginning of the year.
The Rotary Club of Msasa was formed in August of 1995, becoming the 7th Rotary Club in Harare. The club holds weekly meetings every Monday from 12.45hrs to 14.00hrs at the Senior Citizens Club, Rotary Centre, 60 Colquhoun Street, Harare.
From the period June 28 2021 to June 2022 some of the club’s goals were to promote regular fundraising efforts for club projects and activities.
To this effect, the club held the Bonanza raffle raising US$5,260 towards Charltan School Trust.
Going forward, the club is looking to agree on bi-laws updates and decide on the way forward regarding the Rotary Centre dues.
