Rotaract has become much better equipped to run the club with strong organisational and governance skills

If the youth is the future of Samoa, then Rotaract is the light that shows them the way. 
Rotaract was established as a branch of the international organisation Rotary for those under 30 years old with the vision of ‘Service above Self’. 

President of the organisation, Savave Sapolu, believes that Rotaract provides a valuable contribution in our community through service and projects.

“On one side, for the members themselves, it’s a good place to use the energy in a good way. I think everyone wants to give back and help out,” says Savave.

“The other side of it is that it’s primarily youth focussed and for the past three years, our mandate has been the themes of ‘Your youth, Your future’, Empowering the Youth.”

Some brilliant youth-focused ideas and projects have been put into action by Rotaract members. Stand-outs include the “Battle of the Minds” quiz for year 12 students, and a mentoring programme for first and second year students at the National University of Samoa.. 

The most recent successful project for Rotaract has been organising the second annual Career Shadow Day which will take place from the 17th to the 19th of May. The goal of the project is “to expose youth from rural areas to professional opportunities in the workforce and to inspire them to see themselves becoming young professionals.”

“So we take three kids from each interested school and then these kids will shadow a career professional for a day, just to give them a bit of an insight into what working life is as well as things like skill sets and qualifications they need for that particular job,” Savave explained.

Event Coordinator, Blakey Larsen believes this project is an important opportunity for rural students and is positive that this year’s event will be a huge success.

“As a teacher for two years [in Samoa] I saw that a lot of kids don’t necessarily have role models in their family or close to them that work in town This can be really daunting. So part of it is to demystify the idea of working in town,” Blakey says.

“The day that they actually shadow is the 18th. On the 17th, the students come and we have a short programme for them doing some self-exploration of their professional interests, their goal and a little bit of journaling. 

They are going to do this again on the 19th to compare what they have learned. Also on the 17th we are inviting all the professionals, the media and all the principals for the opening and then we’ll pair up all the professionals and the students.”

Last year the project received a lot of positive feedback from both students and young professi

onals and it is hoped that it will continue to develop and expand.

“Next year our goal is going to be to include Savai’i. Last year we could only do a couple of schools and this year we’ve spread it out. We’ve sent letters out to every school in Upolu and we are hoping to have representatives from as many as possible,” says Blakey.

Nominations are still open for both students and young professionals up until a week before the project begins. These nominations can be submitted directly to Rotaract. 

Two years ago Rotaract became a member of the Samoa Umbrella for Non-Governmental Organisations (SUNGO) and as a result, Rotaract has become much better equipped to run the club with strong organisational and governance skills.

“Three of our members joined the Good Governance course and you see that sort of training come into action with the standardisation of our procedures and processes right now,” says Savave.

“Hopefully we will be taking part in more training. If there’s another Good Governance course or things like Project Management; maybe we could jump on board with that. It’s those sorts of things we are looking to SUNGO for.”

It is clear that Rotaract is a strong and focused organisation, but through that shines a refreshing imagination and originality that drives the club to keep finding ways to help the youth of Samoa.

“I hope that Rotaract continues to use their enthusiasm and creativity to come up with new, useful events and not be afraid to try new things,” says Blakey.

Rotaract has been increasing in membership over the years, but the club is always eager to have new members. For people between the ages of 18-30 this organisation provides a great outlet for inspired ideas and original projects, as well a chance to be surrounded by a community of like-minded individuals. As President, Savave is eager for the people of Samoa to realise the valuable contribution they make in the community.

“What I would like to see is for Rotaract, to be on a par in terms of how it is viewed by the public with other charitable organisations, such as Rotary itself; to be doing enough in the community to not be considered just a bunch of young people, but actual people who offer valuable services to the community.”

To find out more about the Career Shadow Day project or to join Rotaract:
Visit: http://www.apiarotary.ws/rotaract or Email: rotaryapia@yahoo.com