NEGRIL, Westmoreland — A virtual symposium to highlight the conflict in Haiti is one of the things Rotary International District 720, District Governor Dominique Bazin is working on before she leaves office.

The symposium is in early January of next year and in July Bazin, who is from Rotary Club of Petion-Ville Sud in Haiti, will hand over leadership of the district to Rotary Club of New Kingston’s Bill Aiken.

According to Bazin, the symposium, which will be hosted on the Zoom platform, is being staged to “attract world attention to say that we support our Rotarians of Haiti”. It is part of Rotary International’s wider focus on unity. As Bazin noted, domestic and international conflicts between different countries and groups appear to have intensified.

“Haiti is not the only country with war problems. We have Ukraine. We have Palestine. The world is almost changing on the wrong path, and we want to bring it back to what it was,” she stated.

She was addressing Rotary Club of Jamaica West during their District Governor Dinner 2024 which was held at Tensing Pen Resort in Negril last Saturday. Rotary Club of Jamaica West is made up of the Lucea, Green Island Sunrise, Negril, Savanna-la-Mar and Black River clubs. District 720 is made up of 10 countries within the region and this year the theme is pegged to the word unity.”

“What I want to see is the spirit of our Rotarians of the 10 islands come together in unity so that we can work together within this world that is sometimes falling apart. We are here strong as Rotarians,” ”Bazin told the Jamaica Observer following the event.

She spoke of how well her visit to Jamaica has been going as she got an understanding of the work being done by local Rotarians.

“What I am here for is to hear them, to listen to them, to see if they have any problems — but, so far, Jamaica seems to be very resilient… No matter what it is that could have affected us, they are there fighting and helping communities through literacy, education, water, health care. It is just a pleasure to listen to the great work that they do,” she said with admiration.

During the function, Bazin congratulated Rotary Clubs in Jamaica for their community outreach projects over the years.

One such effort is the Hurricane Beryl relief project spearheaded by Rotary Club of Negril. The initiative saw 30 residents in and around the resort town receiving building materials and a helping hand from the club through its members and volunteers who provided labour. Assistance was also provided to Mount Airy Primary and Infant as well as Negril Primary schools. Both residential and educational initiatives were valued at more than $1.4 million.

The most recent relief work was done at Negril Primary School where roofing was completed last week. In addition, the Negril club partnered with the Savanna-la-Mar club to help rebuild a house in St Elizabeth.

“We pride ourselves in helping the community and, when the needs arise, we go forth and move as quickly as possible,” said president of Rotary Club of Negril Owen James.