The Rotary Club of Apia welcomed its new President, Tony Callaghan, during a dinner at the Samoa Traditional Resort, Ululoloa, on Tuesday night.
Mr Callaghan takes over from former President, Tole’afoa Douglas Creevey, who handed over the baton and congratulated the new President.
But letting go of a role he has occupied for two years doesn’t mean Tole’afoa will have much free time. He has been elected to be the District Assistant Governor with Samoa being part of District 9920.
James Arp was the recent District Assistant Governor.
Tole’afoa said being a Rotarian is an experience he would always treasure.
“Rotary is based on service above self so you do everything you can in any community to help,” he said.
“Every time we go out and help in natural disasters, this is when I feel that I’m of great value as a Rotarian."
“Like the tsunami in 2009, we received a lot of assistance from Rotarians in Australia and New Zealand in the form of tents."
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“When we were out putting up the tents, we must’ve put up three hundred tents for people that were homeless and we worked alongside with government and other organisations.”
The new District Assistant Governor also remembers their role in the relief effort following Cyclone Evan, during which they handed out relief kits.
The Apia Rotary Club was also involved in the most recent Literacy Week.
“We participated in it – we do it on normal basis going out to Primary Schools and build them libraries all over Savai’i and Upolu and we continue to do that this year,” he said.
“The other one is sanitation and water where we do a lot of projects building water tanks for schools who don’t have enough water or fix up their sanitation blocks and toilets so the children can have something hygienic to use.”
Rotary Apia also originally set up the Cancer society, said Tole’afoa.
For the new President, Mr Callaghan is excited about the future. He is honoured to be called to the position and he is keen to promote what Rotary is all about.
“This year my vision I have for the Club is to start making sure that people know what we do and encourage them to be part of it.”
Rotary Apia has been active in Samoa for the last 34 years. With 18 active members, the Club is a non-profitable organisation that engages in many local and worldwide community work.
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