WE FOLLOW OUR HISTORY

The Beatles sang in the sixties «we follow the sun». In what concerns to the Inter Country Committees in Portugal we can say «we follow our history».

 

We received in last year the whole help from our European peers in this committee to built again the Portuguese ICC and enlarge the scope of our relations. We have now 22 ICC vs. 14 we had when we met in Birmingham. And we hope to create 10 more till the end of this year.

In Aracaju, Brazil, I was the main speaker in the Rotary Institute Plenary Session, presided by President Jonathan Majiagbe. There, with the statement «My country is the Portuguese Language», a verse from our great writer Fernando Pessoa, I launched the idea for the strongest cooperation between Portugal, Brazil and Africa, that was promptly accepted and strongly helped by the great Rotarian, the fabulous man, Eduardo Pimentel, the San Paolo Rotarians Foundation Chairman.

Three ideas are in the basis of this ICC revitalized growing process in Portugal now.
Firstly, we were and we still are a country of immigrants. And we also receive now lots of immigrants from Eastern Europe, Africa and Brazil.

Secondly, we greet with both hands the Örsçelik Balkan Strasbourg statement, also presented here, as for «Peace in the Mediterranean». Thirdly, following our history, we are in Africa since the 15th century and we are in South America (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Venezuela) since the 16th century and in USA before the independence of this country in the 18th century.

So, we are establishing or are already completed now the processes for new ICC with European countries like United Kingdom and Switzerland, and most of the countries around the Mediterranean, including those close to the Black Sea, we have ICC with all the Portuguese Language Speaking countries in Africa and South Africa (where live today about 750,000 Portuguese immigrants), with Argentina (as was confirmed by Celia Giay five minutes ago) and USA.

We thank you for the whole help and sure that we are contributing a lot to this process of ICC enlargement through the world. Although many people cannot understand it yet as I believe, Rotary is a great and strong ICC.

Statement done in the ICC Breakfast Session, Holyday Inn, Montréal

Henrique Pinto
June 2010
PHOTOS: the sun in the windows of Palais des Congrés in  Montréal; RI president Ray Klingensmith and young people in Montréal; Thomas Branum Sr., Samuel Okudzeto, Philip Silvery, Jonathan Majiagbe and Wilfred Wilkinson, in the Reach Out to Africa Breakout session discussion presidency; Henrique Pinto (helped in the computer by Shirley Downey) making his speech, Jonathan Majiagbe, Wilfred Wilkinson and Örsçelik Balkan listening; ICC Coordinators for United Kingdom and Ivory Coast, Henrique Pinto (Portugal), Carlos Queirós (brazil) and Dana Moldovan (California, USA), at the Montréal Holiday Inn Breakfast ICC Meeting; Hernani Caniço, «Health in Portuguese» Chairman; one of the children benefited with the ICC Portugal-Guinea Bissau ICC action; an old church in Montréal.