DISTRICT 4470 - HISTORY
The Rotary Clubs, spanning the entire free world, are members of and compose the social block of Rotary International. Despite this, these clubs are unique components of our international organization (a Rotarian is not a member of Rotary International but is a member of a Rotary Club, as such, will have qualifications predetermined by the By-Laws and Internal Regulations of RI.
Our Institution
Rotary Clubs worldwide have an by-laws padrão, where the unity but not the uniformity of the clubs is evident. The By-Laws can be modified or revised uniquely by an amending proposal to the Board of RI (their members do not have the right to vote) or by any RC in the world, and presented to the Council on Legislation.
Each of the RCs established by June 6, 1922 (approximately 1,000 clubs) possesses its own by-laws and can keep them in their original form. That being so, there remains only 70 of those clubs which have not yet adopted the prescribed overseeing by-laws that exist today.
Each Rotary Club is made up of members in the following categories: (a) active member, (b) alumni, (c) past service, and (d) honorary. The directing body of a RC is the Board of Directors. A weekly meeting is required and rules of frequency must be observed.
As the local component of Rotary International, a RC may not be a member of or share membership with any other organization. There is at least no permission for the formation, outside of the Rotary administrative sector, of any entity or association of Rotary Clubs, no matter what the objective might be. At the same time, nothing prevents a RC from participating in the patronage of service projects or programs in their community, in the support or assistance of characteristic institutions and other entities.
In the largest service organization, we participate in a Rotary District (in our case, RI District 4470, administered by a governor that is nominated by the clubs and elected at the International Convention. It is the right and unique prerogative of the governor to nominate members and construct district committees; at the least s/he may delegate these responsibilities, duly warned about harming the legal norms of Rotary), The district is a geographic territory in which the Rotary clubs are congregated for RI's administrative ends, and with the sole purpose of giving assistance to and collaborating with the RCs to further the intentions and objectives of Rotary. The by-laws also do not allow multidistrict organization.
We will see, however, that the fundamental management principle of RI is the ample autonomy of the Rotary Clubs, which will develop the ideal of understanding, goodwill and international peace, based not on national or regional areas groupings, but, in the direct relation with and as the common responsibility of the clubs members to Rotary International.
Each of the Rotary Clubs worlwide determines their own service activities.
And, therefore, at the top of the Rotary Club-District-Rotary International pyramid is the Board of Directors as the administrative body of RI, composed of 19 members: the President of RI (also the President of the Board), the President-elect, as well as 17 other members, called officers, which are nominated by clubs from various zones and elected at the international convention.
The international president is selected by a selection committee elected by the clubs, and elected at the annual Convention. There are special and distinct criteria for the make-up of this Committee; fortunately we can discuss them.
RI incorporates the largest international non-governmental foundation in the world, our Rotary Foundation. The only NGO in the entire earth which possesses an observer's chair at the UN.
Rotary, today, is in 155 countries and 35 geographical regions, with 28,150 clubs and approximately 1,205,000 Rotarians.
At the foundation of the Rotary Club of Rio de Janeiro, in 1922, there were 41 districts encompassing only the clubs of the United States, Canada, Mexico and Cuba. There was no districting of clubs existing in other countries, like those of Rio de Janeiro and of São Paulo at their founding. This situation continued until 1927, when District 63 was created, bridging Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil (six Rotary Clubs), and later Paraguay.
In 1929, all of the Rotary Clubs of Brazil became integrated into District 72 (13 Rotary Clubs) and, in 1938, was subdivided into four districts. District 28 stayed with the States of Goiás and Mato Grosso, and part of the States of São Paulo and Minas Gerais (19 Rotary Clubs).
When, in 1949, we became part of District 119, the boundaries were “part of the State of São Paulo (excluding the Valley of Paraíba and the region of Campinas) and all of the State of Mato Grosso”. At that time, there were seven districts in Brazil, and early in 1952, with eight, ours came to be District 122, with boundaries encompassing “the State of Mato Grosso, that part of the State of São Paulo to the north of Rio do Peixe, up to latitude 22o30’, latitude 22o30’ between longitudes 50o e 49o, latitude 22o 30’ between longitudes 49 and 47o37’ to the west of longitude 47o37’ between latitudes 22o50’ e 22o20’, south of latitude 22o20’ up to longitude 48o30’, to the west of longitude of 48o30’ up to the Turvo River, and south of the Turvo River and the Rio Grande up to the junction with the Paranaíba River”.
In 1957, we were in District 451, with 31 clubs, and whose boundaries were “State of Mato Grosso (at that time there was only one state) and the part of the State of São Paulo the south of the Tietê River, north of the Rio de Peixe, and the broken line of Rio de Peixe, latitude 50o to the banks of the Claro and Pardo Rivers and from there to the banks of the Tietê River and the Piracicaba River”.
In 1977, we came to have the number 447, with 35 clubs, whose boundaries were “Brazil – Mato Grosso; State of São Paulo, the part bordered by the Tietê River, longitude 50o, and the Aguapeí River; Paraguay – the Municipality Pedro Juan Caballero”.
Already in 1989, District 447 reached 93 clubs, forcing a new redistricting, separating the current State of Mato Grosso, to create District 444. So, we continued as District 447, later becoming District 4470 (technical administrative modification of RI), with boundaries of “Brazil – State of Mato Grosso do Sul; State of São Paulo, that part bordered by the Falls of Tietê River with the Paraná River, at longitude 50o, and the Aguapeí River, until the falls on the Paraná River; Paraguay – Municipality of Pedro Juan Caballero” (Today the Municipality of Capitan Bado, in Paraguay, belongs to our district; founded in Rotary Year 1988-89).
Of the Rotary Clubs which make up our current District 4470, the oldest is the RC of Campo Grande-MS (68th in Brazil), founded on 15/12/1939 and admitted to RI on 15/1/1940, having RC of Bauru-SP as the sponsoring club. The next to be founded, on 2/1/1940, was the RC of Corumbá-MS (69th in Brazil), and was admitted on 29/1/1940.
The first from District 4470, within the State of São Paulo, was the RC of Araçatuba (134nd in Brazil), on 16/4/1944 (admitted to RI on 19/6/1944), sponsored by the RC of Lins and, the second, was the RC of Valparaíso (159th in Brazil), founded in 5/5/1946 e admitted in 6/11/1946.
Until 1947, conferences were District Conferences for the RCs of Brazil. In 1948, distinct and autonomous conferences were held; so, the one for our District 28 was on 20/2/1948, in São Paulo, but, in 1949, they returned to having all of the Brazilian districts meet at one conference, being the "Farewell Conference", the last one.
In 1965, District 457 held, in Rio de Janeiro, a conference with national character and, in 1969, the District Conference for District 461 and the Rotary Clubs of Brazil, both with national spirit, which was not unique, since all the other districts held their own during the same time period.
The first International Convention in Brazil took place in Rio de Janeiro, in 1948, with 7511 participants, and the second in São Paulo, in 1981, with 18309 registrants.
The first Brazilian to become President of Rotary International was civil engineer Armando of Arruda Pereira, from the RC of São Paulo, at that time from our District 28, in 1940-41. The second Brazilian international president was attorney Ernesto Imbassahy de Mello, from the RC of Niterói (RJ), in 1965-66. The third Brazilian to this important position was architect Paulo Viriato Corrêa de Costa, from the RC of Santos (SP), in 1990-91.
In 1951, the RC of Ponta Porã was founded. In 1972, that club officially changed its name to RC of Ponta Porã-MS, Brazil/Pedro Juan Caballero-AM, Paraguay. It was the first bi-national club in Brazil.
After that, in Rotary Year 1982-83, another club was founded from Ponta Porã-MS-Brazil/Pedro Juan Caballero-AM-Paraguay-Border. And, in 1988-89, a third bi-national club was founded in District 4470, the RC of Coronel Sapucaia-MS-Brazil/Capitan Bado-AM-Paraguay (in the entire world there are only 6 bi-national clubs, and three of these are in our beloved District).
Currently, there are 69 clubs in District 4470, with 1704 members, of which approximately 8% are women.
Copyright© 2001 Rotary International D4470.
All rights reseverd.