Giving Back

Service Above Self

That is the Rotary motto, and our University District Rotary Club exemplifies its spirit. I just returned from a weekend in Vancouver, British Columbia with the Rotary District 5030 clubs - of which our club is a member. My neighbor and landlord Ezra Teshome was this year's District Governor, and he is pictured here addressing this weekend's district conference.

Ezra has been personally responsible for eradicating the disease of polio in his native country of Ethiopia, leading trips of Rotarians to immunize children there every year for twenty years. Only three countries in the world have not eliminated the disease - Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Until they do, the world is not safe. Rotary has led the effort to eradicate polio, in partnership with many others, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Bill Gates Sr came up from Seattle on Saturday night to address our Rotary conference on this topic. I learned the world is "this close" to eliminating polio.

I learned from the many other speakers in plenary and break-out sessions this weekend, that Rotary has changed lives around the world. Rotarians who funded an infant girl to get the surgeries she needed to grow up and walk again on prosthetic legs; the many villages in Guatemala, Mexico, and across Africa that have clean drinking water and new school houses thanks to Rotary; the disabled children in Nepal who are given dignity and wheelchairs; the children in poor communities here and abroad that have safe playgrounds built with Rotary dollars; the Rotarians who funded a 12-year old boys plans to end child slavery around the globe. Rotarians are changing the world through these acts of service above self.

And in this blog by and about real estate investors, the goal is to leave the world a better place for our having lived here. To learn to build community through ethical investment, and through compassion for those whose lives are being changed. To have the ability to "give back" after profiting from one's life work. This is truly to have lived, and lived well.

Happy investing.

Giving Back

My University District Rotary Club will be sponsoring a visit to Seattle of the international performing arts troupe Up With People September 23-30, 2013. I will be hosting one of the cast members at my house during that time.

Up with People was founded on the principle of using music as a means to communicate with and inspire people. In each city they visit, Up with People cast members perform a vibrant and inspiring musical stage show that brings the community together to enjoy a night of entertainment while sparking people to take action in meeting the needs of their communities, countries and the world.

Their message is consistent with that of their Rotary sponsors, to change the world by saving lives through literacy, disease-prevention, health, and economic opportunity. As real estate investors, this should be consistent with our own missions as well - changing lives by improving the neighborhoods in which we live, one project at a time.

I belong to Rotary, and I support efforts of youth organizations like Up With People, because they make our world smaller, more humane, more tolerant, and more beautiful. The Four-Way Test of Rotary is a great way to make a living, to make both personal and professional decisions, in real estate and elsewhere. That is, in everything we think, say or do:

1) Is it the TRUTH?
2) Is it FAIR to all concerned?
3) Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
4) Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

While they are here, the cast of Up With People will donate their time to various community projects, including an anti-bullying effort in local middle schools. Their performance will be at 6pm, September 29 at the McCaw Hall at Seattle Center. Tickets are $31, and are available through me.

If you are interested in learning more about Rotary, contact me at HomeLandInvestment@gmail.com, and

Happy Investing!