Why are there Silly Fines at Rotary meetings?

Photo credit: Unsplash

Silly fines, as the name suggests are fines that members are charged at a meeting to help the club run its operations and projects. They are meant to make members laugh and have fun while the fines are being paid.

Silly fines are not supposed to be an instrument of punishment, where members are only fined for not doing something. Occasionally, members can be fined for not being appropriately 'dressed' as Rotarians (such as not wearing their pins). However that shouldn't be routine. A member can even be fined for being promoted at work, or looking radiant at a meeting. Another funny example can be fining bald members. 👨🏾‍🦲

To ensure that members enjoy giving these tokens to help their clubs, some clubs have decided to scrap the "silly fine" name and rather take "happy dollar" or "gratitude dollar" where members pay a token for something they are happy about, or grateful for.

The role of fine master is also not the preserve of the Sergeant-at-Arms. A different member can be chosen to play that role at every meeting to spice it up.

May we be encouraged to pay our fines, when we are charged at meetings, whether in-person or virtual.

Join us. #WeAreRotary

My bank account is anemic, and so what?

Credit: etsystudio.com

I have always struggled when it comes to savings. I am a financial illiterate. I. Need. Help. I am at a point where I live from hand-to-jaw – not even close to hand-to-mouth.  :-smile

Anyway, whenever I find myself in dire need of money to survive, God comes through – through fellow human beings. Good people exist in this wicked world. Believe that.

This morning I woke up with no with electricity. The power units had run out. The 10% reserved on the card is what is powering my laptop as I type this. Well, this afternoon I joined a number of my Club members to visit an ailing member. After the visit I decided to go eat fufu and come home to rest. After all I won’t eat in the evening. Just when I got to the restaurant, the member who owns the place ensured I ate to my fill, without paying. She has no idea of my situation.

Good people.

After thanking her, I boarded a taxi and handed GHS5 to the driver. There was a gentleman by me who also handed GH5 to the driver. The driver then explained he had no change for both of us. We we told him to get some when he gets to town and we alight. This other gentleman implored the driver to take GHS2 for both of us instead of the GHS3.2 for two passengers. The driver saisd no, so I brought out GHp50 and handed it over to the driver to add to my GHS5 so he gives me the GHS3 he had in his hand. I will alight first in any case. He refused. I got to my destination and the gentleman took my GHp50 and asked me to keep my GHS5. He will pay for me.

Good people.

You see, I am not saying it is alright to have an anaemic account. Get help. Get financial literacy training. I. Need. Help. I need to plan my finances. There are good people, but you can also be one. Don’t always be at the receiving end. Be a giver too. Be good people.

TOURISM: Duasidan Monkey Sanctuary

Trying out a selfie. Didn't work out well. :-)

Duasidan is a community in the Dormaa District of the Brong Ahafo Region in Ghana. It is approximately 10Km along the western end of the Dormaa-Gonokrom Road. Do keep an eye out for the Customs check point. The road to the community is immediately after it (on the left).
The sanctuary, which is a small forest preserved as an ancestral grove, has three species of monkeys:

• Campell’s monkey (Kwakuo in Akan)
• Spot-nosed monkey (Ahenhema in Akan) and
• Olive Colobus monkey (Asibe in Akan)

The monkeys were discovered by the ancestors of the community, over a century ago. They are considered sacred and therefore are not to be harmed, or killed by anybody. To paraphrase the words of a guide at the sanctuary, “If you plan to kill, or harm any of the monkeys, you won’t live to execute that plan.”

Female Campell feeding her young

I've got my eyes on you, tourists!

The community has a number of objectives which personally I think would go a long way to develop the community, while placing the sanctuary (launched in 2007) at par with its sister sanctuary at Buabeng-Fiema. These include:

• Building a guest house to accommodate and entertain tourists
• Seek financial help from NGOs and the District Assembly
• Solicit technical assistance from the Wildlife Division and Government.