President - David Isaacs

Vice President Roger Leung
Secretary Uday Gujadhur
Treasurer Stephane Henry
IPP Mamed Baboo
PR Elect Philip Ah Chuen
Sgt at Arms Kumar Gunness

Chairman of Committees:
Club Service Alan Oxenham
Community Service Noel Chong Ah Yan
International Service Michael Bootle
Vocational Service Joseph Yip Tong
Bulletin Office/Website Bob Russell

District Governor V.J. Patel (Seychelles)
A,D,G. Randhir Ramloll (Vacoas)

Award Winners 2002/03:
Rotarian of the year Alan Oxenham
Rotarian Couple of the year Ujjval and Simla Desai
New Rotarian of the year Tony Wise
Nutcombe Oxenham Award Joseph Yip Tong


P H F awards:
Alan Oxenham (By District Governor)
Noel Chong Ah Yan
Kreshna Ramdhony

Apart from the award of a PHF, Alan Oxenham also received the distinction of being designated as the Rotarian of the District..

     It was a very memorable year for myself as President. I have to thank in particular all the members of my board, including IPP Mamed who gave me lots of support and advice in the period before I took over.

     I also have to thank my wife Francoise, my Secretary Devi who was enormously helpful with so much correspondence and phone calls, our ADG Randhir who was a tremendous support given that we had nearly 12 monthly Presidents/Secretaries Meetings, and our District Governor V J Patel of the Seychelles who was an excellent Governor.

     My thanks also to PP Bob for developing the website of the Club.

     The Induction Dinner was held at the Pirogue Hotel on Saturday 6th July, but the year really started with the District Conference in Reunion at the end of May 2002. The following month of June is traditionally the build up to the big event of the Induction Dinner for every Incoming President.

     The first month, July, of the Rotary Year was of particular significance because of the visit to our Club on Wednesday July 17 of the President of the Republic, Mr Karl Offmann G.C.S.K. Mr Offmann had signaled his intention of becoming the Patron of the Rotary Club of Port Louis at the beginning of his turn of office. The President addressed the Club on various social problems in our society particularly the role of parents in the family.

     The theme of the Rotary Year 2002/03 was “Sow the Seeds of Love” , “Semez l’Amour.”

     Our DG was V J Patel from the Seychelles who visited the Club in September and was very active in the District. He drove hard the project to raise money for the eradication of polio and in this respect he awarded a PHF to Alan Oxenham for Alan’s splendid initiative to raise money in Mauritius, by having Laurent Perrier of France and a number of Mauritian Hotels contribute financially on the basis of the number of champagne bottles consumed over a 3-month period.

     Here is a summary of the projects of the Club by Committee.

Club Service

     A Ladies’ Outing was held in October and was a Catamaran trip from Mahebourg to Isle aux Cerfs.

     Weekly attendance was good, averaging 68%. We said goodbye during the year to Mike Pereira, Henri Fontaine and Richard Austin, but welcomed Michael Burman, Mike Plumb, Palani Chettiar, Eric Noitakis, Jean Claude Liong, Tony Wise, Paul Van Niekerk and Patrice Curé.

     The highlight of the year was the Gala Fund Raising Dinner at Grand Bay on Saturday 8th March 2003, in the presence of the President of the Republic, Mr Karl Offmann. This was attended by 340 people and all objectives were met.

     The District Governors Banquet was held on 25 January 2003 also at Grand Bay.
     The Xmas lunch for our wives was also held.

Community Service

     The traditional “Sortie des handicappés” was held at the Pirogue Hotel in September and went very well.

     There was a project to build a playground in Roches Bois in Port Louis, but this unfortunately did not materialize and attention was diverted to building a classroom behind the Catholic Church in the same vicinity. This project continued into the next Rotary Year.

     The Xmas Tree Project was held on December 14th at the Cité Vallijee Government School and was very well attended by children and Rotarians and spouses.

     Both the Rotaract and Interact Clubs continued to perform. The Interact Club in particular had a successfulyear and I took the District Governor to Le Bocage School Interactors during his visit to our Club. They also raised money for cyclone victims in Rodrigues, in total nearly Rs 10,000 in cash plus materials.

     Sadly Hilda, the widow of PDG Marcel, died during this year.

     Mam Sans Baz, the annual dinner for the Tramps took place in April and was well supported by Rotarians, Rotoractors and Interactors.

Vocational Committee

     Another eventful year, with worthy highlights.

     The traditional Primary School Quiz and Brains Trust Competition were completed successfully.

     We created the Marcel Lagesse Memorial Prize which will be awarded to the best student in Fine Arts graduating at the MGI. Funds from the trust set up after Marcel’s death will be utilized.

     The Peace Project continued under the able guidance of PP Claude, with an ever widening number of Primary Schools, both within the Port Louis area and nationwide. Furthermore, District Governor V J Patel was immensely impressed with the project and contributed personally in the form of a matching grant.

     Another highlight was the launching of a Careers Guide to the Youth of Mauritius, not only in hardcopy but on websites as well. This considerable project was started in 2000 and involved the collaboration of the ILO, MEF and MIM.

     The Official launch of Career Prospects, The Way forward for the Youth, was at the IVTB in the presence of the Honourable Steven Obeegadoo, Minister of Education and Scientific Research. Rotarian Azad and Incoming President Philip were much involved in the preparation of this very comprehensive project.

     We also sponsored to an amount of Rs 50,000, a learning project organized by APEIM entitled Makaton for the children under their care.

International Committee

     In regard to the Group Study Exchange Project, we entertained a group of 5 people from Belgium in June, but our Club was successful in putting forward and winning the nomination of Christian Travailleur to join our District team who went to Belgium. Christian was nominated by PP Jean Claude Autrey and gave a talk to the Club on his return.

     The main event of the Year was without doubt Les Saveurs des Iles – Ocean Indien which took place in April. It was the brainchild of Rotarian Sen Ramsamy, and was organized in collaboration with La Commission de l’Ocean Indien, l’Union Européenne, and most notably L’Ecole Hoteliere who actually carried out the project itself.

     This took place within the context of the Festival Culturel de l’Ocean Indien, organized by the Ministry of Arts and Culture.

     Chefs from the Comores, Madagascar, Reunion, Rodrigues, and the Seychelles were flown in especially to collaborate with their Mauritian counterparts to prepare menus and meals according to their own speciality.

     Finally I must thank the Club for the wholehearted support given to me during my year and congratulate the winners of the various trophies and two distinguished Past Presidents, Noel and Kreshna on being awarded the PHF.