August 2020

International expansion continued to flourish in July with two new countries flying the Optimist flag.

The city of Dhaka, Bangladesh, is the home of the first Optimist Club in that country.

The Optimist Club of Dhaka, Bangladesh, organized with 28 members. Steps to form a Club started prior to the pandemic and the lockdown of the country, but members stayed in contact via social media, and plan to introduce Optimism to other areas of the country. Optimist International thanks the Optimist Club of Panama City-Beaches in the North Florida District for its sponsorship.

Optimist International now has a presence in Sri Lanka. A student with a history of volunteering, who attends the Royal Institute International School of Higher Education in Colombo, Sri Lanka, (pictured below) reached out to Optimist International and wanted to establish a Junior Optimist Club.  “My friends and I wanted to find a platform from which we could launch efforts to make Sri Lanka a better place”, said Arosheny Puvanenthirarajah. “We are excited to be a part of Junior Optimist International.”

The new Club held an organizational meeting at the end of July, and included remarks from members of the Junior Optimist International Board of Directors and the International Junior Optimist Committee. There are plans to expand the Optimist presence in Sri Lanka to include more Junior Optimists Clubs, a college Club and at least one adult Optimist Club.

Also in Asia, the Optimist Club of Malangwa became the 16th Club in Nepal. The Optimist Club of Nawalaparsai, Nepal, and the Optimist Club of Riverside, Ontario, are co-sponsoring this latest group of Optimists in the country. Meanwhile, the Optimist Club of Dang, Nepal, on several occasions provided COVID-19 prevention masks to members of its community in the southern part of the country (pictured at left).

The spirit of Optimism around the world was also evident throughout the Caribbean and Africa in July. The Optimist Club of St Catherine’s, Jamaica, worked with a community development agency to honor law enforcement with lunch for their service to the community. The Optimists also provided the police department with a framed copy of the Optimist Creed and branded masks for each police officer (pictured at left). Meanwhile, the Optimist Club of Kingston went to a primary school with vegetable seedlings and agricultural tools donated by the Rural Agricultural Development Authority. The donations will help to develop the school’s breakfast program.

Optimists in Uganda were busy in July, completing an Optimist-sponsored neonatal facility. The Nyabugando Health Center III, in the Village of Nyabugando, will serve a district of 30,000 Ugandans. The KAMP Optimist Club’s Neonatal Unit is unique in that it will have its own water-capturing system, bathrooms and sanitary system, and is complete with the Optimist road sign proudly displayed.

KAMP Optimists also initiated a tree-planting program in their district of Kasese.

Administrative Corner As Optimist International enters the final three months of the fiscal year. It is imperative that all of our Clubs in the Caribbean, Africa and Asia determine this month whether they are current on their financial obligations to the organization. We thank those Clubs that are current. Those Clubs that owe dues to the international organization are asked to provide Optimist International with an understanding for when this obligation will be paid before September 30. Failure to make payment by the end of the fiscal year could lead to the revocation of a Club’s charter to continue operations. Optimist International appreciates the work of its members in the Caribbean, Africa and Asia and looks forward to their continued success.