 How
and Why Tin Tin Nu Raschid joined Rotary
This is
truly a very long story going back more than 59 years, even
before I got married. One can even say that I got into Rotary by
marriage!. My father-in-law was a Past President of the Rotary
Club of Rangoon, Burma ( later became a District Governor in
1959-60) and was very active in Rotary. Bilal took me as his
date to the Rotary Club of Rangoon's Dinner/Dance. When my
father -law- was the District Governor, he was also in U Nu's
Government and had to travel. I served as his Aide, taking care
of correspondence etc., and learned a lot about Rotary and Inner
Wheel. A dozen or so years before Bilal became a Rotarian at
age 27, the two of us were already helping the Rotary Club of
Rangoon in their programs and fund raisers. We got married in
1956, and left Rangoon for Liverpool, UK for further studies.
After Bilal's return he started his private practice in
architecture, and became a Rotarian in 1962. I remember those
days well. Women could not join Rotary; and there was no Inner
Wheel Club in Burma. But we helped our spouses in all their
Rotary endeavors. (But I was waiting in the wings to become a
Rotarian! ). As a 34 year old President's wife, I took charge of
the Rotary parties for children, raising funds and providing
food and games for the physically challenged children .We held
these parties for the children from the orphanages, in which our
own children participated, on two acres of the Thai Ambassador's
residence in the heart of Rangoon. These were the beginnings of
my involvement with Rotary.
In 1969, we migrated to
Pakistan for the future of our three children. We did not know a
single person in Pakistan and we had only a total of $ 25.00,
which the Burmese military government permitted us to take with
us. The next week after his arrival in Karachi, Pakistan, Bilal
went to attend a Rotary meeting; and there he found his new
"family" and friends. One Rotarian introduced him to one of the
leading architectural firms in the city, and that is how he got
his first job! Could it be better than this? Please read on.
While Bilal was waiting for clearance of his Rotary
classification to become a member (in those days only two were
allowed from each classification), I joined the Inner Wheel club
of Karachi ( the only Inner Wheel Club in the entire country in
1969). Soon both of us were busy with the activities of Rotary
and Inner Wheel. Our Children used to ask whether our house was
the headquarters of Rotary International, as we would bring home
Rotary work for them to help us with. Bilal formed a new Rotary
Club; and I formed three Inner Wheel Clubs, and together we
formed the first Rotaract Club of Karachi in 1969. It was the
only Rotaract Club in the whole of Pakistan at that time.
One Rotarian recognized my ability for organizing and public
speaking, and made me the Master of ceremonies for the " Ladies
Night". Once a month the Club would change their luncheon
meetings to dinner meetings, invite the spouses with a program
of interest to the Ladies ( hence, the "Ladies Night"). Another
Rotarian recommended me to be the Director of Cultural affairs
at the Pakistan American Cultural Center. We got more and more
involved with the Rotary and the Community. A couple of years
later two other Rotarians recommended me for the position of the
Executive Director of Pakistan American Cultural Center. I was
the first Woman and the first non-official of the U. S. Embassy
to be so appointed. I had charge of six Pakistan American
Cultural Centers to start with. A year later I formed the
seventh one in Peshawar. The main activity of the Bi-national
Center was to teach English as a second language to more than
10,000 students learning English and about a couple of hundred
students attending Cultural and Vocational Classes. The Centers
also promoted American culture to the Pakistanis, and Pakistani
culture to the Americans and others. My job took me to different
places in Pakistan, and I took the opportunity of forming new
Inner Wheel Clubs where ever I could. At one time I was invited
to a Rotary meeting to talk about Inner Wheel Clubs. They had
invited their spouses to the meeting. We got there on time and
to my surprise, I was put in a separate room with the women, and
had to address the Rotarians through a curtain!! Nevertheless,
to my delight, an Inner wheel Club was formed. Bilal and I
visited the refugees from Bangladesh, who had been dumped into a
refugee center in the middle of the desert. We distributed
goods, clothes, sewing machines, provided sanitation facilities
etc. and did whatever we could for them. We, the members of the
Inner Wheel Club, also set up a clinic to provide health care
and outings for the children with physical disabilities.
After ten happy years in Pakistan, we decided to migrate to US.
The two sons were already studying at George Washington
University and University of Pennsylvania and the daughter was
studying at Cambridge University in UK. Again, we had to start
from the bottom. Bilal went to attend a Rotary meeting in
Washington DC and an architect member introduced him to the
President of one of the most prestigious architectural firms,
namely, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. At that time I had stayed
behind in Karachi to sell our house, and attend to other
matters. One month after my arrival in Washington, D.C. in
February 1970, I bought a very run down florist shop in
Arlington, Virginia, and turned it into a successful FTD shop.
Well, as you guessed, Rotarians patronized me again. Wherever we
go, and whatever we do, the Rotarian friends have always been
supportive. The main reason for our continued support for Rotary
is because through Rotary one can give back one's thanks to the
community and to the Rotarians who have helped us all our lives.
We are grateful to all those who touched our lives, specially
those Pakistani Rotarians who helped us when we got there almost
penny-less. Bilal joined the Rotary Club of Washington DC, and
was very active there for almost fifteen years. He moved to the
Falls Church Club as his office had moved to Crystal City, VA
and it became very time consuming to attend the DC Club. He has
33 years of perfect attendance, and wanted to keep it going.
When some clubs were accepting women, Bilal took me to
several Rotary Clubs. I liked the DC as well as the McLean
Club. When we got to the McLean Club, we did not know anyone.
But I sat next to a Rotarian who had just visited Burma. He
sponsored me right away; and in February 1989, I was inducted
into the club. It was one of the happiest days of my life. The
second happiest and third happiest were when I was asked by the
nominating committee to be President, and later, District
Governor. I was the first woman President of the Rotary club of
McLean in 1992-93; and the first woman Governor of District 7610
and of Virginia in 1996-97.
We, the first women
Presidents and District Governors encountered and faced many
interesting incidences, some funny and a few very irritating.
Initially, we were ignored most of the time, and watched people
making a bee line to our husbands. At one District conference
where I had gone to represent RI President Glenn Estess, the
same thing happened. My husband was mistaken as the RI
President's Representative. When he told the local PDG that it
was his wife who was the Representative, the old Past District
Governor shook his head and said " what has the World come to?"
I just pretended not to hear him. At the end of the conference,
he came up to me and said "Madam Governor, you did a great job".
One President, during my official visit to his club, said that I
can say anything except ask them to get women into the club!. On
another occasion, a club ( without any woman members) "borrowed"
a woman member from another club to make me feel comfortable
during my official visit. Also we had to tread softly so as not
to step on any PDG's toes.
It is not just work all the
time with Rotary. I had great fun forming the Fellowship of
Rotarian Floral Designers and also Chair the RI Committee on
Global Networking Groups.. The six years this Fellowship was in
existence, I did most of the work by giving free floral
demonstrations in the community, at the clubs, at District
Conferences and at the Zone Institutes. I have also chaired the
decorations committee for many Zone institutes. On the Floral
Fellowships final year ( it folded up as no one wanted to take
over as president), five of us gave floral demonstrations and
displays every day during the International Convention in
Chicago in 2005. My floral arrangements have reached Presidents
Reagan, Bush,Sr., Clinton, many Senators, Congressmen, and
Chief of Staff, as my second shop was in McLean, VA. I still
play with flowers from time to time, as I have a business
license to do work under the name of " Rent-a-Florist". I do
wedding and party flowers for those who engage my services. You
guessed it right, the Rotarians and Freemasons still continue to
patronize me.
Joining the Rotary Global History
Fellowship and serving on its Board have enriched our lives very
much and I would like to thank the Founders and the dedicated
Board Members. I would also like to encourage others to join the
RGHF. Although we have attended 59 District Conferences, 15
International Conventions and 15 Zone Institutes and know quite
a lot about Rotary, we always refer to the RGHF web pages for
detailed information on various aspects of Rotary.
We
both enjoy Rotary and the company of Rotarians, as well as Free
Masons. We have given a lot of service to these organizations
over the years. Both of us have received Rotary International's
highest and most prestigious award, "Service Above Self". Bilal
got his in 1998 (he was our District's first recipient) and I
received it in 2006. We are both sustaining Paul Harris Members
and Major Donors and there are seven Paul Harris Fellows in our
immediate family. But we still wish we could do more for Rotary.
Tin Tin Nu Raschid, District Governor 1996-97
Posted 8 July 2011 by Jack
Selway
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