Suva, Fiji – Beginning 1^st July, two Suva Rotary Clubs will merge to provide a more focussed approach towards community service. The two clubs, Rotary Club Suva East and Rotary Club Suva North will now operate as Rotary Club of Suva East.

A Letter of Agreement was signed between the two clubs outlining commitments in the transition period.

Under the current climate and with the growing COVID-19 humanitarian crisis in Fiji, the clubs felt this was the opportune time to merge and to focus their efforts on strengthened community service, by pooling its members and their shared experiences, networks and skills.

Alisi Tuqa, the outgoing President of the Rotary Club of Suva North said the merger has been discussed over some years, and the pandemic prompted members to reassess the merger and agreed the merge was also a way to address membership value proposition issues.

The Rotary Club of Suva North has had a long-standing history in Suva having been chartered in 1971 by the Rotary Club of Suva – Fiji’s first Rotary Club set up in 1936.

Ms Tuqa reflected that the Rotary Club of Suva North has a strong club legacy in Suva through its projects and events. This included the annual Casino Fundraising Night, and the annual Interplast Surgical Team missions into Fiji, which the RCSN coordinated. The Interplast project is a club signature project in which visiting Australian and NZ surgeons work with the Fiji surgical team to undertake reconstructive surgeries. She added, “the club is passionate about this project and will continue to support reconstructive surgery initiatives, now through the Rotary Club Suva East.

Ashika Devi, President of the Rotary Club of Suva East welcomed the merger saying this would mean a bigger club and one that is strengthened by the experiences the Suva North members bring.

For Suva East, the merger has meant strengthening club systems and streamlining efforts, and ways to improve coordination, especially to enhance delivery of community services.

Ms Devi added, “the Rotary Club of Suva East is very excited about this new journey that we are embarking on and we are honoured to be receiving experienced Rotarians who have made immense contributions to projects in Fiji.”

Since its establishment in 1980, the Rotary Club of Suva East has supported, funded and organised numerous community projects in health, and education – the former with the Rotary Fiji Health Festival from 2004-2007; and the latter a range of activities that have included scholarships, and book donations. The Rotary Club of Suva East established the Rotary Pacific Water for Life Foundation in 2007, which now has built and/or improved close to 300 community and school water systems around Fiji.

Vineeta Nand, Rotary Area Governor for Fiji, acknowledged the commitment of the two clubs and its members towards this merger and congratulated them for bringing it to fruition.  She added, “a merged club means a stronger, more robust and collective Rotary Fiji that augurs well for the work and community activities that need to be implemented by Rotary.”

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For more information please contact incoming President Erica Lee – ericalee82@gmail.com