Kuopio-Veljmies Rotaryklubi is an active Rotary club located in Kuopio. We meet at lunch from 11.45 am to 13.00 at Kuopion Klubi every Wednesday, to see each other, listen to interesting presentations and promote doing good in our town. We also visit various places and companies. We support humanitarian projects carried out by the international Rotary organisation, participate in Youth Exchange, and promote the well-being of our vicinity.

Our club was established 31 May, 1981. Our sponsor club is Kuopio-Kallavesi Rotaryklubi. We have 28 members, and we belong to District 1430. (Link to this web address.)

A Hobby with a Purpose

We concentrate on supporting Youth Exchange. We help youngsters to participate in the Rotary International Youth Exchange every second year, like our partner club Törnävän Rotaryklubi. We believe that youth exchange is the best grassroots internationalization and peace education.

In District 1430 we participate in the Saimaa project which includes the so-called Water-backbag initiative where students are given a simple set of analytical tools with which they can study the purity of local waters.  In addition, we participate in helping Ukrainian refugees, and take part in the Leg for legless Finland which contributes to the main project in India.

We also highlight important social development needs. We have emphasized the importance  of accessibility through a sign language theatre project. Annually, we organise a public speaking/oratory competition for high school students of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. This is done in connection with the grand fair Opinlakeusmessut and in co-operation with RC Törnävä and non-Rotarian oral communication experts.

We set a high value on the efforts of Rotary International and on this organisation’s valuable work in eradicating polio from the world. Rotary has invested a lot of voluntary work and more than 1.2 billion US dollars for this work only.

An Influential International Organisation

Rotary was established 23 February 1905 in Chicago. It is an international service and charity organisation. The homestead of Rotary International is Evanston, Illinois. Our motto is Service Above Self. Rotary has 1.2 million members in 35,000 clubs in more than 200 countries. Rotary is a remarkable international service and charity organisation.  Finland is divided into five Rotary districts, one of which includes the Estonian clubs.  In Finland and Estonia, there are 270 clubs altogether, with 8,900 Rotarians.