A new Rotary Club Sees the Day in Flacq

Flacq, the largest district in the country with 23 villages, had only one Rotary Club with some 30 members. The member to population ratio is too large, and the Flacq region was crying to get another club.

Hence, a group of Rotarians and ex-Rotarians took the initiative to go ahead and set up the Rotary Club of Riche Mare, right in the village centre to provide community service. It is worth mentioning that Rotary International has been encouraging clubs to increase membership either through the recruitment process of clubs or by creation of new clubs. Dr Harrish Bheemul is the Charter President of the Club. He was unanimously chosen by the core team to lead this Club to new heights. 

Main projects for 2018 

For the year 2018, the projects will be focusing on promoting peace, fighting disease, providing clean water, sanitation, hygiene, saving mothers and children, supporting education, growing local economies. Dr Harrish Bheemul states that as the president, he intends to look into projects that will encourage women entrepreneurship, as well as focussing on health projects such as cancer screening and health days. “But we have a wish list, and depending on funding, we will be reacting accordingly.

As a new Club, there is a lot of training that I intend to organise so that the new members understand how the Rotary functions. It is also in my plan to work with other clubs, jointly, in order to increase the impact of the action but also extend the friendship with other club members.” 

Additionally, the main objective of the Club is in line with the objectives of Rotary International. “As Charter President, I must ensure that the foundation is strong so that we can build our future. In Rotary, the main objectives are to abide by the Four-Way Test. In short, the Club will be built on four pillars – Truth, Solidarity, Fellowship and Loyalty. We also hope to live up to our slogan ‘Service above Self’ by helping the Community.” 

Small bio of the President 

Dr. Harrish Bheemul, a PhD holder in Electronics and Electrical Engineering, from the University of Greenwich (UK), is a multi-talented individual and a strategic thinker. At 42 years of age, he has a rich career across several fields including Education, Engineering, Management and Information and Communication Technology. Besides being one of the rising Entrepreneurs over the past five years, he is today regarded as a popular and influential public figure among his peers.

Following the projects ‘100 Most Influential Women in Mauritius’ and ‘Promising Indians’ Society’ in December 2017, Dr. Bheemul is, today, considered by many as an important vehicle is the empowerment of women in Mauritius. Furthermore, he is the Charter President of the Rotary Club of Riche Mare (Central Flacq) and has been very active socially. During his Presidency year, he will be focussing on the two of the main priorities of Rotary International, i.e. Education and Health.

Dr Harrish Bheemul, a Paul Harris Fellow, was a member of Rotary Club of Flacq from 2012 to 2017. He has been the Director of Public Image and Public Relations twice, and Director of Projects. He has championed innovative projects as a Rotarian such as the Job and Education Fair, Cancer Summit, CancerWalk, Deaf Awareness Walk, 5-Clubs Mega Health Day, just to name a few. He was nominated Best Rotarian twice in his last three Rotarian years.  He has had an extremely important role in the setting up the Rotary Club of Riche Mare, where today he is the Charter President.