Based on the letter from the Rotary Club of Bandung number: 108/RC-BDG/VIII/2020 regarding the Request for an Audience to strengthen the cooperation between the Rotary Club of Bandung and the Institut Teknologi Nasional (ITENAS), as well as an introduction to the Board of Directors of the Rotary Club of Bandung for the 2020-2021 period and the Itenas Leadership for the 2020-2025 period, a meeting was held on Wednesday, August 12, 2020.

The meeting took place starting at 09:00 AM in room 15221, attended by 7 (seven) representatives from the Rotary Club of Bandung, namely Drs. Mira S. Padmo as President of the Rotary Club of Bandung, Rina Nur as Secretary of the Rotary Club of Bandung, Lenny as President-elect of the Rotary Club of Bandung, Ciska Djajadiningrat as President of the Rotary Club of Bandung Kota Kembang, Ambar Taroepratjeka as Past President of the Rotary Club of Bandung Kota Kembang, Julia Alwi Waluyo as Secretary of the Rotary Club of Bandung Kota Kembang, and Deni Rohmawati as Executive Secretary, as well as representatives from Itenas (Rector, Vice Rectors, Head of LPPM, and Deans). The meeting was opened with a welcoming speech by Prof. Meilinda Nurbanasari, Ph.D., as the Rector of Itenas, who also introduced herself and the attending leadership team. Subsequently, the same introduction was conducted by the Rotary Club of Bandung.

Rotary Club is a club spread throughout the world. Members of the Rotary Club are called Rotarians and are business and professional leaders who provide humanitarian services, encourage high ethical standards in all volunteer activities, and help build togetherness and world peace. Rotary Club in Indonesia is divided into 2 (two) districts, namely District 3410 for Western Indonesia and District 3420 for Eastern Indonesia. Therefore, the Rotary Club of Bandung falls under District 3410. The Rotary Club of Bandung generally consists of both male and female professional members. Meanwhile, the Rotary Club of Bandung Kota Kembang limits its membership to women only.

The Rotary Club of Bandung has 7 (seven) areas of focus: (1) Peace and conflict prevention/resolution; (2) Disease prevention and treatment; (3) Water and sanitation; (4) Maternal and child health; (5) Basic education and literacy; (6) Economic and community development; (7) Ecosystem. Every year, the Rotary Club has a theme; this year’s theme is Stunting, focusing on how to manage, educate the uninformed, and assist those affected by stunting. Rotary Club regularly holds weekly meetings with members to discuss work programs to be realized. The Rotary Club of Bandung has contributed to various social activities such as providing storybooks for pediatric inpatient wards, providing aid to natural disaster victims, and contributing to health activities like blood donations, mass circumcisions, and cancer screenings, as well as conducting community development for villages in the Bandung area so that residents can increase their creativity to improve community welfare and independence. The Rotary Club of Bandung has a Mobile Cancer Clinic that actively operates to perform early screenings for cancer, primarily breast cancer. Not only moving in the health sector, Rotary Club has established cooperation with various government agencies, hospitals, education, and many more, such as the Youth Exchange Program for teenagers and higher education programs with other countries.

Rotary Club hopes to continue its cooperation with Itenas for mutual progress to create a better Indonesia. Not only in the field of education, the Rotary Club of Bandung hopes this cooperation can be forged further and broader. In the future, the Rotary Club of Bandung and Itenas will sign a new MoU.

The activity lasted for approximately 90 minutes. After the Q&A session, the activity concluded with the presentation of souvenirs by the Rotary Club of Bandung as a symbol that the audience had been conducted and in the hope that cooperation could continue, followed by a photo session. (Dwinta Yuniarti)