The Enduring Power of Rotary Connections

The Enduring Power of Rotary Connections
By Lauren Branch

In 2016, some of our fellow Rotarians, including my husband, Doug, and I had the honor of hosting a group of attorneys from Azerbaijan through the Open World program.  Doug and I hosted a young human rights attorney named Samed, and from the moment he arrived in our home, it was clear we were meeting someone extraordinary. He was deeply engaged in human rights work in his home country—passionate, articulate, and unflinchingly dedicated to justice. Over the course of a week, we spent our evenings immersed in conversation about law, liberty, and the courage it takes to stand up for others in the face of adversity.

What we couldn’t have known then was how lasting and significant that Rotary connection would be.

Recently, nearly a decade after his visit, Samed reached out to me. His message was heartfelt and humble. He shared that, due to ongoing political repression in Azerbaijan—part of a broader crackdown on activists—he had been forced to flee the country. Now in Strasbourg, France, he is seeking asylum and trying to rebuild his life from the ground up. With his funding for human rights work cut off, he is struggling to find local support.

And yet, amid all the uncertainty, Samed remembered Rotary. He remembered the hospitality, the conversations, and the shared values. He remembered that someone across the ocean had once welcomed him into their home—not just as a guest, but as part of a global family. And so, with great humility and courage, he reached out to ask for help.

His message moved me deeply—not just because of his circumstances, but because it reminded me why Rotary matters. In a world that often feels fragmented and uncertain, Rotary builds bridges. We create connections rooted in service, in mutual respect, and in a shared belief in the dignity and worth of every person. And sometimes, those connections become lifelines.

Rotary is often most visible in the service projects we support—clean water initiatives, youth exchange programs, literacy efforts, disaster relief. But its impact goes far beyond what can be measured on paper. It lives in the relationships we form, the values we embody, and the trust we build. It lives in moments like this, when a man fleeing persecution remembers a Rotary connection from years ago and believes, even in hardship, that he is not alone.

Since receiving Samed’s message, I’ve been working to connect him with Rotarians in Strasbourg—drawing on my own Rotary network and even reaching out to contacts my son made during his time as a Rotary Youth Exchange student in France in 2015–2016. That, too, is the magic of Rotary: we are never just individuals acting alone. We are part of something larger, something enduring.

Samed’s story is a powerful reminder that the work we do in Rotary matters—not just in the moment, but for years and even decades to come. Every exchange hosted, every young leader mentored, every project funded is a seed planted in hope. And sometimes, when the storms come, those seeds become shelter.

We may not always see the ripple effects of our service. But they are real. They live in the hearts of people like Samed, who carry with them the memory of kindness and the belief that even in a world that can be unjust, there are still people who care—people who live by the Rotary motto of Service Above Self.

And that, I believe, is what makes Rotary not just an organization, but a global force for good.