This can go either way. The global recession and otherwise trying times might direct our energy and empathy inward. Or - and this is what the Kiwanis hope - we may be moved to reach beyond our own households, sharing our talent and time with a world that desperately needs its citizens to pitch in.

Kiwanis International is a global organisation of volunteers with a lofty goal: ’Changing the world one child and one community at a time’. Last week T&T’s seven clubs hosted Sheron Cameron-Dunn, the Jamaican governor of the Kiwanis’ Eastern Canada and Caribbean District. Cameron-Dunn visited communities on both islands to get a sense of the scope of our national needs and efforts. She was also here to jumpstart a membership drive and district-wide campaign to raise Can$1 million (TT$4.8m) for HIV/Aids programmes throughout the region.

Asked why anyone would volunteer in an age where everyone is busy, Cameron-Dunn insisted that service to others should be a foregone conclusion. ’Volunteering should be a very important part of what everyone of us does. Even though we may have our own jobs and families, we should always find time to give back to those who need it,’ she said. This is easy for her to say. Community service and children happen to be her passions. When she was introduced to the club almost two decades ago, she found her niche. A communications professional, the wife and mother-of-one resigned from her last job to dedicate her time more fully to steering the regional effort. Her future goals are to adopt children and volunteer full-time.

But what of those who want to give but can’t sacrifice quite so much?

Lieutenant Governor of the local division, Leslie Ann Baxam, explained that the club’s focus on children is an immediate draw to many. She added that with its opportunities for developing business and leadership skills, travel and networking, it can even be a valuable asset to busy professionals. Nevertheless, membership has dwindled over the club’s four-decades-long presence in T&T. A high of about 1,000 during the ’80s has been whittled away to 106.

’I think this happened because the movement wasn’t focusing on membership. But this is an opportunity to turn things around. The economic state we’re in could force many to reflect and realise they need to give back,’ Baxam ventured. ’Everyone likes to feel like they’re making a difference. I call it the warm and fuzzies being able to say ’This is what I have done for a child’.’

With individual clubs deciding on the priorities for their communities, Kiwanis activities run the gamut-from the fleeting Christmas party to erecting a house for a single mother; from building a library to forming bonds with HIV orphans. In alliance with St Vincent De Paul, Kiwanis’ St Augustine club works with the Cyril Ross nursery, a home for HIV positive children. They cook lunches, fly kites, take them out to shows and make occasional donations. (Next week the Kiwanis and First Citizens Bank will be handing over new beds.) Baxam, a member of the St Augustine club, admits that it is traumatic when a child passes away. But the enduring message is that stigma can be eroded through truth.

’They are regular children. They don’t have sores or lacerations. They are given their medications and aren’t sick. A number of them will live for many years and may never develop full-blown Aids. This was a way for our members to find out more about HIV. By working with the children they get the facts. You can’t get HIV through a mosquito bite or a handshake. And you also see that at the end of the day people are people. The way these children are sometimes marginalised at school or by the national community isn’t warranted,’ she said.

Recognition of the increasing need for education to reduce stigma and the spread of the virus, along with more hands-on interaction with those affected by HIV has prompted a three-year-long drive.

’Throughout the district the matter of HIV/Aids is a great commonality,’ Cameron-Dunn explained. ’We’re partnering with UNICEF and are focusing on three Caribbean countries: Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. Each territory will decide on their activities. Prevention of mother-to-child transmission is one of the key focus areas. I’m happy that as an organisation we can help and provide comfort to those who already have HIV as well as prevent more children from being born with the disease.’

While the umbrella organisation steers clear of making pronouncements on hot button issues like sex education in schools, some of its clubs are involved in safe sex campaigns. In the tradition of Kiwanis International, it’s up to each community to respond in its own way to its own needs.

-For more information

on Kiwanis clubs in Trinidad

and Tobago, please email

them at lbax25@hotmail.com

or call 755-7252