Dr. Ismay Taylor receives Rotary International’s highest award

Dr. Ismay Taylor

BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, 13th April 2011: Charter member of the 8-year old Rotary Club of Liamuiga, Dr. Ismay Taylor, has received the Paul Harris Fellow (PHF) Award, which is the most prestigious award of Rotary International (RI), in recognition of her contribution to The Rotary Foundation (TRF).

Dr. Taylor collected her Award recently during one of her Club’s weekly breakfast meetings held on Wednesdays at the clubhouse of the Royal St. Kitts Golf Club, located in Frigate Bay, St. Kitts. The Award was presented by Immediate Past President of the Rotary Club of Liamuiga, Mrs. Laverne Caines.

In 2005, Dr. Taylor received the Rotarian of the Year Award for her contributions to the work of the Rotary Club of Liamuiga during its first year of operation.

Paul Harris is the Founder of Rotary International and was very involved in the development of Rotary which grew from a single club established in Chicago on 23 February 1905 into the global Organisation that we know today. The Paul Harris Fellow Award was set up in memory of his work to recognise outstanding contributions to the ideals of Rotary. It can be awarded by a Rotary Club to any person, whether a Rotarian or not, who is deemed worthy of the honour. A Paul Harris Fellow Award is made available with a contribution of US$1,000 to The Rotary Foundation. The recipient is known as a Paul Harris Fellow, and receives a medallion on a blue and gold ribbon, a special lapel badge and a citation signed by the President of RI and the Chairman of The Rotary Foundation Trustees.

Having accepted the award Dr. Taylor expressed wonder and appreciation of the fact that an ordinary individual, such as herself, from one of the smallest nations in the world, had been able to leave a lasting imprint of service and contribution on the world.

“As a human being, an insignificant person, when I joined the Rotary Club of Liamuiga it allowed me to do more than one individual can do,” she remarked.

“As I speak, here in one of the smallest nations in the world, I may have had an impact on a few people around the world”, she humbly noted.

She recounted her accomplishments and said that by joining the Rotary Club of Liamuiga, she has helped to provide clean water to villages, helped in the worldwide eradication of polio, helped to save lives, helped the visually-impaired to see and educated the poorest of the poor. These are all endeavours for which The Rotary Foundation contributions made by RI’s over 1.2 million members over the years are utilized.

According to Dr. Taylor, “we are our brother’s keepers”. Moreover she spoke about her willingness to contribute her time and talent for community projects. She emphasised that it was her intension to leave the world a better place than how she found it, noting that it had always been her goal to assist where she can.