Welcome Home, Friends
In Bulgaria, where I come from, it is like this. When the house next door stands empty, something is missing in our own life too. Passing by on our way home, we glance at the silent windows, at the empty garden, then hurry inside and close the door behind us.
Then, suddenly, a little miracle happens.
The windows open. Voices come from inside. Light appears. The garden fills with the little chaos of a place alive again, and our own world somehow becomes richer.
At first, we watch the new neighbours from a distance.
A day or two later, those of us nearby, a little shyly, gather the courage to speak. We begin with a few simple words that draw us closer and create that warm feeling in which you are not arriving somewhere new, but somehow returning.
That is how belonging begins.
New people arrive with more than their names. They bring memories from other places, photographs of happy moments, habits, little rituals, dreams and hopes for the future. They come with their own emotions, experience and skills. They bring a whole world with them.
Then, little by little, we begin to take care of the space we share. We mow the grass together. We clean the street together. We keep an eye on the school. We notice what is missing. We ask what could be better. The neighbourhood is no longer simply a place where we live side by side. It becomes a community.
That’s how Rotary happens.
Every new club brings light into our Rotary home. It brings voices, questions, courage, local knowledge, friendships and dreams. Rotary grows stronger every time new people find the courage to come in, stay, serve and build.
Every new person in our communities is a joy. Every new club expands our
capacity to do good.
This special issue grew from a simple wish: to let our newest clubs know that we see them. To give them a little more visibility, certainly, but also a moment of joy and pride.
We want you to open these pages, find your club, your people and your story, and feel that what you have started matters.
And behind every new club there are people whose work deserves to be seen too. Usually, there is not one person but a whole team — people who invite, connect, encourage, follow up, solve problems and keep going. We have invited some of the leaders who have been part of this process to tell us how it happened: what worked, what they learnt and what helped a group of people become a new Rotary or Rotaract club. Their experience belongs in this story as well, and perhaps it will make the next new beginning a little easier somewhere else.
Rotary has also given us an ambition for 2030: to grow to 1.25 million Rotarians and 125,000 Rotaractors. The numbers give us a direction. The deeper goal, to me, is what we build around them — clubs and communities that people are drawn to, where they feel welcome, included, cared for and free to bring their own ideas, experience and energy. Communities people want to join, contribute to and stay in.
That is where growth really begins. And every new club in these pages is already part of it.
And that is why I want to say to every new club in Zone 21: welcome home.
Give yourself time to discover your place in Rotary.
No one knows a new home completely on the first day. First we discover the rooms, then the people, then its rhythm, then our own place within it. It is the same in Rotary. Its meaning reveals itself little by little — through the first project, the first time we reach out a hand, the first conversation in which we realise that we are no longer guests, but part of the community.
Be brave as you begin. Ask questions. Learn. Find friends. Tell your stories. Share the good you create. It may inspire another club, another person, another community.
Keep your windows open. Let there be light in them, voices, work, friendship and hope.
Welcome home. We look forward to your next story.
With friendship, pride and a warm welcome,
Tanya Georgieva
RPIC, Zone 21B
2026–2029