Rotary Year 2026-2027 Charge of Creating Lasting Impact

“Lasting impact” isn’t a buzzword when you’re talking about children who need therapy, families who need support, and communities that can’t be served by a single donation and a photo op. We’re joined by Dr. Judith Aguero Ruiz, president of Rotary Club Marbella Cosmopolitan International, to unpack what legacy really looks like when you lead with consistency, compassion, and a clear plan.

We get specific about the service projects driving this Rotary year. Dr. Aguero Ruiz explains why the club prioritizes long-term partnerships, then shares global work with Madre Coraje, supporting children in Mozambique and Peru with essentials like education resources, clothing, and sanitation. We also talk about local needs closer to Marbella and Malaga, including school materials and mental health support such as psychotherapy, plus the real-world challenge of helping organizations expand into bigger spaces when demand grows.

The most moving part of our conversation centers on Cudeca and pediatric neuropediatric neuro rehabilitation for children with terminal illnesses. Beyond clinical care, the mission is quality of life: therapies, safe weekends outside the hospital environment, and memory-making moments like celebrations that remind families they’re not alone. We close on a powerful definition of success and a simple answer to what gives hope: children, love, and kindness, and the reminder that young people are watching how we lead.

If this story resonates, subscribe for more Voices of Hope, share this episode with someone who believes in service, and leave us a review so more listeners can find these conversations. What does “lasting impact” mean to you?

What Gives You Hope?

https://www.instagram.com/professorastrel?igsh=YmV5cDg4YWtqb3Z6

https://www.instagram.com/rotaryclubmarbellacosmopolitan?igsh=MWQyN2N1ZW5laHZ3Yw==

Support in 2026-2027 from RCMCI includes recipients:

 https://www.instagram.com/fundacioncudeca?igsh=b3d6cHJ4bHRidGlm

https://www.instagram.com/asociacion_principito?igsh=cnJqNXM1d2xicmlk

Transcript

Welcome To Voices Of Hope

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hi, welcome to today's episode of Voices of Hope. Voices of Hope is a Rotary Club Marbella Cosmopolitan Legacy Initiative. We are capturing the voices of those who have overcome and documenting their hope. In our inaugural episode today, I will be introducing you to the Rotary Club Marbella Cosmopolitan International president, Dr. Judith Aguero Ruiz, who has set her sights on taking up the charge of Rotary International's President Inca Babaloa in creating lasting impact. Judith, welcome. Welcome, Tanisha. Thanks for joining us. I'm gonna jump right in. The year started off pretty strong for us. We have our charge, and we've been asked to create lasting impact. Tell me what does that mean to you personally?

What Lasting Impact Means

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Thank you for asking me. I was impressed by the words of our international president for this year, Jinka Babalola. And and really when I was uh reading and listening to his speech, I was really I get uh impressed about the the the possibility to create a last impact, a lasting impact. And of course it means that means a legacy. And uh I was uh thinking about how can we do that, and it comes to my mind that is to continue do it, doing what we are already doing. The impact and the legacy is to continue our marvelous work, to continue to be Rotarian, to attract young girls to our community, to invite them to join us, to see us, and to maybe to get inspired and to decide if they want to become Rotarians in our club or in their communities or in any part of the world. Then I was very, very happy to listen to this message from our president. And I think we is what we are doing right now also with this podcast. We are thank you to you, Tinisha, for for having the idea and the and the force to do and to start doing this podcast that is the first in our uh club history. And uh and yes, this is uh one of the kind of things that we are doing to create in lasting impact.

Why Ongoing Help Matters

SPEAKER_01 3:02

Tell me about the projects that you have selected this year. What are you most excited about? And how do you think that uh our choices will create lasting impact in our community with these organizations?

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Well, I'm excited about all of our projects. We are new projects, ongoing projects, and we love to maintain and create a lasting impact. First at all, continuing that project that we already started at infinitum. We want to, we think that we don't want to help once and then don't help anymore because in our communities these necessities are continuous. And until we don't really put a solution, we shouldn't stop contributing to these projects. We

Madre Coraje And Global Aid

SPEAKER_00 4:00

have also new projects. Uh for instance, we want to collaborate with an organization international that the name is Madre Coraje, that they bring help, they foster education, and they bring clothes and sanitation for the poor children in Mozambique and in Peru. This in international reaching project. Also, is an organization that it was born here in Andalusia in Hain. And then they are helping those children for more than 20 years already. Also, we help here in our local communities. And

Local Support For Therapies

SPEAKER_00 5:05

then we provide them scholar materials, we provide them also psychotherapy, we help them with the with the with the therapies and helping the therapists to come and providing also some kind of financial help. And they this year they need to to grow, to go to a bigger space, and they will need any collaboration, any financial help that we can that we can do. We and other rotary

Cudeca And Pediatric Neuro Rehab

SPEAKER_00 5:45

clubs of the of the Marbella in this area are all are also collaborating with them and we want to continue it. Also with Kudeka, that we last year have helped them to all the what they need to implement the area of neuropediatric neuro rehabilitation for children with terminal illnesses. They opened this year the new area for children that they they didn't have, and they it was present in all the city, the area of Malaga, Malaga and Andalusia. They are in collaboration with the most important children's hospital of Malaga, that is the Hospital Materno-Infantil, and then they are providing to these children a quality of life near like could be a normal life. These children are pass most of their time in the hospital, inside the hospital, because they have illnesses that need continuing therapy and support. Sometimes it's also impossible. And in this area of treatment for terminal ill children, they are going to provide them birthday celebrations, also therapy if they need uh neurostimulation or water therapy or color therapy, also if they need uh they have a pediatrician that if they this with them in the case they have a medical necessity. And if it's very challenging, they are going to bring the children to the hospital. Sometimes they are they spend all their lives inside the hospital and then they come to this center like to do a weekend outside of the same environment or the only environment that some of them of them just know. And uh the beautiful thing of the of this uh project and the people who work in this project is that these children, what is sure is they are going to die. We don't know when, we don't know how much they will last, if it's one year, sometimes just months, or sometimes ten years, and they are uh creating memories, memories with their families, memories with the with with the with the life, with how is the life also for them or experiencing life, not in the in the way though of an ill person. Right.

SPEAKER_01 8:49

Like a human trip to four projects and it touches on so many things, everything from education, the vital resources, we have much more to neo-rehab and even preparing for in-the-life circumstances, like this is uh a great impact to have.

Defining Success and Club Legacy

SPEAKER_01 9:10

Looking back, if you could put yourself in the end of your presidency, what would success have looked like?

SPEAKER_00 9:20

Well, this is beautiful because my definition of success is getting out of life what you want. Then if you can get out of life what you dream for or what you aim for, is uh the biggest success that we can achieve.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Well said, well said, because this year you got your eyes solidly set on a lasting impact, and it looks like you've got the stage set for accomplishing it. But thank you so much for joining us. But

What Gives You Hope

SPEAKER_01 10:00

our final question is the way we'll end every episode of this podcast. Tell me what gives you hope.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Children, children, love, love, kindness. I want to to to to to read something that I already wrote this morning, and it's I think is is going to be perfect here. Is like uh in the first question, like true true success is measured not by personal achievements but by our integrity, our compassion, and our love. And the positive example we live for others. Other things that I love because I I love the the fostering education, health care, and helping also woman and in low socio-economical environments, and I would love to contribute as much as I can. But I think it's very important to teach the young generations. And because and it's this that I read somewhere and I did mind is young people are watching us. They observe our behavior and learn from our example what this means to lead with dignity, kindness, and respect. And then now I want if young people look at me and our if they look really to any rotarian, they are going to find this. Then that is my what I'm going to aim for, like a legacy, is to attract young people and to attract also everyone who wants to become Rotarian.

SPEAKER_01 12:06

Well, thank you so much for your time today, and we appreciate you expressing to us what we can look forward to in this uh coming Rotarian year. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_00 12:24

You want to continue to do