From Friendship to Service: How an ICC Connection Came Together for Children's Hearts

This post is part 19 of 23 in the newsletter of October 2026

Different countries. One Rotary family. One cause.

By Jenny E. Bohlin, Rotary Club Rome International | President, ICC Italy, Malta, San Marino, and India

A gong sounded on a terrace in Bengaluru, and a room full of people slowed down together. I was thousands of kilometres away in Italy, yet my club was part of that moment. Barely a year earlier,

Arini Ghosh and I were strangers. This is how an ICC friendship became a cause.

It started with an ICC connection

In September 2025, ICC introduced me to Arini, of Rotary Bangalore Social. For nine months we knew each other only on screen, Rome to Bengaluru. ICC gave us the introduction. Fellowship did the rest.

Lights of Friendship

On 12 October 2025, Arini and I hosted Lights of Friendship together, an online Diwali gathering that brought Rotarians across borders into one room. ICC later featured it on its website and magazine. Diwali is the festival of light; our next chapter would be sound.

From friends to twin clubs

In 2026, I travelled to India for a special visit: Arini’s installation as President of Rotary Bangalore Social. We met in person at last. During my visit, the club hosted a sound healing session for me and its members, fellowship in its quietest form.

On 1 July, the first day of the Rotary year, our clubs signed a twin club agreement, the first for Rotary Bangalore Social. The idea was simple: work together, and let fellowship lead to joint projects.

Sound Healing for a Cause

Just over two months later, that promise became a project. On 6 September, Rotary Bangalore Social hosted Sound Healing for a Cause, a wellness fundraiser supporting paediatric heart surgeries, with Rotary Club Rome International as International Partner. Rotaract District 3191 joined as Youth Partner, and 23 Rotary clubs, ours among them, partnered with the cause. The message was simple: rest your mind, restore a child’s heart.

Over 140 people gathered on a terrace for ninety minutes of stillness, led by Dr. Shyam Suraj (Dr. Shamrock). A gong and Tibetan singing bowls did what sound has done for centuries. When the gong first sounded, Arini says, the whole room slowed and settled together, like one long exhale.

Our club contributed, though I could not be there in person. Yet Rotary Club Rome International was named on the main poster and acknowledged at the event, so our friendship was present in the room.

“Jenny and I coined our own phrase: we are each other’s sister from another mister. ICC gave us the introduction; fellowship turned it into action.”

Arini Ghosh, President, Rotary Bangalore Social

From Friendship to Service: How an ICCConnection Came Together for Children's Hearts Different countries. One Rotary family. One cause. - Screenshot 3

Why it matters

Estimates suggest that over 160,000 children are born with heart disease in India every year. Fewer than 5,000 get the surgery they need, fewer than one in thirty. The funds raised will go towards paediatric heart surgeries for children who cannot afford them.

Every partnership helps change that.

What’s next?

The response from partners was so strong that Rotary Bangalore Social and Rotary Club Rome International hope to take this experience to a larger audience, and to more audiences, together. To every ICC pair reading this: consider a joint project of your own. Bring Rotaract in through ICC too. In Bengaluru, they brought energy, hustle and heart, and they are the future of these friendships.

Friendship is where Rotary begins. Service is where it shows.