- A New Book by Michael Vallez
Washing Feet
Stories of Rotarians Who are Living Lives of Humility and Service Above Self
Foreword by Thomas O’Loughlin
- Service Above Self
About the Rotary Motto
Service Above Self and One Profits Most Who Serves Best, Rotary’s official mottoes, can be traced back to the early days of the organization. In 1911, the second Rotary convention, in Portland, Oregon, USA, approved He Profits Most Who Serves Best as the Rotary motto.
For many years, the Rotary International organization focused much of its efforts on the eradication of Polio across the globe. Rotary has been working to eradicate polio for more than 35 years. Its goal of ridding the world of this disease is closer than ever. Today, Rotary chapters everywhere have undertaken projects which all serve to improve the human condition across the world.
- The Publication
About this Book
This book, authored by Eng. Michael Vallez, will be a compendium of stories about individual Rotary members who have led projects which have had impact in their communities and in foreign countries where the needs of the poor are acute. To write this book, Vallez plans to visit Rotary chapters across the United States and Africa and interview those who have led these impactful projects. He expects to find that people who live by the Rotary motto find self-fulfillment and personal satisfaction that results from living the Rotary motto.
- The Writer
About the Author, Michael Vallez
Engineer Michael Vallez, P.E. spent a summer during his sixteenth year living and working on a ranch in the Amazon Rain Forest of southern Venezuela.
A defining moment in Mike Vallez’s life occurred when a young neighbor boy came to him to get some rice and beans, after going three days without food. Although Mike returned from Venezuela at the end of that 1969 summer with a desire to do something about poverty, he went on to earn a degree in Civil Engineering and pursue a successful career in engineering, construction and project development.
Twenty years ago, after surviving a major health crisis, he decided to pursue his passion in his free time by forming an interfaith organization to raise funds to build an elementary school in rural Tanzania. This Gen Z in Africa was booming in size. Upon his retirement in 2022, he decided to expand the mission to support the improvement of industrial skills for that same Gen Z who were coming of age in great numbers. He formed a 501C3 organization called GFP International, focusing on the metalworking skills which are crucial to economic development in Africa.
In September 2025, Vallez relocated to Nairobi, Kenya to advance this mission, and joined the Rotary Club of Nairobi.
- Foreword Author
About Thomas O’Laughlin
Thomas O’Laughlin wrote the original book, Washing Feet, as described here:
More than half a century after its introduction into the Easter liturgy, the rite of the washing of feet on Holy Thursday goes to the heart of what it means to take part in Christian liturgy—as well as to live a Christian life. In Washing Feet: Imitating the Example of Jesus in the Liturgy Today, Thomas O’Loughlin explores the significance of mutual foot washing in early Christian communities and in the rituals of churches today.
Washing Feet is a sound and engaging combination of liturgical theology, historical exploration, and practical pastoral guidance. Clergy, liturgy committees, and RCIA leaders involved in Holy Week liturgies will find this a useful and accessible resource for understanding how this practice is a key to how ordinary Christians understand the nature of the church and their relationship to others within their communities.
Thomas O’Loughlin agreed to the use of Washing Feet in the new book by Vallez and agreed to write the forward to the new book with the same name.
He has spent his teaching career being fascinated with how the ‘gospel’ was communicated in the early churches.
He is Professor Emeritus of Historical Theology in the University of Nottingham, many of his research papers can be found on the internet, and he has published many interviews on YouTube. Now that he is Emeritus he continues to engage in academic research and in communicating that research.
- Get In Touch
Contact Us
Have questions about the book or want to share your story? We’d love to hear from you. Fill out the form below and we’ll respond promptly.