Rotary Peace, yes, it is a Rotary Programme. In fact Peace and Conflict Resolution is one of six areas of Rotary Focus. The Rotary Peace Fellowship is one of those areas that our District 5040 has experienced many successes. Nine Peace Fellows have been selected in our District since 2008. After selection they pursue further education at one of 6 Peace Centers around the globe.
The Rotary Peace Fellowship is designed for leaders with work experience in peace and development. Our fellows are committed to community and international service and the pursuit of peace. Each year, The Rotary Foundation awards up to 50 fellowships for master’s degrees and 80 for certificate studies at premier universities. Since the program began in 2002, the Rotary Peace Centers have trained more than 1,300 fellows who now work in more than 115 countries. Many serve as leaders in governments, NGOs, the military, education, law enforcement, and international organizations like the United Nations and the World Bank.
In our last meeting we were privileged to listen to Gloria Staudt, our District's Peace Scholar Chair and Saad Karim, a Rotary Peace Fellow (Chulalongkorn, Thailand) in 2012.
Saad has an impressive resume of overseas work in many countries. We learned of Saad's personal journey, his passion for world harmony, and his dedication working in precarious and dangerous circumstances in worn-torn and unstable areas. His work is admirable. His experiences are inspirational. He has been on the forefront of Peace in highly conflicted situations. He was there and you were there too through the granting of Peace Fellowships.
Your contributions to Rotary Foundation make these efforts possible.
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| Saad Karim w/Dr. Oscar Arias, former president of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize laureate |
Happy to see visiting Rotarians from Burnaby, Ladner, Richmond Sunset and Royal City. Also our warm welcome to Joseph Liang, a local Realtor who is reaching out to find how to involve and give back to the community. Looking forward to see him in our next zoom meeting.
Nayeli Garcia from Richmond Reviews also gave us a briefing on their planned special section to promote the CMHA Mental Health and create awareness about the importance of maintaining positive mental and well-being during the current pandemic. Our club will be participating.