Peace

Peace

Peace Projects in Rotary South East

‘Peace’ – more specifically, - Peace-building and conflict resolution – has been one of Rotary’s key ‘Areas of Focus’ for some time. Here is a short brief on how your club can be involved:

Every club needs to address improving greater harmony in their community: inter-ethnic tensions, and religious divides are two clear fields where clubs can develop programmes to help. However, the net has been cast much wider than this, battered women, drug-based violence, and disablement integration are all fields covered by this area of focus in Rotary Foundation terms.

Our current Peace Fellow is Eva Mckinley, now in her second year of study. RC Margate is her host club and will be presenting and supporting her at the District Conference. She has an engagement as speaker with RC South Foreland on Thursday 25^th. November which will be available to the District on Zoom.

This District has requested to be a host for one of the current group of Peace Fellows, and will soon discover if this request has been successful. Although their main task is to study, contact with the District will be maintained. Peace is now Rotary Foundation’s second largest Foundation programme. 20% of the global total are studying at Bradford Uni., they’re young, charming, motivated, intelligent, and share our values.

In addition, we are searching for potential Peace Fellows from this area. To be eligible, the applicant must have a first degree in a humanities-based subject, and be prepared to spend at least four trimesters at a university progressing their particular thesis. There is no age limit, and the candidate cannot be a Rotarian or a Rotarian family member. If you are aware of someone you would like to propose for selection, please let me know for progressing to TRF in Chicago.

Also, Ian Park, (head of the Bradford Rotary Peace Centre Committee), is looking for ‘Distant Host Counsellors’. If you are keen to be a District Host Counsellor, and believe you may be suitable for the task, or would like more details, please contact me for further details. It will not mean travelling to Bradford, although you will develop a close contact with your peace fellow and the group.

Rotarian John Gisbey, (RC Sandwich), is working on a current peace initiative to discover what members and clubs can do to assist migrants in the area, and he has details of the groups in Kent with whom you can make contact. If you have a peace-centred programme you think may qualify for a District Grant, these are currently available. A form is available on the RGBI web site.

John Gisbey - International Service Team member j

Francis Hodge – International Service and Peace Lead 

V.2 - F. Hodge – 20.9.21