{"id":15085,"date":"2019-02-09T11:45:29","date_gmt":"2019-02-09T16:45:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=15085"},"modified":"2019-02-09T11:50:21","modified_gmt":"2019-02-09T16:50:21","slug":"stories-from-rotarian-action-group-for-peace-provide-inspiration-for-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/?p=15085","title":{"rendered":"Stories from Rotarian Action Group for Peace provide inspiration for peace"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION ..<\/p>\n

Excerpts from an article by Reem Ghunaim, Executive Director of Rotarian Action Group for Peace (RAGPF)<\/a><\/p>\n

. . . This is our 2nd annual Top 5 RAGFP Membership Countries newsletter.\u00a0It highlights only a fraction of the stories you generously and courageously create on the ground, daily, in 74 countries around the world. Thank you for leading countless stories such as these every day in your Rotary clubs and districts.\u00a0Your stories are our inspiration at\u00a0RAGFP.\u00a0We hope you enjoy reading and learning from each other\u2019s\u00a0experiences, initiatives,\u00a0and ideas. . . . <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nRAGFP\u00a0member Caroline Millman, (pictured right with\u00a0Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta Menchu Tum)
\n<\/center><\/p>\n

[United Kingdom]<\/strong><\/p>\n

RAGFP\u00a0Board Member\u00a0Alison Sutherland\u00a0is current chair of our Peace Education Committee. She wrote an article for\u00a0The Rotarian Magazine UK\u00a0<\/a> that exemplifies all Rotarian peacebuilders. She sat in busy traffic one morning, noticing a group of people outside an old building in her home town of Cardiff, Wales, and recognized an opportunity of Rotarian service.\u00a0These were refugees seeking asylum and she found a way for Rotary to help them. She assisted Rotarian partnerships that currently integrate many of the 1,000 foreign refugees per month who arrive in Cardiff into their community.\u00a0The Welsh Refugee Council now refer refugees who wish to integrate into British society to the City of Cardiff Rotaract.<\/p>\n

Alison\u00a0says many of these immigrants \u201cdid not always fall within the prescribed Rotaract age range,\u201d yet Rotary created a space for them. Rotarians in her\u00a0District 1150\u00a0now help provide refugees in the UK with English classes, sports and craft facilities, community social events, and even help asylum seekers with complicated government form fillings. Alison demonstrates how Rotarian peacebuilders are committed to meeting the basic needs of their\u00a0communities as their approach to creating peace.\u00a0Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

RAGFP\u00a0member Caroline Millman, (see photo above), is the Chair of\u00a0PeaceJam UK.\u00a0Caroline works with PeaceJam UK to tailor teacher-friendly curricula materials for youth, based on the lives of the Peace Laureates. All of their curricula features global \u201cCall to Action\u201d projects aligned with high-quality service-learning standards and is linked to the\u00a0One Billion Acts of Peace\u00a0campaign established by the Peace Laureates.\u00a0PeaceJam\u00a0is an international education program for schools and youth groups. It is unique as it is the only educational program working directly with Nobel Peace Laureates. PeaceJam itself has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize\u00a0seven\u00a0times. Their aims are to teach and inspire a new generation to be active citizens and agents for change. . . <\/p>\n

[India and Pakistan]<\/strong><\/p>\n

RAGFP\u00a0members in Districts\u00a03011\u00a0and\u00a03070\u00a0(India) and District\u00a03272\u00a0(Pakistan) have joined forces with Rotarians in six other Rotary districts worldwide to build a Peace Park in the disputed\u00a0border zone between India and Pakistan. The\u00a0Indus Peace Park Project\u00a0seeks to promote peace and international cooperation along the border.<\/p>\n

The Indus Peace Park Project was conceived in 2015 when a\u00a0Rotary\u00a0District 5080\u00a0Friendship Exchange group was unable to attend certain events in the region, due to border tensions between India and Pakistan. RAGFP\u00a0members came together to provide peace action.<\/p>\n

(Article continued in right column)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Questions for this article:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n

\n

How important is community development for a culture of peace?<\/a><\/p>\n

(Article continued from left column)<\/p>\n

The Indus Peace Park Project seeks to secure an area of 10 hectares (25 acres) of land (5 in Pakistan, 5 in India), on either side of the border. To be maintained by Rotarians, Rotaractors, and Interactors from both countries. The park will be a neutral\u00a0location where everyone can gather in a spirit of lasting peace, cooperation and goodwill. This project and the RAGFP\u00a0members who lead this project emphasize the notion that \u201cif Rotarians didn\u2019t change the status quo- who else would do it?\u201d This mindset is demonstrated in\u00a0our live-stream videos\u00a0recorded with park\u00a0organizers at the RI Convention 2018 in Toronto.<\/p>\n

Rotarian Action Group for Peace is a partner in this project. RAGFP\u00a0leaders are signators of a global\u00a0petition\u00a0to show political leaders on both sides of the border there is overwhelming worldwide support for this Peace Park within the disputed borderlands. You can also\u00a0sign the petition here, and provide financial support. Learn how your Rotary club or district can support\u00a0The Indus Peace Park.\u00a0\u00a0Read More . . . <\/a><\/p>\n

[Australia]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rotary E-Club Melbourne conducts their weekly Rotary meetings online and then go \u201cinto the field,\u201d as they close their laptops and seek peacebuilding opportunities in their local community and globally. They often travel together internationally to remote locations so they may personally identify opportunities for Rotarian service. They sponsor water and sanitation projects in underdeveloped areas of India and visit these areas to see for themselves \u201cif the toilets are working.\u201d\u00a0They promote peace in local schools,\u00a0actively recruit fellow Peacebuilder Clubs throughout Australia, and consider personal engagement as the most important philosophy in all of their peacebuilding activities. . . . <\/p>\n

[Canada]<\/strong><\/p>\n

. . . a national \u201cculture of peace\u201d is cultivated by Rotarians who form community peace partnerships and alliances throughout their country. The Rotary Club of Winnipeg\u00a0is a\u00a0RAGFP\u00a0Peacebuilder Club. . . . Their peace initiatives focus on the value of\u00a0human rights, comprehensive peace education, and include,\u00a0Peace Days 365 including Festival of Peace and Compassion, an annual festival of events celebrating of the United Nation\u2019s annual\u00a0International Day of Peace.\u00a0This Peace Days Festival is a nearly month-long schedule of daily events leading up to, and extending beyond, September 21st each year. <\/p>\n

The entire community of Winnipeg and District 5550\/WPP is involved in hosting peace-centered events that focus Canadians upon shared values of human dignity, compassion for one another, and respect for our environment. Peace Day 2018 events featured a film premiere of the Canadian TV series,\u00a0First Contact, and the series built bridges between Indigenous Peoples and Canadians across the nation.<\/p>\n

Their peace education in human rights programs helped foster Canada\u2019s very\u00a0first interdisciplinary Master of Human Rights program to be offered at\u00a0The University of Manitoba\u00a0in 2019. These Rotarian peacebuilders and RAGFP\u00a0members provide examples of how all RAGFP\u00a0Peacebuilder Clubs can develop effective peace projects and initiatives within their\u00a0own local communities around the world.\u00a0Read More . . . <\/a><\/p>\n

[United States]<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are now 78\u00a0RAGFP Peacebuilder Clubs\u00a0spread across the continental United States, in Alaska and the Pacific. . . . The Rotary Club of Boulder [Colorado] has set their next century of Rotarian service on peacebuilding. Their peace initiatives allow school\u00a0children to access engaging peace education, focus their community upon peace in public spaces, inform social justice in Colorado, and introduce innovative minds from around the world to Rotarian peacebuilding. They also contact and recruit other Rotary clubs in their district to become active Peacebuilder Clubs offering mentorship and an example of excellence.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

.. DEMOCRATIC PARTICIPATION .. Excerpts from an article by Reem Ghunaim, Executive Director of Rotarian Action Group for Peace (RAGPF) . . . This is our 2nd annual Top 5 RAGFP Membership Countries newsletter.\u00a0It highlights only a fraction of the stories you generously and courageously create on the ground, daily, in 74 countries around the … Continue reading Stories from Rotarian Action Group for Peace provide inspiration for peace<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-15085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-democracy","tag-global"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15085\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.cpnn-world.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}