Rotary Peace Scholarships


Every Rotary District is invited to propose candidates for the 15‑24 month Rotary Peace Scholarships Master Degree and/or the 3‑month Professional Development Certificate Course at no cost to District!!!! I know what youʼre thinking. This beggars belief! Must be a trick! The Rotary Foundation offering something, free and gratis! Canʼt be! Theyʼre up to something! If we show interest, theyʼll be grabbing our D.D.F. (whatever that is!) RPCP is an Education Programme that began in 2002. It supports The Rotary Foundationʼs mission of improving health, supporting education and alleviating poverty by advancing research, teaching and practical field experience on issues of peace, goodwill, causes of conflict and world understanding.


At the outset, Rotary Peace Centres were established in seven universities, worldwide. Each offered a masterʼs degree in international relations, public administration, sustainable development, peace studies, conflict resolution or a related field ‑ all with a 2‑3 month practical internship during summer break included. Of the original group, four remain today: 1 The University of Bradford, England 2 The University of Queensland, Australia 3 Duke University & University of North Carolina ‒ Chapel Hill, USA 4 International Christian University, Japan In 2012, Uppsala University, Sweden restore the quota to five when the first Rotary class is admitted.


The 3‑month programme leading to a Professional Development Certificate was added in 2007, available only at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.


With some notable exceptions, Districts in Europe, Latin America, Africa and South‑East Asia respond poorly. Within RIBI, several Districts have yet to propose a candidate ‒ others, like D.1160 (Ireland), have had many successes! This year, 255 applications were received. Each ranged from 30 ‒ 50 pages in length, so the job of reading and assessing them was not one for the faint‑hearted! Every candidate was graded on: Academic aptitude & achievemen Commitment to Peace & Conflict


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Resolution


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Leadership qualities, Compatibility with Rotary Peace Centre objectives


From 3rd‑6th October, The Rotary Peace Centres Committee and University Representatives met in Rotary HQ, Evanston and completed the selection process. In all, 60 Masters Scholarships (12 to each of the 5 universities) and 50 Certificate Scholarships were awarded for study in 2012‑13 In the 10 years that the programme has been operating, 657 alumni have been generated. Of these, the vast majority (c 85%) are currently active in peace‑related work.


The Rotary Peace Centres Programme is working, is making a difference, is delivering Foundationʼs mission and is fulfilling Rotaryʼs commitment to world peace. Why not participate? Why not seek out a qualified candidate and change lives? Applications close on 1st July 2012. PDG Howard Caskie,


Rotary Peace Centres Committee Member 2011‑14


Give it up for ROMBO


Following a very long day working with the Light of Maasai team in Rombo, together with a visiting Rotarian and two volunteers from Ireland, we all sat down for dinner. As we discussed our daysʼ work the mood was light and up‑beat as we recounted our successful activities and the various stories we heard from the village folk. One of our group, Joseph Nkanoni (a member of the Light of Maasai team) received a call to say that 2 women and 4 children were at his home and had been waiting for him all day. The women refused to leave his garden believing that he was inside the house. Troubled by what was going on at his house Joseph left our company to go home and talk to the women to find out what they wanted. Joseph reached his home at 11pm. The women were seated outside along with their children. When Joseph enquired what the problem was they simply answered “we are starving”. He chatted with them further and they told him they had not eaten for 3 days. They had come from Maili Tatu, which is about 10km from Josephʼs house. Joseph sat talking with them for a short while, he explained that the light of Maasai charity did not have any relief food and he really didnʼt know how he could help them. Eventually after a further 30 minute talk the women stood up and began walking away leaving their children behind. He could see that they were crying as they walked away from their children. Joseph called to them asking “where are you going?” They replied, “we better go and die alone in the bush and leave our children here with you so that at least they will live”. Horrified by the fact that these women felt their only option was to abandon their children, he went inside his house and removed all of his own food and gave it to them. He also gave them whatever small amount of money he had in his pocket and arranged for them to be brought to a room to sleep for the night. The next day they left satisfied, but as we discussed it the next morning we wondered when they would be back. We also wondered how many more will arrive


over the coming weeks with the same problem? We were shocked that a mother could be so desperate as to abandon her beloved children, but the reality is she wasnʼt abandoning them but was seeking a way to save them from starvation. All the schools in Rombo were closed earlier this month, since they had no food for the children. Power is being rationed as the water reserves drop and while Rombo has not yet been designated a “disaster” area that day is coming very soon. For a people that normally survive on $1 dollar a day, no rains mean that even their $1 a day is not guaranteed. What can they do now to survive? Almost every day, mothers and children come to the Light of Maasai office in Rombo looking for food. Just this minute , I have given some maize flour to a family that have not eaten for 4 days. Coming to the LoM office is a last resort for these proud and hard working people of Rombo. Thank you Rotary for helping me to help these families and especially the little children. A small amount of funds will feed these families for months, getting them back on their feet so that they can continue to help themselves as normal. I am very very grateful to all at D1160 that plan to part‑take in your Districts drive ʻGive it up for Romboʼ and to those of you that are trying to raise 25 euro / 22 pounds per member. I promise you I will save lives with your hard earned funds. Elaine Bannon, Light of Maasai Charity, Rombo, Kenya.


Club donates £1000 to Sightsavers


The Rotary Club of Larne has made a very generous donation of £1000 to Sightsavers in memory of the late Florence Craig a longstanding and faithful Inner Wheeler. Her late husband Denis Craig was a member of Larne Rotary Club and a Past President of the Club.


Florence lived a long and very full life and her great love was travel which took her all over the world. Even after the death of her husband she continued to travel extensively and very often, despite being in her 80ʼs, would travel on her own to far off destinations.


Her travels came to an end however when her eyesight deteriorated badly but as a lady of great courage she continued to live on her own and was very faithfully helped by good neighbours including Brian and Marlene Gordon and by the late Ian Duffin who was well known in Rotary


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circles throughout Ireland. Her particular great friends, who never could do enough for her, were Evelyn McKinley and the late Adam McKinley another well known past President of the Larne Club. Florence was a lady of a tremendous charitable nature and the writer was present when she called a well known eye specialist from Belfast, who had helped her over the years, and gave him a gift of one hundred thousand pounds for his work among the poor in India. Larne Rotaryʼs gift to Sightsavers is to be used for Rotaryʼs African Vision which is a project launched to train, equip and deploy health care workers as well as to fund the African Braille Centre in Kenya. Both of these projects would have been dear to Florenceʼs heart. George Knox


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