Rotary Activities

Thursday, April 10, 2025

Champions of Peace

Rotary honors six People of Action: Champions of Peace

The honorees’ projects empower farmers and refugees, heal postwar trauma, and establish dialogue among diverse groups

By Etelka Lehoczky

Anne Kjær Bathel

Germany
Rotary Peace Fellow
Area of action: Preparing refugee children for the digital world

Anne Kjær Bathel is a Rotary Peace Fellow, former Rotary Youth Exchange student, social entrepreneur, mentor, and founder of the ReDI School of Digital Integration.

Bathel helped develop and execute the concept for ReDI Digital Kids, which offers technical education to refugee children in Germany. The program fosters children’s curiosity and creativity and encourages them to communicate and interact in group settings. It also builds digital literacy, empowering participants to navigate the online world safely and confidently.

The initial stage of the project involved 296 children and 78 teachers. Continued engagement with the community has been a key aspect of the program’s sustainability. Thanks to funding from corporate and government partners, it has now worked with more than 4,000 refugee and migrant children across Germany.

Bathel built strong partnerships with Rotary clubs in the community and abroad and secured critical long-term funding. Her background in peacebuilding and innovation allowed her and her team to create a program that has long-term social and economic benefits for the participants and their families.

María Cristina Cifuentes

Colombia
Rotary Peace Fellow
Area of action: Integrating peacebuilding into Colombia’s Nationally Determined Contributions

María Cristina Cifuentes, a Rotary Peace Fellow, member of the Rotary Action Group for Peace, and global climate justice ambassador, leads a pioneering project to integrate a peacebuilding approach into Colombia’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC). The NDC is a climate action plan submitted to the United Nations. This marks the first time Colombia’s NDC has incorporated peace as a critical element for sustainability and resilience against climate change.

The project establishes five pillars for Colombia’s NDC: governance and transparency, social empowerment and human rights, sustainable development and Positive Peace, human security and climate resilience, and innovation and capacity building. It focuses on communities that are vulnerable and have historically been excluded from decision-making processes, including children, Indigenous peoples, and rural populations.

While studying for a master’s degree as a Rotary Peace Fellow, Cifuentes designed a framework to foster peace in fragile contexts. She proposed this methodology to Colombia’s Ministry of Environment, aligning it with climate goals. The framework was integrated into the NDC 3.0 update for 2025-2030. It incorporates ethical transition principles and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals as well as a commitment to human rights, gender policies, and child-sensitive indicators. This innovative approach highlights the role of peace and social justice in driving transformative climate action.

Domino S. Frank

Chad
Rotary Peace Fellow
Area of action: Preparing women for work

Domino S. Frank is a Rotary Peace Fellow with more than 20 years of experience in humanitarian development and peacebuilding. He is a strategic advocate and project coordinator for the Corridors of Peace program in Guéréda, Chad. He focuses on helping displaced women and young people in conflict zones, offering vital services such as vocational training, education, and health care.

In a region destabilized by conflict and displacement, many women and young girls lack educational and economic opportunities. As a result, they may get trapped in cycles of poverty and dependency. The lack of opportunity fuels deeper social and economic divides, exacerbating tensions within the community and contributing to instability.

Corridors of Peace offers training in literacy as well as sewing, agriculture, soapmaking, and other skills that are both marketable and sustainable. By learning these trades, women and girls can generate income, improve their living conditions, and achieve financial independence. The program builds peace by addressing the root causes of conflict: poverty, inequality, and disenfranchisement.

Swati Herkal

India
Rotary Club of Wai in Maharashtra
Area of action: Supporting farmers through regenerative agricultural practices

Swati Herkal is a past district governor and past chair of the Governor’s Council of Rotary News Trust. She is also a member of The Rotary Foundation Cadre of Technical Advisers. An active philanthropist, she has served other organizations in various capacities.

Herkal initiated a project to address economic instability and social challenges in rural farming communities. These communities face increasing poverty, unemployment, migration, and poor soil conditions. All of those challenges taken together contribute to social unrest and exacerbate inequality. Herkal’s initiative encourages farmers to use composting and other sustainable agricultural practices to increase productivity.

In the project’s first phase, 70 participating farmers reported reduced costs, increased crop yields, and improved soil fertility. They also joined a Rotary Community Corps and served as mentors for more than 1,200 other farmers who were eager to adopt innovative methods. Women in these communities produced and sold compost, gaining a degree of financial independence. By demonstrating the success of regenerative farming, the project also offered a more promising career path for young people who might otherwise have left agriculture. The initiative is now being expanded to 50 additional villages.

Linda Low

USA
Rotary Peace Fellow, Rotary Club of Global Partners in Peace, North Carolina
Area of action: Starting dialogues on challenging issues

Linda Low is a Rotary Peace Fellow and the founder and charter president of the Rotary Club of Global Partners in Peace, which has members all over the world. Based in Seattle, Washington, USA, Low developed a process to facilitate dialogue among diverse groups to reduce divisiveness and polarization. The program, called Leadership Dialogues, was conceived in 2016 and is now used in communities across the United States and around the world.

Leadership Dialogues brings people together to discuss difficult issues and leaves participants with a clearer understanding of others’ points of view. By emphasizing shared values, thoughtful listening, and empathy, Leadership Dialogues encourages people to engage in productive discussion and appreciate different opinions and experiences. As a result, communities become stronger and more collaborative. Low has personally facilitated dialogues with at least 2,000 people, around half of them Rotary members. She has also helped many Rotarians in the United States learn to facilitate dialogues, and some Rotary districts have integrated Leadership Dialogues into their awareness campaigns and community engagement initiatives. Most participants surveyed have said the experience changed how they engage in dialogue.

Sanela Music

Bosnia-Herzegovina
Rotary E-Club of Global Impact District 1990
Area of action: Building resilience, trust, and connection

As a child, Sanela Music was a refugee who fled the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Today, she’s an international human resources consultant, a Rotary representative to the United Nations in Geneva, and a dedicated peacebuilder working with The Rotary Foundation and the SANCHILD Foundation.

Music leads the Harmony Project, which addresses postwar trauma by equipping communities to hold dialogues that promote healing and build lasting peace. Launched in 2021, it has carried out 47 initiatives that have benefited more than a thousand individuals and indirectly impacted nearly 50,000 people in 34 cities.

The Harmony Project in Schools empowers teachers and students to manage their emotions and build resilience and trust. Approved by two ministries of education in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the project reduces conflicts, stigmas, and cultural divides. It also enhances inter-ethnic connections. Participants report experiencing transformative changes in their relationships and an overall improvement in their well-being.

Inspired by the project’s outcomes, Music is working with peace education experts and Rotary partners to expand it across the Balkans and beyond.

Visit :-

https://www.rotary.org/en/rotary-honors-six-people-of-action-champions-of-peace

"Haydi Hep Beraber" Bölge konferansına bekliyoruz

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Tüm Şehitlerimize Allah’tan rahmet,yaralılarımıza acil şifalar ve sehitlerimizin kederli ailelerine sabırlar diliyoruz

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Space Center club has the right stuff

By Arnold R. Grahl

At the height of the space race in the early 1960s, thousands of aerospace engineers, scientists, contractors, and support crew members flocked to Houston, turning 1,600 acres of what was mostly cow pasture into the bustling research hub known as the Manned Spacecraft Center, now the Johnson Space Center. The transplants needed social connection. They needed an outlet to improve their rapidly growing community.

They needed a Rotary club.

When the Rotary Club of Space Center (Houston) formed in 1964, about a third of its 35 charter members were connected to the space program — including a manager in a General Electric department that designed and built equipment for Project Apollo; an executive from McDonnell Aircraft, which supplied the Gemini and Mercury capsules; and the IBM chief in charge of the acres of computers needed to program space flights. The club’s early members also included a real estate agent who found homes for NASA families, an assistant superintendent of a burgeoning school district, and a veterinarian who treated astronauts’ pets.

It even attracted astronauts L. Gordon Cooper, the youngest of the seven original astronauts in Project Mercury, and Frank Borman, commander of both Gemini 7, which at the time had the longest space flight, and Apollo 8, the first mission to leave Earth’s orbit and circle the moon.

“I wanted to become a member because I’m very much interested in the community around here,” Borman said in a 1966 cover story about the club in this magazine. “I think a Rotary club is an important asset to housing developments like these.”

Members of the Rotary Club of Space Center (Houston), including (from left) Stan Galanski, Suzi Howe, and Alan Wylie, honor the club’s past and present connections to the space program.

Image credit: Nathan Lindstrom

Club’s connections continue

The club today retains its proud heritage, ties to the space center, and interest in the community. Its members still include a superintendent from that same school district and plenty of people with connections to the space program.

Alan Wylie, a longtime club member, served 18 years as a flight controller for NASA and another 25 as a contractor. He graduated from Texas Tech in 1967 with a major in mathematics and a minor in physics, and just two years later was at his console for the first manned lunar landing. His team also plotted navigation for moon flights, including the critical reentry angle into Earth’s atmosphere.

“I was very fortunate to graduate when I did, which enabled me to be a flight controller when we first landed on the moon,” he recalls. “My specialty was navigating the lunar landing.”

In 1985, Owen Morris, a club member who had led the team that developed the lunar module for the Apollo missions, proposed the idea for the club’s National Award for Space Achievement. The club set up a special foundation to work with NASA, the military, and industry leaders to nominate and select recipients.

Today, the black-tie gala is held in downtown Houston and includes a number of categories in addition to the prestigious National Space Trophy. In 2018, for instance, William Shatner, the actor who portrayed Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek TV series and movies, received the Space Communicator Award.

A who’s who of the space program

Notable contributions by Rotary Club of Space Center (Houston) members past and present:

L. Gordon Cooper (1927-2004) was one of the Mercury Seven, the first class of American astronauts. “I practically had to pinch myself every day to think that I’m really here, because it was really an opportunity to really do some pioneering, because we had no idea what we’d find in space,” he said in an oral history project. Cooper piloted the last of the Mercury spaceflights in 1963, orbiting Earth a record-setting 22 times.
As commander of the 1968 Apollo 8 mission, Frank Borman (1928-2023) led the first team of astronauts to orbit the moon, describing its surface as a “vast, lonely forbidding expanse of nothing, rather like clouds and clouds of pumice stone.” During the orbit, he carried a Space Center Rotary club banner, which is part of the Rotary International archives today.
Alan Wylie and his team plotted navigation for moon flights. The Apollo 13 mission tested their mettle, as an onboard explosion forced major changes in the flight path and their efforts to get data on the craft’s precise location were hampered by the need to conserve power. “We had to tell the flight director to turn the power back on for five minutes so we could collect data,” Wylie recalls. “As soon as they had turned it on, they [the crew] were urgently asking us, ‘Do you have enough, do you have enough?’”
Owen Morris (1927-2014) was chief engineer on the team that developed the lunar module for the Apollo moon landings. The module had to be lightweight and efficient. Some thought the resulting boxy craft on thin legs resembled a spider. “It wound up being what a lot of people thought was a fairly ugly vehicle,” Morris said in a NASA oral history project. During the Apollo 13 mission, the lunar module served as a lifeboat for crew members on their return trip to Earth. Morris also helped develop the idea of carrying the space shuttle on top of a 747 to ferry it across the country after landing.

Inspiring Rotary and community members

For the 2022 Rotary International Convention, members organized tours for attendees of Space Center Houston, the official visitor center, and tours of the Johnson Space Center for VIPs, says club member Suzi Howe, a past RI director and aide to 2025-26 RI President Mário César Martins de Camargo. Astronauts Jessica Watkins and Bob Hines addressed the opening session from the International Space Station, and Wylie presented in the House of Friendship about Apollo 13 and its harrowing return to Earth after an explosion.

The club has often been a popular way for traveling Rotary members and guests to make up meetings. While in-person visits have declined in recent years, virtual attendance at the club’s hybrid meetings is still considerable, especially when an astronaut is speaking or the program includes updates from NASA.

“During COVID I would invite all kinds of people to come if I knew a program would be of interest,” Howe says, “especially high school kids if we had an astronaut. How often do they get to meet an astronaut?”

In addition to honoring their space roots, members also boldly go on international service projects. Howe traveled to São Paulo to visit six literacy projects supported by the club. Another effort in Nicaragua supported the construction of a school and microfarms that provide food and income to families.

The club has carried out many other projects closer to home. Soon after receiving its charter, the club established a public library in the community that grew next to the space center, collecting thousands of donated books from residents, renovating a building, constructing shelving, painting, and landscaping. Two members even served on the first library board. Today, the club supports children and older residents through a variety of projects and helps stock a food pantry.

It’s also active in Rotary Youth Exchange, hosting more than 60 students since the 1980s. Wylie served as a club and district Youth Exchange officer for many years before retiring to a mentoring role and managing the district’s Youth Exchange database.

“I’ve always enjoyed working with young people,” he says. “These are special kids trained to be ambassadors, and that is what they become. An investment in Youth Exchange is an investment in the future.”

And who knows? Given the nature of this club, perhaps one of those exchange students will be part of the next giant leap forward in space exploration.

This story originally appeared in the March 2025 issue of Rotary magazine.

Visit :-

https://www.rotary.org/en/space-center-club-has-the-right-stuff

I India Interact club members are essential workers in India

Interact club members are essential workers in India

Photography by Priyanka Mukherjee

Since 2018, members of the Interact Club of Lotus Valley International School in Noida, India, have been manufacturing menstrual pads for girls and women, using a process they perfected at their school outside of Delhi.

Measure, mold, compress

Working in a room dedicated to the project at the school, Pranet Kumar combines wood pulp and raw cotton in a 3-to-1 ratio

Reyansh Pasari places the composite material into rectangular molds and compresses it into thin pads. “Menstrual hygiene is something we need to address as a whole community and not view it as solely a women’s problem,” he says.

Wrap, seal, sanitize

After a film is applied to prevent leakage, Arshita Raj wraps a layer of nonwoven cotton cloth around a pad, which is then sealed with a heat press.

Shaza Rizvi loads the pads into a machine to sterilize them before distribution.

Package, transport, distribute

Dhanvi Khandelwal (left) and Riya Dafauti load boxes of menstrual pads ready for distribution.

The club members give the pads to people at area orphanages and schools, in villages, and, as pictured here, at a community health center. Many girls and women can’t afford or aren’t aware of menstrual pads, instead using rags or other material they have on hand to absorb their menstrual blood, explains Saira Puri (left). When the material, like discarded paper, is not sterile, it could cause an infection. “If you just talk about it, you can actually save a woman’s life,” she says.

Club members produce an average of 350-400 pads per month to distribute to women and girls.

Visit :- https://www.rotary.org/en/interact-club-members-are-essential-workers-in-india

Young trailblazers find inspiration at Rotaract UN Days

Haneekah Rahil and her Rotary friends Shahd Elshazly & Noël Kutz

Courtesy of Haneekah Rahil

The first Rotaract UN Days brought about 200 young people to the United Nations Office at Geneva for four days of inspiring discussions about human rights, health, economic development, peace, and science — and of course some fun (they’re Rotaractors, after all).

We asked three participants in the 30 October-2 November gathering to tell us about the experience, their takeaways, and what it was like to enter the halls of the historic Palais des Nations.

DAY ONE: Arrival and welcome

Landing in Geneva feels surreal. Over the past year, I’ve traveled to events in Dubai, Mexico, and Chicago. But Geneva’s been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember. Even better, I quickly run into my friend Christina from my Rotary district. What are the odds? Even better still, it’s her birthday. We head into the city center to do some sightseeing and sample Switzerland’s legendary chocolate. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint. We head back for the welcome cocktail ceremony and after running into more old friends, we celebrate Christina’s birthday at a rooftop bar with a gorgeous view of the city. — Zayne Sinclair

In 2020, I was deputy secretary general for the National Youth Model United Nations in Sri Lanka. I made a promise to myself: One day, I would walk through the halls of the United Nations Office in Geneva. But little did I know that Rotary would bring this dream to life. I’m so excited to see inside the iconic Palais des Nations. — Haneekah Rahil

As an environmentalist, I’m very interested in working with the UN in Nairobi, where I’m from and the home to the United Nations Environment Programme, which partners with Rotary on clean water projects. So, I have dreamed of visiting the United Nations Office at Geneva for a long time. — Lamech Opiyo

DAY TWO: United Nations office at Geneva

Zayne Sinclair attends the first Rotaract UN Days in Geneva on 30 October.

Courtesy of Zayne Sinclair

I stop to take a picture in front of the United Nations building. I’m not exactly sure why I feel compelled to do it, maybe as a silent promise to myself that one day I’ll contribute to service on this scale, far beyond Bermuda’s pink shores. The morning session begins with a welcome address by Tatiana Valovaya, the first woman to serve as director-general here. She shares that only 20 percent of global diplomatic roles are held by women, a sobering statistic. Another eye-opener: Even Grammy-winning singer Gaby Moreno has self-doubts at times. The Rotary celebrity ambassador is speaking about the migration crisis, particularly in Latin America, when she acknowledges once doubting whether her music could make a difference. But she realized that just bringing people joy and comfort matters. My takeaway: Even the smallest acts can create ripples of hope. Then, as if to make that point, Moreno closes out the session with a heartfelt performance of her music. — Zayne Sinclair

In her speech, Rotary President Stephanie Urchick puts an emphasis on youth as leaders of today — not just of tomorrow. That is incredibly powerful and resonates deeply with me. Later, I have the honor of sharing a panel discussion with her. During my own speech on youth in humanitarian action, I discuss the role young people play in driving solutions to global challenges. It is my vision to see Rotaract working toward peace and reconciliation in my home country of Sri Lanka after decades of civil war. — Haneekah Rahil

I don’t just get to meet Gaby Moreno, I have the honor of sitting on the same panel as her for a discussion about human rights, immigrants, and refugees. I’ve interacted with so many artists, but what stands out with her is how she uses her songs to advocate for human rights and to create something positive, which I find inspiring. She is very approachable. She shares her insights and encourages me to do the work that I do. Apart from the serious side, we are having lots of fun. The first evening we attend a VIP dinner and awards ceremony with cocktails. There is a DJ, so of course we dance a lot. Sometimes you almost forget to sleep! — Lamech Opiyo

DAY THREE: World Intellectual Property Organization

We are welcomed by the organization’s Director-General Darin Tang with remarks on innovation as a driver of global progress. That is particularly impactful for me, as I focused on intellectual property law in my graduate studies. — Haneekah Rahil

Left: Gaby Moreno, image credit - Mihail Durnescu. Right: Lamech Opiyo and Rotaractor Daniel Zavala, image credit - Mihail Durnescu.

There is a lot of discussion about how we can apply technological advances and innovations to environmental and sustainability projects and maybe to drive climate action projects as well. Two of the speakers introduce us to WIPO Green, an online platform for technology exchange that supports global efforts to address climate change. Now I’m thinking about how I can apply some of these technologies, for environmental monitoring, for instance. — Lamech Opiyo

DAY FOUR: CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research)

An outing to the birthplace of the World Wide Web! The CERN international physics laboratory on the Swiss-French border is also home to the world’s largest particle accelerator and more than 12,000 scientists from over 70 countries exploring the origins of the universe and more. Its legacy is not just in scientific discovery but in proving that collaboration can overcome division. As CERN’s former Director-General Rolf-Dieter Heuer told us a day earlier: “Science has no agenda; it belongs to everyone.” I am struck by the similarity with our Rotaract values — collaboration, innovation, and the drive to create a better future. — Zayne Sinclair

Rotaract members walk through the CERN International Physics Laboratory display during the Rotaract UN Days event.

Image credit: John Hannes

Quantum tennis, anyone? Or maybe quantum karaoke? The interactive exhibits at CERN’s Science Gateway bring science to life. Beyond the weekend events, I’m also embracing the adventure in me and taking time to explore Switzerland’s stunning beauty. Visiting Jungfrau (aka the Top of Europe) and beautiful Lausanne is a dream come true. It reminds me of the joy of stepping into the unknown, conquering fears, and discovering new stories. — Haneekah Rahil

The Rotaractors

Zayne Sinclair

- Entrepreneur, food security, sustainable development
- Rotaract Club of Bermuda- Hamilton City, Bermuda

Haneekah Rahil

- Law graduate, advocate for peace and climate justice
- Rotaract Club of Cinnamon Gardens
- Dehiwala, Sri Lanka

Lamech Opiyo

- Climate activist
- Rotaract Club of
- Nairobi Central Nairobi, Kenya

Visit -

https://www.rotary.org/en/next-global-leaders

projects around the globe

Rotary projects around the globe

March 2025

By Brad Webber

United States

The Rotary Club of Wellington, Florida, went the distance by staging a military-style race in which competitors wore heavy backpacks filled with donated food items. More than 100 participants, including U.S. Army and Marine Corps representatives, stepped off on 10 November during the Veterans Day weekend food drive, says club member George Kinoshita. The club modeled the event on the military endurance training known as ruck marches that involve carrying weighted backpacks. The club requested a minimum of 8 pounds of food donations, but many runners hoisted nearly double that, filling their bags with canned beans and cranberries, boxes of stuffing, and other foodstuffs. The club later handed over the Thanksgiving meal staples to the town’s seasonally operated pantry. The Wellington High School Interact club conducted a 50-50 raffle, and members hoofed it or served as course guides.

Canada

Fourteen clubs in Ontario are participating in a District 7070 initiative to sew reusable menstrual pads for girls in the Dominican Republic led by Janet Thorsteinson, a member of the Rotary Club of Whitby Sunrise. Among the most prolific is the Rotary Club of Campbellford. Since it introduced “Sewing with Janet nights” in September 2023, club members and friends have sewn more than 1,000 pads using sewing machines and fabric that Thorsteinson provided. Nearly two dozen people participate in each session. “The idea of allowing more members to be involved in an international project was very appealing,” says Rob Pope of the Campbellford club. Thorsteinson agrees. “Sewing events create opportunities for fellowship, creating a Rotary buzz and a draw for new members to get involved,” she says.

South Africa

You never know what kind of proposals will land in a club’s inbox, says Bev Frieslich, a past president of the Rotary Club of Cape of Good Hope. She and her club took to heart an email from a Ugandan Rotarian with an admittedly audacious ask: to help him spring a surprise marriage proposal on his significant other, Barbara Nyakato, while she was touring Cape Town. “When I thought of a romantic proposal to my dear girlfriend, Rotary was an obvious and automatic choice,” says Richard Kalungi. He and Nyakato are members of the Rotary Club of Kampala South. On 3 December, Frieslich brought Nyakato to Fish Hoek Beach under the guise of a club function. “Once she overcame her shock that Richard was there, she wept tears of joy and love,” says Frieslich, who helped Kalungi with the shopping, organized a dinner reception, arranged a professional photographer, and provided Kalungi with lodging for the escapade. “Whoever said Rotary is boring?” says Frieslich.

New Zealand

Members of the Rotary Club of Waikato Sunrise are flying high thanks to an annual hot-air balloon festival where they raise money and community awareness of Rotary. The 2025 Balloons Over Waikato event, slated for 18-22 March in the club’s hometown of Hamilton, will feature about two dozen balloons along with fireworks, music, amusement rides, and food tents, says Willemien Wennekers, a club member and past manager of the festivities. Rotarians serve as crowd ambassadors and help staff the information tent and VIP area. They also sell merchandise and run a “walk-through balloon” that’s inflated but moored flat along the grass, allowing visitors to walk inside, Wennekers says. The $5,800 raised by the club during the 2024 event was donated to True Colours Children’s Health Trust, another of the event’s charity partners.

Visit :-

https://www.rotary.org/en/rotary-projects-around-globe-march-2025