Member and Club Projects

David Wick shares:

Ashland Culture of Peace Commission

The Ashland Culture of Peace Commission serves as a powerful ambassador for the global Culture of Peace movement. Rooted in Ashland and resonating worldwide, ACPC inspires individuals, organizations, and communities to embody peace in action. As an innovator of transformative peacebuilding programs and a thought leader in the field, ACPC fosters collaboration, dialogue, and local-to-global impact. It is also the proud originator and steward of the World Peace Flame in Ashland, an enduring symbol of unity and hope. Through visionary leadership and inclusive engagement, ACPC continues to help shape a more peaceful, just, and compassionate world.

https://www.ashlandcpc.org/

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Project: Braver Angels – Moderator

Club Member – Lori Dekker

twodogplumeria@yahoo.com

My service project is as a moderator for the grassroots organization Braver Angels. It’s mostly run by laypeople who are concerned about the decreasing level of civility in public and political life. The animosity between people of differing political persuasions has spilled out into the private and family relationships we once used to enjoy, which is not only a mental and public health hazard but is contributing mightily to inertia at all levels of governance. The point of BA is to let trained but frequently nonprofessional members facilitate positive communication training workshops and to provide opportunities for individuals to talk with people from “the other side”. We strive for Red/Blue parity in each of our sessions as the objective of each class is for participant to listen as well as to be listened to. At the end of every session participants are amazed that people whom they thought were so different, and perhaps even immoral, were not so different from themselves. It’s been a rewarding 6 or7 years for me, and like Rotary it has changed me probably more than I’ve changed the world.

As an adjunct but not wholly sanctioned BA activity two of my BA partners and I have teamed up with a young city councilman who has a passion for all things Constitutional. We teach a 4-6 week course through the adult education division of our local community college. Our classes fill up on the first sign-up day of every session. One reason for our popularity is that the Constitution has become a hot topic in recent years and because we stealthfully utilize BA techniques in class discussions, students learn they are safe when expressing their opinions but they also discover that the folks on “the other side” usually have rational and legitimate reasons for their opinions. They begin to appreciate that understanding someone else’s opinion is not necessarily agreeing with it. It’s not unheard of for people to change their minds about a topic and most students will admit to a softening of their own opinions.

One of the benefits of BA is that work of getting people together who would not normally talk to each other is that in a clandestine kind of way people are opening their minds and maybe their hearts for the good of the community. Drop me a line if you want to know more or check out their website…braverangels.org.

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Rotary Global Grants:

Global Grant #2095416

Dolly Welayet Rotary Hospital

Dolly Welayet Rotary Hospital to treat underprivileged people of 56 villages of Nabinagar, Baura, Patgram, Lalmonirhat, The hospital was inaugurated in 2019. Few dedicated Rotarians, Rotaractors & Local Authority , who are always involved with this hospital will monitor & evaluate.

District 3281, Rotary Club of Dhaka Rose Vale is the Host of this Grant. Our club is the International partner.

Global Grant #2015074

PROTECT – PRevention Organized To Educate Children on Trafficking in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties

Our area of focus is peacebuilding and conflict prevention. Our goals for the PROTECT project are:

Develop a San Bernardino County Office of Education protocol
Develop a Riverside County Office of Education protocol
Reach 162 schools with prevention education (75 schools in Riverside County and 87 schools in San Bernardino County)
Train 4,500 educators, counselors, nurses or school staff
Educate 80,000 students
Receive 70% pre/post results for adults
Receive 60% pre/post results for students
Analyze 2,000 stories from educational staff
Increase student knowledge by 20%
Increase school staff knowledge by 20%
Increase protective factors in students by 20%
Increase behavioral change in educational staff by 20%