eClub Board Meeting February 16, 2023
08:00 AM Pacific Time
District Training Assembly March 28, 2023, Cottage Grove
District Conference, May 6-7, 2023
Rotary responds to earthquake in Turkey, Syria
Turkey and Syria were struck by a devastating earthquake on 6 February that has killed tens of thousands of people, destroyed thousands of homes and other structures, and left people across the region without shelter in bitterly cold winter weather. The Rotary world responded to this catastrophe immediately. Rotary leadership has activated our disaster response efforts, communicated with the affected districts, and encouraged governors in those regions to apply for disaster response grants. In addition, our project partner ShelterBox and service partner Habitat for Humanity are working on their responses. Find out how you can have the greatest impact.
ShelterBox is an official partner project with Rotary International designed to help provide immediate emergency assistance before traditional relief organizations can reach disaster areas due to logistic obstacles. ShelterBox accomplishes this with advance-sponsored boxes/kits (such as from our club), which are pre-positioned in regional warehouses around the world, and are then deployed by participating air forces (including the USAF and RAF) and charter companies immediately into a disaster area. These kits are disaster and area-specific, intended for short-term survival with the most basic necessities to support a family unit of up to ten with approximately ten days of food, water, shelter, heating, tools - until the traditional disaster relief organizations can reach the affected area.
Our club initially took this on as a worthwhile international project; to date we have sponsored five boxes and one kit. All but one of the five boxes we sponsored have been deployed to assist in disaster areas around the world:
2012 Niger - floods
2012 Lebanon - Syrian refugee crisis
2015 Nepal - earthquake
2016 Syria - civil war
2017 Puerto Rico - Hurricane Irma
We have $30.00 towards another Shelter Box (cost is $1,000). Will you help us reach this goal?
February is Peace and Conflict Prevention / Resolution Month
Today, over 70 million people are displaced as a result of conflict, violence, persecution, and human rights violations. Half of them are children.
We refuse to accept conflict as a way of life. Rotary projects provide training that fosters understanding and provides communities with the skills to resolve conflicts.
Peace is a cornerstone of Rotary’s mission. By carrying out service projects in this area of focus and supporting Rotary Peace Fellowships and scholarships, you become part of Rotary’s effort to address the underlying causes of conflict, such as poverty, discrimination, ethnic tension, lack of access to education, and unequal distribution of resources. During Peace building and Conflict Prevention Month in February, review Rotary’s brochure about our peace efforts and find ways to get involved in building more stable, peaceful communities.
Rotary creates environments of peace
As a humanitarian organization, peace is a cornerstone of our mission. We believe when people work to create peace in their communities, that change can have a global effect.
By carrying out service projects and supporting peace fellowships and scholarships, our members take action to address the underlying causes of conflict, including poverty, discrimination, ethnic tension, lack of access to education, and unequal distribution of resources.
Our commitment to peacebuilding today answers new challenges: how we can make the greatest possible impact and how we can achieve our vision of lasting change. We are approaching the concept of peace with greater cohesion and inclusivity, broadening the scope of what we mean by peacebuilding, and finding more ways for people to get involved.
Rotary creates environments where peace can happen.
Rotary’s Four Roles in Promoting Peace
Rotary and its members are:
- Practitioners: Our work fighting disease, providing clean water and sanitation, improving the health of mothers and children, supporting education, and growing local economies directly builds the optimal conditions for peaceful societies.
- Educators: Our Rotary Peace Centers have trained over 1,300 peace fellows to become effective catalysts for peace through careers in government, education, and international organizations.
- Mediators: Our members have negotiated humanitarian ceasefires in areas of conflict to allow polio vaccinators to reach children who are at risk.
- Advocates: Our members have an integral role as respected, impartial participants during peace processes and in post-conflict reconstruction. We focus on creating communities and convening groups that are connected, inclusive, and resilient.
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