For this month’s theme, we can find many examples of why this topic is so important just by glancing at a newspaper, social media page, cable news channel or even listening to conversations at a coffee shop. The goal is not to jump onto one side or the other and persuade people to share your opinion, but rather, to leave room for other opinions and learn to listen with an open mind, agree to disagree, and walk away as friends.What can you do to connect with the theme in your club? Here are a few suggestions to get you started. Use these as a starting point and come up with some of your own.
- Invite past Peace Fellows to speak to your club. (This could be a Zoom presentation.)
- Invite a member from a local interfaith council to talk about conflict resolution
- Host a panel for the community to attend with a speaker from each of the main ethnic groups in your community, to discuss ways their cultures can/do interact peacefully
- Involve veterans in your club in discussions of the importance of peace vs. conflict
- Consider honoring a member of a peacekeeping force in your community in some way (i.e., police chief, military, any person who your club is aware of who serves the public)
- Encourage an Interact Club to create a peace project in their school. Let the students choose the project, with your club acting as mentors.
Watch for an invitation to attend a Showcase on Peace, and Conflict Prevention in District 7430. Open to all Rotarians, it will have great information for everyone to use.