Rotary Ventura East joined with Ventura South and the Ventura Club, along with District Governor John Weiss, to hear an inspiring message from Deepa Willingham.  Her subject:  PEACE. 

 

Deepa is the District 5240 Chair for Rotary Peacebuilding.  She is a past President of her Club and is a Past District Governor for District 5240.  Having received many awards for her humanitarian efforts, she is well known in Rotary and is encouraging all Rotary Clubs to become Peacebuilder Clubs, “…dedicated to diminishing the root causes of conflict:  the need for food, water, shelter, health care, literacy, jobs and human rights.”

 

And this is what Rotary has been about for many years…working with people around the world to improve life conditions, educate children and adults and help people achieve a better and healthier future.  Our club supports this effort partly through our involvement and support of our two international efforts.  In Nicaragua, as a partner with GoCare, we help provide education, health resources, English language proficiency, vocational skills and computer training, along with scholarships for high school and university.  In Ethiopia, partnering with Mossy Foot, we help to provide badly needed medical and hygiene training for those affected by disease and extreme poverty.  We will be working with our own Ventura County Juvenile Facility in the next few months to enhance their programs dedicated to building skills for young people, so they can return to society with new assurance, self-confidence, training and skills to help them succeed.  Many of their programs seek to build communication and conflict resolution skills to prevent violence and conflict.

 

Using her school in Piyala, India (near Calcutta, where she was born), Deepa drew attention to what can be done from a humble beginning with a few girls in a small location, learning to read and write.  Today, there is a modern, beautiful facility where girls go to school, learn hygiene, study the arts and music and receive vocational training.  Deepa made the point that terrorism and violence grow from frustration of people in poverty, who feel a deep sense of injustice and hopelessness about their situation and live in a non-human environment.  When people are given a hand up, especially women and girls, through education, training, available clean water and sanitation, they are able to improve their living situation.   People are given some control over their lives and their futures.  Rotarians around the world, along with funding from the Rotary Foundation, have been successful in helping people build an environment of security for their families, breaking the cycle of devastation and despair and leading to a more peaceful world. 

 

Rotary Ventura East will become a “Peacebuilder Club” in the 2017-2018 Rotary Year. 

 

Harriet Clune

President 2017-2018

Rotary Club Ventura East