Our Weekly Meeting

“Together, we see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change — across the globe, in our communities, and in ourselves.”

We meet every Friday from 1:00 to 2:00pm at Wanderers Club, Illovo, Johannesburg. You can also join us on Zoom - https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86496040522.

Tuesday 24 November 2015

The DG's Visit, Christmas Lunch, Club Assembly & Equipping Leaders to build Peace.


DG David Grant
This Week
It's the District Governor's visit and we will be also be hosting the eClub for lunch.
The eClub receives their Charter.









DG David Grant we know but the presence of the eClub is a mystery.  Will their presence and any lunch they may require be purely virtual?   Are we able to communicate with them verbally or will we need to text?

When it comes to the dress code it was decided that we should wear our Rosebank Shirts.  Just make sure that Pam Donaldson knows if there will be extra people attending.

Dinner, 2nd December, Yamato Japanese Restaurant, Illovo
7,15 for 7,30, R200 per head including the service charge.  It must be one of the few Japanese Restaurants that is owned and run by a Japanese person though Cristina was actually born in South America!

Christmas Lunch, Friday 11th December

This will be at Wanderers and will probably be in the region of R120 per head though we don't have a firm price yet.  It was suggested that we bring our own champagne and pay corkage.  Wanderers may not allow that and if they do you must just make sure that you don't bring something on their wine list because they are then quite justified in not accepting it.
Please book with Mark Franklin. Spouses, consorts and guests are welcome.  I say "consorts" because Eleanor Bron prefers the word as it sounds more fun than "partner".....I like the idea, consorting is much more fun than partnering.  Eleanor Bron was in the Beatle's film 'Help!'
You can see her HERE....and the Beatles as well, of course.

Club Assembly, Friday 4th December
This will take place immediately after our normal lunchtime meeting and will probably take about an hour.  Please do your best to attend.  President Neville is back this week and no doubt Lyn Collocott will send out the agenda as soon as he has drawn it up.

CHULALONGKORN CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF EQUIPPING LEADERS TO BUILD PEACE

Rotary Peace Fellows at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok discuss peacebuilding strategies during a field study.
Photo by Stephanie van Pelt
Bobby Anderson was helping former freedom fighters in Aceh, Indonesia, adjust to life after combat when he heard about the Rotary Peace Center at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.
Anderson, who became part of the 2010 class of Rotary Peace Fellows, says the program allowed him to reflect upon the work he had already done and gain a larger perspective beyond day to day practicalities. 
“To be able to meet other people that had done similar work in other places and to be exposed [during field study] to the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration situation in Nepal was fascinating and helped me change how I think about the way I manage my own programs,” Anderson says.
Through its , Rotary is developing leaders to become catalysts for peace in their communities and around the globe. The Chulalongkorn program offers a professional development certificate to individuals already working in fields related to peace.
Unlike the 15- to 24-month master’s degree program, the Chulalongkorn course lasts just three months. Because of the shorter time commitment and emphasis on relevant experience, the program attracts a broader pool of applicants. Chulalongkorn, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, has graduated 355 peace fellows from 69 countries.
Its curriculum emphasizes equal parts instruction and learning from peers.
“There are two main aspects of the program,” says Jenn Weidman, deputy director of the center. “One is the academic skills, what you actually learn, the steps of mediation, theory of analysis, etc. The other is the transformation.”
“We take professional people and remove them from their role, place them in the same space with diverse people for three months, and then challenge everything they’ve ever believed or held dear,” she says. “You get reflection, and we walk alongside and guide that, asking a lot of questions and creating a safe space for discussion. Some come and leave totally different people.”
Professors, from both Thailand and outside the country, are chosen each year for a curriculum that is constantly evolving. Fellows also complete two field studies, one in Thailand and one in a postconflict setting outside Thailand where they put their training into action.
“It’s an incredible opportunity for me as an instructor in the program to be able to interact with people working on the frontlines in Afghanistan, or Kenya or South Sudan, but then also the U.S.,” says Craig Zelizer, associate director of conflict resolution at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and founder of the Peace and Collaborative Development Network. “The diversity of participants and the change they are already affecting and what they’ll do as a result of this program are incredible.”
Jennifer Jacobson, a police constable in Canada, attended the center in 2012. She says the group exercises and interactions with classmates altered her views of her work.
“A lot of it is bonding with other people, because you are together all day long, pretty much seven days a week,” she says. “I’ve taken something from every little piece of the program.”
Since completing the program in 2007, Meas Savath, of Cambodia, founded the Cambodian Center for Mediation, which provides training and social dialogue, building conciliation between former Khmer Rouge and non-Khmer Rouge factions. Although the country’s brutal civil war ended more than 35 years ago, Savath says, there is still a lot of mistrust between the two sides.
“In my program, all parties are invited to share their experience and understanding, as well as their perceptions of the two groups, and afterward they have a relationship that didn’t exist before,” he says.
The 10th anniversary celebration culminates with the  conference at the end of this month. Program staff are also collecting short video testimonials from alumni that are being compiled. You can see the videos on the , and following #rotarychula10 on social media to get updates of the celebration.
Read stories from peace fellows on the Rotary Peace Center at Chulalongkorn University 
Find out how to apply for a 

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