The day before the Combined District Conference in February, a Peace Summit was held at the Melbourne Convention Centre. The program looked interesting, and the speakers, including immediate PRIP Ian Risely, promised to deliver thoughtful insights into “world peace”.

 

So I was keen to attend, but doubtful that any of the sessions would give me, personally, no matter how interested or enthusiastic I was, a way to make a difference to such a weighty issue as global peace. I was really wondering what could I do as just 1 Rotarian?

 

But what I learned removed my doubts and cynicism. 

 

Did you know there are 2 kinds of peace? There is peace using the ordinary definition - an absence of violence, threats or harm. And there is also “active peace”. Active peace is what Rotarians are delivering, every time we fund, or participate in, a project in an impoverished or developing country. For example, in a third world country where political turmoil means a continual threat of civil war, and the consequent suffering of the population, and Rotary is active in providing sanitation, clean water, vaccinations, education and treating people with dignity, there is far less traction for militant factions to drum up support for warlords or political opposition, which usually rely on promises to improve the every day life of people in villages and towns. 

 

So by supporting projects such as End Polio Now, or Operation Toilets, or Days For Girls, or any of the other equally worthy projects Rotarians across the globe drive, fund and deliver, we are helping generate “active peace” and actually making a difference to world peace.