Waneta Sunshine Rotary

I didn’t know when I met Mister Right that his first name was always

Rita Rudner

I don’t deserve this award, but then again I have arthritis and i dont deserve that either

Jack Benny

The meeting was held on googlemeet at 7.15 am with 6 members present and guest, Maxine Ruzicka.

• Program – Joan introduced Maxine to talk about becoming a peacebuilder club
• True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is actively working for peace. We need peace in ourselves and our community before we promote it worldwide. Rotary areas of focus are all about promoting peace. Rotary mediators have negotiated ceasefires, are negotiators; we focus on creating communities. The Institute of Peace and Economics (IEP) has an index of peace. Positive peace is what we are after. Negative peace is merely the absence of conflict. The eight pillars of peace contribute to sustaining peaceful communities.
• Pillar 1: well functioning government, 2: sound business environment, 3: equitabe distribution of resources, 4: acceptance of rights of others, 5: good relations with others, 6: free flow of information, 7 High levels of education, and 8: low levels of corruption. Measuring these 8 gives the index of peace.
• District 5080 is a Peacebuilder district. We have an active Peace committee that Maxine co-chairs. Through the committee, Oregon state university offers a Peace Literacy course for teachers. They can take the ideas into their classrooms. The idea is to diminish aggression and increase respect. It is not about attending a one-shot deal. It is consistently developing skills over time. How do we listen with empathy? How do we cultivate calm during conflict? Using language, reason, and discipline needs training. We need to approach peace the same way we do literacy, as building skills. There are nine physical needs we have. If we don’t get them met, then we have trauma, and this can show in aggression.
• April 18th, Grand Forks Rotary club is holding their annual Peace conference with community partners.
• Grand Forks club has supported three peace poles
• Business
• April 17th we will have an in-person meeting at 8 AM at Trail Tea and Coffee with our DG David Keyes.
• March 28th Spring Assembly in Rossland. Plan is Erika, Gord, and perhaps Graham attend
• March 28th Food drive at Liberty Foods.
• April 10th Nancy Milton will give the “Becoming a Peace Builder Club” presentation.
• May 15th at 7:15 AM PT, Maria Kliavkoff will give the “Healthy Conversation in Difficult Times” Presentation
• Happy and sad bucks (not collected)

Meeting adjourned at 8:10 am