Category Archives: Promoting peace

Ukrainian refugee joins with Rotarians to help people back home

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Rotarians have partnered with a solar energy company to provide solar generators that power critical medical equipment at front-line hospitals in Ukraine. Photo by Olena Vynohradova

By Heidi Rickels, past president of the Rotary E-club of WASH

As a Rotarian and development professional, I’ve witnessed many remarkable stories of resilience and compassion. One that deeply touched my heart is that of Yurii Zinchenko, a highly accomplished lawyer with more than 20 years of experience practicing and teaching law in Ukraine. As his apartment building burned, he fled his home in eastern Ukraine, along with his wife, Vitalina, and their young daughter, Anastasia, in February of 2022.

The journey for the Zinchenko family was marked by hardship and uncertainty as they navigated the perilous path westward, fleeing the violent Russian invasion alongside countless other Ukrainians desperate for safety. It was a journey filled with displacement, confusion, and fear, which ultimately led to a beacon of hope.

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A Rotarian’s journey with the Open World Program

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An Open World delegation attends a Rotary Club meeting in Maine, USA.

In 2023, Brenda Pollock’s Rotary Club of Biddeford-Saco, Maine, USA, was selected to host a delegation from Ukraine through the Open World program. For Rotary and Rotaract members seeking international service opportunities, the program allows clubs to host and curate multi-day visits for emerging Eurasian leaders to gain insight into the workings of local government, business, and community dynamics in the United States while fostering mutual understanding. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Rotary’s participation in the Open World Program offered by the Congressional Office for International Leadership. Read more about this exciting experience in Pollock’s blog post for Rotary Service in Action.

Reflections on peace in the new year

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Martha Pritchard Spear in front of the meeting sign for the Rotary Club of Lake Placid, New York, USA.

By Martha Pritchard Spear, assistant governor District 7040 and a member of the Rotary Club of Lake Placid, New York, USA

These are my own thoughts, not a statement of the Rotary Club of Lake Placid. I long for world peace, and I accept that there are those who will think I am naïve and a dreamer. Yet I am beginning to comprehend that the journey toward peace is sometimes reached by passing through violence. There are terrorists, fascists, and totalitarian leaders who scorn peace. Is there a nonviolent defense against people like that? I have faith that Rotary and other humanitarian organizations will continue to educate, advocate, mediate, and practice peace. I would like to think that peace will prevail. But my faith that it will has been shaken. 

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Resilience and a hope-filled smile in Ukraine

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Counselors lead a class for the refugee children in Poland.

By Dr. Marina Theododou, president-elect of the Rotary Club of Crystal City-Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia, USA

On a crisp summer morning in late July, a team from my club met Jan in Warsaw, Poland. He is a blond, lanky, 14-year-old boy with a shy but warm smile. We leaned in to shake his hand and noticed a tuft of hair painted light blue, the color of the Ukrainian flag.

Jan and his mother, Luba, fled the war in Ukraine more than 500 days ago. Since then, they have been living with Rotary E-Club of Poland member Monika Popiolek and her family. Jan’s father and older brother are fighting on the Ukrainian front. Jan is just one of thousands of Ukrainian children displaced by the war in Ukraine. Several Rotary clubs and individual Rotary members have stepped up to help support these Ukrainian refugees living in Poland.  

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Collaboration helps Ugandan women out of extreme poverty

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Women in Uganda take part in Magenta Girls Initiative training.

By Jennifer Montgomery, Rotary Peace Fellow and Co-Founder, President and CEO of Magenta Girls Initiative.

Someone wise once said that discomfort is the price of admission for a meaningful life. My experience as a Rotary Peace Fellow has taught me that stepping out of your comfort zone is the only way to live your dream. When you’re gifted this opportunity to be a peace fellow, you have a responsibility to carry the work forward.

“Carrying it forward” motivated me to form Magenta Girls Initiative, an international non-governmental organization equipping Ugandan girls and young women with the support and tools needed to overcome harmful gender norms, generational poverty, Gender-Based Violence (GBV), trafficking, and trauma. For me, it’s also personal. As a survivor of sexual violence, I’m deeply committed to helping others find peace and transformation.

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