Rotarian Michael Hayes of the Rotary Club of Conroe is a soft spoken friendly sort of guy. You would never realize he has just stepped down from chairing the Rotary Action Group for Peace!
Michael has traveled worldwide in his work on this Rotary International Committee. He provided a dazzling presentation to his Rotary Club last Tuesday in Conroe. He defines it as “the ability to live in a society that has the attitudes, structures, institutions, systems, and beliefs in place that allow people to successfully live with one another.” He calls this “a state of Positive Peace.” The visualization of Peace can be found in the Four Objectives of Rotary. The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:
• FIRST: The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service;
• SECOND: High ethical standards in business and professions; the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations; and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society;
• THIRD: The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life;
• FOURTH: The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.
The Original five Areas of Focus were created by the international Organization of Rotary in 1922 to implement the Fourth Object of Rotary Those Areas of Focus included:
1. Disease Prevention and Eradication
2. Clean Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
3. Maternal and Child Health
4. Education
5. Economic Development
As mentioned in numerous earlier editions of Rotary News, Rotarians are actively pursuing the eradication of Polio. We Rotarians have worked in furthering education in our communities via scholarships, mentoring, early childhood book programs such as “I like Me” books and donations of books to school libraries, and so much more. We have also been involved as Rotarians in drilling new water wells in “Third World Countries.” Rotarians like Lamar Casparis routinely travel to Central America to install new water wells in rural communities. Rotarians continue to work in these five areas of focus to provide a world of positive peace.
In order to promote peace, Rotary International has established an “action group” called Rotary Action Group for Peace (RAGFP) in 2011. A short timeline for this action initiative is provided below:
• 2018 – First RAGFP Peacebuilder Clubs chartered
• 2020 – First RAGFP Chapter (Hong Kong and Macao) founded
• 2025 – Seventeen RAGFP Chapters have been founded covering sixteen Countries. More than 200 clubs have been matched in the RAGFP Sister Club Program. Rotary Positive Peace Activators are being paired with clubs now.
The RAGFP Conducts six sets of Global Meetings per year. These meetings are designed to:
• Provide a venue to educate members on activities occurring in key focus areas around the globe
• Create acquaintance among members
• Build a global network of Rotarian Peacebuilders
• Provide a way for members to give feedback and information to RAGFP leadership
• “Sister Club” program matches clubs in different countries to create fellowship, acquaintance, and an opportunity to learn more about other people’s cultures in this world to establish a better understanding of our fellow man.
For more information on Rotary with its local and worldwide programs, contact Ron Saikowski at rsaikowski@comcast.net.
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