Rotary Peace Centers at Chulalongkorn Class of 2016.
By Ana Patel, 2016 Rotary Peace Fellow at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
“Sawatdee” is a useful phrase in the Thai language. It means everything from hello and good morning, to goodbye and peace be with you. I learned the phrase on the second day of my three-month International Rotary Fellowship in Bangkok this summer, along with the traditional gesture of putting ones hands together in prayer and bowing the head to acknowledge others. It’s a lovely gesture – one that requires meeting the other person’s eyes and conveying a respect and recognition for each other’s humanity.
In December of 2015, I was accepted as a Rotary Peace Fellow. The fellowship is for experienced professionals working in peace-related fields and consists of a three-month residential program in peace and conflict prevention and resolution at Chulalongkorn University. My program also included two field study experiences:
in the Deep South of Thailand, where there has been on-going violent conflict between Thai security forces and groups of Thai nationals who identify as ethnic Malays, and,
in post-genocide Cambodia.
Notwithstanding a Master’s degree in International Affairs and my time as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer, this was my most international learning experience. A …read more
Source:: Rotary International Blog
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