By Rotary International From the February 2016 issue of The Rotarian
Growing up in India, Sachin Rane dreamed of being a police officer like his father and grandfather. “Our walls were decorated with uniformed pictures of my ancestors,” he says. But he never imagined how far police work would take him.

Sachin Rane
Area of focus: Promoting peace
Age: 49
Occupation: Detective inspector
Location: Mumbai
Peace Center: Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 2013

Rane became a Mumbai police officer in 1991. He investigated bombings, kidnappings, and murders while working for a variety of law enforcement branches, including… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International From the February 2016 issue of The Rotarian
In 2007, Summer Lewis was eager to return to school. She had graduated summa cum laude from Kansas State University with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish, sociology, and women’s studies and spent several years traveling and working with organizations focused on economic development at the grassroots level.

Summer Lewis
Area of focus: Growing local economies
Age: 35
Occupation: Consultant
Location: Oaxaca, Mexico
Peace Center: University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, 2011-12
“The problem was that I had too many areas of interest,” recalls Lewis… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International From the February 2016 issue of The Rotarian
Adrien Lokangaka grew up in a small village in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He lacked many things – but when he needed it, he had medicine.

Adrien Lokangaka
Areas of focus: Saving mothers and children, fighting disease
Age: 40
Occupation: Physician
Location: Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
Peace Center: Duke University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2012-14
“As a child, I suffered from amebic dysentery, a disease that could have taken my life,” he says. “Fortunately for me, a Catholic brother gave my uncle the proper… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International From the February 2016 issue of The Rotarian
There is a particular sound a gun makes when it’s being shot at you. First you hear the bullet break the sound barrier with a crack. Then you hear the bang of the gun being fired. That is the sound Rotary Peace Fellow Will Plowright heard while in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo in 2013. At the time, the city was divided among the Syrian government, the Free Syrian Army, the Islamic State, the Nusra Front, and a few al-Qaida members.
Plowright was in Aleppo to conduct interviews for his Ph.D. on armed groups and their motives. He found some… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International From the February 2016 issue of The Rotarian
“The world sees Germany as a country of hope and chances,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared last September, as refugees fleeing war and conflict in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere were streaming into her country in unprecedented numbers. As of November, 792,000 people had made the journey to Europe by boat since the beginning of 2015, with the majority ending up in Germany. There, they receive food, clothing, medical attention, and shelter while they wait for their claims to be evaluated and the government to decide if they can stay… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International From the February 2016 issue of The Rotarian
She sends me her alias in a Skype message. Who she is, what she does, and where she does it make it too dangerous to use her real name. She is in Kurdish Iraq, in the northern part of the country, which is in the middle of so many battles, wars, and conflicts that it’s hard for outsiders – and sometimes even for local people – to keep track. But she has a focus amid the chaos: She works with Syrian and Yazidi refugees who have been targeted, tortured, and driven out of their homes by the Islamic State.
The name she has chosen to use is Evin.
She is… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org

By Rotary International Rotary Foundation Trustee Chair Ray Klinginsmith asked district governors in training at the International Assembly to lead the celebration of the Foundation’s centennial year, 2016-17.
“You are the primary contacts between the Foundation and our 34,000 Rotary clubs in the world. The success of the centennial celebration is largely in your hands,” said Klinginsmith at a 19 January general session. “Catch the spirit and spread the word about the importance of celebrating our success.”
Since the Foundation was established in 1917, it has spent more than $3 billion on programs and projects to… …read more

Source:: Rotary.org