Exploring Peace and Conflict Resolution Through the Eyes and Ears of our Australian GSE Team

On Monday May 1st we traveled to Wakefield to join our sister club for a very special meeting. It was a nice evening filled with laughter, good fellowship and some information on how Rotary is seeking to promote peace, build goodwill and better friend-ships around the world.

Promoting world peace is one of the ongoing important goals of Rotary International. The Group Study Exchange team from Australia brought together five individuals who are professionals in the field of Peace and conflict resolution with the idea of meeting and interacting with their counterparts here in the USA. On Monday night we got to meet the team and hear a bit from each of them and their group leader, Tracey Wyatt a Rotarian from District 9600.

The team included; Donyque Curtis, an Australian Federal Police officer from Brisbane; Roberta Ramoifuila, a counselor working with victims of domestic violence as part of a NGO in Honiara in the Solomon Islands; Richard Denning, a lawyer who does mediation and leads workshops focusing on restorative justice in New South Wales; Emily Seaman, a refugee advocate working within the Department of Immigration in New Guinea; and Group leader Tracey Wyatt, who works in risk management and occupational health for Stadiums Queensland for its large international sized sporting and entertainment facilities in the region.

It was a wonderful presentation that featured a bit of history and information about the team and was punctuated by the presentation of gifts and banners.