At the January 15th meeting of the Rotary Club of Mount Joy held at the Gathering Place, an International array of guests held the group in thrall. Guest Speaker: Bianca Neff, discussed the Rotary Peace Fellowship. Neff is a 2010-11 Peace Fellowship recipient attending University of Bradford in Bradford U.K. to earn her Rotary sponsored master’s degree in Conflict Resolution.
Throughout the world, there are six Rotary Peace Centers which have had 1200 graduates since its inception in 2002. Graduates are in strategic positions of leadership around the globe providing peacebuilding services. Neff founded an organization dedicated to providing mental health services to NGO workers who have experienced job related trauma and stress. Additional professional and personal interests include: Central Asia; Islam & the West; Ethnic Conflict Intervention; Justice and Reconciliation; Poverty & Radical Islam.
Ms. Neff, the daughter of a Basque mother (Spain) and an American father, now lives in Spain. Her Basque heritage gives her the unique perspective of what it means to be a minority struggling through issues of ethnic conflict. Having been active in global humanitarian work for over 15 years. She has lived in Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Spain, and Kenya.
The Club also received an up-date from Freddy Tuyizere. Mr. Tuyizere, from Burundi, Africa, spoke about a water distribution project the boys at his school for street children have developed. The Bururndi project has been one of special interest for the Rotary Club during the past two years. With him was Ms. Keren Korineza. She is a graduate of his school in Burundi and is currently attending college in the United States.