Dear fellow Rotarians and friends,

First, I would like to welcome four new Rotary Clubs that have been initiated in May/June 2018, growing up our Clubs to 83, namely: 2 Clubs in Armenia (Vanadzor, 16 May 2018 and Yerevan Panarmenian, 30 May 2018), one club in Lebanon (Chtaura-Bekaa Gate, 19 June 2018) and one in Jordan (Amman Metropolitan, 22 June 2018). On the other hand, I am so sad to announce that the RC of Dubai-Deira has been terminated on 16 May 2018.

September is dedicated to “Basic Education and Literacy”, one of the Six Areas of Focus of the Rotary Foundation of RI.

Rotary insists on the necessity of basic education for both children and adults, as well as both genders. Rotarians work hardly in order to enhance the capacity of communities to consequently support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education, and increase adult literacy. It’s impossible to imagine the sum of sorrows all around us, especially in the Middle East. The civil war, destruction, human slavery, refugees, displacement and other social problems are all a result of lack of civic education, as well as spread of high destructive behaviors.Our mission here lies, we have set our priorities, since our communities are now suffering from lack of civism and lack of positive peace.

I believe that together we can be the inspiration to our communities, to our world. Together we can turn our ambitions into life-changing reality. If we have set priorities to respond to our communities’ urgent need of civism and peace, that is because we can be the influencers...the goodwill agents.

So, for the current RY 2018-2019, we have customized a DistrictAOF, merging “Education” (civic) and “Peace” (building).

Today, as 2018-2019 Governor of District 2452, which brings together, under common values and forward vision, nine countries across 3 continents of6 different languages, I would like to invite you to join the District 2452 pilot project “Civic education for Peacebuilding” merging two areas of focus “peace” and “education” into one.

Fellow Rotarians,

We have to be leaders by implementing our core values in our communities, in our business & professions. Equally important, it is a must to strengthen these values in our schools by developing the skills and attitudes of our youth in order to promote the Rotarians’ slogan “youth is our future”. We can see the benefit of civic education through the civic knowledge attainment. We can notice that youth aged between 11 and 14 years old receiving high-quality of civic education, within the training of the Rotary core values, are more confident in dealing with others, and more involved in extracurricular activities, as well as engaged in community service… In short, young students attaining civic knowledge are ready to engage with the society components and to treat other equally. Here are some recommendations, explained in the booklet that is prepared by the District committee and will be posted starting 15th of September 2018 on the District 2452 website http://www.rotaryd2452.org/new, for adopting Civic Education in your community or school to the next level to reach peaceful relation:

  • Use the 5 Rotary core values and the 4-way test to achieve measurable improvement in civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions.
  • Seek out schools interested in implementing this pilot project and sign a MOU by providing ideas on how to set effective goals and strategies for meeting them.
  • Provide materials and detailed explanation on the Rotary core values and the four-way test, including the Object of Rotary and the club community service or Civic Education for Peacebuilding projects. We cannot expect schools to deliver high-quality results without informing them about us - the club/the rotary- and making them understand our motto “service above self”.
  • Develop and implement projects or events that support the five core values and the 4-way test.

At the end, special thanks for the District Area of Focus Committee Chair Dr. Ghada Ayoub and all the members for the time and efforts to make this pilot project see the light. As President of Rotary International 2018-19, Barry Rassin says “Rotary is not only a model but an inspiration”

With warmest regards,

Sponsors