In attendance: Reynolds, Johnson, Yauchler, Zalucha, Pakkala, Burns, Burns, Smith, Wilson, Salerno, Bohl, Wedig, Bollig
Guests JonahSimmonds, Lilly Smith
Announcements:
- Peggy will be sending in Every Rotarian Every Year (EREY) checks to the Foundation soon. If you want to add yours, let her know.
- Brent is going over the books to become familiar with the ins & outs of the club. Also working on the understanding of the budget such as it is for 2020-21
- ALL MEMBERS! The upcoming Club Visioning will be January 21st at 5:30 pm. Do not miss!
Happy Bucks!
- Raphael’s debt to UW Platteville (which was the remainder of his tuition over $3000) has been paid off with the assistance of an anonymous gift from Rotarians.
- Carl had a good hunting season with 1 buck with his bow and one with his gun. He also got 9 does. He butchered 3 and gave the rest to neighbors.
- Jason has a new niece.
Speaker Jonah Simonds
Jonah is a Rotary Peace Fellow, a part of Uppsala (Sweden) University's Peace and Conflict Research Department, an International citizen with experience living and working in the United States, Sweden, Switzerland, and South Korea. He has a professional background in trade and logistics, immigration, and education. He is currently working with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
Each year, Rotary awards up to 130 fully funded fellowships for dedicated leaders from around the world to study at one of our peace centers. Through academic training, practice, and global networking opportunities, the Rotary Peace Centers program develops the capacity of peace and development professionals or practitioners to become experienced and effective catalysts for peace. The fellowships cover tuition and fees, room and board, round-trip transportation, and all internship and field-study expenses.
Since the program began in 2002, the Rotary Peace Centers have trained more than 3,300 fellows who now work in more than 115 countries. Many serve as leaders in governments, NGOs, the military, education, law enforcement, and international organizations like the United Nations and the World Bank.
The Rotary Peace Fellowship is designed for leaders with work experience in peace and development. The fellows are committed to community and international service and the pursuit of peace. Each year,
The Rotary Foundation awards up to 50 fellowships for master’s degrees and 80 for certificate studies at premier universities.
Jonah’s cohort (class at University) consisted of ten people from China, Nepal, Australia, Pakistan, Japan, Afghanistan and 4 from the US. You can read more at the Uppsala Rotary Peace Fellows Blog. https://uppsalarotaryfellows.wordpress.com/
Jonah expects that he will continue working with the UN. The Corona Virus has had an effect on his program. At this time he is living in Minnesota, working in Thailand and going to school in Sweden. His Master’s Thesis is the development of an App which creates a “circumstance tree’ measuring a disparity/ inequality index.
Jonah was in Sweden during the Covid outbreak. He said that the Swedish were nonchalant about it and he felt that their public health approach is failing.
Jonah finished up by thanking our club and all the Rotarians who have contributed to the Rotary International Foundation(EREY). This Peace Program is fully funded by the Foundation and is very beneficial to peace efforts all over the world.
