Del Mar Rotary Hosts Visitors from Chechen Republic
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| Six visitors from a Rotary Club in Grozny, Chechen Republic, were hosted by the Del Mar and visited the Old Mission Rotary Club. |
Hosted by the Del Mar club and sponsored by the Open World Leadership Center, delegates from Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, visited Del Mar from March 27 through April 4. “We’re trying to build bridges through Rotary,” said Del Mar Rotarian Marty Peters, who coordinated the trip. “We use sister club relationships to build trust through service.”
Six Chechens endorsed by Del Mar Rotary’s sister club, Grozny Rotary Club, participated in the nine-day trip: youth professional Rakhman Zaburayev, former UNICEF officer Zaret Israilova, lawyer Emiliya Salamova, journalist Khava Khasmagomadova, lawyer Magomed Israilov and facilitator Ilya Kvyatkovskiy.
Peters coordinated the program after he met a Rotarian from Del Mar Rotary’s sister club, Grozny Rotary Club, at a Rotary International meeting. Rotary International is a service organization of approximately 1.2 million people in 34,000 clubs around the world.
From the Salk Institute research organization to the world-famous San Diego Zoo, Peters led the group on about 40 hours of site visits throughout Del Mar and the greater San Diego region. Other stops included the Cabrillo National Monument and USS Midway Museum.
“The whole trip was eye-opening for all these people,” said Peters. Open World translator Sergei Vladov stayed with Peters during the trip.
This article is an excerpt from the Del Mar Times. Follow this link for the rest of the story.