On Jan 15 - 16 2016, Rotary District 5340 was one of the six southern California Rotary districts that collaborated to present the Rotary International World Peace Conference 2016.  This is the first of 5 Presidential conferences and the only one that will occur in the United States.  The Peace Conference was held at the Convention Center in Ontario, California.  This conference attracted speakers and participants from around the world.  

 

One of the areas of focus of the Rotary International Foundation is Peace and Conflict Resolution.  There were thirteen areas of learning afforded by the study tracks for this conference.  Since peace isn't just the absence of war, but is instead the absence of disagreement and the opportunity to discuss differences, whether the disagreement is at home, schools, a local community or between nations.  Peace is possible only when the parties involved are willing to sit down and learn about the aspects of the problem and then discuss the possible solutions that result from mutually agreed upon terms.

 

Participants also heard from law inforcement and government representatives about what the current situation is concerning terror and such things as hunger, poverty and human trafficing.  The participants learned that in our communities we have to be aware about what is goingonn around us.  The slogan is: If You See Something - Say Something"  Since those who mission is to protect our freedom and possibly prevent violence from terror, for example, it is an aware citizen who can litterally make a differenc because there can never be enough surveilance possible to allow governments to have sole responsibility for our safety.  In the recent San Bernadino shootings, it was information from a witness that allowed the police to quickly learn who the perpetrators were and quickly attempt to apprehend them. Since a firefight occurred when the police surrounded the suspect vehicle, the end result was the death of the two perpetrators.  

 

During this meeting, the participants learned what various persons and groups are doing to make a difference so that their activities can result in reducing the significance of proverty and hunger as initiators of violence instead of peace.  The central lesson is that we can not afford to be complacent and not avail ourselves of the opportunities to learn ways in which we can bring peaceful solutions to problems, no only in the world, but also in our daily lifes as well.  Never has the thought that "eternal vigilence is the price of freedom" been more appropriately true than it is now.