The Rotary World Peace Conference 2016 was held in Ontario California on January 14, 15 and 16. I attended the conference because Peace and conflict resolution are one of my strongest interest within Rotary. This conference was one of the Presidential Conference series being held throughout the world. The World Peace conference is the only one being held in the USA. I was truly happy that I participated. I met up with friends from various districts around the World! There were friends from joint projects I had participated in the past. It was full of great speakers, all uplifting and many very famous!
The World Peace Conference was hosted by Rotary Districts 5330, 5320, 5300, 5280, 5240, and our District 5340. "Connecting Leaders and Conflict Resolution Experts with Solutions to Create a Culture of Peace."
Now, I have been to a number of RI conventions, this conference was at par with some. Well organized and a fantastic lineup of speakers and seminar leaders.
There was a House of Friendship with many projects related to peace and conflict resolution being displayed. There were the typical vendors and plenty of time to mingle and fellowship. There was a 53' educational exhibit on truckers against trafficking! I was really impressed by the kind of work they are doing. Barns and Noble had a great selection of books, I did get a few.
A signed copy of The Kindness of the Hangman by Henry Oster- Even in Hell, There is Hope. This is a true story of a boy in Nazi Germany. I also purchased a children's book called When a Peace Tree Blooms by Hideko Tamura Snider. I have read it to my grandkids and wish every child in the world would be told the story of the peace tree and how peace trees became a movement from Japan after the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. The other book I purchased is Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
I got this one because I loaned mine out and really wanted to read it again. The book was made into a major documentary on PBS about horrific gender inequality and brutal treatment of women around the world with inspiring stories of survival and resilience.
This book should be read by all adults!
During the joint sessions, the keynote speakers included a Hiroshima Survival Plants Video and Planting Ceremony. The Refugee Crisis- Syria and Beyond with a panel that included Dr. Barbis Der Yeghian.
Steve Killelea presented the Global Terrorism Index and a panel discussion on Terrorism and Global Terrorism. The first responders to the San Bernardino shooting were honored and we heard from them as well.
There were so many great speakers:
From Homeboy Industries, Father Greg Boyle.
I especially enjoyed hearing from Bazzel Baz. He has an unusual name and an even more unusual vocation. He clandestinely rescues those missing children that authorities can't find or have given up trying to reunite with their custodial parent. Bazzel has long operated in the shadows since 1991.
He has been dubbed The Patron Saint of Missing Children by journalist Diane Dimond and is the founder of The Association For The Recovery of Children. The Association for the Recovery of Children (ARC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization comprised of former and active Intelligence, Military, and Law Enforcement personnel, dedicated to the recovery of missing and exploited children, foreign and domestic. In recent years, that has included the fight to stop human trafficking.
Baz is a former CIA officer who takes on the most impossible cases. And he doesn’t charge the heartsick family of the missing a penny. With volunteer help from other retired intelligence officers, Baz travels all over America and the world, covertly getting in and out of countries some of us can’t even pronounce. His goal is getting children back to where they belong. So far, Baz and the boys have a 100% success rate. One of their many successes was aired on Lifetime Television called the Tiffiney Rubin Story…the rescue of Kobe Rubin from Korea. Another was the return of 7-year-old Ashley Ricks to Los Angeles after a 1 ½ kidnapping to Manila Philippines and most recently a young girl stolen from Iowa and sent to Mexico in danger of being trafficked.
He pays for his rescue missions out of his own pocket using his savings or the money he earns from various consulting jobs as well as donations. Your donations to the organization are welcomed blessing.
we even had from Sharon Stone!
In addition to the keynote speakers and general session speakers, there were 13 different tracks to choose from. I had a difficult time deciding which sessions to attend. I attended the human trafficking and child slavery sessions as well as the homeless outreach series.
