To recognise the centenary of the Rotary Club of Adelaide in South Australia during 2023 – 2024 a goal to donate 100 Peace Poles to schools, community groups and not for profit organisations has proven so popular that well over the 100 Peace Poles have already been installed.

The Peace Poles symbolise the message of peace, inspiring unity among people from around the world. The popular project began from an initiative inspired by the Rotary Club of Canberra Burley Griffin to celebrate the centenary of Rotary in Australia and New Zealand in 2020-2021. Rotary Clubs across South Australia are continuing this legacy. There has been an overwhelming positive response from the community, especially from schools where over three quarters of the Peace Poles have already been installed.

The Rotary Club of Adelaide is proud to lead this important community initiative, which includes a recent installation at the world-famous cricket, football, and entertainment precinct The Adelaide Oval. The aim is to not only spread the message of peace across South Australia but to remind everyone that peace begins in our hearts, our homes and in our communities. The Peace Poles provide an opportunity for everyone to feel empowered to become Peace Builders and to inspire others to think and act in the spirit of peace.

This initiative will see all the Peace Poles mapped online, creating a Peace Pole trail across South Australia.

Our Peace Poles have also been installed in Kandy, Sri Lanka in partnership with the Rotary Club of Kandy, and in the Nakivale Refugee Settlement in Uganda in partnership with Rotary and Rotaract Clubs in the refugee settlement.

The Rotary Club of Adelaide is also in discussions with other peace building organisations to have several Peace Poles installed in a Peace Park in the centre of the city of Adelaide. The vision is to see the Peace Park revitalised, encouraging more visitors to the park and to reflect on how they as an individual have the power within to create peace. Visitors will be encouraged on reflection to make a personal commitment to help create peace in their hearts, their homes, and their community.

Benefits

The Peace Poles are being used to promote learning. They are playing an important role in furthering children and young people’s understanding of peace.

In schools they help students learn to develop ethical understanding and to develop personal and socialcapabilities as they learn to understand themselves and others more effectively.

The Peace Poles are sparking discussion about what peace is. They help students and adults alike to express empathy and demonstrate respect for others.

With the help of Rotary, schools and community organisations across South Australia are creating a ripple effectof peace that spreads far and wide, transforming lives and leaving a lasting legacy for generations to come.

Peace Poles are helping with mental health and wellbeing, providing opportunities for children and adults toreflect and find solutions and reassurance in these difficult times.

WORLD DAY CEREMONIES IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA

This year there have been over 100 Peace Poles ceremonies across the state where the words of the Chinese Philosopher Laozi have been recited.

Together, we have pledged to carry the spirit of peace in our hearts, to uphold Rotary’s ideals of service aboveself, and to work tirelessly to ensure that the inscription on every Peace Pole becomes a reality: ‘May Peace Prevail on Earth.’

CREATING PEACEFUL PLACES

The Peace Poles have been placed in areas that provides an opportunity for children and adults to reflect and feel at peace. Most are placed alongside a tree with shade, and seating close by.  A QR code is placed on the Peace Pole which when scanned takes observers to the Rotary Peace Poles website at https://rotarypeacepoles.world/ .

All the Peace Poles are being mapped to this website.  Observers will realise how citizens young and old are actively promoting peace within their communities.

Pete – Our Peace Pole Maker

We are very fortunate to have in Australia a designated International Peace Pole maker, Peter Clapinski. Pete lovingly crafts each and every Peace Pole with positive intentions and care and works closely with the Rotary Club of Adelaide to significantly bring down the transportation costs of delivering each Peace Pole. Each of the PVC Peace Poles are now made of 90% recycled plastic. We are so grateful to Pete for being such a wonderful Peace Pole maker.

Submitted by:
Heidi Unferdorben
Past President 
Chair, Centenary Committee 
Rotary Club of Adelaide Inc.

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Ophir students learn about the importance of goodwill in their community, and the world.

As Big Sky students at Ophir Elementary School recently returned to school to begin their new year, a special symbol now reminds them each day of what peace means, individually and to their entire student body.

Two years ago, fourth grade teacher Jonathan Gans read about an organization called The Peaceful Project, which builds and installs peace poles around the world. Now, Ophir Elementary has their ownPeace Pole, a permanent structure that Gans says represents a beacon of inspiration for the role each of us can play in bringing peace into our own lives and in our communities.

“I think that even young people in the elementary years are conscious of strife, conflict and war in the world these days,” said Gans. “News of these conflicts is inescapable, and reminders of it are everywhere. The Peace Pole is especially timely right now because of the serious conflicts that are occurring all over the world.”

When Gans learned about The Peaceful Project, he approached elementary school principal, Brittany Shirley and school superintendent, Dustin Shipman, about the prospect of installing a peace pole at Ophir Elementary and combining curriculum for his students with the installation. Gans said Big Sky’s Parent Teacher Organization allocated the funds for the project and he then began implementing lessons around the meaning of peace in the world and in Big Sky.

“We had a couple of brainstorming sessions about the meaning of peace in each of our lives and the kids wrote about what peace meant to them in their own experiences,” Gans said. “I was really inspired by the variety of responses and the way nine and 10-year-olds approached the meaning and value of peace.”

While Gans’ class focused on discussions and writing exercises that centered around the meaning of peace, the entire school also took part in a ceremony around the peace pole when Gans and other teachers asked the students to think about what peace meant to each of them and how they can implement it in their own lives, with their families, with friends, at school, in their community and beyond.

Mr. Gans talks about the importance of peace around Ophir School’s new Peace Pole.

“Ophir and the whole Big Sky School district is an internationally minded program of education and international awareness,” Gans said. “Although we may not feel we can do anything to solve things everywhere, a first step is to certainly become aware of what’s occurring outside of our little community of Big Sky.”

Prior to teaching in Big Sky, Gans spent many years in the Middle East as a journalist and engulfed himself in the culture and languages of that area of the world, so he knows firsthand the complexity of current issues. He said he wants to help his students understand the importance of peaceful living and a life without war and violence and plans to do more lessons with his students on the importance of global equanimity.

“My hope is that the Peace Pole will be a beacon of both international mindedness and international awareness,” Gans said.  “And a reminder of the importance of hope and conscious action on all of our parts to do everything we can to promote peace in our lives.”

To view the peace pole, community members can visit Ophir Elementary where it will remain permanently at the entrance to the school.

Ophir School Peace Pole:

Watch video here:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MuHX98n_f0

By Leslie Kilgore EBS CONTRIBUTOR

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This time it was carved in Maramures style, similar to the open air shrines which are displaced in every village of MARAMURES  county.

The Peace Pole bears the peace message “May Peace Prevail On Earth” -(“Să fie pace pe pământ”) in all the languages studied în this school, as such: ROMANIAN, HUNGARIAN, GERMAN, FRENCH,  ENGLISH AND UKRAINIAN.

Group of children caroling around the Peace Pole: “A KING WAS BORN TODAY and MAN WILL LIVE FOR EVERMORE because of CHRISTMAS  DAY.”

Submitted by:
Dagmar Berkenberg, MPPOEI, Europe office

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Principal Helen Demiris let students Jessica Henry, Ruby Maskelyne, Bailey Gallen, Lily Turner, and Iona Roberts unwrap the peace pole following the school’s assembly.

The words May Peace Prevail On Earth are written in four languages – one on each side of the pole, which was installed on the school grounds early last week.

The four languages are English, Noongar, Māori and Auslan.

The peace pole was donated by Rotary Mindarie who heard about Yanchep Rise from Yanchep resident and Yanchep Two Rocks Community Recreation Association president Julie Otremba, who had heard about peace poles through her work at Bunnings Mindarie.

Brian Butterworth from Rotary Mindarie told students, teachers, and parents at the assembly that the peace pole at Yanchep Rise was the first in the area for Rotary Mindarie and the first for the North ward in the City of Wanneroo.

Mr. Butterworth said there were peace poles of all shapes and sizes but there was one consistency – they were all dedicated as a symbol and reminder that everyone must strive for peace regardless of their country, race, or religion.

Rotary Mindarie president Lois van Baalen, Pearce MHR Tracey Roberts, Kevin Brown from the RAAFA Merriwa hobby shop, Brian Butterworth from Rotary Mindarie, Yanchep Rise principal Helen Demiris and Julie Otremba of Yanchep at the unveiling.

He said young people made up about 20 per cent of the world’s population and in a message to adults said children would make up 100 per cent of the future.

“Through the placement of the peace pole at Yanchep Rise PS and the recognition of International Peace day on September 21 every year, it is our responsibility to give them a gift of enduring peace,’’ he said.

Also in attendance were Pearce MHR Tracey Roberts who he said had attended every peace pole unveiling in the City of Wanneroo and North ward councillor-elect Alex Figg.

The Peace Pole was prepared by men from the RAAFA Merriwa estate in their hobby shop.

More information about the origin of the peace pole is available at May Peace Prevail on Earth International

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Jimmy Sumner here. From Camp Ramah. 

The guy who leads the cycling campers.

Our Peace Pole has been planted at the Camp farm. Languages on the Peace Pole: English, Hebrew, Spanish, Algonquin.

Warmly,
Jim 

Camp Ramah located in the Berkshire Mountains in Wingdale, New York, is one of nine overnight summer camps and three-day camps affiliated with the Conservative Movement of Judaism and the National Ramah Commission. 

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Camp Ramah in the Berkshire Mountains in Wingdale, New York, is one of nine overnight summer camps and three-day camps affiliated with the Conservative Movement of Judaism and the National Ramah Commission.  

Camp Ramah youth counselors always take the first bike tour, without the young campers, to establish the safety provisions.

Distance is approximately 10 miles from Camp Ramah to The World Peace Sanctuary, which is their halfway resting & picnic stop.

Always in place, is that one of the Senior Counsellors, drives the Camp Ramah van, to accompany the group of cyclist.

It worked out especially well this time, since they also picked up their Peace Pole, which was ordered last year. 

The Peace Pole will be planted on Camp Ramah campsite, in the Farm/Garden area.

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“May peace prevail on Earth.” 

Six Peace Poles in Gravenhurst Gull Lake Rotary Park have that message on them in multiple languages, including English, French, Ojibway, and Ukrainian, to name a few. 

The Peace Poles were designed by grade nine students at Gravenhurst High School. Aimée Bulloch watched over as the students undertook the project. 

The Peace Poles were unveiled Thursday afternoon.  

Bulloch said at the start of the school year, Barb McCabe, Past President of the Rotary Club of Gravenhurst, reached out to her about the project. “It was a very easy project to teach,” she said. 

“It took a lot of challenging planning skills,” she added. 

By Journalist: Mathew Reisler

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On June 10th, on the occasion of a tour in Latin America (Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil) to visit the educational centers of our network and to continue to spread Living Peace International and the work done with partner organizations.

We presented the Peace Pal Award, inviting everyone to participate this year 2023. Some of the finalist drawings of the previous years were exhibited and were greatly appreciated.

In addition, we held multiple flag ceremonies with educators and teachers in Latin American.

We feel the urgency and importance of becoming more and more united, supporting each other so that our message of peace and the culture that derives from it, reaches as many children, adolescents and young people as possible.

Carlos Palma
General Coordinator
Living Peace International

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JoannaGarden teacher at Friends School Decatur, wrote:

It’s wonderful how the Peace Pole brings people together.  Thanks for your positive response.  At the grassroots level Peace In Partnership

(P.I.P.) has accomplished a lot since 1980.  It’s meeting people like you & the Friends School that brings value to community outreach.  I am grateful you are interested.  The gardens are particularly beautiful in our East Lake Gardens neighborhood (2nd Ave & Glenwood Ave) until the summer heat when nature subsides.

On 5/19/23 -Joanna Gerber wrote: Thank you Andrea for leading us in the powerful peace meditation  and sharing all the stories.  I feel  better equipped now  to share with students and  families the history of the Peace Pole.  May Peace Prevail On Earth! MPPOE

“In the stillness of the quiet, if we listen, we can hear the whisper of the heart giving strength to weakness, courage to fear, hope to despair.”  Howard Thurman

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.  There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature – – the assurance that dawn comes after the night, and spring after winter.”  Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

Submitted by:
Andrea Kay Smith
Atlanta, GA  
www.PartnershipsInPeace.org
www.AtlantaPeaceTrails.com

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Mahalia Jackson famously sang, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.”

Handley High School senior Ashley Truban must have taken those words to heart. The Interact Club treasurer on Wednesday unveiled a Peace Pole Garden on the front lawn of the Winchester school’s campus.

Ashley said she came up with the idea as part of a project she was doing at Mountain Vista Governor’s School, where she is dual-enrolled.

“The Peace Pole Garden has been my passion project for the past several months, and I’m extremely excited to see how it will do over the next year,” she said on Wednesday. “I’m also hopeful the garden will inspire similar environmental initiatives around Winchester.”

“Planting a Peace Pole is a way of bringing people together to inspire, awaken and uplift the human consciousness all over the world,” added Handley Principal Susan Braithwaite. “Peace Poles are now recognized as the most prominent international symbol and monument to peace. They remind us to think, speak and act in the spirit of peace and harmony.”

Handley’s Peace Pole — a white post about 6 feet tall that features the words “May Peace Prevail On Earth” in English, Spanish, German, Korean and Braille — was donated by the Rotary Club of Winchester, and the native plants surrounding the Peace Pole were planted by Ashley’s fellow Interact Club members.

“Our club had the idea to combine the Peace Pole donation with a native plant garden to be maintained by Handley Interact for years to come,” Handley Interact Club member Laura Posadas said. “It will serve as a reminder to students and those in our community to seek peaceful resolutions to disagreements and to build opportunities.”

Jaime Karalis, president of the Rotary Club of Winchester, said Rotary first suggested installing a Peace Pole at Handley following a horrific mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018.

“A fellow Rotarian, Rabbi Jonathan Brown [formerly of Beth El Congregation in Winchester], posed a question to our Rotary Club, asking, ‘What can we do so an event like this does not happen in Winchester? What can we do to create peace?’” Karalis recalled on Wednesday. “As Rotarians, we’re steadfast in our commitment to peace, making it a cornerstone of our mission. We firmly believe that when people actively strive to make peace in their communities, the ripple effect can span the globe.

“As we gather here today, I ask us all the following: To praise people, abandon putdowns, seek wisdom, acknowledge and address hurts that we’ve caused, right wrongs, help others and, most importantly, build peace at home, at school and in our community each day,” Karalis said.

To learn more about Handley’s Peace Pole Garden, visit https://bit.ly/3Bj6kuF.

— article written by Brian Brehm at Winchester Star 

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