David Kozar. Master of International Studies, Peace and Conflict Resolution

Transcription

1 David Kozar Master of International Studies, Peace and Conflict Resolution University of Queensland: Brisbane, Australia February June 2010

2 Why I Applied Graffiti : Award-winning photo taken by David Kozar in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Before taking part in the Rotary Peace Fellowship program, David had spent eight years working with children affected by violent conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. During that time, David served as the Kosovo Country Coordinator for Volunteer Programs and Board of Director s member for the not-for-profit organization Training Workshops International (TWI) for the Children. David concurrently worked throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina to document the removal of landmines and unexploded ordinances (UXOs), as well as the search for the remains of victims of the Srebrenica massacre, where more than 7,000 men, women and children were killed in a United Nations protected Safe Zone in July, David received the President s Call to Service Award for his work in the Balkans. Having gained practical knowledge and experience working in the field, David wanted to gain a more robust understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of conflict management, conflict resolution and peace building. Secondary mass grave location near Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina David Kozar (far left), working with Norwegian Peoples Aid (NPA) to document the location of landmines in Northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. There are currently more than 10,000 minefields and over 200,000 active landmines throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina.

3 My Fellowship Experience David became the first Kansas State University student/alum to take part in the Rotary Peace Fellowship in He completed the Master of International Studies, Peace and Conflict Resolution at the University of Queensland (UQ) in Brisbane, Australia. During his time at UQ, David had the opportunity to work with a number of leading experts in the fields of conflict resolution and peace building. One of the best things about the Fellowship was having the opportunity to work side-by-side with not only the professors, but also students, who came into the program with a wealth of experience and knowledge. In addition to the education he received through formal course work at UQ, David also worked with the Dispute Resolution Branch of the Department of Justice and Attorney General in Brisbane where he gained exposure to Australian best practice in community dispute resolution. As part of the Peace Fellowship program, Fellows are expected to complete an Applied Field Experience (AFE) program which is designed to give Fellows the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills gained during the program in real world settings. For his AFE, David spent three months working along the Thailand/Myanmar (Burma) border. David worked primarily with the community-based organization (CBO) Social Action for Women (SAW) where he delivered a training program for the organization s staff and the wider community on alternative dispute resolution. During his time on the Thailand/Myanmar (Burma) border, David was also provided training services for The International Rescue Committee (IRC) and World Education. Kansas-Paraguay Partners is an international volunteer organization promoting peopleto-people exchanges between Paraguayans and Kansans Social Action for Women World Aids Day Program, Mae Sot, Thailand

4 Future Impacts David is currently working as an International Development Officer for the International Projects Unit of the Office of Commercial Services at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Australia. In his role David is developing and managing Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) Public Sector Linkages Programs, Australian Awards Fellowships and Australian Leadership Award Fellowships for Latin America, the Pacific, South Asia and Africa. Over the past twelve months David has managed fourteen international development programs, most recently managing DFAT funded programs in: Kenya (Conflict Management and Peace Building); Thailand (Defense Forces Senior Officer Leadership); Fiji (Gender Mainstreaming); Argentina (Federal Government Institution Strengthening); Bhutan (Inclusive Education, Educational Leadership and Royal Bhutan Police Training); Paraguay (Sustainable Development, Environmental Conservation and TVET) Sri Lanka (Disaster Management, and Water Use Management); Maldives (Inclusive Education); Indonesia (Mining Sector Safety); Samoa (Social Entrepreneurship) and two projects focusing on Leadership and Advocacy for women and people with disability across Francophone West Africa (Togo, Mali, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Niger). Since completing his Master of International Studies at the University of Queensland in 2010, David has also completed the Master of Community and International Development at Deakin University in Melbourne. Peace Building and Conflict Management Training, Kenya High Commission

5 Summer Lewis Master of International Studies, Peace and Conflict Resolution University of Queensland: Brisbane, Australia February June 2012

6 Why I Applied Summer was first introduced to Rotary while completing her Bachelor of Arts degrees ( ) in Spanish, sociology, and women s studies at Kansas State University. In 2004 she volunteered to lead an International Service Team to Guatemala and, as a member of Rotaract, was generously funded by a Volunteer Service Grant from the Rotary Foundation. Summer was deeply impacted by her time with a small women s weaving cooperative, Ixoq aj Kemool, and developed a project to market and sell the cooperative s textiles upon returning to the U.S. Summer (center) and sister Katrina (left, second row) visited members of MarketPlace India, a fair trade textile cooperative based in Mumbai, India while working at the Asian University for Women in Bangladesh in 2009 This alliance inspired Summer to advocate for small-scale producers in developing countries and from she worked with Equal Exchange, a fair trade coffee, tea and chocolate cooperative in Boston, Massachusetts. After leaving Equal Exchange in 2007, Summer became involved in social justice and international initiatives at Kansas State University, working with the Italian Studies Program (College of Architecture, Planning & Design), the Women s Studies Program, the Nonviolence Studies Program, Leadership Studies, and local food projects. She also lived in Chittagong, Bangladesh from and worked for the Asian University for Women, an institution dedicated to cultivating women leaders committed to social and economic advancement of their communities. During this time, Summer felt compelled to deepen her commitment to social justice and sustainable development through master s level studies, and the Rotary Peace Fellowship program provided the ideal opportunity. Summer picking coffee in Nicaragua on an Equal Exchange learning tour in 2007 Summer and weaver from the Ixoq aj Kemool women s cooperative in Tactic, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala (2004)

7 My Fellowship Experience Summer began her master s at the University of Queensland with an interest in how factors involved in food systems are interconnected and can generate the potential for conflict or the possibility for peace. She focused her research on food security, trade, development, smallholder farmers and commodity value chains, with a special emphasis on coffee. As the second-most traded commodity after oil, 70% of coffee is produced by small-scale farmers who lack access to markets and resources and struggle to make ends meet. Many farmers can t put food on the table after earnings from the harvest have run out, and food insecurity is endemic in coffee-farming communities. Faced with this situation, many farmers have migrated to look for work in urban areas or other countries, leaving behind their families and communities. Taken all together, coffee provides a clear example of the connection between a common commodity, small-scale farmers, and larger social, economic, and political issues. Summer s unique area of focus complemented her classmates diverse interests in mediation, peacekeeping, nuclear proliferation, migration, post-conflict reconciliation, and peace education. The flexibility of the academic program allowed her to explore a variety of topics related to peace and conflict resolution through classes, seminars, and lectures. And in the midst of working to meet the rigorous academic demands of the Fellowship, Rotarians in Australia and Kansas provided Summer with invaluable emotional and moral support and encouragement. Thanks to the Rotary Peace Fellowship, Summer was able to learn from and make what will be life-long connections with fellow classmates and Rotarians. Summer completed her Applied Field Experience (AFE) in Vietnam with Roots of Peace, a humanitarian organization dedicated to eradicating landmines and rehabilitating land and livelihoods. She assisted with the Sustainable Horticulture and Agriculture Development Pilot Project (SHADE), which focused on improving the income of 1,100 small-scale farmers in the cacao, coffee, and pepper value chains. Summer accompanied staff on field visits, observed farmer training sessions, and met with government officials and industry groups. She carried out research, created marketing materials, and shared the Roots of Peace story through social media. Overall, Summer s AFE experience gave her an in-depth understanding of the social, political, and economic factors influencing small-scale producers and cacao, coffee, and black pepper production in Vietnam and worldwide. Coffee farmer in Nicaragua Rotary Peace Fellows, Ambassadorial Scholars and Rotary host counselors in Brisbane, Australia

8 Future Impacts Upon graduating, Summer realized that her commitment to helping smallscale farmers and their families improve their livelihoods was stronger than ever. She traveled throughout Burma, Laos, Thailand, East Timor and New Zealand, meeting with Rotarians, Rotary Peace Fellows, agricultural and economic development organizations and coffee producers and projects. Coffee Kids works with both adults and children in coffee-farming communities to support projects in five program areas: food security, education, health, economic diversification and capacity building During this time Summer sought out international development job opportunities within the coffee industry and her quest led her to the April 2013 Specialty Coffee Association of America Expo in Boston. There, Summer was serendipitously connected to Coffee Kids, a non-profit organization with a mission that mirrored her own: to improve the lives and livelihoods of coffee-farming communities. She was offered and accepted the position of International Program Coordinator and is currently based in Oaxaca, México. Coffee Kids was one of the first industry-based non-profits and was founded upon the belief that coffee-farming families and communities hold the answers to their problems. Coffee Kids works with established partners in coffee-farming communities and provides resources and tools to carry out development projects in five main program areas: food security, microcredit and economic diversification, education and training, health awareness and capacity building. In her position, Summer manages relationships with Coffee Kids partners through communication, feedback and field visits, provides information about the program department s work for donors, and contributes to organizational social media outreach and marketing materials. Her work blends her passion for coffee with her pursuit of social justice, and she feels her organization s mission embodies her own career commitment: to foster self-determination and cultivate the power of coffee producing communities to determine the terms of their future. Summer visiting coffee-farming communities in Veracruz, México

9 Katrina Lewis Rotary Professional Development Certificate Chulalongkorn University: Bangkok, Thailand June - August 2012

10 Why I Applied As a professor in the College of Architecture, Planning and Design, Katrina has focused her teaching, research and service on beginning design education, social justice, and cross-cultural contexts. She believes that design is central and integral to our lives; designers shape and change the lives of individuals and societies. We all live in a built environment of some sort, be it formally or informally designed from suburban housing developments to urban slums; and we all consume products that are designed to meet our needs. Ninety percent of the world s designers, however, design for the rich a mere ten percent or less of the world s population. Over the course of her design education and career, Katrina found herself asking: What about everyone else? Class XIII s summary of eleven weeks of intensive learning Thus, Katrina applied for the Rotary Peace Fellowship in Thailand in order to pursue the opportunity to make a stronger connection between social justice issues and her design profession. She wanted to take the first step in using design as a means with which to address global, humanitarian issues, and peace building. Well-known practitioners and speakers from around the world sharing their knowledge with Rotary Peace Fellows Bangkok, Thailand (Summer 2012)

11 My Fellowship Experience The Rotary Peace Center Program at Chulalongkorn University brought Katrina into dialogue with academics, practitioners and aid workers dealing with real-world issues. She completed coursework providing theoretical knowledge of peace and conflict resolution, allowing her to consider how design, peace and conflict are interrelated. She also completed a three-week field experience in Northern Thailand and Cambodia and learned about the work of local not-for-profits and Rotarians in promoting social and economic development, education, environmental protection, and gender equality. In addition to the coursework and fieldwork, Katrina and other Peace Fellows were asked to visit an organization of interest during the fellowship. For her first visit, Katrina toured the Angkor Hospital For Children in Siem Reap, Cambodia. This building for this not-for-profit organization is featured in a book about socially responsible and green design, Design Like You Give A Damn [2]. On her second organizational visit, Katrina met with staff from Design for Disasters, a not-for-profit that works with design professionals, students and local communities and was created after the devastating 2011 floods in Bangkok. These organizational visits allowed Katrina to see first-hand how designers are employing design to address humanitarian issues and promote sustainable futures. Katrina, classmate Monica Fennell, and Rotarian host counselor Maneechit Suwanasilapa spend an evening together The fellowship program was a life-changing experience for Katrina, especially considering that this area of study does not typically reach out to and seek contribution from members of the design profession (and vice versa). Upon returning to the classroom, the methodology and the content of Katrina s teaching has been significantly influenced by the peace and conflict resolution curriculum and interaction with professionals and peers in the Thailand program. Overall, Katrina felt the support she received from her sponsor and host Rotary clubs helped make her fellowship experience what it was. She would like to thank the District 5710 Manhattan Rotary Club and the Bangrak Club and host counselor Maneechit Suwanasilapa in Bangkok, Thailand for their enthusiasm and encouragement. Angkor Hospital For Children in Siem Reap, Cambodia

12 Future Impacts Over the course of her fellowship, Katrina realized peace processes and practitioners often fail to consider issues related to design and space. Likewise, design professionals often fail to see the importance of the social, political, and economic ramifications of their work. Katrina found her fellowship colleagues were open and receptive to this unique perspective on peace and conflict resolution. Specifically, Katrina s colleagues indicated a greater appreciation over the course of the fellowship for the role designers can play in shaping the lives of individuals and societies and addressing the needs of the unrepresented through disaster reconstruction, housing and community development. It became clearer to both Katrina and her colleagues at the end of the fellowship that designers have a key role to play in promoting social change, peace, and security. Katrina s Reflection on her field experience in northern Thailand (Summer 2012) With this new level of knowledge, enthusiasm and drive, Katrina returned to the classroom at Kansas State University where she challenges her design students and colleagues to consider and adopt a sensitive approach to global and humanitarian issues. For example, the seventy-five students she teaches each year have: learned about humanitarian disasters and designed culturally-sensitive relief kits; researched food security and nutrition issues and designed rabbit hutches in the Philippines; and have designed ecologically conscious housing. Additionally, her IAPD 391 Topics in Contemporary Design seminar is currently cross-listed as a Kansas State University Nonviolence Studies elective. Through this work, Katrina seeks to inspire and encourage colleagues and future designers to become change agents and to consider how they can promote peace, understanding and justice through design. Katrina's Reflection of her field experience in Cambodia (Summer 2012) Katrina learns about local craft traditions from two Chang Mai ladies (June 2012)

13 Vibha Jani Rotary Professional Development Certificate Chulalongkorn University: Bangkok, Thailand June - August 2013

14 Why I Applied A floating house near Siam Reap, Cambodia. Many Cambodian people leave in floating houses like this as they cannot afford to buy the land to build a house. Every year floods destroy many of these houses. During her Cambodian Field Study program, Vibha learned how to combat the over growth of Water Hyacinths, and how to utilize it for building construction and other useful household products. Water Hyacinths are first cut and dried on the decks of the floating houses, than the stocks of these plants are then used for various house hold products. These products are sold in the markets. Thus, one can achieve two goals at one time: combating Hyacinth s overgrowth and providing income for the family. The three biggest challenges the world is facing today include how to control population growth, eradicate poverty, and minimize environmental degradation. Inequality in distribution of natural resources intensifies these challenges. Humanity s ongoing need for healthcare, safety and prosperity also continue to escalate. Some of these issues create major conflicts among the people of the world. These challenges require innovative solutions and thoughtful interventions to avoid communal discord, depletion of resources, and war. As a concerned designer, researcher and an educator, Vibha wanted to know how architects and designers can assist in finding peaceful solutions for some of these issues. The majority of the people of the world want to live in peaceful and harmonious environments. Vibha believes that it is essential that one must raise awareness about these issues within the communities we live in, and engage civil society in developing peaceful solutions for these conflicts. Collaborative efforts between the academy and civil society are necessary across geographic and cultural boundaries, so that innovative, holistic, sustainable solutions can be identified. Our wellbeing depends on it. As a design educator, Vibha has been working to create awareness about the need to understand diverse cultures and traditions of the world as they directly relate to developing communal harmony, and peace. But the distribution of land and natural resources too, are also significant sources of conflict and war. These issues are directly related to freedom, privacy, territoriality, safety, health and welfare of the people. With her training in architecture and design, she has been working to develop sustainable architectural solutions through teaching and research. But to make a real difference; she wanted to acquire theoretical knowledge about the nature and root causes of conflict, its interrelationship with violence, and how to diagnose, analyze and find resolution for these problems. The Rotary Peace fellowship provides the rare opportunity to study these issues through the Rotary Peace Certification, where experts in this field enhance one s knowledge and skills. She wanted to understand how architects and designers can apply conflict resolution theories so that she can apply it in her teaching and her work to develop peaceful sustainable design solutions. This was the primary reason Vibha applied for the Rotary Peace Certification program.

15 My Fellowship Experience Vibha spent three months during the summer of 2013 with 19 other Peace Fellows gaining a better understanding of how to create, build and sustain peace. She started this program with great hope and enthusiasm, as she comes from a family of followers of Gandhi: her parents have dedicated their lives to educating marginalized children, youth and women in India. She wanted to continue their legacy in her own way and contribute to their peacebuilding efforts. Since her field of study and expertise is in architecture and design, she did not have a theoretical background in peacebuilding. The Rotary Peace Fellowship program provided a great opportunity for Vibha to gain theoretical knowledge about peacebuilding and how she can utilize this knowledge in her own field. During her fellowship at the Rotary Peace Center at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, many invited experts provided in-depth knowledge on various topics that made her realize that architects and designers should be part of the peacemaking and peacebuilding process. However, Vibha s true understanding of challenges faced in peacemaking became clear during her field studies. The three-week field study experiences in Chiang Mai, Thailand and Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, Cambodia were very influential. Visiting local government and volunteer agencies in these cities was, in many ways, a difficult and painful experience for Vibha. This was due to the conditions and various human rights violations she witnessed while visiting these cities. However, the Cambodian field study experience was life-changing for Vibha. She observed that after almost 30 years of genocide, the people of Cambodia are still struggling to get back on their feet. Children still do not get proper education; they only attend school for half a day because there are not enough teachers to teach them. Most of the population is still very poor, and yet the people she visited always had a smile on their faces and seemed very sweet. They made her realize how lucky and privileged she was. Visiting the Killing Fields and jail in Cambodia was a horrifying experience for Vibha. How and why would a person or a few people together kill almost 90% of the population? She just could not fathom this. How peacebuilding can even begin here was a question the 19 other Peace Fellows and Vibha tried to understand. They all came back without any answers and a lot of heartache. But the children playing on the street or working with their parents gave Vibha hope and made her realize that this new generation will change the country and work to make it a better palace. These experiences she will never forget and they motivate her to keep on working to contribute in any way that she can towards peace in the world. Vibha met with the traditional weavers of Hmong tribe during the Chiang Mai Field Study. Vibha with Rotary Peace Fellow Sanem Ozer from Turkey and Tanya Batista from USA on a books finding mission during Chiang Mai Field Study

16 While in Thailand, Vibha had many discussions with other Peace Fellows and instructors about war and its impact on communities. It was obvious that architects and designers can assist in post-war construction efforts through design of housing and other building projects. But post-war situations in each community may be different and require creative solutions to bring peace. For example, the Pentagon s Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center reports have diagnosed 229,106 cases of mild to severe traumatic brain injury from 2000 to the third quarter of 2011, including both Iraq and Afghanistan veterans (Froomkin, 2011). This number increases even more if one considers all the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans returning from their deployments with post-traumatic stress, hearing loss, breathing disorders, diseases, and other long-term health problems. The cumulative physiological and psychological strain these service men and women suffered while in Iraq or Afghanistan requires immediate attention. Lack of attention can result in increased stress levels, restlessness, and depression that can disrupt these soldiers family lives, and, in extreme situations, lead to suicide. Yet, there are not many rehabilitation centers dedicated to these wounded warriors. Worse still, there is not enough research data available on the rehabilitation needs of these veterans. Because 90 percent of our time is spent indoors, it became evident to Vibha that well-designed rehabilitation environments can assist these wounded warriors tremendously, especially since many of these wounded warriors are returning home to Fort Riley, a military base located close to Vibha s university. Future Impacts installed in Kemper Gallery, located in the Student Union at Kansas State University. This exhibition documented her field studies experiences and also educated her students about Thai art, architecture and culture, but most importantly, the importance of peace in the world. The second exhibition titled Spiritual Wonder was installed in the Beach Museum garden. Through this exhibition, she worked with her students to develop an experiential place where patrons of the museum and KSU students, faculty and staff members can ponder the larger questions of who they are, why they are here on the earth, and how they can find inner peace for themselves and how they can contribute in assisting others to find peace. In the future, Vibha will continue to promote peace, and world understanding through: 1) Enhancing students understanding about issues of conflicts, and how designers can assist in finding solutions; 2) Developing a framework that supports service-learning as a valid educational paradigm to promote peace; 3) Introducing projects that promote mutual understanding, communal harmony and peace through practical field experience; 4) Creating opportunities for students to interact with practitioners who work to develop a culture of peace and tolerance; 5) Developing international educational opportunities for students interested in peace and conflict resolution. After coming back from Thailand, Vibha thus decided to challenge her graduate students to understand the rehabilitation needs of these wounded warriors. She introduced a semester-long, community-based, warrior-focused, service learning project to enhance students understanding of psychological and physiological pain of the war veterans. She inspired her students to find research-based, innovative spatial solutions that can assist these wounded veterans in finding inner peace and reconnect them with their families, friends and the community. The main goal of this service learning project was to initiate community engagement and dialogue so that students understand how they can contribute to the health and wellness of the wounded warriors and how building environments can provide inner peace. Vibha s students have been focused on designing a prototype for the rehabilitation center for the wounded soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. Vibha also installed two exhibitions after coming back from Thailand. One was Exhibition Photo: Spiritual Wonder Exhibition Photo: In the Land of a Thousand Buddhas

17 How to Apply? Rotary Club Rotary District District 5710 Committee Chair: Dr. Bill Richter (2013) & Patti Bossert (2014) The Rotary Foundation Do you know a change-maker who wants to make a significant impact globally and would make a promising applicant for the Rotary Peace Fellows Master s Degree or Professional Certificate? Please feel free to take and share an informational brochure, pass on the link to the Rotary Peace Fellowship Application at org/en/peace-fellowships, or contact the individuals below directly for further information: The Rotary Peace Fellowships Program represents a unique and timely investment in committed and driven individuals, providing support for future leaders to engage in practical, professional and academic training, and ultimately making a more peaceful future a reality. All applications for the Rotary Peace Fellowships are first submitted to a local Rotary club, with deadlines varying between March and June of each year. All club-sponsored applications are then submitted to Rotary International by July 1st. Contacts: Rotary District 5710 World Peace Programs Chair, Patti Bossert, patti@keystaffing.com, David Kozar, david.kozar@qut.edu.au, Summer Lewis, summerbclewis@gmail.com, Katrina Lewis, katrina@k-state.edu, Vibha Jani, vjani@k-state.edu