Rotary and the Peace Connection

As a humanitarian organization, peace is a cornerstone of Rotary’s mission. We believe when people work to create peace in their communities, that change can have a global effect. Rotary’s involvement in world peace initiatives has been a mainstay since the organization’s inception in 1905.

Rotary International was invited after World War II to serve as consultants in the writing of the United Nations charter. Today, Rotary holds the highest consultative status offered to a nongovernmental organization by the UN’s Economic and Social Council, which oversees many specialized UN agencies.

Rotary Day at the United Nations each year celebrates the organizations’ shared vision for peace and highlights the critical humanitarian activities that Rotary and the United Nations lead around the world.

Rotary has many peace initiatives throughout the world. One of its youth peace programs is Rotary Youth Exchange.

What is Rotary Youth Exchange?

Rotary Youth Exchange has a mandate to promote global peace and understanding. The exchanges last a typical high school year, with one Camrose outbound student spending a year in another country with Rotary host families. In exchange, an inbound international student comes to Camrose to live with host families and attend school here for a year. The students are supported by both the host Rotary Club and the sponsoring club, as well as counsellors and district representatives.

Students learn a new language, discover another culture, and truly become global citizens. Exchanges for students ages 15-19 are sponsored by Rotary clubs in more than 100 countries.

Exchange students unlock their true potential to:

Develop lifelong leadership skills
Learn a new language and culture
Build lasting friendships with young people from around the world
Become a global citizen

Rotary doesn’t normally make a habit of financially supporting individuals. However, the Rotary Youth Exchange program reaches so many more people than the actual exchange student. As each student learns and embraces life beyond “home” they have a profound effect on everyone around them. Youth Exchange builds peace one student at a time, like a ripple from a stone tossed into water – it keeps spreading.

In the words of one of those students, Penny Nelson:

“…my year of exchange in Germany was something that changed my life forever and shaped me in some incredible ways. The symbol of a tree growing with its root system spreading deep underground to anchor it while it flourishes and provides oxygen, shade, and nourishment to the world seems to be a very apt symbol for what my exchange was like during the year, and how it has impacted me and those around me since (I hope!).”

Why create and what is the Rotary Peace Path?

Our past Rotary Exchange students have been wonderful ambassadors for their countries and to our future exchange students; to the Rotary principles of truth, fairness, goodwill, friendship and caring; and to the peace that comes from living those principles. We wanted to celebrate and dedicate a tree to each of them. In the process we have created our Rotary Peace Path that is both “peaceful” and celebrates this youth “peace’ program.

In 2017 we started laying out the path and marking where eighty trees would be planted. By 2019 we had planted and watered forty-five trees, built a kiosk with signage that recognized our exchange students, and held a dedication ceremony.

Since then we have planted trees with each new exchange student to celebrate their exchange year. We began with coniferous trees and have shifted to deciduous trees for the second row and for replacement trees. In 2024 we added two arbors on either end of the Peace Path as part of our Peace Pole project.