Peace fellow praises Rotary Peace Centers
By Donna Polydoros
Rotary International News -- 21 January 2010
Rotary Peace Fellow Nai-Hua Wu thanked Rotary for the opportunity to learn about conflict resolution and said the experience was the best of her life.
Rotary Images/Alyce Henson
Rotary Peace Fellow Nai-Hua Wu thanked Rotary for the opportunity to learn about conflict resolution and said the experience was the best of her life.
"I truly feel that this world is a better place because of Rotarians’ efforts," Wu said during the fifth plenary session of the 2010 International Assembly. "I want you to know that I am extremely grateful for the experience and that the investment you have made in this program is well worth it."
During her graduate studies at the University of Oklahoma, the Taiwanese-born student was sponsored by Rotary Foundation Trustee Ron Burton and District 5770 (Oklahoma, USA) to apply to the Rotary Centers for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution .
"I was not a U.S. citizen, but they sponsored me anyway. It was my first experience with what Rotary is all about. There is no division of nationality, and Rotarians work together for a better world," she said.
Wu was accepted and, from 2005 to 2007, she attended the Rotary Peace Center at International Christian University in Tokyo. While there, she received two internship offers, one from the United Nations in New York City and one to work for 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai in Kenya.
"If you were me, I am pretty sure you would have made the same choice as I did. I chose to go to Kenya and worked for Wangari Maathai and her daughter at their organization, the Green Belt Movement," she said.
More than 400 alumni have graduated from the Rotary Peace Centers program, many of whom now work for high-profile nongovernmental and international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank.
Wu is now pursuing her doctorate in management at the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University.