Dear Rotary Friends,

What an awesome ride Rotary has sent me on.

My name is Andrea Fanta, and I am the District’s 2007-2008 Rotary World Peace Fellow. For those who may still be unfamiliar with the program, the World Peace Fellowship is a Foundation-sponsored scholarship that pays for sixty students each year to earn a master’s degree at one of nine universities around the world. I was selected to earn my degree in International Relations, with a specialty in Peace and Conflict Resolution, at The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.

The goal of the Peace Fellowship is to get students out of their comfort zone, into a different country, and equip them with the skills they need to return to their homes and pursue work in international development and conflict resolution. Simply put, through this program, Rotary is once again striving to achieve nothing short of world peace and understanding.

Already, the seeds of this young program are beginning to bear fruit. Our graduates have gone on to work for nonprofit organizations and government agencies around the world. In my class alone, six nationalities were represented, and my colleagues’ specialties ranged from disaster relief work in India to human rights building in the Asia Pacific.

During my time as a Fellow, I also had the chance, with Rotary’s support, to pursue a two-month internship in Peru with the UNESCO field office there. I worked to help rebuild Peru’s educational community following a devastating earthquake in the southern part of the nation. At school, Ialso developed an academic focus on international mediation, completing intensive mediation training and study of the Oslo I Peace Process between Israel and Palestine.

Now, I have returned to public service for the State of Tennessee as a representative of the Department of Economic and Community Development, working on the International Business Development desk. This privileged opportunity is the chance to continue studying other cultures and languages, and to learn about how the economic sphere can influence larger global relations.

Additionally, my commitment to Rotary continues. I am seeking opportunities to become certified as a mediator and negotiator, and I am currently working on my application to join an American Shelter Box relief team. My dedication to a lifelong association with Rotary comes because of my superior experience with my sponsor club, the Rotary Club of Dickson High Noon; my host club, the Rotary Club of Goodna, my sponsor counselor, Mr. Jim Sowell, and my host counselors, Wes Miles and Gill Potter and Robin and Barbara Yule of Australia. If you speak to any of my classmates, you will hear the same stories of enjoying a warm, positive and influential experience as a Peace Fellow.

So, let me thank all of you for your continued support - moral and financial - of this critical Rotary Foundation initiative. There are so many needs and challenges that demand our response around the world, and there are so many ways that, when faced with these challenges, Rotary responds with a resounding “yes we can, and yes we will.” Thank you for saying yes to my classmates and I, and thank you for believing in us and in this program.
Best,
Andrea Fanta
Rotary World Peace Fellow, Class Five
andrealeefanta@hotmail.com