Obama’s sister speaks on ‘peace leadership’ at Honolulu conference

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Rotarians from across the state gathered at Keehi Lagoon Memorial Park in Honolulu this weekend to focus on the roles of understanding, relationships, and service in building peace.

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The three-day event, which runs through Sunday, brings together local leaders and volunteers to celebrate community service achievements, network, and discuss future projects under this year’s theme, “Peace Through Leadership.”

On Saturday, attendees heard from keynote speaker Dr. Maya Soetoro-Ng, a faculty specialist at the Spark M. Matsunaga Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution at the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa.

“Rotary is all about peace and has many peace initiatives and efforts all around the world, and so I think that this event is a place where people who have already prioritized peace can kind of begin to concretize that and [think about what] action at this time in their communities looks like,” said Soetoro-Ng.

Soetoro-Ng, who is the sister of former President Barack Obama, shared her insights on global and local peace education and why its importance in today’s political climate.

“I think a lot of people are feeling uncertainty, despair, anxiety,” said Soetoro-Ng. “They do not necessarily know their own power to impact things positively. I think that the overwhelm comes from seeing the impossibility of perhaps bringing peace to Gaza or Iran right now, as an example.”

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Organizers say the weekend schedule features a variety of fellowship experiences, recognition of club accomplishments, and sharing of stories from individual Rotary clubs.

“In a nutshell, it’s just to get out in our communities and try to do good,” Rotary District 5000 Governor Benson Medina said. “Right now, we’re putting together a huge effort to try to provide relief to the citizens that are down here in the South Big Island and Naalehu, who are really, really impacted by Hurricane Lala.”

Attendees are also participating in a Rotary Peace Walk, silent auctions, and sports tournaments, including golf, pickleball, horseshoes, and cornhole.

For more information about Hawaii’s Rotary District 5000or the conference, please visit their website.

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