Fairport Resident Named Rotary Peace Fellow
While the world hopes for peace, Rotary works to make it a reality. Rotary District 7120 Governor, Scott MacDonell announces that “Bertin Mboko of Fairport has been named as one of 100 Rotary Peace Fellows to study peace building and conflict resolution.” The program was created as part of Rotary’s ongoing effort to promote greater tolerance and cooperation among people worldwide.
Mboko will attend University of Bradford in West Yorkshire, UK one of six worldwide Rotary Peace Centers. He will obtain a master’s-level degree in peace and conflict resolution.
In 1997, Bertin Mboko fled to the African nation of Gabon with 75,000 other refugees to escape the brutal conditions resulting from Congo's civil war and his status as an activist and dissident against the French regime. Throughout his eight years in a camp in Gabon, Mboko, one of the few university-educated refugees, spent most of his time putting his economics expertise to the test, teaching other refugees to support themselves by selling goods and managing their meager finances. As president of the refugee community, he felt responsible for their well being and coordinated with the United Nations and U.S. Embassy in Gabon to receive international aid for his fellow refugees-which included his sister and his five children, two of whom belonged to his sister-in-law who was killed in Congo. Bertin and his family resettled in the United States in 2007 where he has continued to work toward improving conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“This Peace Fellowship will help me to bring my part of contribution to Rotary because this foundation promotes peace in the world and it has a goal of promoting greater tolerance and cooperation among peoples, leading to world understanding and peace.” said Mboko. Rotary Club of Pittsford President, Grace Soong, noted that “Because of his extensive field experience in Africa, Bertin will contribute significantly to the peace and conflict resolution program at the University of Bradford.”
Nearly 900 Rotary Peace Fellow alumni are now working in high-level positions at prestigious organizations such as the United Nations, the European Parliament, Interpol, USAid, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development,and the Organization of Americasn States. While war, famine, poverty and disease remain serious challenges worldwide, the Rotary Peace Centers program gives Peace Fellows the knowledge and tools to address them.
Twelve years ago, Rotary decided to take a direct approach to world understanding by providing future leaders with the tools they need to “wage peace” on the global stage. Since 2002, Rotary clubs, each year sponsor up to 50 fellows who embark on one to two years of study to earn master’s-level degrees in peace and conflict resolution at Rotary Peace Centers at leading universities in England, Japan, Australia, Sweden, and the United States.