Julia Smith is a member of a small, amazing group of people who have the potential to change our planet for the better. Her story is one that gives hope in a world of strife and hardship.
Smith grew up in Squamish, and one of her first life-changing experiences was at age 16 when she was selected as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student and spent a year in South Africa.
"This experience fostered in me a love for cross-cultural learning and international travel, plus a determination to contribute to rectifying social injustice. It also was the beginning of what is turning out to be life-long relationship with Rotary," Smith shared in an email.
After she finished high school, Smith completed a bachelor of arts with honours at the University of Victoria. After that, following her heart, she worked for a number of non-government organizations (NGO) in both Canada and Kenya.
While in Africa she worked for an NGO called Emmanuel Rescue Center (www.emmanuelcenter.com), founded in 2000 by a street child in Kenya. The facility for homeless boys provides a sanctuary for the some of the estimated 250,000 street children in Kenya. There the basics of life and more are offered through a community-based organization that seeks to provide peace for children who live a poverty-stricken, dangerous existence. They provide solace for exploited youngsters in the African nation.
"This experience continued to foster my passion for working to alleviate poverty and to promote justice. Since I stopped formally working for the centre in 2006, I have continued to be involved by voluntarily fundraising for it," Smith explained.
And during this time, her involvement with the Squamish Rotary Club continued.
The club was so impressed with this young woman's big heart that they nominated her for a prestigious Rotary World Peace Fellowship.
She modestly "guesses" that her international experience and her passion to contribute to a better world, as well as her "decent" academic record are what ultimately prompted the Rotary Foundation to select her for the award.
"I was extremely surprised and honoured that I was selected," Smith said.
The Peace Fellowship allows undergraduates the opportunity to complete a master's degree in peace studies. The program runs at very few universities worldwide with rarely more than 20 students in the program at each facility. The scholarship is fully funded by Rotary with no costs borne by the successful recipients.
Smith went to the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom.
"The Rotary World Peace Fellowship has to be the most fantastic scholarship program out there. Financially, it meant I could complete my studies without financial worries. Academically, at the University, it meant I was learning from leaders in the field. For example, my professor for the African politics class would walk into class having just returned the night before from negotiations in the Democratic Republic in the Congo. He could share both academic and practical experience," Smith related.
Since completing her MA in December 2009, Smith has spent the past year working in the area of Sierra Leone that was most impacted by the civil war.
"Much of what I learned as a peace fellow, both academically and socially, was directly relevant to my work," she stated.
Smith gave kudos to her classmates and Rotarians around the world for providing resources and helping her in her ongoing peace work.
"I cannot express enough how grateful I am to Rotary for the Fel-lowship opportunity," Smith said.
If you know of a young person who personifies the ideals of Smith and her fellow Peace Scholars, urge them to contact a Rotarian on the Sunshine Coast or go to www.rotary.org for more information about this inspirational program.
They will indeed be the small group of thoughtful, committed citizens who can change the world, just as Margaret Mead imagined.
