At the recent Rotary International Conference in Calgary, Laura McConatha had two opportunities to present on the peacebuilding work taking place in Americus, Georgia. A Rotary International/Institute for Economics and Peace Positive Peace Activator, Laura is both Service Chair and Peace Chair of the Americus Rotary Club. On Sunday, June 22, she had a 3 hour kiosk presentation in the Peace Park on “Building Peace and Promoting Unity in rural Georgia: A Carter Legacy”. On Monday, June 23, she co-presented with fellow Positive Peace Activators Tamara Larson and Patricia Shafer on “Positive Peacebuilding: Engaging Youth Through Rotary, Communities, Schools”. Laura focused her talk on the Grace Camp initiative that took place this summer in Americus. Grace Camp was an idea born during a series of workshops co-facilitated by Laura late last year titled “Coming Together in Unity: Community Dialogue for Peace with Youth at the Center.”

Using Rotary’s 8 Pillars of Positive Peace, local high school students and community leaders came together to identify the root causes of violence and brainstorm potential solutions. During one session, a teen participant expressed concern that, despite the presence of many churches in the community, none had taken concrete action to show youth that they are seen and cared for. Inspired by his idea, a faith-based collaborative was formed to create a community-building safety net for youth through summer programming - resulting in the launch of Grace Camp. Along with the Americus Rotary Club, 10 area churches and 3 community organizations were actively involved in the rollout of Grace Camp this summer.

The work of the Americus Rotary Club’s Peace Committee recently earned the club the distinction of being awarded Peacebuilder Club status by the Rotary Action Group for Peace. Next up for the club is a Unity in Community Festival, which will take place on Saturday, October 25 in Rylander Park, the site of the club’s inaugural Peace Pole installation.