Rotary members and peace fellows take action to address underlying causes of conflict by providing access to clean water and sanitation, supporting education, preventing and treating disease, saving mothers and children and growing local economies. To celebrate their impact and in recognition of International Day of Peace, Rotary is highlighting six “Champions of Peace.” Last week we looked at champions three and four; this week we consider the final two:

Kiran Singh Sirah is a graduate of the Rotary Peace Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Sirah is president of the International Storytelling Center in Tennessee, which uses storytelling as a path to building peace. The organization seeks to inspire and empower people everywhere to tell their stories, listen to the stories of others and use storytelling to create positive change. Kiran, the son of Ugandan refugees, created “Telling Stories That Matter,” a free guide for educators, peace builders, students, volunteers and business leaders. The resource is now used in 18 countries.

Taylor (Stevenson) Cass Talbott, a graduate of the Rotary Peace Center at the International Christian University in Japan. Stevenson developed a global grant to improve sanitary conditions for waste collectors in India. Waste collectors together handle 20 tons of unwrapped sanitary waste every day. Stevenson collaborated with SWaCH, a waste-collector cooperative, to create the “Red Dot” campaign, which calls for people to wrap their sanitary waste in newspaper or bags and mark it with a red dot. This helps waste collectors identify sanitary waste and handle it accordingly. Stevenson developed all the educational imaging for the campaign. She also secured in-kind offerings of support, including free training space and campaign printing.

These Champion Rotary Club members are using their time and talent to make the world a better place to live for everyone.