{UAH} Team talks about bullying

Team talks about bullying

Rotary Peace Team visits Mexico schools

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Allen FennewaldMaria Morell of Argentina and Peter Paul Opata of Uganda visit with Mexico High School students Friday.

By Allen Fennewald
Staff Writer 
Posted Apr. 14, 2014 @ 12:34 pm 

Peace Team members Maria Morell of Argentina and Peter Paul Opata of Uganda came to the Middle School and High School in Mexico Friday to speak with the students about bullying and working toward making their school environment a conducive and peaceful place to learn and live.

"We are trying to encourage dialogue with the children, to try and understand issues they feel are important for them to address in their school environment," Opata said. "We are basically using dialogue to probe into the issues that they feel are important, what challenges they are facing, and once they identify these issues we talk about what they could do to improve them. Of course, we are stressing the fact that they need to work with adults, who can be supportive of the things they want to see accomplished. Bullying seems to be coming out in most of the discussions we have had."

"We are also trying to explain to them what a career in a field like ours is like. Whatever your background, you can work for peace and there is an opportunity to work for peace wherever you are," Morell said.

Opata currently works for the Uganda Catholic Secretariat in Kampala as the department head of the HIV/AIDS outreach program. He received a master's degree in African peace and conflict studies from the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom. His encounter with the Lakwena rebels in the mid 80's at age fourteen inspired him to always promote peaceful co-existence.

He is glad to be in Mexico, which is an America that is different from what he usually sees in movies. "Mexico seems to be a small town. I think it's comfortable for me, because what I thought America was doesn't seem to be the case, which is very helpful. At some point, I'd love to be in the huge city and feel the difference."

Morell graduated from law school in Argentina, where she has worked for the past 12 years. She took two years leave to go to Japan with the Rotary Peace Fellowship, where she earned a master's in international peace and conflict resolution. She currently works at the prosecuting attorney's office, specializing in child protection and working for the prevention and prosecution of sexual crimes. "I've only been in the big cities like New York and L.A. and I was really excited to see the countryside. I love the architecture here."

Peace Team is supported by The Rotary Foundation, which turns donations made to Rotary International into grants that fund the work of members and partners worldwide. Rotary International, an organization of Rotary Clubs in more than 200 countries, was founded in 1905. The organization joins approximately 1.2 million neighbors, friends and community leaders together to create positive, lasting change in communities around the world.

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

"Even a small dog can piss on a tall Building", Jim Hightower