On 6th November, Rotary Manningham nominee Ms Fatima Shehata received exciting news that The Rotary Foundation has selected her to receive a 2021 Rotary Peace Fellowship for studies as part of the Rotary Peace Centres program, to study at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill USA.
The Rotary Foundation and its university partners considered candidates from all over the world for the Rotary Peace Fellowships in a highly competitive selection process which awards up to 50 fellowships for master's degrees study each year, valued at over US$80,000. Fatima was a member of the 2018 D9810 Vocational Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Training Team that spent 3 weeks working to improve WASH in 3 rural communities in East Java Indonesia and demonstrated exceptional skills working with women on hygiene aspects of WASH. She is passionate about people, and capacity building of local communities.
In her application she wrote: “I believe I would be a good fit for the fellowship because Peace has been a very strong driver in my life. I am a child of immigrants, who grew up in 7 different countries before calling New Zealand home. The Middle-East, where I grew up, has become known predominantly for wars, sparked by two resources: oil (in abundance) and water (in short supply).
Everything I have done, working in the water sector and volunteering in community mobilisation has been informed by one question: "How do we stop history repeating itself, and build communities which are thriving, peaceful and resilient to shocks?".
This fellowship will help move closer to the answer”. Fatima is currently working as a Senior WASH consultant in Phnom Penh Cambodia and speaks four languages (Arabic, French, English and Khmer) and dabbling in a few others (including Japanese, Russian, Tagalog, Hindi and Bhasa).
You can hear more about Fatima’s vision for peace in her presentation to Rotary Manningham at 6.30pm on Monday 30 November, 2020. Register here
