MAY 2026 Newsletter

 

Are you planning to attend the convention in Taiwan, or do you know someone who will?  If so, we are seeking presenters to speak about their club's education and STEM activities and volunteers in the Education & STEM Hub at the RI Convention's House of Friendship.

Co-hosted by BELRAG and the mEducation Alliance, the Hub will showcase Rotary-supported education initiatives and create opportunities to feature organizations seeking Rotary partnerships.

Interested in learning more about the Hub and/or want to apply to present? Contact us at medalliance@meducationalliance.org with the subject heading “Ed & STEM Hub – [Your Organization Name]” and/or fill out this Ed & STEM Hub Participation Form.

Volunteers are needed to help staff the BELRAG Booth. Please sign up here to work a few shifts.
Register for the 7:00 AM (UTC-5.00) Annual Meeting here.
 
Register for the 7:00 PM (UTC-5.00) Annual Meeting here.
 
 

SUPPORTING LITERACY THROUGH DIVERSE BILINGUAL

CHILDREN'S BOOKS
Children’s books, in particular engaging, colorful children’s books, are crucial for early literacy. More than that, books provide mirrors in which children can see themselves and windows through which they can see how other people live. But all over the world there are children who don’t have books or don’t have books that are culturally or linguistically suitable for them.
 
When Ellenore Angelidis, founder of Open Hearts Big Dreams (OHBD), told her Ethiopian-born daughter Leyla that other children didn’t always get to go to school or even have books, Leyla, at the time a toddler, responded with a simple truth, “That’s not fair!” and a behest: “You need to fix it.” OHBD was founded in 2016 with the goal of increasing literacy, inclusion, innovation readiness, and leadership skills in Ethiopia and beyond. It is a Seattle-based non-profit organization whose founder is also a Rotary member of the University District of Seattle Club.
 
OHBD’s primary literacy project is the creation, publishing, printing, translation, and distribution of our Ready Set Go Books. So far, OHBD has created nearly 200 award-winning, copyrighted, high quality books. The creative team is led by a Portland-based award-winning children’s books author who grew up in Ethiopia, Jane Kurtz.  She was the recipient of an IBBY-iRead Reading Promoter award in 2022, only two given globally every two years. Ready Set Go Books are written by a range of authors, with coaching from Jane, for young readers, beautifully illustrated by volunteer artists around the globe, and printed bilingually in English and more than 30 other languages.
 
 
Read more...

Resilience in a Rucksack:
A strategy for mitigating the effect of trauma, and cultivating resilience with the Social Learning Communities and Classrooms in the Ukraine

 
 
Research has shown that traumatic, violent experiences have profoundly adverse effects on child development and subsequent learning abilities (Williams 2017). The effects of trauma on children are significant in many areas of development, including emotional, psychological, cognitive, social and physical. (Bartlett et al 2018).
 
Over the past ten years, research on school-aged children indicates that children are impacted on a multiplicity of levels. Emotional/psychological effects may include: increased anxiety, dis-regulation, PTSD, depression, low self-esteem and inability to contemplate the future. Cognitive effects impact concentration and memory recall, difficulty with critical thinking and struggles with problem solving abilities. Physical impacts of trauma are revealed in a multitude of somatic symptoms, such as headaches, and sleep disturbances. Social effects may reveal social withdrawal, attachment issues, or aggressive behavior. Thus the results of trauma have a direct impact on academic performance and cognitive abilities. (MSEA, The Trauma Toolkit, 2017). In the Ukraine, the effects of trauma not only impacts school children, it is impacting educators as well.

However, through education and professional development, educators in the Ukraine can learn to implement a variety of instructional strategies to mitigate the impact of trauma for themselves, and for the children they teach. Evidence-based research has shown  effectiveness of trauma-sensitive engagement techniques and teaching strategies which allow for their learning communities to act as buffers to outside trauma; and to help learners engage in whole child learning systems which utilize protocols and systems designed to foster resilience and positive engagement. (Blaustein and Kinnіburgh 2010).
 
The Understanding Peace Project’s “Resilience in a Rucksack,” Project is designed to support teachers and caregivers to create a safe, positive learning environment, allowing easy-to-access teaching ideas and strategies based in trauma-sensitive learning protocols which promote: building relationships and trust; Social-Emotional Learning; flexible teaching approaches incorporating choice and autonomy; collaborative games for learning; peer support; and art-enhanced creative and engaging activities that allow students to express themselves and find a positive pathway to a caring community, which fosters growth and support. (Halloran 2016).

For more information about Resilience in a Rucksack, contact Barbara Leger
barbaragoldenpathofpeace@sonic.net
Rotary E-club for World Peace, D5330
US/Ukraine Inter Country Committee
Upcoming Events
BELRAG ANNUAL MEETING #1 - 2026
Jun 30, 2026 7:00 AM - 8:30 AM Central Daylight Time (UTC-05:00)
BELRAG ANNUAL MEETING #2 - 2026
Jun 30, 2026 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM Central Daylight Time (UTC-05:00)
Social-Emotional Learning: The Foundation for Lifelong Success
Jul 30, 2026 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Central Daylight Time (UTC-05:00)
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