On April 11th, 2023, I, Martin Parnell, was introduced to David Falconer. David lives in Cochrane, is a High School Principal in Calgary, and is the Founder of Classrooms Without Walls, an organization that provides online educational courses for students in Myanmar, Ukraine, and Afghanistan. I offered to give a talk to these students on my 2016 trip to Afghanistan.
A month later, I made my presentation to a group of 40 students. The presentation went well, and it made me think that I wanted to do more. I proposed to David that I would like to be a volunteer teacher and give a weekly 12-lesson course entitled “The Adventures of Marathon Martin and Friends.” Each lesson would include a presentation, Q&A, and a 3-question assignment.
In early July, I presented the first lesson to a class of 45 Afghan women. I had a Teachers' Aid. Her name is Marwa, and she lives in Kabul. As the course progressed, one question that came up from a number of the students was: What do we do next? How do we keep the group together? I reflected on this and came up with the idea of establishing an online community-based Rotaract Club.
Rotaract began as a Rotary International youth program in 1968 at Charlotte North Rotary Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, and has grown into a significant organization of 11,172 clubs and nearly 170,000 members in 189 countries and geographic areas. I talked to Marwa about the idea, and she loved it. We talked to the students about the idea, and in total, 20 of them wanted to be part of this club.
In mid-November, David and I presented to the Rotary Club of Cochrane Board. At the meeting, the Board agreed that we would be the sponsor club and that we would cover the club start-up fee and the membership dues for these individuals.
The first meeting of the Rotaract eClub for Peace and Education was held on January 3rd, 2024, and on September 1st, the club was officially chartered with 22 members, of which 18 of them were Afghan women. On Sunday, September 22nd, the club held their Charter Ceremony. The event was MC’d by Manvi Pant, UofC Rotaract and Marwa, President of the new club. A number of Rotarians and guests attended the event. Two surprise guests were Rotary International President-Elect Mario Cesar Martins de Camargo and Rotary International 28 / 32 Zone Director Chris Etienne.
Congratulations to all involved in this outstanding achievement. We are all stronger together.