Rotary Club of St. Thomas Held Peace Workshop at VIMSIA

This past weekend the Rotary Club of St. Thomas held a series of peace workshops at VIMSIA titled “Building Peace Through Service” presented by Mr. Carlisi. Mr. Carlisi is a certified nonviolent communication trainer and founder of Building Peace Through Service, a Rotary Clubs initiative planting roots in the Virgin Islands.

There have been no studies of root of street crime in the territory in recent years, but educators, activists and others in the community nonetheless appear receptive to Mr. Carlisi’s message of peace-building through deeper listening through our own personal needs and those of others.

“Violence is a tragic expression of unmet needs,” Mr. Carlisi said, quoting the works of Dr. Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi.

The Rotary Club’s Building Peace Through Service Program is in place in 165 countries, with outreach happening in the Virgin Islands, Tortola and the broader Caribbean, Mr. Carlisi said. Over the past week, he has visited the five Rotary Clubs on St. Thomas. He spent two days with students and educators at the Virgin Islands Montessori School and Peter Gruber International Academy and visited the Boys and Girls Club of St. Thomas.

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