"I can give you a very brief update since I last spoke with you about what is happening and I am sure Robert has been keeping you updated as well.  I have been badgering him with emails.  I guess now the Peace Fellowship Program has been running for almost 20 years so we have, when I last spoke with you, we have set up and incorporated an alumni association in the US which represents about - there is over 2000 of us spread all over the world working in various sectors and for various organisations, all in the name of peace.  That is thanks to the foresight of Rotary to give us the skills and the education to help us to work in those areas.  There are about 40% of us who work for NGOs, quite a large number working for them or a peace-related organisation; 14% is the second highest category that work for government and the rest is made up of teachers, researchers, economists, journalists, people that work for the UN and the World Bank, spread out all over the place.  
The alumni association has been running a few events in response to COVID.  Peace fellows got together very quickly and realised that there was an opportunity to use the skills because we weren't travelling anywhere, and Rotarians weren't travelling, so it was a good opportunity to use the skills that we have to present and run workshops, for example.  You might have seen some of them relating to food, security and peace.  There was one on peace education, one on refugees recently and then there is one coming up called Art, using art and performance to promote peace.  Many of these peace fellows will come together again for our first annual Rotary Peace Fellowship Conference which will be on 27 June.  A lot of different topics will be covered.  You will have - somebody will be interested in something - and it will be streamed live for 24 hours which means every country across the globe with internet connection will be able to log in live and listen to as many sessions as they like.  Some of those will be recorded as well.  We have been able to secure some high level speakers in the field of peace and conflict resolution.  One is Irene Santiago.  She was instrumental in negotiating peace between the Mindanao rebels and the Filipino government.  She is the first woman ever to have been at the negotiation table.  She is well-respected and still is.  Come along if you want to hear her speak in our Asia region.  
There is also a peace guru, John-Paul Lederach, an American working on peace and transcendence for the last 15 years.  Come and listen to him.  The RI International president elect is speaking for the European track.  There are lots of speakers and the peace fellows will also present various different sessions.  
Mine is on women and peace.  We have some international speakers on that panel and there will be other panels and workshops as well.  If you are looking for some skills or something that is a little bit different please come along to join us.  It is meant to be interactive.  We welcome the views of others to help shape what we hope to see would be a new way of looking at peace and new ways of building peace post COVID.  
I guess I've talked before about where I have come from and how I came to Australia by boat as a refugee but I haven't really talked much about what I do and what I have done since then.  So am I still working on peace in the Barossa?  I am.  I think in many ways with my professional work I work in international development so I go overseas to developing countries and help design programs particularly in the education sector that is going to improve access to education for children in poor and developing countries.  But a passion project of mine is working with children, particularly primary school children, visiting primary schools and working with rural women to use some of the skills that I have learned in the Rotary fellowship to teach them about peace and non-violent conflict resolution.  My work overseas allows me to be able to do some of those things voluntarily in the Barossa.  When I was in uni I studied peace psychology.  Many people don't know what that is but it is basically looking at psychology in terms of how violence is constructed and how peace building can be transformational from those processes.  To go back very briefly, peace is not just about an absence of war.  There are two meanings, I guess.  One is that peace is not just the absence of war which is the direct violence.  So where there is war there is direct violence and direct harm caused.  The other side is what is called structural violence, the systematic type of violence that occurs, the underlying cultural norms that perpetuate concepts of violence.  As a little kid growing up in Australia I have certainly been a victim of some of that violence.  I remember going to school in primary school and I just wanted to be a white kid.  I saw whiteness as something to aspire to.  I saw that being white was a privileged position and I wanted to be white which meant I refused to speak Vietnamese at home, I refused to eat Vietnamese food.  There was a time there when implicitly I understood that white was something to be - that had advantage.  So there were lots of times where I rejected my heritage, my Vietnamese heritage.  That was when I was at primary school.  
When I grew up I realised that there are lots of different cultural aspects of my identity that should be embraced and celebrated rather than hidden away.  That was through university and through working in peace psychology that I discovered that.  
If I could share my screen now and show you the tools I use to teach kids about conflict resolution.  While I get the screen sharing to work are there any questions?  
This peace conference is looking at this point in time as a transition to what we can do, putting a spotlight basically on where we are in the world and challenging ourselves to find new ways, what can we do differently in terms of not just in the area of peace but more broadly looking at the whole ecology of peace, looking at the social, the political, military, economic, all the dimensions that work on human welfare and justice in our world.  
This is what I talk to the kids about, three things.  Kids like to know 'What can I do?  The world is too big, I can't change the world but what can I do?'  It is really important for me, because the masters I gained from the Rotary Fellowship was a masters in education and I wanted to be able to use concepts of peace and conflict resolution and apply it to education particularly in the classroom context.  A lot of my work has involved working with rebuilding education systems where conflict has occurred and schools are damaged.  You really are starting from scratch.  Basically getting kids back to school.  So a lot of that work that I have done overseas is very very basic, getting bums on seats so that kids can get into a safe environment again at school so they can start the learning process.  
In the Barossa what I have been doing is working with kids in year 4 and 5 on concepts of peace and I often show them this.  I am sure some of you would have seen this before.  Perhaps you could count the number of hands.  What can you see?  Will somebody put up your hand and shout out what you can see?  It is an old hag?  Can everybody see an old hag?  It is also a beautiful young woman.  Who can see both?  For those who can see the old woman this is the old woman's head, this is her eye here, she is looking that way, this is her nose and mouth here and her chin.  That is the old woman's face.  The young woman she has a feather, her hair and eyelash, she is looking sideways, it is a profile, her nose and cheek and chin and this is her neck and she is wearing a little choker.  Can you see that clearly?  Anyone having trouble seeing the young lady?  
Sometimes it is hard when you have seen one image, it is difficult to see the other.  Sometimes for other people you can switch between the two.  Why I love showing kids this, this is an old psychology experiment but they haven't seen it, is to demonstrate there are two sides of every story, two perspectives, and both are right because some can see the old lady and some can see the young lady.  The importance of the message is there are two sides of every story.  Both are right, you can't argue one is an old lady and one is a young lady because you are both right.  
I remember going to Vietnam, when I was working there, in Vietnam people called the Vietnam War the American War.  It was a different perspective to what we are used to in the west because we refer to it as the Vietnam War.  In effect, both perspectives are right.  It was the Vietnam War as we know it and the Vietnamese called it the American War.  There are two sides to every story.  Unless you start communicating and discussing and showing each other, being patient and showing each other what your perspective is and where it is coming from that is where you start to build understanding.  That's one way that we can teach kids about building peace, is that there are two sides of every story.  When you have an argument there is always two sides of the story.  
The next one is - has anyone seen the symbol for listening?  Some Chinese elder was very wise and came up with a symbol, this Chinese character for listening.  It includes obviously the ears for listening, you have the eyes because when you are listening you watch, this character is for undivided attention, you are focussed on them, being mindful and listening.  Listening is also listening with your heart.  You are listening with empathy and listening with your mind.  The Chinese character for listening is made up of all these characters together.  That is the beauty of it.  Listening to understand each other is about all that.  It is not just about hearing things or seeing things but all those senses combined is really important for listening to understand and listening to uncover truths and the different perspectives we have.  
I remember growing up, going to school and being teased as a Vietnamese about eating dog.  You probably remember me telling this story before but I was teased about eating dog and I thought that for Australians eating kangaroo was really strange because that is your national emblem, why would you eat that?  Until we talked to each other about the differences and the cultural - all these different symbols behind those aspects of eating what we eat, was really important.  So I explained to my friends that eating dog is actually, in some cultures, a sign of good luck.  Dogs are a sign of good luck and eating dog is a delicacy and people eat dog at the end of the lunar month so they can purge all the bad luck and welcome in a prosperous month ahead.  That is why people eat dog.  It is considered a delicacy and sign of good luck.  Then, of course, my Australian friends explained to me that even though they don't eat kangaroo, the meat is not that popular, they don't normally eat that but it is a way of culling them.  By explaining the hidden meanings behind our cultures we are able to come to an understanding and we were able to feel and to think and to hear and see and listen with undivided attention to each other.  So to break down those barriers.  That was really important.  I used some of those stories to illustrate to the kids about the importance of listening to understand what is hidden beneath and questioning with empathy.  Not questioning with aggression but with empathy.  
The third story is an orange story.  It is basically two siblings fighting for an orange.  There was one orange left in the bowl and they fought.  The mother said 'Right, okay, I'm going to throw it in the bin if you are going to keep fighting.'  They said 'No, no, no, wait.'  The mother said 'What do you need the orange for?'  One sibling said 'I want to make a cake.'  The other said 'I want to just drink it.  Drink the juice from the orange.'  The mother said 'Why don't you squeeze the orange for the juice and then use the rind to make your cake.'  Both sides win.  It is about a win-win situation.  If you collaborate and cooperate it is possible that both sides can win.  It doesn't have to be a winner and loser.  This is really important in our schools because we want to create a culture and environment of collaboration rather than of competition in our schools between the children.  When they work together the impact is so much stronger and this demonstrates the orange story, to them, how they can work together. 
I have one more which I wasn't sure whether I could demonstrate but perhaps maybe I will just pick on Sue and Mark.  I am going to ask you to demonstrate for all of us arm wrestling.  Can you do that?  Let's see if you have been listening to all those three tools.  The aim of the game is to get as many points as possible.  If Sue is able to get Mark's arm down she gets one point and Mark, the other way, if you get sue's arm down you get a point.  The aim is to get as many points as you can.  I will give you 10 seconds to see how far you get.  Ready set go.  Okay, you can stop.  
MARK GRAETZ:  I just held back. 
YUNG NIETSCHKE:  Look what we created.  You didn't score many points guys, maybe one to Mark.  What's the aim of the game?  It was to get as many points as possible.
SUE GRAETZ:  It was a stalemate. 
YUNG NIETSCHKE:  It was a stalemate.  Can you think of a way you could have scored as many points as possible?  
SUE GRAETZ:  You kind of think because of male and female doing it you tend to think the male will be stronger but - 
YUNG NIETSCHKE:  Mark thought 'I better let Sue win because I might not get tea tonight.'
MARK GRAETZ:  I didn't want her complaining all night with a sore arm.
SUE GRAETZ:  I think the situations you are in, because we saw this as a bit of a fun thing, if we were possibly doing that in another context with another person I think it kind of depends on the situation you are in as to how you manage things, I don't know. 
YUNG NIETSCHKE:  True, yes, the context is really important.  Also your preconceived ideas about your roles and whether you are the powerful one or how you go into that with those preconceived perceptions.  Anybody else have any ideas?  
SANDIE SIMONS:  Was the aim to get as many points as possible for an individual or both people?  
YUNG NIETSCHKE:  I didn't say, it doesn't matter.
SANDIE SIMONS:  You could have just gone up down up down up down. 
YUNG NIETSCHKE:  Yes, exactly.  I think that's the key.  Instead of creating a culture of competition where we have preconceived ideas - when I said the point is to get as many points as you can, that is the name of the game, we automatically think we have to win.  One person has to win.  Whereas if we thought creatively and said 'Well, actually we could both win if we go one, two, three, four, lets work it out together and see how we both win.'
SUE GRAETZ:  Because I am so competitive, my mind wouldn't even think of that.  If I was given a task I immediately think, right, you know, even though I looked at Mark and thought he was a lot stronger than I am there is always that edge with me of winning.  
YUNG NIETSCHKE:  That's true.  We all come to a situation with all those things that we carry with us.  Sometimes in a negotiation it doesn't have to be a winner and loser.  If we work collaboratively together.  If you were trying to negotiate a cease fire between two countries and you go into it thinking 'That's it, they are going to have to die.  We are not going to agree to a cease fire until we have all these different things met,' it is really difficult to - it is called a zero sum game.  Because in the end you both lose if you definitely want all these conditions met for your side.  If you work with a mindset of collaboration and how you can work together so that both sides can come out with the best interests for each side - remember the orange story - it might not be that both sides want the same thing.  If one side wants one thing and the other side wants something completely different you are probably willing and able to give up some of that because it is not as high on your list of priorities.  That's looking at something that is all out conflict.  But for kids, we try to teach them if you think collaboratively and work together, because kids are so amazingly creative, that we condition them to say well actually this is what you have to do to win.  If we don't give them that up front they are very creative in coming up with ideas how to be more empathetic and be more collaborative with each other in the classroom when they work together in groups. 
They are some of the things I teach kids in schools about non-violent conflict resolution.  Of course in the real world it is different and that's why you need a masters and a PhD from Rotary to be able to do that at the international level.  I guess for me collaborating at that level is about coming together and sharing our skills.  There is always going to be conflict and conflict is not necessarily a bad thing because it forces us to come together and work out solutions in a collaborative way.  
This whole pandemic and COVID has been devastating for many people and look at us, we are not able to meet.  We can't socialise or have fellowship the way we are used to.  Even someone like Robert is able to get on to Zoom.  Sorry to pick you on, Robert.  
ROBERT BROOKES:  You are just the fifth one this week. 
YUNG NIETSCHKE:  But there are ways.  There will be lots of different scenarios around the world where people are innovative to make sure others are not falling behind and falling through the cracks.  We are very lucky in Australia - I spoke with a friend working in the refugee camp in Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh where the Rohingya are at the moment.  The camp is 1 kilometre square and holds at the moment 860,000 refugees.  Coronavirus in a situation like that is unstoppable.  She works for UNHCR and luckily they have contained, as best they can through a lot of public health campaigning, hand washing - social distancing is not going to work in an area like that - so public campaigns around hand washing, hygiene is really important in those areas.  People comply as best they can.  She said at the moment there are 30 deaths which is incredible.  You would imagine that would be a war zone with COVID but at the moment it is - still, 30 deaths are 30 deaths - but they didn't expect it to be so low.  They are managing it really well.  It will be interesting to hear what else is going on around the world where measures are being put in place that helped improve, perhaps, the way we live and helped improve the human well-being in our world.  I will end there.  I will give you a few minutes to ask any questions."  

 

I haven't transcribed question time, it would make this just too long.  The online conference as mentioned by Yung above is for all Rotarians to join.  It is free, sponsored by the alumni association.  The registration link will be sent to Robert or Keith who can forward it on.

 

"SUE GRAETZ:  Rotarians and Friends, we have just been given again a wonderful insight into what Yung does.  She as exceptional young lady and we feel very close to her.  Tonight it is my pleasure to propose that Yung Nietschke becomes an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Barossa Valley.  
ROBERT BROOKES:  I would certainly second that, President Keith.
KEITH MILLINGTON:  I think we can say quite confidently that would have the full support of everybody in the club.  Everybody that has heard you has been very impressed with what you have done and I think we should welcome Yung Nietschke as our newest honorary member.  Welcome.  
YUNG NIETSCHKE:  Thank you so much.  I feel very humbled.  I feel this is my home Rotary Club because I have such a connection with many of you.  I start to recognise some of you when I go out now which is lovely.  Thank you very much for the honour of being an honorary member of the Barossa club, thank you very much.
KEITH MILLINGTON:  You are welcome at any of our meetings at any time you want to join." 

 

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Apologies/Leave of absence