TWO ROTARIANS. TWO CULTURES. ONE CONVERSATION.
A Rotary Club of Atlanta Brasil Peace Through Culture and Communication Initiative
Area of Focus: Peacebuilding and Conflict Prevention
Secondary Area of Focus: Culture and Basic Education and Literacy
Two Rotarians. Two Cultures. One Conversation. is a peacebuilding and language-confidence initiative created by the Rotary Club of Atlanta Brasil to reduce communication barriers and create meaningful relationships between people from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
The project pairs an English learner with an English-speaking Rotarian from another Rotary club. Each pair meets regularly for coffee, lunch, a walk, a Rotary activity, or another informal conversation experience.
Unlike a traditional English class, the project provides participants with a safe and welcoming environment in which English learners can practice real-world communication without fear, embarrassment, or judgment.
Many people from other countries understand English but hesitate to speak because they are afraid of making mistakes, being misunderstood, or feeling embarrassed because of their accent or limited vocabulary. These barriers can contribute to isolation and make it more difficult for individuals to fully participate in their workplaces, communities, volunteer organizations, and social environments.
Our project transforms conversation into an act of service.
English-speaking Rotarians volunteer their time not as teachers, but as Conversation Partners and Peace Partners. They listen, encourage, communicate, exchange stories, and help another individual develop confidence through human connection.
At the same time, the English-speaking participant learns about another culture, background, and life experience.
The exchange therefore works in both directions.
One participant develops language confidence.
Another develops greater cultural understanding.
Both develop friendship.
Through these one-to-one relationships, the Rotary Club of Atlanta Brasil seeks to demonstrate that peace can begin with something as simple as two people sitting across a table and making the effort to understand one another.
Language barriers can create much more than difficulties with vocabulary. They can create social isolation, embarrassment, misunderstanding, frustration, and barriers to employment, leadership, civic participation, volunteerism, and community involvement.
For immigrants adapting to life in the United States, the fear of speaking incorrectly can sometimes prevent individuals from participating in conversations even when they understand much of what is being said.
Our club recognized this challenge within our own multicultural Rotary environment.
Instead of asking English learners simply to become more confident, we asked another question:
What if Rotary created the environment where confidence could grow?
Two Rotarians. Two Cultures. One Conversation. was developed to create that environment.
Participants are matched in pairs based on interests, availability, location, and communication goals.
Each partnership is encouraged to meet approximately once per month for six months.
Meetings may take place over coffee, lunch, during a walk, at a Rotary event, through a community service activity, or virtually when necessary.
Conversation guides provide optional monthly themes such as:
My Story and My Journey
Culture and Traditions
Family and Community
Career and Leadership
Rotary and Service
Understanding Differences
Peace and Belonging
English-speaking Rotary volunteers are encouraged to allow participants to speak freely, avoid unnecessary correction, explain unfamiliar expressions when appropriate, and most importantly create an environment where making mistakes is accepted as part of learning.
The project approaches peacebuilding at the interpersonal and community level.
Communication is one of the foundations of understanding.
When individuals cannot comfortably communicate with one another, differences in language and culture can contribute to misunderstanding and separation. Creating opportunities for people from different backgrounds to speak, listen, and share experiences helps transform unfamiliarity into understanding and understanding into friendship.
Through intentional intercultural conversations, participants learn about one another's experiences, values, traditions, challenges, and aspirations.
The goal is not simply improved English.
The goal is connection.
The project seeks to replace fear with confidence, isolation with belonging, misunderstanding with empathy, and cultural distance with friendship.
One conversation builds confidence.
One friendship builds understanding.
Together, we build peace.
The project begins with members of the Rotary Club of Atlanta Brasil who would benefit from increased English conversational confidence.
After completing the pilot phase, the program will expand into the Brazilian and broader immigrant community in Metro Atlanta.
Community organizations that already serve English-language learners can refer participants who have received classroom instruction but would benefit from additional opportunities for informal, real-world conversation.
Rotarians from throughout District 6900 can participate as volunteer Conversation Partners.
The long-term vision is to create a simple, low-cost and replicable Rotary model that other clubs can use to connect with immigrant and multicultural communities throughout Georgia and beyond.
The program requires minimal financial resources because its primary resource is volunteer time.
After developing the initial program materials, orientation process and evaluation tools, the model can be repeated each Rotary year and expanded to additional Rotary clubs and language communities.
The Rotary Club of Atlanta Brasil intends to document the program so that a simple implementation toolkit can eventually be shared with other clubs.
Our vision is that what begins with one Brazilian Rotarian and one American Rotarian having coffee can eventually become hundreds of conversations connecting cultures throughout Rotary.
Success will be measured through participant enrollment, number of Rotary volunteers, number of conversation partnerships created, number of conversations completed, Rotary volunteer service hours, participant retention and pre- and post-program surveys.
English learners will be asked to rate their confidence speaking English before and after participating in the program.
Both participants will also evaluate whether the experience increased their understanding of another culture, expanded their personal connections, increased their sense of belonging and made them more comfortable communicating with people from different backgrounds.
Participant testimonials and individual stories will supplement the quantitative results.
Our ultimate measure of success will be whether participants leave the program not simply as language partners, but as people who understand one another better than they did before they met.
| Partner Involvement |
|---|
| A cooperating adult English-language or immigrant-serving organization supports the Rotary Club of Atlanta Brasil by connecting the club with English-language learners who would benefit from conversational practice. The organization may also provide guidance regarding English-language learning, culturally responsive communication, volunteer orientation, conversation resources, participant referrals and recommendations regarding the needs of immigrant adult learners. The Rotary Club of Atlanta Brasil remains responsible for overall project leadership, participant matching, Rotary volunteer recruitment, project communication, monitoring, evaluation and documentation. Partner Rotary clubs recruit English-speaking Rotarians who volunteer as Conversation Partners. These Rotarians contribute their time by creating safe opportunities for English learners to practice communication while exchanging culture, experiences and friendship. This collaboration combines the educational expertise and community reach of the cooperating organization with Rotary's greatest resource: its members and their willingness to serve. |