Several of the past and present Peace Fellows keep blogs. We will put links to any that we know about, on Fellows' individual web pages. Please let us know of any we have missed. Thank you.
KATJA KARPPINEN
FINLAND
Sponsored by: The Rotary club of Lauritsala, District 1430, Finland
Country of Citizenship: Finland
Language proficiency: Finnish, English, Russian, French, Swedish, basic German
Undergraduate degree: MA (Russian language and literature, English philology, pedagogy, intercultural studies, Études françaises)
Areas of special interest: International and intercultural relations, education and communication, equality, democracy, sustainable development
General background / background to RWPF Award: I took part in Rotary student exchange in Australia in 1996–1997, which was the first time I came into contact with Rotary International. Since then I have studied and worked in many countries, such as England, France, Russia and Latvia. I see RWPF as a possibility to develop further and to be able to use my full potential in the international sphere, as well as making use of my language skills and international experience in another level.
What are you going to do with your RWPF?: I hope to be able to contribute towards the shared goals with Rotary, and to promote education in particular, as well as raising awareness of its essence in building and achieving world peace.
In the future I would love to work in an environment that would allow me to combine all the skills acquired while studying in Bradford as well as before it, and put them in use in a meaningful manner. I see this happening in an international organization or a governmental body in a multicultural and/or multilingual context. Furthermore I hope the contact and commitment to Rotary will be lasting and fruitful on all sides.
More than anything I want to use the RWPF to help me leave as small an ecological footprint as possible, and to help me mark my path with positive tracks instead.