Stephen Wakem visited the club on 7 June to tell us "I am really proud to be a Rotary Global Grant Scholar"; an opportunity that gave him new skills in adaptability, resourcefulness, resilience, political awareness, facilitation skills, new perspectives and a renewed sense of purpose. "We all make our contribution, together enhancing each other's experience".
John Bishop reports.
Theatre can be used to promote social change and Stephen Wakem is a practitioner and advocate thanks to Rotary.
In 2015, Stephen received a Rotary Global Grant Scholarship which he used to study the use of theatre as a tool to resolve conflict at Goldsmiths, which is part of the University of London.
Studying at Goldsmiths and living in Lewisham in southwest London, Stephen “began to understand the power of being part of something larger than myself; I learned that through Rotary,” he told the club this week.
He graduated with a Master's Degree in Applied Theatre. Peace and conflict resolution is one of the six areas of focus for the Rotary Foundation’s Global Grant Scholarship scheme. A grant from Goldsmiths enabled him to spend a month in Malawi working with students and prison inmates.
“I learned new perspectives through the opportunities Rotary gave me, and I returned to New Zealand with a renewed sense of purpose to make a contribution to a better world.
His experiences in London and Malawi were “life affirming”, taught him “tolerance and understanding”, and plunged him into “multi-cultural, multi-ethic, religiously diverse communities.”
Stephen is now an employment lawyer with the Ministry for Primary Industries. Seeking to be a fair and equitable employer “is not far from Rotary’s Four Way Test,” he said, A chance meeting with President Dawn Sanders at a Shakespeare event in the Botanical Gardens led to his being invited to address the club, admittedly a little while after he had completed his studies.