Wednesday, January 17, 2018 - 6:15 - 8 pm Dinner ($20) & Program
All welcome. Oxford Gardens 423 Devonshire Ave, Woodstock
Please RSVP for meal count to:
John Narcisian narcisian@yahoo.ca (519) 532-0443
Shahid was born in Sukkur, Pakistan. He attended St. Mary High School, a local convent school, and completed his Bachelor of Science in Physics and Mathematics in 1972. His passion for international issues inspired him to found the first UNESCO Clubs in Pakistan, and he developed a federation of 28 Clubs with the help of likeminded people from local colleges and universities.
Shahid was elected the first President of the National Federation of UNESCO Clubs of Pakistan. He received his Master of Arts in Political Science, with a concentration in International Relations and Islamic History in 1983. Eventually, Shahid left Pakistan to Kuwait and joined an international management real estate company. In 1986 he moved to the United Kingdom for business opportunities. Shahid finally moved to the United States in 1987, and settled in New York where he invested in real estate in various parts of New York City.
With his experience conducting business in three different continents, Shahid provided a unique perspective that enabled him to conduct business with diverse populations. He has been invited at various occasions to the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College to share the cultural and religious aspects of business in the Middle East and Asian subcontinent.
Shahid was the only Rotarian asked to speak for the NYC Rotary Club at the UN Plaza, where only UN Ambassadors were invited to speak. He spoke at Lahore’s Rotary Club in Pakistan about world peace and the role of Rotarians in promoting it. Shahid has spearheaded numerous fundraisers for polio, highlighting his spirit for supporting Rotary’s international efforts.
Most recently, Shahid was invited to speak at a regional peace conference in Chennai, India. During his travels to countries all over the world, including Istanbul, Haifa, and Cairo, he has visited numerous Rotary Clubs and befriended many Rotarians.
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Paradigm to achieve Universal Peace.
We are not so familiar with the fundamental principle of Rotary: the pursuit for Peace. As put forth from early on by Paul Harris:
“THE ROAD TO WAR IS WELL PAVED, THE ROAD TO PEACE IS A WILDERNESS.”
Many Rotarians are not aware that, at the end of World War II, Rotary Clubs from 21 nations organized a conference in London to develop a vision for advancing Education, Science and Culture. This meeting became the precursor of UNESCO.
In April 1945, Rotary was the vanguard of one of the most important assemblies of the 20th Century, the finalizing of the charter of the United Nations in San Francisco.
Rotary was invited to attend as an observer organization. Rotary provided 11 official observers to the US delegation alone – only one other organization had more than three.
The fact that 1.75 trillion dollars are spent on weapons by 196 nations of the world in the name of defense is major issue of today’s society. The sheer amount of resources put towards funding war, if redirected, could resolve problems involving global Education; poverty and lack of health care or clear water in just a few years.
We need to make humanity become aware of the benefit of peace than to advance the path toward mutual annihilation of all forms of life on our planet.
As described by Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Kolbert in her book, The Sixth Extinction: the unnatural History, nuclear war or climate change must not be the reason for unnatural extinction of homo sapiens.
PEACE IS NOT AN IDEA THAT WE COULD TRY OR LEAVE IT, NO IT IS THE ROUTE TO HUMAN SURVIVAL AND A PROCESS TO EVADE OBLITERATION OF OUR RACE. PEACE IS PATH TO HUMAN FREEDOM AND PROSPERITY. -Shahid Latif-