Hiroshima Changed the Way I Think About Peace
Aloha, Rotary ʻOhana.
I've just returned from a two-week trip to Korea and Japan, and while there were many wonderful experiences, one stands above all the others: my visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.
I've been involved in Rotary's peace initiatives for years. I've helped install and dedicate Peace Poles throughout Hawaiʻi, participated in peace activities, and spoken many times about Rotary's commitment to promoting peace around the world. I thought I understood that commitment. But nothing prepared me for Hiroshima.
For nearly two hours, I walked through exhibits documenting the unimaginable suffering caused by the atomic bombing of August 6, 1945. Photographs of ordinary people. Families. Children. People whose lives ended in an instant, and others who suffered terribly in the hours and days that followed. One exhibit will remain with me forever. It told the story of a three-year-old boy and his tricycle. Looking at that child's photograph and the damaged tricycle, I found myself thinking about how innocent he was. He wasn't responsible for the war. He wasn't involved in the political decisions that led to it.
He was simply a little boy who wanted to ride his tricycle. And his life was taken.
Standing there, I finally understood, in a way I never had before, why so many people devote their lives to building peace.
It's one thing to have your picture taken beside a Peace Pole.
It's quite another to see what happens when humanity fails to protect peace.
It's one thing to have your picture taken beside a Peace Pole.
It's quite another to see what happens when humanity fails to protect peace.
Peace Is Our Kuleana
My Grandma taught me about kuleana — the responsibility and privilege of caring for something entrusted to us. She taught me that how we treat other people matters, that our actions affect those around us, and that we have an obligation to leave things better than we found them. I believe peace is part of that kuleana.
And peace is much more than the absence of war. It begins with respect, dignity, understanding, and the willingness to help others.
When Rotary supports education, prevents disease, provides clean water, creates economic opportunity, or responds to disasters, we're helping build the conditions in which peace can grow.
That is why The Rotary Foundation matters.
Everywhere There Is Need, There Is Rotary
We've seen the power of Rotary right here at home.
Following the destructive storms that affected Hawaiʻi Island and Kauaʻi this summer, Rotarians stepped forward to help families and communities recover. On Hawaiʻi Island, our members helped transport meals to residents in Pāhala and Nā‘ālehu who were without power and reliable water service. On Kauaʻi, Rotarians secured a $25,000 Rotary disaster relief grant and worked with Mālama Kauaʻi to help distribute food assistance to affected families. These weren't simply Rotary projects. They were acts of compassion, expressions of friendship, and examples of what happens when people put Service Above Self into action.
Around the world, communities face similar challenges — natural disasters, poverty, disease, displacement, and the loss of opportunity.
The circumstances differ, but the human needs are remarkably similar. People need safety. Families need hope. Children need a future. And communities need to know they haven't been forgotten.
Everywhere in the world there is need. And everywhere in the world there is Rotary.
E Ulu Kākou: Let's Grow Together
November is Rotary Foundation Month, and we have an extraordinary opportunity before us. On November 9, Rotary International President-Elect Larry Lunsford will join us in Honolulu for a special fundraising dinner. That evening will be an important milestone in our District's E Ulu Kākou initiative.
Our goal is ambitious: raise $1 million for The Rotary Foundation by June 30, 2027. To my knowledge, District 5000 has never achieved that level of annual Foundation giving. But I believe we can. More importantly, I believe we should challenge ourselves to reach beyond what we've done before. Imagine if we could raise $500,000 in contributions and commitments on November 9 alone. That would put us halfway toward our annual goal in one evening.
But this isn't simply about setting a fundraising record. It's about what those resources make possible.
More children educated.
More families supported.
More communities strengthened.
More opportunities to build lasting peace.
And more people whose lives will be changed because Rotarians cared enough to act.
E Ulu Kākou isn't just about growing our Foundation contributions. It's about growing together in generosity, service, leadership, and our commitment to humanity.
Our Opportunity to Make a Difference
As we begin Foundation Month, I'm asking every Rotarian in District 5000 to consider making a personal commitment to The Rotary Foundation. If you're already giving, mahalo. Consider whether you can do a little more. If you've never contributed, this is a wonderful time to begin.
And if you're in a position to make a major gift or legacy commitment, consider the difference your generosity could make for generations to come.
Every contribution matters. Every Rotarian matters.
When I left Hiroshima, I couldn't stop thinking about that little boy on his tricycle. I wondered what his life might have become. What dreams might he have pursued? What difference might he have made? We'll never know.
But we do have an opportunity to help protect the futures of children we will never meet and bring hope to communities we may never visit. We cannot change what happened in Hiroshima. But together, we can help change what happens tomorrow.
That's why we serve.
That's why we give.
And that's why E Ulu Kākou matters.
Let's make this a Rotary year we will remember, not simply for the money we raise, but for the lives we change.
E Ulu Kākou. Let's grow together.
Aloha.
DG Benson