About 60 people gathered during two-day summit in early June on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to increase awareness about human trafficking and missing indigenous people. It also gave Rotarians an opportunity to interact with students to provide them with tools to become leaders to prevent sex trafficking from happening to them or in their communities.
The gathering was the first phase of our district’s newest global grant which is a collaborative effort between three districts, and two clubs with one mission.
The global grant effort started with Makiko Nakasone, 2023-2024 District Governor D5280 in Los Angeles, CA who three years ago approached our District Governor Rich Burns and Ashok Kumar of the Rotary Club of Rapid City about a project to raise awareness and provide education about human trafficking for school age children and community members living on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Our international grant partner is Rotary District 2620 in Hammatsu-Harmony, Japan.
The global grant effort started with Makiko Nakasone, 2023-2024 District Governor D5280 in Los Angeles, CA who three years ago approached our District Governor Rich Burns and Ashok Kumar of the Rotary Club of Rapid City about a project to raise awareness and provide education about human trafficking for school age children and community members living on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Our international grant partner is Rotary District 2620 in Hammatsu-Harmony, Japan.
Rotarian Ashok Kumar is the South Dakota team leader with four members from Rotary Club of Rapid City who oversee the organizational and fiscal responsibility for this grant. Three members of the Rushmore Rotary Club provided the educational component. Mikaela Leners was the lead instructor for the three sessions at the Summit. Pauletta Red Willow of Maggie’s House is the project leader from Pine Ridge.
The event also provided an opportunity to promote and share a video about the Rotary Youth Leadership Academy (RYLA) to the students to inspire them to be leaders.
Students who attended The Allen Summit were 10 to 14 years old. A second summit is scheduled this fall for high school students. Small focus group sessions are scheduled after each summit to access the student’s understanding of this important worldwide issue.