How it all started 2018/2019

At the Rotary District Conference for 2355 in Uppsala - Sweden in the fall of 2024, Lars-Erik Rydbrant gave this presentation about how it all started. The headline was "Peace all the way to the Moon". Link to his ppt presentation.

Our project started in 2018/19 when Rotarian Dave van de Velde learned of an attempted suicide by a high school student.  Dave, a very successful entrepreneur (founder of eight different companies) felt something had to be done about bullying and took a very non-traditional, business-like approach, focused on taking market share away from the bullies.

The success he achieved was dramatic by all measures. The principal of Leesburg High School confirmed that the culture of the school had dramatically changed from one of hostility and antagonism to caring and support.  School attendance jumped from 88 to 92% and fights, a weekly occurrence, dropped to zero and remained at that level for the remaining three months of the school year.  But what was even more significant, the historic graduation rate of only 67%, increased to 85% and has remained at that level since along with the dramatic change in the culture of the school. 

Why do we go to the moon?

Jessica Meir, who is a Swedish-American astronaut who spent 205 days on the space station ISS. She describes the feeling of being up in space like this:

From space, not all the boundaries that we humans set are visible. Instead, you can see how everything is connected, land and sea. And you realize that we are a species, the human species and that there is only one planet for us. 

Join us in creating a peaceful universe. Together, we can make a positive change in every corner of the universe.