A little bit of peace is coming to Hespeler as the Rotary Club of Cambridge plans to install a "peace pole" next to their bench near Our Lady of Fatima Catholic School to spread awareness and create a safe space.
These peace poles are used as a symbol and are inscribed with the message, "May Peace Prevail On Earth." They have been planted by supporters all over the world, in every region and continent on earth.
Katie Watson, who heads the peace committee for the club, said they are putting Cambridge on the map, literally, as each of the peace pole locations are mapped and logged on peacepoleproject.org.
"This is a great way to show the community and the world that we are serious about making a change," said Watson. "We believe to have world peace, we need to start on the community level."
The pole will be eight-feet in height and will be installed on Oct. 12 near the Rotary Club's bench at the end of Hammet Street in Hespeler.
The Peace Pole Project was founded in Japan over 50 years ago and, according to the organization's website, there are over 200,000 of these monuments of peace spread throughout the world.
The Cambridge peace pole will have over eight different languages inscribed on it to highlight all of the various languages spoken in the city.
"I found out what the most common languages are spoken in Cambridge and made sure to put them there, so no matter who happens upon it, they can read its message," added Watson.
English, French, Hindi, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Spanish, Tagalog and Punjabi will all be scrolled down the pole.
The Cambridge Rotary has a history of spreading peace and helping the community. This year they have funded many events and are donating over $5,000 to fix the roof at the Cambridge Army Cadets building.
"Our mission is to help those here and abroad," said Watson. "This year we went to Mexico and donated shoes to children who have never owned a pair. When they walk to school they get bitten by snakes, it was terrible."
The goal of the pole is to be "a meeting place of the heart, bringing together people of all faiths, backgrounds and cultures to embrace the oneness of our planetary family."
