ROTARY LUNCHEON: Afghanistan Update

Heidi and Gary Kuhn will provide a riveting presentation about what’s been happening in Afghanistan. They will tell us what it was like “on the ground” during the evacuation, what has changed there – and what hasn’t, and what ordinary Afghanis think about what’s happening to their country.

This presentation heralds the 25th anniversary of Roots of Peace which manages over 360 Afghan employees and $75 million in grants from the US Agency for International Development and the UN Development Programme. Since 2001, Roots of Peace has planted over 6 million fruit trees in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan, impacting over one million farmers and their families, and increasing Afghanistan’s agricultural exports from $250 million in 2014 to over $1.4 billion in 2020. Now, with strict new laws, Roots of Peace is coordinating a “Harvest of Hope” in Afghanistan with the new regime to avert the hunger catastrophe that looms there.

Heidi, a member of our Club since 2006 and a “Service Above Self” award recipient, has deep roots in Rotary. Her grandfather, William Hill Thomas, served as the President of our Club in 1941 after serving as President of the Rotary Club of Petaluma in 1928. Her great-great grandfather, Erskine Baker McNear, was a founding member of the Rotary Club of San Rafael in the 1920s. Heidi’s personal relationship to Rotary began in 1975, when she was a Rotary Exchange student from the Rotary Club of San Rafael to the Rotary Club of Utsunomiya, Japan.

With a vision of turning mines into vines, Heidi (who serves as CEO) and Gary (President) founded Roots of Peace in 1997, shortly after the tragic death of Princess Diana, who raised global awareness on landmines. By transforming minefields into vineyards worldwide, the Kuhn family has worked to remove millions of landmines/UXO and plant sustainable agriculture in Afghanistan and many other countries around the world. Their work has expanded to promote peace through sustainable agriculture. Their son Christian, a member of our Club since 2018, is General Manager of Noble House Spice, working directly with farmers to reimagine the spice trade. Their son, Tucker Kuhn (a member of our Club since 2007), and daughter, Kyleigh Kuhn, both live in Guatemala where they work with Roots of Peace to provide alternative agricultural solutions to impact out-migration from the Western Highlands to the U.S. border.

This is a regular membership meeting of the Rotary Club of San Francisco, open to all Rotarians, visiting Rotarians, prospective members, and guests. Please note that this meeting has been changed to be delivered via Zoom only.

Register here for Zoom attendance only

The meeting is free, but you must register to get the link.

Meeting Schedule:

12:00 Noon: Log in or dial in

12:15 PM: Meeting begins

1:30 PM: Meeting adjourns