The Words of the Balcomb Family
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The Words of the Balcomb Family |
Nairobi, Kenya - The International Young Leaders Summit of the Universal Peace Federation and the Youth Federation for World Peace took place March 19-21 in Nairobi, Kenya with the theme: “The Role of Young Leaders in Achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals and Peace Building in Africa.” Kenya Jaycees President Vincent Rapando reported that this was the first event of its kind in Kenya, drawing young leaders across the continent and the Middle East to ignite a youth peace-building movement inspired by the vision of the Global Peace Festival and its theme of One Family under God.
Over 400 youth and young leaders, including 180 participants who filled the United Nations Office in Nairobi, joined the combination summit and ensuing youth service project of planting trees and restoring the Nairobi River. In all, 25 countries were represented, including 22 African nations, Jordan, India, and the U.S. In attendance were a number of Members of Parliament, government ministers, professors, business leaders, and leaders of NGOs.
The Summit began with a welcome dinner hosted at the Nairobi Safari Club Hotel. Mrs. Ida Odinga, wife of Prime Minister Raila Odinga, joined the group to welcome guests to the country. She commented on her belief that young people must be equipped with certain values, and especially the value of peace. With regard to the Summit’s Nairobi River tree-planting project, she recounted the days when her son would bring home fish from the river, and remarked that now if a child even touches the water he or she is likely to return home with cholera or a stomach ache. She said, “We want our clear water so children can have picnics by the riverside and play there, so people can enjoy themselves. We are all children of God,one family under God... There can never be differences among us, so long as the youth carry the vision of one family under God; the future is bright.”
PLO Lumumba, famed national constitutional lawyer and political and youth leader for national unity in Kenya, lifted the spirits of all with his fiery charge for young leaders to “make Africa better.” “At each critical moment, it was young people who stood up, as the children of Soweto, South Africa did in demanding freedom,” he added, charging the youth delegates to launch a new movement to address the MDGs that will “go beyond ethnicity and tribalism.” During the summit, Dr. Lumumba become a great friend of our chapter in Kenya and has been made an honorary co-chairman of the Africa regional Youth Federation movement, a position which he enthusiastically accepted.
Martin Luther King III offered the insight that “when the power of lover overcomes the love of power, then we will have a world of peace.” He joined the Summit with a team of young leaders involved in his foundation, Realizing the Dream, Inc. Johnny Mack, Executive Vice President of the foundation, led a break-out session on Kingian non-violence with young leaders from Africa and the United States including a Realizing the Dream delegation that is launching its International Youth Core.
Sir James Mancham, the founding president of Seychelles, recalled the days when Kenya was becoming liberated from the British colonialists. In those days, he said, the rallying cry was “Arombe.” Arombe was a term that native Kenyans used to declare unity among the tribes in their spirit to fight off the British. In recent years, that spirit of unity has been challenged, and Kenyan politics reflect bitter partisanship in tribalist attitudes. Adding to his encouragement of unity he remarked to the young people, “Your future is in your hands. Take care where you step, for each footprint will show."
Additionally, 18-year-old Young Ambassador for Peace Matthew Redmond of Maryland, USA, charged his fellow young leaders to “become globally-minded citizens, to pursue, exchange, cooperate, and compete with people of the world.” He also encouraged others to join him as Young Ambassadors for Peace and become owners of the dream to create one global family under God.
The Summit concluded with a Nairobi River tree-planting project, which brought together residents from the city and its outlying areas to plant 1500 trees along the banks and clear out garbage from the murky waters. The trees were provided through a partnership with the Ministry for the Environment. Many who had attended the Global Peace Festival in Kenya in 2008 returned to participate in the project, and scores of children in their school uniforms came to sing for the participants and to plant. In all, about 400 people showed up to serve. PLO Lumumba gave opening remarks.
The Nairobi River project commenced the launch of a broader Global Service Alliance inspired through social impact volunteering projects on five continents that took place through the Global Peace Festival in 2008. Service For Peace in Africa will scale up its Global Peacemakers and conflict resolution, peace-building model in Cote d’Ivoire and other nations. The Next Generation Academy engaged 30 international volunteers in character education across six African nations as part of the launch of this “global peace corps.”
Emad Barakat Al Shehab, Programs and Activities Coordinator for Jordan King Abdullah II’s Fund for Development, commented: “I have been to many international conferences like this one,” he said, “but this is the best one. There is such a feeling of unity and of personal connection between us all. For me, that makes a big difference.” Many of the participants expressed similar sentiments, and many new friendships were born among young leaders across borders who dedicated themselves to forming a regional Young Ambassadors for Peace association.
Janet Mbugwa, news anchor for the Kenya Television Network, joined the Summit as a journalist and young leader. She began interacting with Summit leaders days before activities began to collect interviews. Ms. Mbugwa lamented that so often Kenyan journalists place focus on the negative aspects of their society -- scandals, tribal divisions, and political corruption. She was inspired by the opportunity to report on something positive happening in her country and to highlight the role that young people can play in forging a new tomorrow for her country. She has become a Young Ambassador for Peace and will work with the Youth Federation in Kenya.
Writers and photographers from the leading two papers in Nairobi, the Standard and the Daily Nation, were also in attendance. There were three print media write-ups, three television segments, and multiple online articles dedicated to the event.
From the Summit’s inception, Youth Federation leaders in Kenya were strongly committed to the idea that the summit was only a launching point for a deeper and broader movement. “Kenya is the center,” remarked Kenya Youth Federation leader Vincent Rapando. “Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and many other countries in the region look to us.”
The Young Ambassadors for Peace in Kenya realize that they have ignited a new peace and service movement that has the potential to sweep all of Africa, starting from Kenya and radiating across the continent. They are determined to continue carrying the torch, and it is up to us to make sure that the torch never goes out. The dawn of a new day in Africa is surely on the horizon.