The Words of the Balcomb Family |
Andorra La Vella, Andorra - About a hundred people from throughout Europe, Asia, and South America attended a Peace Tour gathering at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Andorra La Vella on April 4. The audience in this small country in the mountains between France and Spain included Christians, Buddhists, and Muslims. There were Catholic priests, NGO leaders, and members of an English-speaking association as well as representatives from the UPF community in nearby Barcelona, Spain.
The program started with entertainment by “Filand,” the Philippines Association, which is the fourth-largest group in Andorra. They presented their beautiful traditional dances and songs. They were followed by Japanese, Korean, and Brazilian dancers and musicians. A love song by an Albanian couple touched the hearts of the people.
A video presentation about the Universal Peace Federation was shown. Then Lluis Babi Picolo, director of UPF-Andorra, introduced Mrs. Dulce Balil from UPF-Barcelona, who read the founder’s speech translated into the local language of Catalan.
Ambassador for Peace Awards were presented to the newly elected heads of Filand. Announcements were made about the Global Peace Convention in December in Manila, Philippines, and the Peace Cup in July in Andalucía, Spain, and people in the audience were invited to attend. After taking group photos, coffee and snacks were served, and people enjoyed a happy time of sharing.
People sensed the very warm family atmosphere of the Global Peace Festivals; even though the people were diverse, everyone felt like members of one large human family.