The Words of the Hartley Family
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The Words of the Hartley Family |
The words from the UN Secretary General for the UN International Day of Peace are:
Peace Day should be devoted to commemorating and strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples… This day will serve as a reminder to all peoples that our organization, with all its limitations, is a living instrument in the service of peace and should serve all of us here within the organization as a constantly pealing bell reminding us that our permanent commitment, above all interests or differences of any kind, is to peace."
The Universal Peace Federation in Bromley UK sought to commemorate the ideals of peace among all nations and peoples by bringing together people to participate in a peace event. Four speakers and an audience of about 30 gathered at St. Mary's Church Hall, 62 College Rd. Bromley for the event.
The speakers were:
Dr. Nikila Pandya from North Kent on inner individual peace leading to family peace, peace in society, peace in the country, world peace
Ms. Prudentienne Seward, a Rwandan, speaking on the Rwanda conflict.
Mr. Adam Matan, from Somalia, sharing the vision of the Anti-Tribalism Movement
Mr. Jack Corley sharing the UPF vision: From a Culture of Conflict to a Culture of Peace
The MC, Mr. Edward Hartley, began the proceedings, read out the words of the UN Secretary General for the UN International Day of Peace and very soon afterwards invited Dr. Pandya to speak.
She gave a delightful speech based on many stories which emphasized the need for people to find inner individual peace leading to family peace before world peace can be fully contemplated. Everyone will carry away with the image of the man carrying around his ever heavier rotten sack of potatoes representing all of the wrongs ever done to him.
Ms. Prudentienne Seward spoke about the real story behind conflicts occurring in her home country of Rwanda as they developed over the years and how she lost her mother, her sister and later, in an unrelated incident, her British husband. One could understand the craziness of hate and violence of one people against another, in this case Hutus and Tutsis, where they should be seeking resolution and co-existence. Man now has the tools to achieve these if people will just use them.
Mr. Adam Matan, a Somalian, just 23 years old, share the vision of the Anti-Tribalism Movement, 53,000 people around the world so far, who are seeking to get rid of the (equally) crazy racism and bigotry shown by people who condemn and restrict the movement of others purely based upon their tribal origins.
As Adam said "We all come from Adam and Eve so why this prejudice?".
The feeling was that their aims are great, but as they say themselves, they need a little help with ideological tools (spiritual and practical teachings) to achieve these aims.
UPF surely has a number of things it can offer, as was demonstrated by Jack Corley, now the Chair of UPF UK, as he shared the UPF vision: From a Culture of Conflict to a Culture of Peace.
This showed how both the wrong-doer and the wronged can contribute to conflict resolution and how having one shared set of values clears the way to finding agreement.
Mr. Corley's talk was preceded by showing of a short video about highlights from the work of UPF worldwide in 2010 as an introduction for those who know little yet about the Universal Peace Federation.
All of these presentations were very well received by the audience.
The evening was finally brought to a close by the MC but not before offering an Ambassador for Peace award to Ms. Prudentienne Seward for the good resolution work she continues to do.
Thanks to all of those who spoke, provided the drinks, took the photographs, and so on. These are all such important ingredients.
The next UPF Bromley event is likely to be related to a UN Day in November.
Edward Hartley
Chairman of UPF Bromley