The Words of the Chuprakov Family
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The Words of the Chuprakov Family |
Almaty, Kazakhstan -- A very interactive Marriage and Family program took place at the Peace Embassy in Almaty on November 12. Among the 33 participants were people of three races, Muslims and Christians, different nationalities (including married couples from the African Union of Kazakhstan), representatives from the Veterans' Council, local married couples, and unmarried youth. This mixture of participants made the interactive part of the event very exiting, lively, and harmonious.
The program included three sessions, each followed by discussion.
The First Session was an Introduction to UPF, which gave participants an overview of its founders' peace vision and activity through the "UPF in Review" video and a PowerPoint report on the International Day of Peace 2011 projects worldwide.
The Second Session deeply touched the hearts of participants because the topic of the presentation and discussion was on the "Benefits of Marriage," given by Sergey Chuprakov, UPF representative. Everybody could easily relate to that theme because we all come from families and we have or will have our own families one day. The presentation conveyed the clear message that marriage can promote the personal growth and well being of individuals, the couple, and their children; it also provides for health, financial stability, security, and happiness in general.
The Third Session, "Relationships Within a Couple," given by Olga Chuprakova, UPF representative, was especially interesting for married couples who are going through different stages and experiences in family life and may sometimes lack direction about how to build trust, understanding, emotional security, and friendship with each other and preserve their marriage from divorce. Unmarried youth received new information and expressed a desire to continue the series of programs. There was opportunity in this session to practice both poor listening and active listening in pairs, which gave insights to both sides about how to positively relate to each other and avoid unnecessary destructive, negative consequences. Everybody came to the conclusion that we need to actively stand for family values and promote marriage in our society.
The program concluded by sharing a meal with opportunities to give and receive feedback.