May Peace Prevail On Earth
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A Peace Pals Art Exhibition was hosted in the lobby of the United Nations Headquarters in New York between October 17th thought the 29th. The exhibition was made possible through the kind sponsorship of the Japan Mission highlighting the theme, Love to Hiroshima Love to Nagasaki. The Exhibition auspiciously coincided with the meetings of the first committee on disarmament held at the UN and the 2016 Week of Spirituality.
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September 22nd – 25th 2016
Florianopólis, Brazil
Jules Lamore staff of The World Peace Prayer Society had the privilege of participating in the 10th World Peace Forum which was being held this year in Florianopólis, Brazil.
The event hosted close to 2000 peacemakers who participated in numerous events and workshops. The World Peace Prayer society brought three of their projects to The World Peace Forum; The Peace Pole Project, Peace Pals International and World Peace Youth.
On Thursday, September 22nd the streets of Florianopólis were filled with the March of The Babies which included a beautiful flag ceremony which took us all the offices of the Mayor of Florianopólis.
When we arrived to the Mayors office a beautiful Peace Pole was presented to Mayor César Souza, Junior on behalf of the city of Florianopólis. A beautiful ceremony took place in the city offices where a hundred people joined in to celebrate and welcome the Peace Pole to the city. The room was filled with young people holding the flags from every nation. At the end of the ceremony everyone joined in by saying “Que a paz prevaleça no mundo” – “May Peace Prevail On Earth” in Portuguese.
The Peace Pole which has 8 languages (English, Japanese, Portuguese, French, Arabic, German, Italian and Spanish) will find a permanent home in the Old House and Jail which was built between 1771 and 1780. The plans are to turn the old jail into a museum of Peace.
Friday morning World Peace Youth held its 3rd live webinar from the World Peace Forum and invited youth from around the world to take part. The moderators (as seen in the photo) interviewed speakers on various topics.
The live webinar was broadcast live in an auditorium where youth in Brazil could also participate. Please click here to watch the live webinar on YouTube.
On Sunday during the closing ceremonies, Peace Pals International announced the winners of the The Peace Pals International Arts Exhibition and Awards during a live broadcast. The stage was filled with 12 young people dressed in their native costumes who were there to announce each of the 12 winners. We thanked the 12 young people by presenting them each with a mini peace pole. You can watch the live event on YouTube and visit Peace Pals International to see the winners and finalists. At the end of the awards presentation you could hear the voices of a thousand saying three times “Que a paz prevaleça no mundo” – “May Peace Prevail On Earth” in Portuguese.
There were so many wonderful organizations and projects participating at The World Peace Forum in Brazil this year. Elephants for Peace. The elephant was chosen as a symbol because it marries power with peace. Here people were invited to paint their vision of the Elephant. The finished artwork was spectacular.
We had the joy of being able to listen to the orchestra of Roney Marczak. Roney is an incredible musician who educates marginalized youth in Brazil through music. Learn more about Roney Marczak and his music.
We wish we could share all of the spectacular people and their projects with you. If you visit The World Peace Forum on their Facebook Page, you will see more.
May Peace Prevail On Earth – “Que a paz prevaleça no mundo”
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In 2016, we held our 2nd annual Peace Pals International Art Exhibition in the Citizen’s Gallery of Funabashi City in Chiba, Japan. It was held from August 10th to August 14th.
The Peace Pals International Art Exhibition was part of our peace exhibition, entitled, “Vibration of Love and Peace” which also included paintings, calligraphy, photographs, origami art and hand crafts.
The visitors were impressed by the vibrant colors in each piece of artwork and the artistic ability of each child to express their “pure intention for peace.”
The visitors happily helped themselves to the Peace Pals postcards and Origami bookmarks as their souvenirs.
It was very pleasing for us to see some visitors return again along with their friends for the 2nd annual Peace Pals International Art Exhibition.
Respectfully submitted by: Yoko Okita
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On Sunday February 21st, 2016 the “Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson” came together at the Galleria Mall Center Court in Poughkeepsie, NY, USA to celebrate the 90th anniversary of “World Thinking Day” Girl Scouts
This year World Thinking Day celebrates the Connections with oneself, ones friends and ones world. The Scout Troops made exhibits on a country they chose to learn about for this year’s celebration.
In addition to all the exhibits there was the Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson Competitive Singing Group: The Dotted Half Notes, Irish Step Dancing by Siobann Moore School of Dance and Sahana Natesan danced a traditional Indian dance in full traditional wear.
Amelia Roger, the organizer of the event said “The highlight of the afternoon was the World Peace Flag Ceremony presented by Jim Dugan of the World Peace Prayer Society in Wassaic. He brought a full set of flags, one for each Member Country of the United Nations. Each girl had the opportunity to honor the flag of the country they carried as well as joining the whole group in asking that May Peace Prevail in that country then May Peace Prevail on Earth.”
The relationship between Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson and the World Peace Prayer Society has been ongoing for many years now and has been truly beneficial for both organizations.
May Peace Prevail On Earth!
Submitted by:
Jim Dugan & Amelia Roger
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The Committee of Religious NGOs at the UN, the Church Center for the United Nations, and an impressive list of coalitions and organizations including the World Peace Prayer Society co-sponsored a day-long vigil for the International Day of Peace at the Tillman Chapel in the Church Center across the street from the United Nations on 21 September.
The event was entitled, “The Quest for a Just and Sustainable Peace,” with a keynote address on “A Tale of Two 70s: The 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the United Nations and the Hiroshima/Nagasaki Atomic Bombing.” The winning artwork of the 2015 Peace Pals Art Exhibition with the theme “Love to Hiroshima–Love to Nagasaki” was on display throughout the day.
The Chaplain for the Church Center, which is run by the United Methodist Women, is Rev. Dionne Boissiere. She now has her own desktop Peace Pole, which she placed in a special area where those in attendance could write their prayers on a ribbon to post on a board. The Chapel was filled with prayers for peace all day long. Rev. Boissiere also put out a call to churches to ring their bells at 12 noon and for everyone to Tweet, #MayPeacePrevailOnEarth!
The World Peace Prayer Society held a World Peace Prayer Ceremony with the flags of all nations at 3:00, following the hourly Minute of Silence, accompanied by the Society’s Peace Bell made of recycled weapons of war. The flags has been raised that morning by students at the bell ringing ceremony by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Now each one was presented in turn as everyone sent a prayer for peace to prevail in each country of the world in turn, accompanied by the transcendent music of the World Peace Violin.
Many special friends of the World Peace Prayer Society took part in the prayers, including Andrew Benson Greene of Sierra Leone, who has long worked with Bockarie Enssah, our Peace Representative there. He is an accomplished poet, who has written a book of poetry called “The Peace Pole.”
This heartfelt call to peace from the United Nations was surely felt around the world. May Peace Prevail on Earth.
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September-2015
Making peace cranes and learning how to ‘sign’ the peace message, “May Peace Prevail On Earth” are two calming and inspiring activities to do with young children.
Signing is a growing part of pre-K and early education and this is a way to incorporate both the Peace Pals International program and the Peace Pole Project into our curriculum.
Of course it helps to anchor what we do with the four Peace Poles in the neighborhood: in front of our house and in front of St. Ann School and Black Rock School and Black Rock Library where so many of our neighborhood children go after school.
This year I began working with the students at the end of their summer Lighthouse program so they would be ready when school started, to prepare for the International Day of Peace on September 21st.
Gail Ostrow
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