[HWPL] Burundi, suffering from civil war,

finds hope through peace education...

"Let's raise messengers of peace"

▎ 4 schools, HWPL MOU, 6 peace teachers, conducting 66 cumulative classes

Peace education is one of HWPL's major projects, and it is an educational project based on the recognition that it is important to awaken the value of peace in order to pass peace on as a legacy to future generations. HWPL develops peace education courses, trains teachers, and opens peace classes to foster peaceful citizens. Peace education being implemented all over the world shows the realization of Article 10, 'Spreading Peace Culture', out of the 10 articles of the Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War (DPCW).

In particular, educational institutions in countries and regions suffering from long-term wars and civil wars are more actively supporting and applauding HWPL's peace education that teaches practical peace than anyone else. HWPL peace education is also actively being carried out in Burundi, a country in eastern Africa. Above all, HWPL's peace education is urgently needed in Burundi, where civil wars and conflicts are frequent.

High-ranking Burundian officials have also visited Korea to attend HWPL events. Domitien Ndayizeye, former President of Burundi attended the 4th anniversary of 918 Peace Summit hosted by HWPL on September 19, 2018. He said, “We must work together to find a way to stop war. I ask all countries in the UN to support HWPL.”

◆ Local peace educators have high trust in HWPL

After the 5th anniversary of the Peace Summit in Burundi on September 7, 2019, four schools in Burundi (Angels’ School, Rehoboth Middle School, Cashi Public Middle School, and Le Dauphin School) signed an MOU with HWPL. Since then, these schools have conducted pilot education once a week based on peace education textbooks, and six peace teachers have been appointed. In the meantime, cumulative HWPL peace education has been conducted 66 times, including 15 times at Angels’ School, 12 times at Cashi Public Middle School, 26 times at Le Dauphin School and 13 times at Rehoboth Middle School.

In Burundi, there is a person who actively participates in peace education by cooperating with HWPL. That person is Hatungimana Lievain, a teacher at Cashi Public Middle School. Teacher Lievain played a decisive role in the signing of MOUs between Cashi Public Middle School and Rehoboth Middle School with HWPL in 2020.

He happened to participate in HWPL peace education by chance. In 2019, he was talking to a local pastor, Alois, and on his way home from church, he met a man on the street. The man said he had missed the bus, and a group of Lievain teachers, who happened to be going the same way, decided to take him home. On the way home, the man told that he was from the Democratic Republic of Congo and that was why he had fled to Burundi. He talked about the divided Korean Peninsula and introduced HWPL and Chairman Man Hee Lee.

After hearing this, Teacher Lievain became interested in HWPL and asked Alois for contact information, and began communicating with the person in charge of peace education at HWPL. Since then, Teacher Lievain has been actively participating in HWPL’s peace education, and has played a role in teaching peace not only in schools but also in the local community.

Teacher Lievain said, “Everyone is weak and imperfect. HWPL peace education teaches us how to understand others and forgive each other. I will work with HWPL with the goal of changing this world into a world of peace that can be passed down to future generations.”

Teacher Lievain also had great confidence in HWPL. He most sympathized with the way HWPL officials humbly communicated with him and other peace educators, and he expected that HWPL would eventually work in every country around the world.

Teacher Lievain defined the word ‘peace’ as 'harmonious relationships with others, and the cessation of conflicts between races.' He suggested that in order to achieve sustainable peace through HWPL, everyone must fundamentally learn to let go of greed and forgive each other. He also emphasized that all citizens of the world must actively participate in peace.

◆ Students, growing rapidly as messengers of peace

Burundi is a country located east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa. It came under Belgian rule during World War I and became a League of Nations trust territory under Belgian rule in 1923 as Rwanda-Urundi. After that, it became a United Nations trust territory from 1946 and in 1962, it separated from Rwanda and became independent as Burundi.

Burundi, with a population of about 13.23 million, is mostly made up of a half-throwing Hutu, with the Tutsi and the Pygmy Twas. The Tutsi dominate the majority Hutu, causing a country with severe ethnic conflict. In Burundi, where conflicts and confrontations are frequent, 'HWPL Peace Education' is having a great impact on nurturing students who will lead the future as messengers of peace.

On January 6th of this year, at the Le Dauphin School, in the Peace Textbook 1 <The Original Form of All Things in Heaven and Earth> Subtopic 3 ‘Cooperation and Coexistence’ class, student Belaka said, “I realized that we can create a better world through cooperation.” Teacher Frederick, who taught the class, emphasized, “It was a time for the students to realize the value of creating synergy through cooperation and the value of ‘togetherness’ through various activities and examples.”

After the 3rd Peace Education Lesson <The Reason Why World Peace Was Broken> class held on February 3rd last year, students shared the realization that love is necessary to create a peaceful world.

Student Samuela said, “I came to believe that love encompasses everything and ultimately plays a decisive role in creating a peaceful world.” Student Lavita also shared her thoughts about the class, saying, “From the story of the two brothers, I realized that the lack of love and respect between each other is what destroys peace.”

Teacher Frederick focused on teaching students that peace cannot be achieved without love by telling anecdotes. He said, “I taught them that peace cannot be achieved without love by focusing on anecdotes in the textbook. The students understood the situation well and actively participated in class.”

After the Peace Education Lesson 2 class <The Reason Why All Things in Heaven and Earth Are in Harmony> held on February 25th last year, student Samuela said, “Through peace education, I realized that everyone’s life is valuable and cannot be replaced by anything.” Regarding this, teacher Frederick explained, “The stories in the textbook helped students understand the key of the class.”

In the 3rd Peace Education class, <The Reason Why World Peace Was Broken>, held on May 27th last year, students realized that selfishness and greed lead to war.

A student Dan shared his insight after class, saying, “I realized that selfishness is the main cause of war, and I must remember what I learned today so that there will be no more wars.”

The teacher said, “Selfishness and greed cause endless conflict and war. If these aspects are not addressed in our society, peace will not be achieved. This was an educational lesson that the students absolutely needed.”

Reference : https://bit.ly/3IdNwAs

[Peace Story of Korean Man Hee Lee│Peace Education - Sri Lanka]

“What we need to do now is to plant peace in the world and

implement peace education.”

▎ Desperate for peace after 26 years of civil war… Bombings broke out in 2019 

▎ 8 teachers from 4 schools participated in peace education activities, schools also built a ‘peace monument’

Chairman Man Hee Lee, founder of HWPL and a Korean War veteran, said, “Let’s create a world of peace without war and pass it on to future generations as a legacy” and traveled around the world 31 times to provide peace education so that all students around the world could develop the power to create and maintain peace. Above all, peace education of HWPL does not just call for peace in words. This education is built on peace activities of HWPL realized by Chairman Lee. A representative example is the peaceful resolution of the 50-year religious armed conflict on Mindanao Island in the Philippines, which was achieved through mediation by Chairman Lee. The 'step for peace' shown by a private organization, not an international organization nor a government agency, is attracting attention because it presents a clear answer to prevent innocent sacrifices due to war.

In particular, countries that have suffered from civil war are keenly aware of the importance of HWPL's peace education. Sri Lanka is a country that experienced a civil war for 26 years from July 23, 1983 to May 18, 2009. It was a civil war between Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a Tamil rebel group. The 26-year civil war came to an end when Sri Lankan government forces suppressed areas controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The civil war has ended, but the wounds are still not healed, and the desire for peace is that much earnest. This story is about peace education in Sri Lanka.

◆“Peace education must be practiced not only by students but also by teachers.”

On September 17, 2018, HWPL signed an MOA after holding a forum of global peace education development at the Ramada Hotel in Incheon with education ministers and vice ministers from four countries who visited Korea to attend the 4th commemorative ceremony of Peace Summit. At that time, the four countries that signed the MOA were Sri Lanka, Iraq, Guatemala, and Cambodia.

However, peace education did not take place in Sri Lanka immediately afterward. This is because exchanges were temporarily suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the world in 2019. Then, Neil Subasinghe, the principal of the International Republican School in Sri Lanka, was connected with HWPL and attended an online seminar during the COVID-19 period, thereby peace education was introduced in earnest. Principal Subasinghe attended the peace teacher training held in October 2022 and led the teachers through the training as well. Currently, he is actively participating in peace education projects by applying peace education to the school's official curriculum and building a peace monument on campus.

In particular, on May 25 last year, the '10th Commemorative Ceremony of Declaration of Peace, Peace Monument Unveiling and MOU Signing Ceremony' were held at the International Republican School located in Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka. On this day, 1,100 students signed up as HWPL members, and there was a peace education MOU signing ceremony for two schools belonging to the International Republican School. Principal Subasinghe introduced peace education to the mayor of Nuwara Eliya, who attended the event, and the mayor connected a person in charge of peace education to the school.

In Sri Lanka, peace education is being implemented in 4 schools (International Republican School, Bismi Koran School, Mount Kalbarri School, Kurugala and St. Thomas School), and 8 peace teachers are active. Except for Kurugala and St. Thomas School, the remaining three schools signed a peace education MOU with HWPL.

Principal Subasinghe, who attended the peace teacher training in March 2022, said, “Thank you for teaching us peace education training. We learned what peace is, and also learned how to live in harmony with others. This is an attitude that not only students but also teachers should have. Peace can be learned not only from people, but also from nature, such as birds. As I always said, let’s work together for the children. We must do something for this planet because we are one.”

A teacher from Ifam Republican International School also said “We plan to start classes in April 2022. Through the class, I want my students to understand the original state of all things in the universe. I will have my students draw the most impressive part of the class for homework.”

He also expressed that he was very impressed with the peace education training.

Teacher Ifam said, “This peace education training is truly special. What we can do for the world now is to instill peace. The peace education training gave us the motivation and strength to do good things for the world. All 45 teachers from our school will come together to implement peace education first in our school, then in the community, and then around the world. So the whole world can live in harmony.”.

◆“Providing many excellent educations that enable children to become peaceful citizens.”

Teachers at Mount Kalbarri School are just as passionate about peace education as the teachers at the International Republican School. These schools each have four peace teachers officially appointed by HWPL.

Sheila Anna Schmidt, a teacher at Mount Calvary School who participated in the peace teacher training in February 2022, said, “It is an excellent education that can provide a lot of education that will help children become peaceful citizens, and it is a curriculum that can be practically implemented in our schools. It is the teacher’s responsibility to teach today’s children, who will one day become our leaders, how to love, care for, and respect each other, as learned through the peace teacher training. Teachers have the responsibility to make children good people in our society.”.

In a class titled ‘The Cause of the Breaking of Peace in the Human World’ held in December 2022, Teacher Schmidt said, “Peace education classes are very important not only for students but also for adults. I’m really happy to have the opportunity to teach these lessons to students.”.

Kia Kitsumi, a student who attended the class that day, said, “Order is important. Where there is order, it is clean, neat, and there is peace. On the other hand, greed destroys love and can make our lives difficult. You can lose your family, friends, and home because of greed.”.

◆ Religious conflict exists despite the end of the Sri Lankan civil war

Meanwhile, on May 26, 2019, HWPL and IPYG held the '6th commemorative ceremony of Declaration of World Peace and Peace Walk' in Sri Lanka. In particular, about a month had passed since the 'Easter bombings' occurred simultaneously in eight locations in Sri Lanka on April 21, 2019, killing 290 citizens and foreigners. Although the civil war that lasted 26 years has ended, it showed that the seeds of conflict in Sri Lanka still exist.

Even though a national emergency was declared at that time, 22 citizens voluntarily attended the event. Attendees at the event publicized the need for DPCW to achieve sustainable peace at home and abroad, and shared the results of the 'Peace Letter' campaign activities calling for DPCW conducted from all over the world and at home.

This is to encourage responses to letters sent to presidents of each country. This event was held at the Ganga Amaya Temple, a landmark in Sri Lanka, to commemorate the victims of the bombing and to pray for peace by touring the entire temple to prevent such heartbreaking incidents from happening again.