Peace education that instilled the importance of peace

in children's mind in the Balkan Peninsula

Reference : https://bit.ly/3UXzbQ4 

[HWPL] 11th Peace Walk

▎ The 11th commemoration of the declaration of world peace restoration of light of HWPL, uniting citizens of 50 countries in peace

▎ Being held in over 50 countries around the world, including Seoul, Korea, during the month of May.

As global conflict threatens global security and coexistence, peace events initiated by citizens have been held in more than 50 countries around the world, including Korea, and have become a hot topic.

Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Liberation (Chairman Man Hee Lee, hereinafter referred to as HWPL), a non-governmental organization under the UN, held the 11th commemorative ceremony of the declaration of world peace restoration of light in May in major cities across the country, including Seoul, and will sequentially be held in over 50 countries around the world.

This event was held under the theme of ‘Intercultural communication for a civic spirit of reconciliation and embrace.’ The goal is to foster and share a global culture of peace, and was held in Seoul, South Korea from 10 am on the 25th.

At the 10th commemorative ceremony last year, Chairman Man Hee Lee said, “Peace must be taught starting from home and school. Everyone must become a messenger of peace. Everyone must work together in the title of peace to create a better world and to make it a legacy for future generations. This is what we must do in the times we live in”

Accordingly, this commemorative ceremony focused on citizen participation and experience. In addition to the Veterans booth, a booth was set up to introduce projects in the Philippines, where the peace movement is actively taking place, and a booth to introduce peace projects in Ukraine, which is suffering from war. Many citizens participated in the booth where they wrote messages on guardian angel-shaped notes hoping peace in Ukraine.

In addition, a booth for making peace bracelets, a media experience booth to reflect on the importance of peace by indirectly experiencing war from the perspective of soldiers, pregnant women, and students, and a VR booth were set up to provide attendees with a variety of experiences.

In particular, at the Veterans booth, from 2 p.m., there was a time to listen to a lecture by Yoo Byeong-chu, president of Friendship Association of the Allied Powers in the Korean War and a Korean War veteran. The crowds outside the booths lined up to listen to the lecture, showing that there are many citizens who wish for peace.

President Yoo said, "I overcame the risk of death as a student soldier. One unit was even exterminated. I can still vividly hear the voices of the soldiers filled with pain. There is nothing more important than life. After overcoming a crucial moment, we must pass on this peaceful world that we are experiencing now to the future generations. For the sake of our descendants, time for peace and patriotism for our country is essential.”.

Meanwhile, this event is an annual commemorative ceremony in which the declaration of world peace restoration of light was announced at the Peace Gate at Seoul Olympic Park in 2013, when 30,000 young people from around the world called for peace together. This declaration briefly explains the role of individuals from all walks of life in achieving peace and calls for a united global effort.

“Students who learned about peace

not only comply with regulation

but also improve their academic performance”

Afghanistan, a Middle Eastern country bordering Iran, is a country with many citizens who desperately want peace socially. There are people here who passionately work for peace and education with the global private peace organization Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of light  (HWPL, Chairman Man Hee Lee). Even though it is difficult to run schools due to the Taliban's suppression of women's education, educational figures are taking the lead in educating about peace.

The Taliban, an Islamic militant group in Afghanistan, regained power in August 2021 during the withdrawal of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) troops, including U.S. troops. After that, the Taliban renamed the country from 'Islamic Republic of Afghanistan' to 'Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan' and restricted women's education, based on Islamic law.

However, despite this situation, HWPL and educators who love peace showed dedication to growing children to educate peace. Peace education has changed children’s minds peacefully, and the teachers have been greatly rewarded by the changes in their students. The results of peace education activities have been shown.

◆Local principal actively introduces peace education

Through HWPL's peace education curriculum, students learned about peace, human values, the importance of family, and etiquette. Since then, they have seen significant improvements in classroom discipline as well as academic performance.

Mohammad Nadir Azedfana, principal of Mukhtar School in Afghanistan, explained the results of introducing HWPL peace education to his school.

Principal Mohammad Nadir Azedfana heard the news that peace had been realized through HWPL in Mindanao, Philippines, which was an area of conflict between Catholics and Muslims. Afterwards, he became actively involved in implementing peace education and attending HWPL events in the hope that such peace would be achieved in Afghanistan as well. He was appointed as a honorary ambassador of HWPL on August 22, 2022.

Principal Mohammad Nadir Azedfana, who is convinced that peace can come through HWPL peace education, gave a presentation at the 52nd side event of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council on March 31 last year under the theme of 'Afghanistan people's right to education'.

Principal Mohammad Nadir Azedfana said, “(Through HWPL peace education), students became more polite, more confident, and their grades were improved. We plan to continue and extend peace education classes.”

◆“Thank you for providing the opportunity for peace activities.”

On September 20, 2022, an offline event commemorating the Peace Summit was held at Mukhtar School. The Peace Summit was an event held by HWPL in Seoul, Korea in September 2014. It was a large-scale international conference attended by over 4,000 people of former and current presidents, Supreme Court justices, political and religious leaders, youth and women leaders, and over 200,000 general members from around the world.

At this event, current and former presidents, Supreme Court justices, and political leaders promised to make an international law for cessation of war, world peace and introduce it to the United Nations. Religious people pledged to unite religions and achieve peace with the most reliable scriptures. HWPL holds a commemorative ceremony every year, except the corona period.

HWPL holds a commemorative ceremony every year to ensure that the promises made at the first meeting do not remain mere formalities, and to specify what activities have been carried out so far and what will be done in the future to achieve peace through section meetings in each field, such as politics, religion, youth, women, and the media. Efforts are being made to achieve actual peace.

Mursal Sattari, a teacher who attended the commemorative ceremony of Peace Summit held at Mukhta School, said, “I am grateful to be able to provide students the opportunity, engaging in peace activities. I feel proud when I see students participating eagerly.” .

◆HWPL, MOU with local educational institutions

Peace education activities in Afghanistan were not limited to Mukhtar School. Since 2020, education to train peace teachers who will teach peace to children has been conducted steadily at Mukhtar School, New Alfalah High School 2, Mediothek Afghanistan, Asr-e-Fadidaha High School, and Faryab University. A total of 67 people participated in this program.

Teachers from Firoza Muradi American Lyceum International School also participated in the peace teacher training.

After watching a video to explain the textbook of HWPL Peace Education Lesson 12, ‘The Completion of the Peace that Humanity Longs for’, he said, “It was good to be able to learn about the finer details of the textbook. Students ask a lot about the topic during class. I was able to learn clearly enough to be able to answer.”.

Regarding peace education, he said, “It was also good to be able to interact with educators from all over Afghanistan.”

Avi, a student at Mukhtar School who took the class on lesson 12 peace education, said, “I learned that greed brings worry to people’s hearts. I also learned that greed brings conflict in society and becomes the source of sin.”.

HWPL signed peace education MOUs with a total of three educational institutions, including Mukhtar School, New Alfalah second Private High School, and Amazon English Academy, and is gradually expanding the conditions for teaching peace to students.

Since October 2021, a total of 47 peace education activities have been conducted at four schools, including New Alfalah High School 2, Mukhtar School, Amazon English Academy, and Asr-e-Fadidaha High School.

On August 13 last year, eco-plogging (jogging and picking up trash) was held at an offline pre-event in Afghanistan commemorating the 9th anniversary of the Peace Summit. Students who received HWPL peace education participated in this event and carried out activities to create a peaceful world by picking up trash and improving the environment.

Reference : https://bit.ly/4c3UK7C 

[Peace education-Atlanta USA] Students, Good influence to community after peace education

Due to the historical background of the United States, which is made up of various races, there is a natural awareness that people must be armed to protect themselves. As a result, racial discrimination and gun issues are emerging as serious problems in schools and society. This is the reason why HWPL peace education is in the spotlight. 

Atlanta of Georgia state is a city that symbolizes peace as the main stage of Martin Luther King's nonviolent peace movement.

Ruth Perez, a counselor who worked at Sunrise Middle School in Atlanta, was interested in nurturing future generations of peace messengers through peace education, and wanted to combine peace education with the counseling curriculum. Thanks to his active participation, peace education was able to be implemented for the first time in Atlanta at Sunrise School in 2022. 

As of February this year, the HWPL Peace Education Department signed MOUs with three education organizations in Atlanta and is spreading the culture of peace as peace education. The organizations are DaVinci International Elementary School, Atlanta Youth Choir, and Alequest Collaboration for Education. There are a total of 7 peace teachers active in Atlanta. 

◆Peace Education‧Peace Camp in Atlanta

Peace education of HWPL began to receive attention in Atlanta when peace education was broadcast on Radio on June 20, 2021. At that time, the radio broadcast recorded peace education lessons 1 to 12 in the form of interviews and comic talks, and broadcast them one after another. About 200 listeners consistently listened to each episode.

Afterwards, on October 24, 2022, peace education was held at Sunrise Middle School with 30 middle school students in attendance. On this day, peace education was conducted under the theme of textbook lesson 2, the reason why all things in heaven and earth are harmonious, and the class was held for two days. Students wrote diagrams to explore their values and formed teams to create collages.

On October 8 last year, peace education began for 100 Black Men of Dekalb County with about 100 middle and high school students in attendance. This education is conducted every other Saturday and students of middle school and high school are divided into two groups. Members of the branch are conducting classes by linking their stories with the value of peace. Most of the students who attended this peace education are devising activities that can actually spread peace to civil society through volunteer work after the education.

A peace camp was also held. On August 14, 2022, a peace camp was held with the attendance of 10 students aged 18 to 22 from the Atlanta Youth Choir. The students received an education on sacrifice and forgiveness for three days, and based on what they learned, they wrote and composed a song about peace. Afterwards, they produced a music video and uploaded it on YouTube. Also they performed in volunteer work and outdoor activities.

A peace camp was held once last year as well. On July 28th last year, eight students aged 13 to 19 from the Alequest Collaboration for Education attended. They were educated about the influence, value and importance of heritage. On this day, students participated in the activity of engraving messages of peace on iron plates that they would like to pass on to future generations. Andrea Miller, head of the organization, said, “This peace camp introduced students to the concept of peace, sparked their interest, and provided an inspirational time to help realize the value of peace.”

◆Students who realize peace‧forgiveness and avoid hatred

Both teachers who conducted peace education and students expressed satisfaction. Ruth Perez, a teacher at Sunrise Middle School, said, “If we provide peace education like this, the students will become true messengers of peace. The seeds of peace may not be planted in all students, but the seeds of peace will be deeply planted in some students and they will grow into a tree of peace.”.

Scott Hughes, who participated in peace education of 100 Black Men of Dekalb County as a mentor, said, “I am grateful that the students are preparing classes together and creating useful classes for peace so that they make a useful class. If education continues like this, the power will increase. It is worthwhile to try this.”.

The students' response was also good. A student who participated in the peace education program of 100 Black Men of Dekalb County said after receiving education on ‘forgiveness’, “Forgiveness is for ourselves, not for others. When people ask about the reason, I’d say because we try to forgive.” 

Another student said, “If you hit or bully someone, other people can understand that this can happen to them too. The best way is to apologize no matter who hit you first.”

A student who attended the Atlanta Youth Choir Peace Camp said, “When I thought before attending the peace camp, I thought forgiveness was something that people who were too weak accept a situation. (After receiving education), forgiveness is now possible.” I learned that it was the key to building a relationship with myself. Hate corrupts the soul into darkness and misery.”.

Another student who participated in this camp said, “It made me think about whether I had biased thoughts. This is to truly deal with my emotions and trauma. First, I have to think about the situation, think about the emotions involved, have the mindset of wanting to move forward, and try to forgive myself for hurting my feelings.”.

One student who participated in the Alequest Collaborative Peace Camp for Education said, “It was really inspiring to see and hear young people who are interested in the concept of peace and who want to share the concept of peace, discussing their thoughts, ideas, and perspectives.” Another student said “Considering that heritage is different from person to person, culture to culture, and different parts of the world, heritage is made up of many things such as physical objects, things, statues, monuments, etc., but it also has the value of what we leave behind. We have forgotten this.”.

Reference : https://reurl.cc/N4DN7m