Asunción, Paraguay - On March 25, 2009, the recently established Global Peace Foundation of Paraguay sponsored a Cultural Peace Festival, under the theme: One Family Under God. Organized by several key Ambassadors for Peace from the Congressional Office of international Affairs and the Ministry of Education, the exciting festival surpassed everyone’s expectations.
The festival was held in the historic Plaza de Armas, in front of the original national congress building. As the crowd began to swell, a military helicopter hovered overhead and four elite paratroopers slid down ropes, carrying the national flag of Paraguay, the flag of the congress, the UN flag and a Global Peace Festival peace flag.
This was followed by congratulatory remarks by a number of distinguished speakers, including the president of the congress and the wife of the vice president of the nation. Next, a video of the Global Peace Festival-2008 was shown to the audience. Then Mr. Thomas Field, president of the Global Peace Foundation of Paraguay, was invited to the stage to offer the keynote address, based on the content of Dr. Hyun Jin Moon’s speeches on “One Family under God.”
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The second part of the program included musical and dance performances by 23 different national groups. The audience was clearly entertained by the professional quality of the performances and clapped and cheered again and again to demonstrate their approval.
In addition, a special Global Peace Festival award was presented to a musical legend and icon, Quemil Yambay, who has been entertaining audiences for 50 years with his music. Four and a half hours after it started, the Cultural Peace Festival came to a successful close with a grand finale that included all of the performers on the stage.
But it didn’t end there! On Sunday, April 5, a two-hour program about the Global Peace Foundation and the Cultural Peace Festival was broadcast on prime-time national TV.
The broadcast included a segment covering Dr. Hyun Jin Moon’s visits to Paraguay in February and July 2008, with his historic speech in the National Congress Hall and his speech in the Olympia Stadium during the Global Peace Festival. It also showed the inauguration of the Global Peace Foundation in January 2009, with the participation of many distinguished guests, including a number of congressmen and senators.
One segment covered a recent event of the Women’s Federation for World Peace, which was sponsored by the Global Peace Foundation and was attended by over 350 leading women of the country. Finally, it highlighted the Cultural Peace Festival, including the Global Peace Festival video and keynote address by Thomas Field.
Special thanks go out to Mr. Ernesto Orbegoso, Secretary General of GPF-Paraguay, for his hard work and attention to detail, making sure everything was done according to plan. Also to Mr. Jorge Beltran, for his expert editing of the GPF video and preparation of all banners, flags, signs, pamphlets and flyers. And to Lorenzo Pessoa, director of finance; Indiera Thiessen (hospitality), and Aurelio Acosto (transportation).
For the keynote address and more information about the peace tour, click here.