Buenos Aires, Argentina—On February 28, 2017, UPF-Argentina celebrated the birthdays of the UPF founders with a special program featuring musical performances. The event was held at the Alhambra Room in the Club Español.
Mr. Carlos Varga, director of the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (FFWPU) in Argentina, gave the keynote address. He talked about the significance of this celebration and the life work of Dr. Hak Ja Han, 74, and her husband Dr. Sun Myung Moon, who would be 97 years old. “This day is not only to remember their birth, but also their lives, their values, their work,” he said. “[They] have bestowed their love to humanity,” he said, before showing a video of the main celebration that was held in Korea with 30,000 participants from around the world. He also gave a report about the second Sunhak Peace Prize and theme of this year’s Prize: the global refugee crisis. He also talked about the 4th UPF World Summit, which was held in Seoul from February 1 to 5 with more than 300 parliamentarians from over 120 countries.
The musical performance began with Eva Astoviza singing the classic song “You Raise Me Up.” Alfredo Corales, known as “the Entre Ríos folklorist” sang “Piel chaqueña” and “Eterno amor.” Nicolás, Tobías, Araceli and Eleonora, introduced by their parents Andrés Melgarejo and Alzira Probo Chaves, sang a popular Argentinian song, “Yo vengo a ofrecer mi corazón.” The last performance was offered by a group of 40 young people, who sang “Cielo” and “Mira lejos hermano,” directed by Mr. Varga.
After the cake cutting, representatives of UPF and the organizers of the event gave brief reflections, including: Rubén Montero, representing FFWPU-Argentina; Rosetta Conti, president of the Women’s Federation for World Peace (WFWP)-Argentina; Emanuel Sayavedra, president of the Collegiate Association for the Research of Principles (CARP); and Mr. Varga. Lastly, María Teresa Narváez, representing UPF-Argentina’s Ambassadors for Peace, encouraged everyone to join the peace initiatives.