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UPF Representatives Meet Mozambique's President
Written by Rev. Paluku Mulekya, Secretary General, UPF-Mozambique
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Maputo, Mozambique - A delegation from UPF-Mozambique led by the Chairman of the Peace Council, Rev. Hwa Bum Lee, met with the President of Mozambique, H.E. Mr. Armando Emílio Guebuza, on January 18.
Rev. Lee took the opportunity to explain to the President the vision of UPF Founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon of creating “one family under God” as well as the activities in Mozambique since 1996, when he was appointed as a representative to this country.
Also present at the meeting were Mrs. Sun-ja Seo, Rev. Lee’s wife; Hon. Raul Manuel Domingos, member of Parliament, President of the Party for Peace, Democracy and Development, and Ambassador for Peace; and Rev. Jean Augustin Ghomsi, Secretary General of UPF-Southern Africa. Also present were two advisers of the president.
Rev. Lee gave the president a copy of the autobiography of Rev. Dr. Sun Myung Moon, As a Peace-loving Global Citizen. “Here you will learn a lot about his vision for national prosperity and world peace,” he said.
The Peace Council Chairman summarized the 34 years of Rev. Moon's work in America, including his meetings with American presidents and members of Congress. He described his meetings with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev during his visit to Moscow in April 1990, "a meeting that contributed to ending the Cold War," and his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Il-sung in 1991 to ease the tensions between North and South Koreas.
He also said, “Father Moon, is advocating an important world peace project of an international highway system that will connect the continents allowing people to travel by car from the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) to Santiago (Chile), from London to New York, as well as from Tokyo to Europe by building a Bering Strait crossing and a tunnel connecting Korea and Japan. This will help unite America and Russia, Europe and China, Brazil, etc., creating a world of peace without war, division, and visas, uniting people of all religions.”
Rev. Lee explained that in Mozambique, UPF has appointed many Ambassadors for Peace, among them Hon. Jose Ibraimo Abudo, former Minister of Justice, MP; Hon. Roberto Maximiano Chitsonzo, MP; and Hon. Raul Manuel Domingos. More than ten of these leaders have attended international conferences both in the US and Korea in order to contribute to the development of Mozambique.
The breakdown of the family is a serious problem in the world. The movement for true families is a movement for moral rearmament. “We are engaged in true family movement in communities and a pure love movement among the youths as well as HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention campaigns,” he said. Last year, a team of young people from the US visited schools and institutions of higher learning both in Maputo and Beira, including Eduardo Mondlane University, the main university in Mozambique.
For the flood victims of 2000 in Mozambique, Rev. Lee brought medicine, clothing, and other relief supplies from Korea to donate to the Red Cross and at an orphanage in Matola, a few kilometers from Maputo.
Behind 80 percent of the conflicts in today's world lies religious egoism. For the sake of transcending religious denominations, UPF-Mozambique is offering scholarships to students from various churches as part of a contribution to interfaith harmony.
Each year in May and this time also, Rev. Lee has brought a container of food, clothing, school supplies, books to help the country.
In Beira, the second biggest city, north of Maputo, a UPF affiliate, the Women's Federation for World Peace, is running a school, Sun Middle and High School, where character and peace education as well as HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention are being thought.
The President was happy to hear this information. When Rev. Lee said that the middle and high school in Beira has 700 students he was quick to note it down, as well as the fact that there is a regular medical team from Japan offering eye care under the leadership of Mrs. Akiko Hosan, Principal of Sun Middle and High School.
“After the Korean War, Korea also depended on foreign aid,” Rev. Lee said. “Thanks to the New Village Movement initiated by Father Moon and adopted by the government as part of the national education curriculum, communities were mobilized to join this movement of hard work and self-reliance that improved living conditions. They did street cleaning and beautification work, including planting flowers, and cooperated economically. This was the foundation of Korea's development, and it has become the world's thirteenth-largest economy.”
“After hearing you,” the President said, “I feel there is hope for world peace now more than ever before. From what I see here, Rev. Moon and his activities encompass many areas. We can’t speak of world peace while there is poverty and when there is no education. I am happy to know that you are taking all these into account. I admire the vision and I am going to study the materials to learn more. I am going to also read this book (autobiography) in order to understand better. I am impressed by the different meetings with Gorbachev and Kim Il-sung.”
He was pleased to note that that many Mozambicans, including Hon. Raul Domingos, are involved with the movement. "I know Hon. Domingos as a hard-working person and very keen to do whatever he can for the sake of Mozambique. The same is true of Hon. Abudo and Chitsonzo. Thanks very much for all you have been doing for Mozambique. Please continue and let’s see what we can do together," he said.
When Mrs. Lee also spoke of her hope to work with the First Lady’s Office on skills development for women and girls as well as a cultural center where Eastern and African cultures can be showcased, the president responded, “Whenever people meet for the sake of peace, nothing can be more important than that.”
The meeting lasted around 50 minutes. Copies of the autobiography were offered to the president's staff. On May 13 last year, Rev. Lee gave 280 books to the 260 members of the Parliament.
Mozambique is a country with many natural resources, and the GDP has been growing steadily. Geographically, it is in southeastern Africa, adjacent to the Indian Ocean, and there is a great potential for a fishing industry as well as tourism for its beaches.
“Mr. President, my wife and I will never forget our meeting today, and we will be proud to tell whoever we meet that Mozambique is a good country to live in. We will continue to pray for your health and your family's happiness as well as for the development of Mozambique. Thank you once again for welcoming us,” Rev. Lee concluded.
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