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Peace Education
UPF Holds 41st Asian Leadership Conference
Written by Dr. Robert Kittel, president, Youth and Students for Peace (YSP)
Monday, August 13, 2018
Bangkok, Thailand—From August 10 to 13, 2018, UPF hosted an Asian Leadership Conference (ALC) in Thailand’s capital of Bangkok. By normal standards, it was a small ALC with just 14 participants. However, there were two significant breakthroughs: seven delegates came from Laos, the largest number ever attending an ALC, and it was the first time representatives from East Timor attended the conference; two came. In addition, there were participants from Malaysia, Nepal and Thailand.
Two Laotian military colonels along with their wives participated in an Interfaith Peace Blessing, which concluded and was the highlight of the three-day conference.
This conference was the 41st ALC UPF has held since 2008. Normally UPF organizes at least one conference a month. Over the past 10 years, a total of 1,883 participants, including former heads of state, members of parliament, religious leaders, business men and women, educators, media and sports personalities, youth, students and high-ranking military officers, have attended the conferences.
Reflections from the participants:
“The concept of ‘living for the sake of others’ can really help and build the family, society and nation. When there is no selfishness in yourself, there will be no violence or corruption, etc.; no evil things in society.”
Mrs. Amy Ooi, Malaysia
“We are very happy to [have been able to] participate in this conference because we learned a lot from new friends from other countries. The [content] was delivered wonderfully by the speakers [over] two days and was very important and useful.”
Dr. Jose Agostinho Belo, East Timor
“The family is very important in terms of building trust in and making social contributions to the community.”
Anonymous
Question: What topic did you like the most? Why?
“Session VI: The Root Cause of Human Conflict and Suffering. This presentation was based on useful facts and data for understanding for social education.”
Mr. Keetapong Namwat, Thailand
“The most precious and important thing we learned was how to solve social problems and build societies of peace by learning how to live for the sake of others. Building loving relations within the family is the best way to solve problems. We will bring these teachings back to our family, neighbors, community and nation, and try to practice this learning. Thank you Rev. Sun Myung Moon for teaching us how to build heaven on earth.”
Mrs. Bounsalong Boualyvong, Laos
“I was a division commander in Nepal during the People’s War (Nepalese Civil War). Here, I learned new things. In this conference, we learned how to respect others, their feelings and perspectives. I knew about UPF, about Rev. Sun Myung Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, before coming here. I will try to apply these teachings and go along this way. This seminar was so interesting. Thank you so much. Namaste.”
Mr. Shuk Bahadur Roka, Nepal
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