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UN International Day of Families 2010
Day of Families Celebrated in Stuttgart
Written by Hildegard Piepenburg, UPF-Germany
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Stuttgart, Germany - UPF-Germany hosted a celebration of the International Day of Families in Stuttgart on May 15. Hubert Arnoldi, the UPF representative in Stuttgart, welcomed everyone and introduced the program of the day.
Maike Tijstermann, a local high school student, opened up the afternoon with two piano pieces, "Mother's Journey" and a song from the film "Amelie." Mr. Arnoldi gave background information about this special day and this year's theme, "The Impact of Migration on Families Around the World." A special presentation was shown about the meaning of the family from the viewpoint of different religions.
Karl-Christian Hausmann, Chair of UPF-Germany, spoke on "The Role of the Family as a Bridge between Cultures." We learned that in Stuttgart, one of the largest cities in Germany, 40 percent of the population is made up of people who have migrated here. He explained that the real importance of intercultural marriages is not understood in society and, in his opinion, the fastest way to bring the cultures together is through the daily intercultural work done within these families. Herr Hausmann supported his ideas from different sides and ended his speech with a quote from the Founder from UPF, Rev. Dr. Moon, whose main concern is promoting harmonious families and their contribution to world peace.
This was followed by music of international themes, demonstrating that music can be a bridge between hearts. Following the talk, Christoph Wenzel, Chairman of the Family Federation in Stuttgart; sang a heartwarming song from John Denver, "Perhaps Love."
Three representative families were honored with awards: Dr. and Mrs. Quais Saidi, Chairman of the Mandaean faith community in Germany, for their tireless support for Mandaean refugees from Iraq; the Froehner family, for their exemplary intercultural marriage between Germany and Peru; and the Siller couple, who were celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary that day, 50 years of faithful marriage (the husband, who is ill, was represented at the event by their daughter).
Before we ended the program with a wonderful assortment of cakes, we had two musical surprises - the first from Mr. Froehner, playing three Japanese songs on his flute and the second from Herr Wenzel, who played several songs from his homeland on his harmonica.
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