Quito, Ecuador - UPF Ambassadors for Peace in Ecuador participated in International Day of Peace programs in Quito at Carolina Park on Sept. 21 and at the Peace Embassy on Sept. 30, 2014.
Representatives from many NGOs took part in the celebration in the park, which was attended by thousands of people. UPF-Ecuador distributed flyers containing messages of peace, stickers with the organization's logo, and white balloons to families and young people n the park. Ambassadors for Peace appealed to people to cultivate a heart of peace and practice peaceful behavior on this day as a starting point for world peace.
Also in celebration of the International Day of Peace, 24 Ambassadors for Peace met at the Peace Embassy in Quito on the last day of September with UPF leaders Dr. Charles S. Yang and Rev. Dong Mo Shin, who were traveling through several countries of South America.
The Executive Director of UPF-Ecuador, Ms. Hiromi Mishima, welcomed everyone and called on Dr. Simao Ferabolli, secretary general of UPF-South America, to introduce Rev. Shin, director of UPF-South America, who was making his second visit to Ecuador. Rev. Shin said that he was very moved to visit the equator and introduced Dr. Yang, international chairman of UPF, who was coming to Ecuador for the first time.
Dr. Yang began by thanking the Ambassadors for Peace for their efforts for UPF in Ecuador. He presented a video about the work of UPF and related organizations around the world. Then he gave a brief explanation and showed slides about UPF's World Summit 2014 that took place in Korea in August, encouraging Ambassadors for Peace to send a representative from Ecuador to the next World Summit.
He described his experiences working together with religious leaders 30 years ago when UPF Founder Rev. Sun Myung Moon sent leaders from ten religions around the world to visit the holy places of each great religion, starting from Israel and continuing to Egypt, India, Nepal, China and Korea. In some cases participants felt like enemies at the start, but in the end they felt like brothers and sisters.
Then Ambassadors for Peace were invited to speak, and several expressed support for the work of UPF and its founders.
The main Ambassadors for Peace at the event were Rev. Dr. Luis Rodrigues Moreno, bishop of ICAE (Anglican Church); Dr. Franklin Henriquez, who is working with a NGO called AMISRAEL; Dr. Oswaldo Salazar, former president of the Olympic Committee in Ecuador; Dr. Marco Torres Andrade, rector of the Higher Institute of Technology and global vice-president of Sun Moon University; Dr. Leonardo Montoya, a philosophy teacher and promoter of interreligious dialogue; and Pastor Castro Leiton, an Evangelical pastor from the Rose of Sharon Church. Women representatives included Miryan Valdineso Veja, former rector of Fry Jodoco Rique High School; Dr. Cecilia Vaca, former rector of Reino of Quito primary school; and Dr. Vicente Cárdenas, special assistant at the Tribunal Contencioso Electoral.
After a commemorative photo we shared delicious fruits, sweets and snacks.