These days, many people are self-isolating because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). I want to do things that I haven’t been able to do during this period, and also I’m worried about people suffering from illness.
I want to recommend some songs that make you think. It’s simple and short. ๐
I just want you to be comfortable for 15 minutes.
“I’ve found peace far beyond all understanding” and “Peace is a promise You keep” are so impressive. While the phrase “peace is a promise” has never been thought of, it feels good.
I want to live a life that keeps that promise.
I’m not gonna be afraid I’m not gonna be afraid I’m not gonna fear the storm
I’m not gonna fear at all
The power of music is great. It creates power in unexpected places. have a communicative power. It is another education. Powerful.
I wish it were 15 minutes to make you feel good. Some of my friends got novel coronavirus (COVID-19). I pray that they are all healthy.
I was going to talk about the importance of peace, but I felt I didn’t have to mention it any more. Because we already know it too well.
In fact, this is out of the question of knowing. What is the problem? First, say it clearly. This is neither your fault nor mine. It’s all our fault.
It is none of your business
Most of us are busy making ends meet. I am also busy living my life. We don’t have time to pay attention.
We have learned the word peace from textbooks and lectures. Also, we even donate to UNICEF or Doctors Without Borders. Get a job, have a family, and raise children. Get old with my spouse.
Our lives were not always happy, but moderately unhappy, sometimes happy. Ten years after my death, at least one person will remember me.
There is very little room for peace in this general life. If there is any overlap of misfortunes, there is no more room. This is the reality.
No one can blame us for this reality
We don’t blame anyone else. We don’t call each other hypocrites.
Because we make up the majority of mankind. Compared to mankind as a whole, the people facing war are a minority.
We don’t have to worry every night that the bomb will blow up our house. We don’t have to worry about how to live after mom and dad die in the war.
So, we don’t think peace is important. No, we maybe think it’s important and we talk about importance of peace, but we usually live off the top of our head.
I’m sorry. This is real. I don’t want to let a little girl in Syria know this reality.
Change actually takes a long time. But I know that the most substantial and short-lived peace organization has achieved great achievements. So, I’m also thinking about pinning my hopes on it this time.
This posting is just my opinion. I want to say that I really respect everyone who works hard and risking their lives for peace.
On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. The influence of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is global.
The coronavirus pandemic is accelerating, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said today in a press briefing as the number of deaths from covid-19 passed 15,000.
The number of confirmed cases is more than 360,000, according to the map and dashboard from Johns Hopkins University, though the true number of cases will be much higher. (Source)
Today, we are going to look at the impact on Afghanistan among them.
Influence of the Coronavirus on Afghan
“Most worrying is that Iran has disregarded the Afghan governmentโs plea to restrict border crossings, with as many as 15,000 people still crossing into Afghanistan daily.
All of the 21 confirmed coronavirus cases in Afghanistan involved travelers who had returned from Iran, according to Wahidullah Mayar, a spokesman for the Afghan health ministry.” – NY times
Even at the Shaidahe Hospital in Herat, 38 patients attacked staff members, then fled the hospital as police stood by. (One of them is positive)
According to the New York Times article, there are many shocking things happening. They don’t know who has the coronavirus. To be honest, they may be nervous.
But the problem is that the virus is not the only problem. They are fighting another virus. Major Gulzar Kohi, who leads the Afghan Army unit in a restive district of northern Baghlan Province, said “Coronavirus be damned.” He hadnโt slept in two days.
โI am busy fighting another virus โ the Taliban.โ
The Taliban is a guerrilla force. They’re going to have a meeting in closed spaces across the country, and this seems very dangerous. And the troops to stop them will be in danger of COVID-19.
One might think of this as an opportunity, but I hope you will refrain from doing so for everyone’s happiness and health. There is a way to get what we want without fighting. The method is for us to support the international law called DPCW.
Not long after, DPCW will erase the war itself from human history. ๐
Over seven million people โ about two thirds of the population โ are in need of aid, including around 6.9 million people experiencing hunger. Food security is expected to deteriorate more, with 7.7 million people estimated to face crisis levels of hunger. The ongoing conflict and insecurity have pushed millions to the brink of starvation for years. (MERCY CORPS statistics as of June 2019)
Due to persistent intercommunal violence, including cattle raids, revenge attacks and armed ambushes, many people in the region have been reduced to relying on relief aid.
Is there really no hope?
The more desperate man is, the stronger he becomes.
The first thing to do is to blame the system for creating this world imbalance, and then we’ll have to do what we do.
The Women is Strong
UN Photo/Isaac Billy A woman awaits her return flight home at the UNMISS terminal of the Juba airport.
This time, women gathered strength. With support from the UN mission in the country, UNMISS, ox ploughs were handed to womenโs groups.
โThe challenge they reported was a lack of implements to increase their food production. Thatโs how the ox plough idea was born,โ said Samuel Owoko, a representative of Sans Frontieres Germany, the organization implementing the project.
They did really great things. In the book of ‘Doing Good Better’, companies spend a lot of money to help, but in reality they are not helpful and often get in the way.
Ms. Agor, the womenโs group leader, said “We have been using hand hoes, and with that you can only do so much. With these ox ploughs coming in, we shall cultivate bigger areas which will help us sustain our families throughout the long dry spell.”
She also had a message for the national authorities: โWe want our Government to make sure that there is enough security so that we can bring in our bulls and cultivate. Without peace, that will not be possible. Right now, the roads are full of armed youth. They should go away so that our men can safely return with their cattleโ.
I wish they were happier. As she said, the best way is to stop the conflicts. I would like to tell her country to support the DPCW, the international law of peace. This is the perfect answer to peace.
I want to tell the women’s group again. The power of women is enormous! If the voices of 3.7 billion women around the world come together, no one will be able to stop them. IWPG will help you. ๐
I sincerely hope that there will be peace in South Sudan.
First, we need a basic understanding of the country of Cameroon.
On December 2018, the United States assistant secretary of state for African affairs, Tibor Nagy, raised the issue of Cameroon as among the worldโs most dire conflicts, stating: โI fear that [the crisis] could get much, much worse.โ
The United Nations conservatively estimates that the ongoing conflict has killed more than 3 000 people and displaced nearly 700 000 more in the Anglophone regions, a staggering number that comprises about 20% of our countryโs population. Most recently, on February 14, about two dozen villagers, including 14 children and a pregnant woman, were massacred in the village in the northwest region.
In fact, this is a really difficult problem. How many people died, and why did they die? The difference between ideology and thoughtโฆ The resentment and anger of it do not go away. ๐
We don’t need Violence and Weapons
So what the hell should we do? Should we just stay still? Should we turn away because we don’t know anything? What should never be done is the attitude of maintaining the status quo.
If you look at the reference article, I agree with Maurice Kamto, the president of the opposition Cameroon Renaissance Movement and a former political prisoner in Cameroon, in part.
His second plan is that the violence on both sides must end today. I totally agree with this. Talks cannot begin without the elimination of violence and weapons. Other than that, his arguments include building infrastructure like hospital schools, setting the stage for dialogue and reforming the election system.
It is a proposal that seems to be effective. But I thought this was not enough. I think “civil society” is the key. The bottom-up approach is more effective than the top-down one. And that power is incredibly powerful.
It was a international peace NGO called HWPL that showed me this powerful force. I thought it was impossible to achieve peace.
Imagine if you were a little girl in a town in Cameroon. Can we expect peace to be achieved? No, we live in anxiety every day. Then, we find a little happiness, and we will feel satisfied. We thought this was life. This is so tragic. But peace was not difficult, and furthermore it was not impossible.
HWPL brings people from all over the world together as ‘ONE.’ They shout from time to time, “WE ARE ONE! WE ARE ONE!” As if a powerful hurricane had passed, they establish a strong peace in the place that had passed. Voice of one is not enough to achieve peace, but voice as one is enough to do so.
HWPL (Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light) is an international peace NGO, registered with the United Nations and is now Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
In 2017, about 1,000,000 People are walking for peace in 106 Cities in 41 Countries. Unlike most peace organizations, the results of each year are considered great. They are trying to bring a new international law to the United Nations soon.
I brought up to top five videos that I have seen so far. ๐
1. Media Facade 2019
It’s an art…
2. IPYG Card Section Performance 2019
3. Card Section of 12,126 People 2018
They are all volunteers. Is it possible?
4. 2018 HWPL World Peace Summit
Parades are also tremendously attractive, and the speeches of former presidents are touching. I definitely recommend seeing it.
5. Media Facade 2017
I think HWPL has the answer to peace. The power of HWPL is best represented by the slogan “We are one!” There is nothing we can’t do if we’re one mind to solve everything.
But the world is now so confused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). There is no one at street, everyone stays at home. Even WHO declared novel coronavirus disease a pandemic. (more than 121,000 cases in 118 countries)
At times like this, if we try for quarantine in one mind without blaming anyone without discrimination, we will all survive. ๐
P.S my heartfelt condolences to all the families who lost loved ones…
Red Cross pamphlet on March 1st Movement / Wikimedia Commons
Hi, today is March 1st. Today is the anniversary of “March 1st Movement” in my country. It is also called “Independence Movement Day in South Korea,” and “์ผ์ผ์ (Sam Il Jeol)”
The March 1 Movement started on March 1, 1919. Why this day? In the wake of rumors that King Gojong of the Korean Empire was poisoned, it rose up on March 1, 1919, the funeral day of King Gojong’s death.
There was another reason. After the World War I, “The Fourteen Points” of US President Woodrow Wilson became the basis at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The President Wilson listed “self-determination” as an important objective for the postwar world. It set off a spark of hope.
Red Cross pamphlet on March 1st Movement / Wikimedia Commons
The most famous performance at this time is the “Manse Demonstrations.” In Korean, ๋ง์ธ(Manse) means raising both hands high. Generally, do it three times with the Korean flag.
On this day, 500,000 people gathered at ํ๊ณจ๊ณต์(Tapgol Park, formerly Pagoda Park) and shouted “Manse.” From this point on, March 1st Movements were held across the country for about three months. There were 1,214 manse demonstrations during the 60 days from March 1 to April 30. The total number of participants is estimated at 1.06 million.
Red Cross pamphlet on March 1st Movement / Wikimedia Commons
Japan did not sit still, but violently suppressed it. Of them, 7,509 were killed and 47,000 were arrested. However, because it was a fairly successful independence movement, the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea was established in Shanghai in April 11, 1919.
Red Cross pamphlet on March 1st Movement
But I don’t think it happened easily. There were 33 ethnic representatives who took the initiative. They consisted of 15 Catholics, 16 Christians and two Buddhists. (if you more info about them: my blog, wiki(ko), other) They read “The Declaration of Independence” at Taehwagwan, Insa-dong, Jongno District, Seoul. Soon after, some of them died, and they were imprisoned for about a year and a half or three years.
Red Cross pamphlet on March 1st Movement / Wikimedia Commons
To celebrate this day, the national flag is hung at home. Flags are also hung on every street. But now South Korea is in an emergency because of COVID-19. There are over 3,000 confirmed cases. I hope the patients will recover quickly, and I want to send a message of support to the medical staff who are really struggling.
Since we are all the same people, I hope we don’t blame each other or split up over this incident. Because we were one in the independence movement.
Compared with many African countries, Ethiopia is remarkably safe โ most of the time. Serious or violent crime is rare; against travellers it’s extremely rare. Outside the capital, the risk of petty crime drops still further. The new Prime Minister was Abiy Ahmed, 2019 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, who made a historic visit to Eritrea in 2018, ending the state of conflict between the countries.
Ethiopia is a melting pot country, enriched in diverse cultures, peoples, and religions. However, such diversity sparked many conflicts in history, some of which are ongoing. These conflicts have stripped the country and people apart emotionally, and the Ethiopian government is actively working to peacefully resolve them for the better future of the country.
HWPL Peace Education in Ethiopia
In December, the professors and students at Kotebe Metropolitan University participated at the โHeavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) Peace Educationโ sessions which are also joined by 214 schools in 36 countries.
To bring the peaceful reconciliation in the country, the Ministry of Education in Ethiopia and 9 other states had previously signed MOA with HWPL to implement HWPL’s Peace Education. The curriculum is designed to empower citizens to properly recognize the value of peace and take the pioneering role of spreading the culture of peace.
After signing MOA with HWPL, the Ministry of Higher Education in Ethiopia is currently reviewing the โHWPL Peace Educationโ to incorporate and implement it as formal curriculum in all the universities. Addis Ababa School of Science and Technology (AASTU) also held the peace education sessions right after the Kotebe Metropolitan University.
A student who participated at the peace education said, โI learned why peace education is important for resolving conflicts in Ethiopia. It taught me to act as a messenger of peace. It is also important to present 10 Articles and 38 Clauses of the DPCW to the UN to fundamentally eradicate war and conflicts. To this end, we must continue to participate in peace education.โ
Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita recently said that his government was ready to hold talks with the main jihadist leaders in the country. (VoA)
โWhy not try to contact those who we know are pulling the strings,โ Keita told French media last week. โThe number of deaths in the Sahel is becoming exponential. Itโs time for certain avenues to be explored.โ
The United Nations reported that the number of children killed in the conflict in the first six months of 2019 was twice as many for the entire year of 2018. Many of the children have been killed in inter communal attacks attributed to ethnic militias, with the majority of attacks occurring around Mopti.
A day ago, at least three Mali soldiers were killed and five wounded Sunday in a suspected jihadist attack. Also, other recent conflicts in West Africa caused several casualties.
Since this is a place where people know the importance of peace, there are also many people who seek the path to peace.
Mali Parliament in West Africa Unites for Peace
At the Mali parliament, 25 congressmen and 4 national executive officials gathered for the proclamation ceremony for the โNetwork of Parliamentarians for the Culture of Peace and the Cessation of Warsโ. This meeting, held on December 21, 2019, was held to discuss spreading the culture of peace, eliminating unnecessary sacrifices caused by internal conflict and terrorism in Mali.
Aurora Celestin, the representative of HWPL France Branch, introduced the Global Declaration of Peace and Cessation of war (DPCW) as a solution to Mali’s existing conflict and poverty. As a result, the congressmen stressed that “DPCW is a legal document that is much needed in Mali” and that “the president, senior government officials and other congressmen will actively implement the contents of the DPCW in their country.”
Especially, Diarra Moussa, a member of the Parliament and the Presider of the meeting said, โMany are working for peace in Mali and there are many laws. However, implementation of the law had always been the problem. Therefore, there needs to be a solution like the DPCW to spread the culture of peace where people start to abide by the laws.โ
Kane Babba Hama Sidy, a member of the Mali Parliament, who signed the DPCW Support Letter said, โIt is the right time to establish this network, bearing in mind the current situation of Mali. It is time to work for peace,โ emphasizing the act of spreading the culture of peace through DPCW.
That day, HWPL’s Daejeon Chungcheong Branch prepared a time to prepare plans and resolutions for world peace with about 100 people from political, social, religious and educational circles as well as peace-related organizations.
Jang Bang-sik, chairman of HWPL’s Daejeon Chungcheong branch, said in a welcoming speech, “We are grateful for all those who wish for peace and peace on the Korean Peninsula,” and stressed that the HWPL will move forward this year to enact international law on peace, education and inter-faith harmony to end the war.
“If you are here with us, it will not only be of great help, but will be remembered forever as a person who has left true peace to posterity.”
Former Ethiopian Transport Minister Mekuria Haley, who attended the 2020 New Year’s party, said, “I’m sure that world peace will be achieved if everyone from all over the world, from adults to children, will love peace.”
“HWPL is already doing this all over the world,” he said. “I will also go back to my homeland and pursue a plaza of dialogue and a WARP office for religious people that HWPL is pushing, and make efforts to bring the DPCW to international law.”
