London, UK - The UPF-UK Peace Council met at 43 Lancaster Gate in London on December 4. The council meets twice a year to strategize, plan, hear updates of international as well as national activities and developments, and network together. The meeting opened with news of developments from UPF around the world and the UK. Lord Tarsem King of West Bromwich addressed the gathering as UPF Patron.

The Universal Peace Federation-UK's Peace Council gathered many of UPF's UK activists who braved the cold weather and transport difficulties to share about their projects, activities and successes of 2010 to ensure that 2011 will be an even greater success. From enjoying each other's faith festive celebrations to building low-cost houses for the poorest on our planet, from youth mentoring to genocide awareness and the responsibility to protect the most vulnerable from war crimes, it was a rich mix of activities that express UPF's vibrant ideal of humanity living as 'One family under God.'

Held in the London headquarters, 43 Lancaster Gate, there were assembled representatives of the banches of UPF from Scotland, Birmingham, and Bristol as well as around London. Much of the discussion and the many of the activities outlined were inspired by UPF's vision to support United Nations initiatives such as the Millennium Development Goals. (Photo link)

Aftikhar Ahmed (photo right, giving the invocation prayer) and Dr. Satwant Multani from Scotland shared about their experience in the Assembly in New York. Dr. Multani, who is the Chair of Central Scotland Interfaith, said that it was very inspiring to see Rev. Moon in person. He participated in a ceremony representing Sikhism during the Assembly. He reflected on his visit that faith is a wonderful thing.

Community Cohesion: Margaret Ali, Vanessa Edwards and Cllr. Liaquat Ali

The Community Cohesion Committee has been one of the most active groups over the last three years. There are several themes of events held during the last few years. Twice a year there are Joint Faith Celebrations held usually at UPF-UK headquarters in London to promote understanding of other communities' traditions and religious observances during those occasions. This will include the foods eaten or offered, music and songs of the festival commemorated, and the scriptural readings associated with it. The second is the theme of ‘Forgiveness and Reconciliation’ that started as a one-off but now has become a series of events. The emphasis is on sharing stories rather than reciting what our faith believes in theory about ‘Forgiveness and Reconciliation.’

Brenda Hodgson shared that she had been deeply moved by one of these events: ‘As a spiritual person, the love and harmony and peace in this room was absolutely inspiring and amazing. One person who was a drug dealer completely transformed his life. When he went to prison he changed his life through education, and now he helps people.’

Another regular feature of the Community Cohesion Group is an event held to promote ‘Genocide Awareness and Holocaust Commemoration.’ These have included speakers about the Holocaust, Rwanda, Bosnia, Roma or Gypsy people, and Armenians. Speakers raised the awareness of the 'Responsibility to Protect' Resolution that has passed through the UN.

We hope to develop an immigration theme started in House of Commons in November 2009 and take this to the Boroughs of London, starting with Waltham Forest, to highlight immigrants’ contributions to the UK.

Cllr. Liaquat Ali from Waltham Forest is the Co-Chair of the Community Cohesion committee. This involves the interfaith community and the understanding of different religions and their celebrations. Last month we had a big event at Lancaster Gate for faith celebrations. Better understanding and better community cohesion bring peace, love, harmony and compassion. At the local level in Waltham Forest we have had interfaith council and dialogues under the UPF Community Cohesion banner.

Vanessa: There is always something to learn at Peace Council meetings. Cllr. Faizullah Khan said we need to actively work for peace and find positive solutions. My small part is to put together a global peace prayer on postcards. I have distributed over 90,000. This year I was working in the peace mala (bracelet) festival in Manchester. Each bead represents a faith and the clear bead represents your choice.

The speech by Imam Dr. Abduljalil Sajid about the proposal for an interreligious council at the UN is informative of the issues to be resolved. Robin Marsh gave an update on consultations about the proposal. (See PowerPoint presentation for further information.) Imam Sajid could not attend due to bad health but a video of his views from July was shown. A discussion group later considered the issue of representation for an interreligious council.

Grassroots Interfaith Project in Luton - Developing Communities Across Faiths and Cultures

David Jonathan explained that Luton is a place of community challenges. On March 10 there were Islamic protests against soldiers. Then there were right-wing protests, illegal marches, fire-bombings, assaults on Jewish rabbis, earthquakes, conflicts in Iraq/Afghanistan, and threats to burn the Qur'an. He explained that he has been trying to confront these challenges.

He shared that he considered the integrity of the family to be under threat. The establishment of state schools is good, but we don’t want to limit interactions with our neighbours. Communities can become too self-sufficient and demand understanding on their own terms. Democracy can be dominated by the shouts of a strident minority. Grassroots efforts support the Jewish community to promote the safety of rabbis. Together they drafted an interfaith statement expressing confidence in ourselves and one another to promote peaceful resolution and offer ourselves as instruments of reconciliation that offer love where there is hatred.

Grassroots Objectives:

1) To work for strengthening relations amongst different faiths.
2) To serve the wider community through supporting community initiatives and advancing educational development.
3) To accompany the churches in their mission and ministry.
4) To engage with the building of a civil society in Luton and vicinity.

Low-cost Housing and Sustainable Communities Project: David and Marie Fairbank explained that they had been inspired by UPF to come out of retirement to promote low-cost housing manufacturing in under-developed nations to alleviate poverty, teach skills, and  promote sustainable communities. They had encouraged Richard Price,  former Managing Director of Costains Asia and Africa, to join them in this project. They have been encouraged by the responses of various nations and financiers to these proposals. The project has the value of being designed to produce low-cost prefabricated houses with only moderate profits to sustain the business and train indigenous workers to take over the factory after three years.  These houses can be assembled without the use of cranes in three days by a trained team of four workers. Environmental aspects of the houses and the proposal to add a waste-to-energy unit should create communities that are sustainable and of great value to the economic development of the region in which they are established. They are looking to UPF and its wider network to help find partners who have a similar vision to establish several factories in the Third World where they are needed. The project also plans to develop a facility of stored units to be able to respond to emergency relief at a time of natural disasters.

Break-out groups

1. United Nations interreligioius council
2. Millennium Development Goals
3. Low-cost housing

Cultural Initiatives:

Peter Graham, founder of the World Culture Association, explained its purpose, saying that there are so many problems and conflicts around the world. What can be done? We need to look beyond politics and understand the roots of culture. Countries which are divided need ideas for bringing resolution of conflicts. He is inspired to show the variety of the world’s cultures and therefore contribute to a harmonious society. His slogan is “One World, One Stage.” He has been cooperating with UPF, because they share a common vision, putting on several performances over the last 18 months.

Ashley Crosthwaite: International Relief Friendship Foundation

Ashley Crosthwaite is running a lot of different projects on a shoestring. There are several projects in Uganda. While he was visiting Uganda  earlier this year, the Scottish UPF representatives, Robert Williamson, Iffy Ahmed, and Dr. Satwant Multani, visited them. They visited Destiny Junior school,  which is an IRFF-built school where at least 10 percent of the 70 kids in the school are HIV-positive. A third classroom and a kitchen are being built. IRFF donated money for a new water tank and shipped computers to the school.                                                                         

IRFF is also developing a farming project near Lake Victoria. This is a cooperative including a number of Christian and Muslim families. Other IRFF projects included establishing cottage industries through micro-finance. They are also starting a child sponsorship program.

AIDS has become a terrible reality in Uganda. WAIT-Uganda is a performing arts team that promotes a message to maintain purity before marriage and fidelity within marriage. WAIT was established after a visit from a WAIT-UK team to Uganda two years ago. The Ugandan police chief is supporting WAIT, and 12 schools have officially-recognized WAIT clubs. Ashley Crosthwaite and the Scottish UPF group went to visit  some of these WAIT groups to encourage them.

Robert Williamson, Iffy Ahmed, and Dr. Satwant Multani in turn hosted Ashley Crosthwaite in Zambia, where they launched WAIT. The Balastone Park school has been going since 1982 and is well established. The MacKenzie community school in Zambia was built by the International Relief Friendship Foundation. [For a report of their visit, click here.]

Ashley also went to South Africa, where he introduced WAIT to various organizations. There are now 205 schools in Cape Town that want to adopt the WAIT program. Sadly there is a limited capacity to assist with their development due to the lack of WAIT trainers.

Branch Reports:

1.        South London UPF Sheridan Mangal: Youth Mentoring

This is really on the leading edge in terms of the type of mentoring. He had concentrated on lifestyle mentoring with reference to youths who are overlooked, i.e., those who started a mile back from starting line. He started mentoring three years ago with 'Kids Company.' He always talks about social inclusion. He is currently mentoring six individuals. It is really an adult-adult communication. He advises them of the options in order to help them make own decisions. In group mentoring there is a different dynamic, and he has run two training workshops. He has learned over time about the qualities that are needed for mentoring. The mentor needs to understand the mentee’s perspective. Everyone has a talent.; we just need to reveal it. Sheridan did role playing in training to prepare all to deal with real-world situations. They all learned about the dynamics of communication. In group mentoring there are four to six youths in a group, which allows an opportunity to talk about their experiences within a small group.

2.        Milton Keynes: David Rennie outlined the UPF cultural and interfaith activities he does in Milton Keynes Interfaith that had enabled a close community to develop transcending faith lines. This he said was even more remarkable in that the only way some of the denominations of particular faiths can meet each other comfortably is through the neutral ground of interfaith activities. He particularly helps with an annual concert called 'Friends for Life.' He also teaches people how to make public presentations and to speak in public.

3.        Birmingham: Dr. David Earle, Vice President of UPF-UK, explained the value of renewing a couple's relationship through the World Peace Marriage Blessing. He shared about their experiences of having a Marriage Blessing Ceremony in Birmingham and also of those couples who had attended an International Marriage Blessing Ceremony in Korea. He mentioned a newspaper article entitled, “Sharing love between our city’s faiths,” that featured the orphanage in Hyderabad, India, that had been founded and funded by David and Patricia Earle and their WFWP peace meeting and interfaith contacts in Birmingham. He also mentioned the Family Association meetings that they were developing with their close friends. He showed several pictures of the Africa Day event that they organized. (Report link)

4.        Scotland: Robert Williamson (photo right)

Robert is working with UPF in Scotland after living in Zambia for many years. He has started tours in Africa that open up doors if you need to start something in Africa. He said the tours give support, enable visitors to gain knowledge, and promote dialogue. The first tour, to Uganda and Zambia, was in October 2010. They visited mosques and churches. In Zambia the Muslim communities are divided, and one goal is to stimulate dialogue between the communities. They also went to Victoria Falls for sightseeing. The next tour will be in July 2011.

5.        Bromley: Eddie Hartley shared that there had been little UPF activity in Bromley in 2010. They had worked with Rev. Dr. Paul Baiden-Adams who founded the Multi-cultural Sports Aid Services-UK with the specific aim of helping and guiding young people through sports through a 90-day program. Bromley-UPF commemorated the UN International Day of the Family together with UPF-UK headquarters in a joint event. They are now putting together a committee of five or six people to plan a dynamic program for 2011 centering on UN commemorative days.

6.        Bristol: Tomoko Harris explained that Bristol is the smallest branch in the UK. There are two Japanese women plus several wonderful Ambassadors for Peace. Their activities include a New Year Peace prayer usually led by Rev. Palmer, the celebration of life of Prophet Mohammed, Mahatma Gandih's birthday, and the celebration of brotherhood. Tomoko added that she had found an office that opens many possibilities for UPF activities in future.

Comments from Participants: 

1) A note to thank you both for arranging another wonderful event last Saturday. I really enjoyed the day and I look forward to being with you again in the New Year. Enjoy the Festive Season.

2) It was a really good experience for everyone, judging by the conversation and comments in the car. I would say one of the best responses from a group we've brought down. Lots of positive stories, great variety—something for everyone, no one speaking too long so the progam kept moving, keeping a good energy level. Very enjoyable discussions where people said they could get their teeth into something, and make a contribution.

3) It was a joy to be with you yesterday. Thank you so much for sharing the day with us. Despite all the weather and health obstacles which meant that you had to re-adjust the planned program, the day was a tremendous success.

For more information contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . For reports of activities throughout the year, see:

www.uk.upf.org

Webblog  http://peacedevelopmentnetwork.wordpress.com

http://uk.youtube.com/PeaceDevelopmntNetwk

For photos of IRFF projects in Africa, click here.