The Peace Prayer
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is error, the truth;
Where there is doubt, the faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.(Extracted from the Peace Prayer of St Francis of Assissi)
Each Pan Pacific & South East Asia Women’s Association (PPSEAWA) has been observing the 21 September International Day of Peace as a normal annual event since the 2000 PPSEAWA International Conference in Rarotonga Cook Islands when Eleitino Paddy Walker was appointed as the first PPSEAWA International Peace Ambassador.
This year, 2016, since PPSEAWA had just ended its International Conference in August, member countries were urged to observe the day as a group or even on an individual basis focusing on the issues we see as challenges to achieving PEACE. Some of these are Poverty, Hunger, Social Inequality, Environmental Degradation etc. What can we, as PPSEAWA do together or individually or with friends, to bring Peace to a family or to a community?
It is anticipated that more PPSEAWA member countries will commit to observe the 21stSeptember United Nations declared Peace Day in 2017 and send in reports of their activities so that members are aware of what we are all doing as a family. This will help us expand our horizons and hopefully learn from each other to become effective instruments of peace.
Please read about the Peace Day Observance at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in 2016 sent by one of our PPSEAWA UN Representatives, Amy Banker. You also can read about some of the ways individual PPSEAWA member countries observed the International Day of Peace in 2016, in the articles from our national member organizations in the Cook Islands, Fiji, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Taiwan.
To conclude, one of our Representatives to the UN, Kesinee Dulyarat, sent these words of wisdom from the sixth century Chinese Philosopher Lao Tzu: If there is to be Peace in the world, There must be Peace in the Nations. If there is to be Peace in the Nations, There must be Peace in the Cities. If there is to be Peace in the Cities, There must be Peace in the Neighbors. Peace be with You all!