UNITY IN PEACE PROMOTION: WFWP ARKANSAS PEACE WEEK

On Saturday, September 23rd, as a part of the Arkansas Peace Week, the WFWP chapter of Arkansas set up a booth at Central High School for the observance of the 60th Anniversary of the Integration of Central High School in 1957. WFWP was one of 27 groups that participated in Peace Week. Many people who stopped by showed interest in our display board that showed the work and activities of WFWP. This included Schools of Africa, "Lunis Kinderworld,” and our Bridge of Peace Ceremony. Also included were our mission statement, vision statement, and a quote from our founder, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, on world peace. We also had sign-up sheets for people to leave their phone number and email addresses if they were interested in more information about WFWP. We had sixteen people sign up, some of whom I already knew because I had worked with them on different peace programs and projects.

I would like to appreciate our two ladies who volunteered their time to help. It was over 100 degrees and these two saints stayed out in that heat for 3 hours each. Valdean Bailey came a little over 11 am and stayed until almost 3 pm. She helped me set up and get organized. Sharl Hill came about 1 pm and stayed until 4 when we finished. She was amazing. She would go out of the booth to bring people to our table and explain that we were representing WFWP and planning a Bridge of Peace ceremony in December. She helped in getting several ladies to sign up. Again I really thank Valdean and Sharl for all of their support and help. They were marvelous.

There were so many diverse groups there representing different points of view, but what united us was that we all wanted to promote and seek peace. We were the new group on the block, so to speak, and so for some people, this was their first introduction to WFWP. Many were happy to learn about us. It was kind of funny, because two people - one lady and one gentleman - saw me sitting there with the banner Women's Federation for World Peace and commented - "kind of a contradiction of terms isn't it!," implicitly questioning what a man was doing with a woman's group. Men play an important role in helping women and in promoting peace! We need women leaders and it is my goal to find such women.There were three college students who came to our table and were interested. They were from different states and were taking time off from college (the Clinton School of Public Service) to do service work. They were bright, idealistic girls - the kind we need. We are looking forward to working with all the amazing people we met to develop the Arkansas chapter of WFWP.