The Words of the Marion Family
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The Words of the Marion Family |
Dushanbe, Tajikistan -- UPF-Russia Secretary General Konstantin Krylov and I undertook a trip to Tajikistan from September 9 to 12. We were accompanied by Felix Beringov, who supervises UPF activities in this country. Our purpose was to meet with Ambassadors for Peace and invite Hon. Shukurjon Zuhurov, the Tajikistan Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the World Summit on "Peace, Security and Development" to be held in Seoul, Korea February 20-23, 2013.
However, the day we began travelling to Central Asia, UPF Founder Dr. Moon passed away. We had to shorten our trip and went to Tajikistan hoping to invite the Hon. Zuhurov to Rev. Moon's memorial service.
We reached the Tajikistan border on September 9, after crossing Uzbekistan by road – the famed Silk Road going through Bukhara and Samarkand.
UPF Ambassador for Peace Dr. Sayfullo Safarov, the Deputy Director of the Strategic Research Center of the Office of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan, was waiting for us at the border. He had arranged a hospitable welcome for our group by Dr. Lyubov Shamsidinova, an Ambassador for Peace who is the Director of a Home for the Elderly in the outskirts of Dushanbe, the capital. One of five such institutions in the country, this home of 270 patients has been the focus of UPF charity projects by local Ambassadors for Peace; they donated a cow and a small herd of goats, held song and dance festivals, and organized various activities for the elderly patients. We visited the large facilities, some rooms of the patients, and the beautiful grounds.
On September 10 we were able to meet with a few Ambassadors for Peace, notably Dr. Davlatkadam Hushkadamov, Vice Rector of the Central Asian University, and Dr. Saodat Kamalova, a prominent gerontologist who is running an NGO dedicated to the elderly. Her son, Hurshed Kadyrov, the President of the Association of Volunteers of Tajikistan, offered to be our driver.
The next day, we were invited to meet with Hon. Zuhurov, at the Parliament building. He had attended a UPF conference in the United States in 2007 when he was the Minister of Labor and was familiar with UPF's goals and activities. We were given a gracious welcomed. Hon. Zuhurov offered kind and respectful words of condolences for our Founder and praised UPF peacemaking activities. Being himself respected for his peacemaking activities in Tajikistan, we presented him with an Ambassador for Peace certificate.
We invited him to attend our Founder's memorial service in Korea, but he was not in the position to travel out of the country on such short notice.
We held a meeting with a few Ambassadors for Peace on the last evening. Among the Tajikistan Ambassadors for Peace are renowned academics, medical doctors, and NGO leaders. Dr. Safarov shared his experiences with Dr. Moon at the various international conferences which he attended and expressed his confidence that his achievements as a spiritual leader and peacemaker, beyond national and religious barriers, will remain and impact the world. All present signed a collective letter of condolences to Mrs. Moon and her family.