The Words of the Fabrice Family
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The Words of the Fabrice Family |
Livingstone, Zambia -- UPF-Zambia held a seminar July 26, 2014 at Queens Hills Hotel in Livingstone, in preparation for the August celebration of the second anniversary of Rev. Moon's passing and the Golden Jubilee of Zambia's independence on October 24. The theme of seminar was: "Strengthening Peace in Zambia."
Around 150 people from different walks of life, teachers, lecturers at colleges, clergymen and students attended the seminar in Livingstone. The capital of the Southern Province of Zambia, Livingstone and is a tourism center for Victoria Falls, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, on the border with Zimbabwe. It is named after David Livingstone, the British explorer who was the first European to explore the area. Last year, Livingstone hosted the 20th conference of the United Nations Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
The guest of honor was Mayor Mildford Maambo. The conference started with the national anthem followed by an opening prayer. Afterwards, the MC, Mr. Lawrence Banda, introduced the panel of speakers to the participants.
The first remarks were given Mr. Maambo, who encouraged UPF to continue educating people about peace in Zambia and especially in his town. The UPF-Zambia Chairman Gen. Malimba Nathaniel Masheke introduced to the participants the mission and objectives of UPF and activities promoting peace carried out in Zambia and around the world. An introductory video about UPF was shown to the participants.
Several speakers with different topics related to the theme presented their papers. After each presentation, there were questions and answers and contributions from the participants.
UPF-Zambia Secretary General Rev. Rudolf Faerber was the first presenter. In his PowerPoint presentation titled, "The Principles of Good Governance," he emphasized the qualities of good leaders in a democratic nation. According to him, a good leader has the qualities of a good parent in a family and Lives for the sake of others.
The second speaker was Mr. Milimo C.N, a senior lecturer at David Livingstone Teacher Training College of Education. In his presentation, he emphasized civic education which can foster good citizens in a democratic nation.
The third speaker was Mrs. Shafik Grace, former mayor of Livingstone and an activist for better conditions for women in her town. She encouraged her fellow women to stand and work hard for peace in the family. According to her, women must not only rely on their husbands for better life. And she urged husbands to be supportive to their wives.
Hon. Mike Mulongoti, Ambassador for Peace, president of the People's Party and former minister of information, gave a presentation on the topic: "The Role or Responsibility of the Free Media in Strengthening Good Governance, Democracy and Human Development." In his presentation, Hon. Mulongoti said that media play an important role in the education of citizens for a strong democracy. "It is important to postulate a view that publicity and openness provides the best protection against tyranny and the excesses of arbitrary rule; the press has an important role in making officials aware of public discontents, and stimulating government to rectify their errors is a credit to the press."
Mrs. Evelyn Daka, vice projects manager of the Women's Federation for World Peace-Zambia, explained about the origin, mission and activities of the organization, such as sewing classes for vulnerable women and feeding of malnourished children in different clinics around Lusaka. Ms. Nakiwe Simpungwe, from the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification-Zambia, spoke out about young girls being impregnated, which has became common in most parts of the country. She urged participants to stand up and fight against what she called a "disease."
Mr. Crispin Mwangana, president of the Youth Federation for World Peace-Zambia, urged youth not to let themselves be used by politicians for their own agendas
Twenty participants were appointed Ambassadors for Peace and introduced to the autobiography of the UPF founder, Rev. Sun Myung Moon. Some participants was given the book, including the mayor and the former mayor.
At the end, a vote of thanks given by Mr. Phiri Dennis, a head teacher at Holy Cross School, who thanked UPF for teaching the residents of Livingstone about peace and urged his fellow participants to implement what they had learned.
The event was concluded with a closing prayer and a group photo.
The event was covered by two major media houses (Zambia National Broadcasting TVI) ZNBC. It was broadcasted in the main news ZNBC TV Channel 1 and in a special program on ZNBC TV Channel 2 and reported in Zambia Daily Mail newspaper.