Small hands for peace

More than 1,000 students at Asawittaya School in Samut Prakan’s Phra Pradaeng district enjoyed getting their hands dirty recently as they spread their inky fingers on a 10 by 15 metre piece of linen to form the shape of the Thai flag. The event, dubbed “Spreading a Culture of Peace”, was organised by Korea’s Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) and International Women’s Peace Group in Thailand. Its aim was to sow the seeds of peace in the minds of the students, who are the hope of this generation and the leaders of the future.
The collective painting is now hanging in front of the school, a well-known tourist attraction for travellers on the outskirts of Bangkok.
The programme kicked off with the screening of videos introducing the two organisations and the second Commemoration of the WARP Summit. The students performed a dance show on the theme “longing for peace” before going on to put their handprints to form the Thai flag. In so doing, they were invited to think about what it means to Thai as well as the value of the motherland. 
In her speech, the principal of Asawittaya school, Pranee Intarakhao, told her young charges: “We know that war is dangerous and terrible. I want to emphasise the importance of world peace. Peace is the greatest prize.”
Aphinita Chaichana, president of Namobuddhaya Club and peace ambassador of the IWPG, echoed that sentiment.
“This work for peace cannot be done by one individual or nation. It can be achieved when all global families get together and move for it. You are the future of Bangkok. We should also join this peace activity.”
Students, staffs, guests and members of the community painted by hand and signed the DPCW (Declaration of Peace and Cessation of War) to advocate and show support for World Peace.
 “We recognise that one of the best ways to make the people think of peace is by spreading the culture of peace. As we gather and do something for peace even if this is the just a performance that demonstrates a yearning for peace, peace will be in peoples’ minds and that is the beginning of World Peace,” HWPL chairman Man Hee Lee told The Nation via e-mail.
“If ‘without wars’ becomes part of our culture, peace will come. We are working for that. The culture can be expressed in a variety of ways. If we draw, dance and sing thinking of peace, that will become a culture of peace,” he wrote.
Founded in 2012, Heavenly Culture, World Peace, Restoration of Light (HWPL) is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation with the goal of achieving world peace and the cessation of war. With more than 70 branches in Korea and another 100 branches around the world, HWPL, in conjunction with the International Women’s Peace Group (IWPG) and the International Peace Youth Group (IPYG), is actively working to bring all wars to an end.
Those wars include the Malay-Muslim conflicts caused by historical background and religious differences in the southern part of Thailand, which are still going on today. HWPL hopes that the seed of peace planted in Bangkok will yield fruit in settling the decades-old dispute.
“It is the young who suffer the most. They are all too often sacrificed in the battle. That’s why it is essential to plant peace in young minds. They are the next generation who will make the world a peaceful place,” said Man Hee Lee