Calling international peacemakers to unite for the Peace Trek in the Great Afghan Outdoors on the 25th of Sept 2009

Calling international peacemakers to unite for the Peace Trek in the Great Afghan Outdoors

on the 25^th of Sept 2009

Come for the Peace Trek in the Great Afghan Outdoors on the 25th of Sept 2009!

Why should peacemakers from NATO and other countries come together for a Peace Trek in the mountains and valleys of Afghanistan?

The world needs to find trust and hope again.

The world needs a concrete, visible solidarity for peace.

Troopers with guns (now more than 100,000 and ‘surging’ ) from NATO and other countries have come together for the Afg/Pak War in the mountains and valleys of Afghanistan.

Peacemakers from NATO and other countries should come together for Peace in the mountains and valleys of Afghanistan.

The world needs to witness humanity’s unity with respect to non-violence and peace, in contrast to witnessing humanity’s coalition with respect to violence and war.

Recent polls in Europe ( Germany, France, Europe ) and the US show waning public support for the war in Afghanistan. Peacemakers have an opportune moment to make a stand together in the Afghan arena itself, to galvanize the world’s majority opinion.

If the military forces can work together for ‘foggy’ causes, can’t peacemakers journey together for peace through humane relationships. Can’t peacemakers put aside their ‘peace pride’, ‘peace partisan agendas’ and ‘peace names’ for the sake of peace itself?

Why do so this September, and why in 2009?

21^st September is the UN-designated, annual International Peace Day.

We should take a stand in Afghanistan this year because the world’s socio-political and military focus in 2009 is on Afghanistan.

The world is watching!

Why Afghanistan?

Because Afghanistan is home to struggling but dignified fellow humans who desperately need creative alternatives to constant wars.

Why Bamiyan?

Bamiyan can be the seed and catalyst of peace in Afghanistan, being one of the most secure provinces.

Read BBC’s recent article “Putting Bamiyan back on the Map”, in which UN envoy Kai Eide says “if we ignore places that are stable, we will pay a price for it”.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8205881.stm

The restoration of the Bamiyan Buddhas destroyed by the Taliban forms a symbolic background of the restoration of peace in the world, regardless of differences in culture and faith.

The Band-e-Amir lake in Bamiyan is the first National Park of Afghanistan.

Please watch Afghan youth invite the world to come to Afghanistan’s first National Park, Band-e-Amir, for friendship and peace.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsRto89×0lY

Why take the personal risk and expense?

Why not?

Why the Shah Fuladi mountain lakes of the Hindu Kush range?

Because like Afghans, the Great Afghan Outdoors is beautiful.

Peace Trek to the Shah Fuladi lakes

When is the Peace Trek in the Great Afghan Outdoors?

25^th of September 2009

Who is organizing the Peace Trek?

Our Journey to Smile, a peace building effort among Afghan youth in Bamiyan http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog

Letter of invitations will be sent from the Bamiyan Journalist Association

Our Journey to Smile is partnering with UN Environment Protection Bamiyan and UN Assistance Mission to Afghanistan Bamiyan in this International Peace Day event.

Who pays for all the trip expenses?

As we are an entirely volunteer set-up with no funding, the peacemaker volunteer has to take all responsibility over his/her own personal safety and finances for the entire trip.

Bamiyan is one of the safest provinces in Afghanistan.

How to join the Peace Trek in the Great Afghan Outdoors?

1. Read more about the Peace Trek ( updates will be posted in the next few days ) and Our Journey to Smile at http://ourjourneytosmile.com/blog
2. Write to us at contact@ourjourneytosmile.com

Name :

Age:

Gender:

Occupation:

Nationality :
Peace Group affiliated to ( if any ) :

Email address :

Please state clearly that you are not representing any religious or political group.

We’ll send you the letter of invitation and your journey of peace begins!

Peace Trek in the Afghan Hindu Kush mountains

Technorati Tags: Afghan Presidential Elections, Afghanistan peace, Calling world peacemakers to the Peace Trek in the Great Afghan Outdoors, peace in Afghanistan, the Afg/Pak war

International Day of Peace- Journey to Smile Commitment

The United Nations’ International Day of Peace - marked every year on September 21 - is a global holiday when individuals, communities, nations and governments highlight efforts to end conflict and promote peace.

Established by U.N. resolution in 1982, “Peace Day” has grown to include millions of people around the world who participate in all kinds of events, large and small.

Our Journey to Smile has made a commitment to Peace on this day.
http://internationaldayofpeace.org/participate/events_calendar.html

Our Journey to Smile International Peace Day event : ‘half-marathon peace trek’ to the Shah Fuladi Hindu Kush mountain lakes. This will be held on the 25th September 2009 - in support and in remembrance of Peace in this region.

Our Journey to Smile will ‘gather’ all the youth peace volunteers.

Peace Volunteers- are wanted.

Our target is for a maximum of 200 peace trekkers, perhaps 100-150 Afghans and 50- 100 internationals.

Please mark and join in on the 25^th of September for the ‘half-marathon peace trek’ to the Shah Fuladi Hindu Kush mountain lakes. On the Journey to smile. 

For Peace.

 

 

Technorati Tags: afghanistan bamiyan, commitment to peace, international day of peace, journey to smile, peace day, Volunteer, volunteer for peace

Volunteer

We are looking for volunteers, one from every nation of the world.

• To go to the World Heritage Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan on International Peace Day, 21st of September 2009, in support of Afghan college students in Our Journey to Smile.

Volunteers will also need to attend a Humane Relations conference before the 21st of September 2009 (date and place of conference to be decided). This is necessary to build Our Journey to Smile and to understand and nurture each other’s lives.

• Be committed to encouraging Humane Relations: Our Journey to Smile in their respective countries, through various long-term, voluntary activities.

Criteria for volunteers :

• Our Journey to Smile involves no monetary benefit / profit / salary.

• Volunteers are fully responsible for their own safety.

• Individual expenses will be borne by the volunteers themselves. They may raise funds for themselves, but not receive funds from political or religious groups.

• Our Journey to Smile has no political or religious agenda, therefore NO politicians or affiliates of political groups and religious professionals will be considered.

• Volunteers should not insist that their way of thinking, doing and living is THE best or the only or right way.

• Volunteers must be prepared to live with ANY nationality.

B. Support Volunteers

Support volunteers can

1. Help spread the message of Our Journey to Smile

This will be through the volunteers’ own network of friends. The wider the spread, the wider the scale of Smiles and Humane Relations we will encourage.

2. Stay in contact with us

Our on-line volunteers will look into establishing a system of updating support volunteers.

Until such a system of a regular email alerts or updates is set up, we request support volunteers to visit the site regularly for updates.

3. Encourage with letters to Afghans

Write or leave comments to encourage Afghans

4. Share experiences on-line

This would add to the Journey through real stories on humane actions and peace building from various countries eg on inter-racial harmony

Those interested to be either Bamiyan Journey Volunteers or Support Volunteers should email us at

volunteer@ourjourneytosmile.com

Those interested to be Bamiyan Journey Volunteers should additionally fill up and attach the Bamiyan Journey Volunteer Application Form in their email to us.

http://www.ourjourneytosmile.com/Volunteer/VolunteerApplicationForm.doc

(if clicking on the link above does not work, please try this:

copy the link, and paste it in your internet browser.

Download or open the document.

After you’ve filled up, please save the form with a different name, and send it back to volunteer@ourjourneytosmile.com.

Thank you very much.)

Those interested to be volunteers should contact us.

* Required fields

Name: * Email:* Website: Subject:* Message: * 101 + 11 =*

Technorati Tags: journey to peace, peace, Volunteer

The Story of Our Journey

The beginning

2008 AD

Could have been 1008 AD.

A group of Afghan college students from different conflicting racial groups volunteered to test the difficult question of humanity.

Are humane relationships possible in the depth of conflict and global self-interest? Is civility possible?

Can we smile?

It has been a tough journey. It’s hard to see some of us leave.

But terrible darkness calls for a tough light, and in-human hate hopes for a humane love.

We wish to smile.

Join and follow our journey in 2009.

We hope to gather Afghan college students from all over the hurting country of Afghanistan, to build friendships, to grieve together and to recover our smile. Humanity’s smile.

On 21st September 2009, for the International Peace Day celebrations, we invite you to the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan , built and destroyed by fellow humans.

Would you, one from every nation of the world, join us in asking those sad but hopeful questions, in encouraging wide scale humane relationships and in raising the possibility of love?

MY JOURNEY TO SMILE WITH NAJIB

Najib was a Pushtoon refugee I befriended at the Afghan border. He was orphaned by the war and fled with his aged grandmother. I remember his sad, empty eyes.

He collected and sold rubbish to survive. On many evenings after work, he would look for me, for some safety in our friendship.

When I invited Najib and his grandma to come share some fruit, I washed his dirtied hands and bare feet and then posed for this picture. I asked Najib to smile.

His grandma said in a rather indignant tone,’ Why? Why are you asking Najib to smile? He has no reason to smile…..he has no reason to smile.’

I miss the occasions when Najib smiled, at me and his fellow rubbish-collecting friend Faisal.

One day, he came to tell me he was leaving because life was difficult. And he cried. I wish I could have continued my journey to smile with Najib.

MY JOURNEY TO SMILE WITH KHAMAD

About 9 years ago, Khamad’s family of 8 dispersed separately across the Hindu Kush mountains, away from the fighting. When Khamad finally returned to his village, he found that his father had been killed.

His mother says that since then, Khamad has been chronically depressed and wonders if she should call upon the ‘magician’ to cast out the ‘depressed spirit’ that makes him stare and frown.

Khamad has become my brother and friend. I enjoy relating with him through an arduous but simple life, in building a potato chips business, in finding purpose and dignity.

Very occasionally, when he sings a quiet tune or breaks out into a smile, I take delight that love can lighten our souls and change our faces.

I am continuing my journey with Khamad, even when failure greets us or life disappoints us.

Because our smiles will journey in our hearts.