International Day of Peace- Journey to Smile Commitment
March 31, 2009 by
Filed under Journey Updates, Our Journey to Smile : Mission Statement
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 25th of September for the ‘half-marathon peace trek’ to the Shah Fuladi Hindu Kush mountain lakes. On the Journey to smile.
For Peace.
Smile – from the Heart
February 22, 2009 by
Filed under Videos
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Thank you for your heart of peace!
Journey to Smile
February 13, 2009 by
Filed under Journey Updates
An ancient and growing journey to smile
A seed, a friendship
An encouragement and a grieving
Perhaps
Also a meaning.
Habib, Aghans and the world wish to smile;
To be humane despite our hearts.
To ask together, like the dove,
Perhaps
We can raise the possibility of love.
Join the Journey to Smile …
VENUE World Heritage Bamiyan Buddhas
LOCATION Bamiyan Afghanistan
DATE 21 September 2009
Our Journey to Smile in 2009 wishes to gather Afghan college students and Afghan youth from every ethnicity,
as well as international volunteers from every country, to come together at the World Heritage Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan on International Peace Day,
21st September 2009,
to be an example and encouragement to the world
that wide-scale humane relations based on a humane love is possible,
in-humane our current global situation may be.
In 2009 AD, Afghanistan is in the depth of world conflict and self-interest.
Whatever our fellow humans, Obama or Osama or others, decide, the college students and youth of Afghanistan, together with all of humanity, wish to to encourage ourselves and others to SMILE.
By smiling, we are grieving over Mankind’s proud, in-humane and self-absorbed behavior. We seek to raise the possibility of a humane love by building wide scale humane relationships and thus enjoy the growth of a majority public practice of humanity’s shared hopes.
We hope to put courage and dignity into our lives and our world, to put delight into the hearts of children and all of Mankind, to suggest that whatever our shared condition, a HUMANE LOVE is possible.
While the US, NATO, Taliban and all other players decide what to do with a country that is not theirs and a world that does not belong only to them, is there ANY ONE PERSON who understands what the common, average citizen of Afghanistan or citizen of the world wishes for?
Some say realistically but sadly, ‘this Journey will NOT happen….’
What they are saying is ,’ Genuine love, humanity and peace belong only to the poets and the fables. Humanity doesn’t have what it takes.’
It’s sad because both Afghans and the world need encouragement.
It’s sad because reality, perhaps life itself, seems keen for us to remain frozen in the timid beliefs that humanity cannot have the HUMANE RELATIONS which the majority of us want, that the small minority of decision-makers must always have their self-interested ways.
We want address our own cynicism, to try, to face disappointment, to take our small steps, believing that when we embark on Our Journey to Smile, humanity has to grow and will not shrink back to its unsure and undignified days.
Volunteer
February 12, 2009 by
Filed under Our Journey to Smile : Mission Statement, 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.