Asuncion, Paraguay - On March 25, 2009, the recently established Global Peace Foundation of Paraguay sponsored Cultural Peace Festival under the theme, One Family Under God in Asuncion, Paraguay.  Organized by several key peace ambassadors from the Congressional Office of International Affairs and the Ministry of Education, the exciting festival surpassed everyone’s expectation.

ASUNCIóN, PARAGUAY - The day after the July 5 grand event at Club Olimpia Stadium in Asunción, the major Paraguayan newspapers carried detailed reports of the six-hour program. ABC’s story entitled “Thousands of Voices Sound Out for Peace” carried five full-color photos of the events on stage. It showed the packed stadium and the closure of the major street in front of the stadium, Avenida Mariscal López, to handle the overflow crowd. It referred to speakers on the stage, including Julio Maria Sanguinetti, former president of Uruguay; Paraguayan soccer star José Luis Chilavert; and the Global Peace Festival Chair, Dr. Hyun Jin Moon.

Asunción, Paraguay - An energetic crowd of 25,000 packed into Asunción’s historic Club Olimpia Stadium burst into rowdy and prolonged cheers at the Global Peace Festival (GPF) Saturday night as Founder Dr. Hyun Jin Moon told them “Paraguay would play a leading role in building One Family Under God.” The Paraguay GPF is the first of 17 planned throughout the world in 2008.

“Before we are Paraguayans, or Americans, or Koreans; before we are Christian, Muslim or Jew, we must understand our fundamental identity as the sons and daughters of God,” Moon said. “We must look beyond our differences to the things that unite us and can bind us together.

Speech delivered by Miram Parel, Vice President for Strategic Partnerships, Points of Light and Hands On Network, USA, to the International Leadership Conference, Asunción, Paraguay, July 2-6, 2008

In this conference we have delved deeply into the vision and the ideals of service. We have created a nurturing environment for our common values and hopefully a safe environment do discuss our disagreements.
In my brief talk today I want to tell how this vision and ideals come to fruition through the Points of Light partnership with UPF, and I ‘m going to challenge everyone of you to participate.
But first, let me briefly tell you about Points of Light and Hands On Network. Points of Light was created by President Bush, the father, as a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonreligious organization to promote volunteering and service. Last year, Points of Light merged with the Hands On Network, and it now has 370 affiliates in the US and nearly 30 abroad.

Asunción, Paraguay - Twenty-eight new Ambassadors for Peace were appointed at the International Leadership Conference (ILC) Awards banquet today, on the eve of the Global Peace Festival. (GPF) Excitement is mounting quickly as signs go up throughout the city regretting that tomorrow’s festival is “Entradas Agotadas” or “Sold Out.” The Paraguay GPF is the first of more than 15 planned for this year.

The ILC brought together more than 220 participants from 80 nations, including a significant group of Young Ambassadors for Peace convened by the Youth Federation. In his congratulatory remarks to the conference, UPF Co-chair Hyun Jin Moon spoke of his growing respect for Paraguay and its people. “I congratulate all the Ambassadors for Peace,” he said, “and I want you to know that it was in the Chaco (the remote tropical North) that I first encountered the real spirit of the Paraguayan people.

Asunción, Paraguay - Thousands of schoolchildren in the Paraguayan capital have found a new passion this month: service to their city and pride in the difference their volunteer efforts can make. Wearing bright blue Global Peace Festival T-Shirts with the slogan “Asunción – my city” on the front and “One Family Under God” on the back, fifteen out of the seventy schools participating gathered this morning for a final clean up and celebration along Ave Projectada 21 in one of Asunción’s poorer neighborhoods.

Teams of kids from the different school split up to cover the 21 mini parks located along the wide boulevard. Each park had its own character – one would be just a dirt football field, another a grass park, a third set up for volleyball. But all had similar problems --- small mountains of garbage, large and dangerous rocks and stones littered about, and unkempt and unclear pavements along a busy highway.

Asunción, Paraguay - Thousands of excited and eager Paraguayan teenagers and young adults besieged a popular radio station in downtown Asunción today, in response to a promotion offering pairs of free tickets to the Global Peace Festival scheduled to be held this coming Saturday. Even though the Club Olimpia Stadium is one of the capital’s top venues and holds more than 25,000, expectations are high that it will be completely sold out come the weekend.

Among the top music acts flying in to perform at the charity event are Argentine superstar Alejandro Lerner, Cuban rappers Chapa C and bands from Panama and the Dominican Republic. The Paraguayan National Symphony Orchestra and Ballet and several popular local bands are also slated to play.