FOWPAL visited Turkish campus, teachers and students jointly signed "The Declaration of World Day of the Power of Hope"
Traveling around the world and promoting love and peace through cultural exchanges, the Federation of World Peace and Love (FOWPAL) set foot in Türkiye for the fourth time. On February 19, 2024, FOWPAL international volunteers visited the Private Adem Ceylan Final Technical and Vocational High School (Özel Adem Ceylan Final Teknik Koleji). They held the 2024 International Youth Forum for Love and Peace with the theme ‘Fostering a Sustainable World with Conscience and the Power of Hope’ and put on performances such as Eastern martial arts. They were warmly welcomed by teachers and students.
This was the first time for the international volunteers of FOWPAL to visit the Turkish campus and invite everyone to sign the "Declaration of World Day of the Power of Hope". Through sharing, they conveyed the wishes and actions of conscience and exchanged messages of love and peace with local students to write an inspiring new page in history.
Oğuzhan Ceylan, the general manager of the school, and Murat Taşçı, the principal of the school, led more than ten teachers to warmly welcome the delegation. Participating students included not only high school students from 14 to 18 years old, but also cute little ones as young as 5 and 6 years old, and the atmosphere was full of warmth and joy.
The event conveyed the importance of following one’s conscience through the beautiful voices of the South Island aborigines in the song ‘Children from Heaven’. The guidance of conscience can change the world for the better. Subsequently, Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze, the president of FOWPAL, led the teachers and students in a one-minute meditation to pray for themselves and the world.
Oğuzhan Ceylan delivered a speech and talked about the importance of peace. Peace, he said, is a life in which people do not harm each other, do not fight, do not shed blood and do not use violence. In societies where peace prevails, there is no fear or anxiety; people look to the future with hope and become more peaceful and productive. He emphasized that all individuals must take responsibility and be in favor of peace. Problems should be resolved through negotiation in a more democratic, peaceful, and respectful of human rights environment. After all, "peace" is the virtue of civilizations, while war is the crime of civilizations.
Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze delivered a brilliant speech on the topic of "Creating Technology of Spirit with Love". He indicated how to be a wise “digital citizen” in an environment where the virtual and the real worlds are either distinct or integrated, and how to be a pioneer in the new era of diverse multi-technology advancements. He emphasized that facing an ever-accelerating pace of the world, it’s more important than ever to strengthen and balance one’s inner self. People can achieve this by following their our conscience, which guides them to care for the beautiful aspects of human nature, and the motivation for reflection and self-correction, he added. He proposed several methods to maintain the balance of the spirit: taking a moment of silence each day and applying the wisdom of “one, two, three”: review, amend, and act again. He encouraged everyone to bravely face the good and bad within themselves through daily self-reflection, with a quiet heart, listen to the inner voice of conscience while using wisdom to explore the value of life.
Immediately following this, Mustafa Ercan Ergin, the Representative of Marmara Group, welcomed all the participants at the event, especially the FOWPAL members. He said that in a world full of division and discord, it’s crucial to remember the profound significance of these guiding principles of "peace and love". He urged everyone to work together to foster an environment where peace and love flourish. He also motivated people to reach out to those in need, embrace diversity, and cherish the connections that unite them as one human family.
Before the forum began, a video was played to introduce the fruitful achievements of FOWPAL, which has traveled to more than 300 cities in 103 countries around the world to promote a culture of conscience, love and peace.
Yalçın özcan, a 16 year-old student of the school, emphasized the importance of spreading love among teenagers, saying: "Love is one of the most important thing that affects and contributes positively to human life. Love unites people, fulfills both psychological and mental needs, generally makes a person a more positive individual in life. So the younger generation should be taught how to be kind to each other.
Arda Güler, an 18-year-old student of the school, spoke on the topic of "Love, Peace, and Societal Values". Turkish culture hosts a rich heritage with deep roots spanning thousands of years, he said, and one of the most significant elements of this heritage is the value of love and peace. He mentioned, world peace and sustainability are interdependent concepts. As sustainability is achieved, creating the necessary environment for world peace becomes easier, and likewise, as world peace is achieved, reaching sustainability goals becomes more feasible.
The international young volunteers of FOWPAL shared how their conscience and the power of hope have changed them. Kiki Ho who works in the jewelry industry stated that the jewelry trade is currently highly affected by wars, epidemics, and global changes, and many other difficulties.
Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze once reminded her the importance of ‘letting go, harmony, and gratitude,’ which has helped her overcome the challenges she has faced.
In her career, ‘to let go’ allows her not to care about gains and losses, and honesty and integrity are her daily principles; when communicating with others, she learns to treat people with ‘harmony’; she views every day with a ‘grateful’ mindset. These values, which originate from the conscience, have greatly helped her personal growth and career.
Allen Tai, a university student, mentioned that November 2022 marked his first journey with Dr. Hong to promote love and peace in India. Initially, he felt somewhat distant from others upon their first encounter. ‘However, as I actually participated, I found that as long as “I am willing to do it”, things will go smoothly.’
Ashley Huang, who just graduated from college last year, shared that the ‘Declaration of World Day of the Power of Hope’ emphasizes daily self-reflection and selfless prayers, which has brought positive impacts to her current internship and made her persist in actions guided by conscience. When facing children’s learning problems, many parents may feel hard to accept the facts or may think that the teacher is causing the trouble. However, this doesn’t make Ashley choose to ignore their problems; instead, she conveys professional advice to parents with a sincere and peaceful attitude, in order to seize the golden period of treatment for the children.
The volunteers gave a series of amazing performances, which impressed all the teachers and students: a sword dance symbolizing the stabilizing power for of the global situation, bringing warmth and stability to the world. The performance of martial arts expressed awe and respect for nature, while the traditional opera conveyed their peace wish.
Finally, the Energy Boys & Energy Girls with their smiles and dances brought an inspiring power to the audience. Their positive energy infected the teachers and students, who all stood up and danced joyfully together.
The students were very surprised by the performance of FOWPAL. Ali riza öner would like to thank all volunteers, who are like sweet brothers and sisters to him. He was impressed by the performance of energy boys and girls. During the one-minute silence, he hoped the world to be more peaceful, and people to pay more attention to human rights.