WAILUA — The origin of peace knows no boundaries, and a discussion by youth bore fruit Friday evening with the first Peace Day celebration. “It was about two years ago at a state United Jr. Young Buddhists Association convention that
WAILUA — The origin of peace knows no boundaries, and a discussion by youth bore fruit Friday evening with the first Peace Day celebration.
“It was about two years ago at a state United Jr. Young Buddhists Association convention that I was sitting right behind these two people who were talking,” said Andrew Yamamoto, president of the Kaua‘i United Jr. YBA, hosting organization of the Peace Day Celebration at Lydgate Park.
“Randy Yamamoto and this girl, I think her name was Smiley, were talking about peace,” Andrew said. “At that time, the Iraqi war was escalating.”
That was the seed for the Peace Day celebration coordinated by United Jr. YBA leaders throughout the state.
Andrew said the pair approached some state legislators who agreed with their viewpoint and legislation was started at the state legislature.
State representative Jon Riki Karamatsu, Vice Speaker of the House of Representatives, introduced House Bill 345 on behalf of the members of the Hawai‘i Federation of Jr. YBA.
According to a Peace Day Web site, the bill got support from diverse groups including the Spark Matsunaga Institute for Peace, Domestic Violence Clearinghouse and Legal Hotline, Retail Merchants of Hawai‘i, the Wahiawa Lions Club, the Hawai‘i State Teachers Association, the League of Women Voters, the Pacific Buddhist Academy, and many individuals from around the state.
Before the end of this year’s legislature, a bill was signed into law by governor Linda Lingle on April 18 declaring Sept. 21 as Peace Day.
According to some of the adult leaders for the United Jr. YBA, the governor was scheduled to speak at the Peace Day celebration on O‘ahu which was scheduled for noon at the State Capitol.
In a “Guest Viewpoint” column in Friday’s TGI, Kaua‘i Mayor Bryan Baptiste also alluded to the Peace Day celebration.
On Kaua‘i, about a hundred people of all ages gathered with the young Buddhists, some of them opting to celebrate Peace in lieu of the Friday night football game.
Boy Scouts from Troop 83 recited Mattie Stephanek’s poem, Girl Scouts and Brownies presented “Metta,” a piece on love and kindness, and as a choir made up of singers from the Lihu‘e, Kapa‘a and West Kaua‘i Hongwanji rendered “Let there be peace,” candles securely anchored in a bed of sand in a protective paper bag were lit.
The flickering flame obscured by the paper did not diminish its power to attract the group to a tight cirlce, bringing to it, personal reflections of peace.
Hawai‘i’s celebration also coincides with the United Nations International Day of Peace that, according to United Nations Resolution 55/282, should be observed as a Global Ceasefire and day of peace and nonviolence, states an International Day of Peace Web site.
The United Nations International Day of Peace was established in 2001 and is celebrated by more than 200 countries around the world.
