News
BUILDING A CULTURE OF PEACE
The Human Rights Day commemoration in Wollongong city on 10th December 2004 was again an example of "Youth and children can move the world." Up to 200 shoppers stopped to watch the impressive presentations and creative performances of our young people as they reflected on a day in our annual calendar which reminds us of our achievements and at the same time of how far we yet have to go to reach a world of peace and justice for all.
The event was launched by a local young person, Venus Rahmani who in recent years has represented Australia at the International Conference on Youth Leadership in Prague, won a rotary scholarship and had various achievements in Peace Studies.
School captains at Kanahooka High School chaired the programme which began with "Reflections on Peace from the religions of the World", presented by local primary school students who attend weekly Baha'i Education classes in State Schools. This was followed by a warm and informative talk by a member of the Muslim Women's Association.
The rest of the programme was made up of music, poetry and the reading of the winning prose in the primary and secondary schools writing competition launched for the first time this year. The standard of the music from Keira Technology High School and Smiths Hill High school students was exceptional and included compositions created especially for the day.
The day was organized by a working group made up of representatives of Wollongong City Cultural Services; staff and students of Wollongong University; the Baha'i community of Wollongong; Amnesty International; Illawarra Multicultural Services and interested members of the public.
We look forward to hearing about what other communities did on Human Rights day 2004.
Allison Atkinson (member of Working Group)
Read the winning prose
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