March 8, 2009 (Sunday)
Dear Peacemakers and Friends,
Dear Peacemakers and Friends,Greetings of peace and love from San Francisco!
I returned to Manila safely last 26th February from a 10-day trip to Australia. Loreta Castro (Center for Peace Education of the Miriam College) and I were invited to speak at an interfaith summit in Brisbane organized by Dr. Toh Swee-Hin and Dr. Virginia Cawagas of the Multi-Faith Center, Griffith University. The theme of the summit was "One Humanity, Many Faiths." Three hundred forty leaders and interfait h dialogue practitioners attended from around Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. I spoke on "Fostering Intercultural Respect and Reconciliation" in the context of my work in Manila, and this was well received by the assembly.
After the summit in Brisbane, Jason Mundy, James Lees, and Ria Go-Tian of the Australian Embassy in Manila had arranged for our visit to their office in Canberra and Sydney. We were warmly hosted by the Australian government and met many interesting people in government and by representatives of the NGO communities we visited; they shared with us very heartwarming stories and information on the work that they are doing to promote peace and harmony among diverse cultures and beliefs in their country. I will write in more detail about my experience of Australia as soon as I am able.
I am now in San Francisco , USA for the United Religions Initiative (URI) Circles of Light annual fundraising gala dinner. I am to speak on my interfaith work in Manila before an audience of over 400 people from around San Francisco and some URI representatives and friends from elsewhere around the world. I have been here since March 1 to speak to various groups of people. Below is the link to a write-up on an interview I had with the San Francisco Chronicle. It was published in the news here yesterday, Friday (March 6).
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/06/DDFD169CMP.DTL
Please remember me in your prayers. I look forward to returning home to Manila tomorrow to prepare for the next challenge--the the URI Southeast Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly that will be held in Tubod, Lanao del Norte from March 16-21.
With love and warm regards from chilly San Francisco,
Marites
