Peace? It is Possible with MANNAM.

Hello. I'm a kindergarten teacher in Korea. It's been 3 years since I met MANNAM Volunteer Association. I got to knew this group through an event named 'Love for Taegeuk, and Love for Mugungwha' which was hold in MANNAM. I saw some bent old men with white hair. There brilliant eyes said they were not ordinary old men. They were the people who had took a part in the Korean War in 1950-53.

The event was to commemorate them who devoted their lives to our nation and people. To thank them, MANNAM members made a huge flag, Teaguekgi, with thousand of people's hand prints.

I visited there by chance and I was impressed after I'd looked around the event booths and performance. I would have liked to join MANNAM volunteer group. So, I signed up there.

This was how I join MANNAM.

Now, I've got feeling that Peace is possible through MANNAM and it's never far away.

I asked one of my students who was 6 years old.

"What do you think peace is?"

She said, "Peace is loving each other."

The other kid said, "Peace is smiling, sharing chocolate with friends."

For adults like us, we think peace is much complicated and difficult to achieve. But for the pure kids, peace is just loving and sharing each other.

What do you think Peace is?

I‘ve been learning from MANNAM how could we love each other, make up for each other's weak points with no racial or cultural discriminations. MANNAM volunteer association has been doing many things to achieve its goal which is Peace, and I'm sure we are making happy and peaceful world.

I'm very pleased I could help my neighbors in need and make peace in the world. I think I became one of  the small peace makers for the society and the world.

Why don't you be a small peace maker like me? Volunteering is not difficult and it brings you happiness to your life. Somebody is waiting for your help somewhere. I hope you can hold out a helping hand to somebody.

written by

Na-yeong

A meeting of two peace makers, Man Hee Lee & Aung San Suu Kyi

Aung San Suu Kyi (pronounced Ong San Soo Chee), Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace laureate, symbolizes the struggle of  Myanmar's people for freedom.
She returned to Myanmar in 1988 to nurse her dying mother and was immediately plunged into the country's nationwide democracy uprising. Joining the newly-formed National League for Democracy (NLD), Suu Kyi gave numerous speeches calling for freedom and democracy. The military regime responded to the uprising with brute force, killing up to 5,000 demonstrators. Unable to maintain its grip on power, the regime was forced to call a general election in 1990.
As Aung San Suu Kyi began to campaign for the NLD, she and many others were detained by the regime. Despite being held under house arrest, the NLD went on to win a staggering 82% of the seats in parliament. The regime never recognized the results of the election.

Aung San Suu Kyi has been in and out of arrest ever since. She was held under house arrest from 1989-1995, and again from 2000-2002. She was again arrested in May 2003 after the Depayin massacre, which was an incident that close to 100 of her supporters were beaten to death by the regime's militia.

She has spent more than 15 years being under detention. She was released from her current third period of detention on November 13, 2010. There are still over 2,200 political prisoners in Myanmar now. She has carried out a movement of Myanmar's nonviolent democracy, struggling with house arrest and detention.

Honorary president of MANNAM Volunteer Association, Man Hee Lee and the president, Nam Hee Kim have visited many countries in Europe, America, Africa to meet the world leaders and to convey the aspirations of world peace and liberation. All world leaders they have met agreed with the message that break down the walls of border, race, religion and become a family for world peace and liberation.

And they are planning to meet other leaders continuously. Becuase the world peace is not only our dream but also whole human race's desire. MANNAM will continue to make every effort to realize the World Peace.

Written by

Yeong-jae Yu