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Dispensing Disability Awareness By Jeremy Opperman

The Arctic: Indicator of Global Change By Patricia Cochran

Social Media in Armenia-Azerbaijan Peacebuilding By Onnik Krikorian

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The Heart of Peace: SGI-Switzerland

"Switzerland is Europe's snow-laden feather boa," as native writer Robert Walser once put it. The beauty of the Swiss landscape with its shimmering lakes and silvery Alps never ceases to fascinate visitors. Switzerland unites a rich variety of nature and an impressive diversity of cultures. As a confederation of 26 "cantons," Switzerland has succeeded in keeping four linguistic regions and many cultural peculiarities under one roof. About 65 percent of some 7.3 million Swiss speak German, 18 percent French, 10 percent Italian and almost one percent Romansh, which is a kind of colloquial Latin still spoken in some valleys.

Multicultural Reality

The activities of the SGI here reflect our multicultural reality, especially when we hold meetings at the national level. When we hold courses, for instance, we always do so in at least three languages.

Our long experience over the past decades of SGI activities has enabled us to see that far from being a handicap, our different languages have become a true treasure for our organization.

We have noticed that many people who at first communicated in just one language, thanks to their involvement in SGI activities and in order to communicate with our members from other regions, have begun to learn how to express themselves in other languages. Moreover, the desire to know each other better and the effort to overcome cultural differences has enabled us to help each other deepen and enrich our lives. This has demonstrated that more important to us than any cultural or linguistic difference is always our common identity as human beings.

The first Soka Gakkai members in Switzerland began practicing Buddhism in the early 1960s. There are currently some 750 members of Soka Gakkai Suisse.

SGI President Daisaku Ikeda has, since 1961, visited Switzerland several times to encourage the Swiss members. In 1989 he was awarded the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees' (UNHCR) Humanitarian Award in Geneva, for his efforts to help provide humanitarian aid to refugees.

In 1997, the Soka Gakkai Suisse Cultural Centre opened in Geneva, and in the same year an SGI UN Liaison Office was opened there.

Nonviolence and Hope

Like other countries, Swiss society also confronts problems of violence and a sense of hopelessness. In response, Soka Gakkai Suisse has been engaging in activities aimed at stimulating a spirit of hope and courage and promoting nonviolence.

The SGI's "World Boys and Girls' Paintings and Drawings" exhibition in April and May 2000 at the University of Geneva, for example, showcased a collection of over 300 artworks created by children from more than 150 countries on such themes as peace and friendship.

In 2003 and 2004, Soka Gakkai Suisse hosted the exhibition "Gandhi, King, Ikeda--A Legacy of Building Peace." The exhibition was created by the King Chapel at Morehouse College in Atlanta, U.S.A., the alma mater of Dr. King. It describes a shared legacy of nonviolence championed in three different social and historical contexts by three individuals of different cultures and faiths. The exhibition was held first in the mountain town of Gryon and thereafter in the cities of Neuchâtel and Bienne. A large number of associations joined together to organize this event. Children and teachers from the local schools, as well as local authorities and associations, helped plant commemorative "Peace Trees," and parallel conferences and festivals were arranged.

The Soka Gakkai Suisse members made great efforts for the success of these events, grounding themselves in the spirit of Gandhi's statement that "there is no path to peace, peace is the path." For those involved it was a deeply enriching experience, particularly in terms of the many bonds of friendship created based on a shared commitment to peace, culture and education.

International Activities

Switzerland is well known as a center for peace in the international community, and Geneva in particular is home to a large number of UN institutions, permanent missions of UN member states, NGOs and international academic institutions.

The SGI UN Liaison Office was established there to represent the SGI as an NGO in consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council to UN organizations and the international community. Through this office, partnerships and friendships have been built and broadened with UN organizations and other NGOs, as well as with Swiss academic and social institutions.

The members of Soka Gakkai Suisse feel fortunate to partake in this international community of people devoted to peace. In keeping with the SGI's focus on public education, members of Soka Gakkai Suisse have helped stage and support a number of public exhibitions at the Palais de Nations, representative office of the UN in Geneva.

The "Toward A Century of Humanity--Human Rights in Today's World" exhibition was shown here twice, in December 1993 and February 1994, with support of the UN Centre for Human Rights.

The Palais des Nations has also hosted "Linus Pauling and the Twentieth Century," an exhibition created by the SGI with cosponsorship of the Linus Pauling family and Oregon State University. This exhibition celebrates the two-time Nobel Prize winner's achievements and commitment both as a groundbreaking scientist and a relentless campaigner for peace and disarmament. Following its showing at the United Nations in 2003, it was hosted again by the University of Geneva Medical Centre.

The members of Soka Gakkai Suisse are proud to be active in this country of peace, making our contribution to an international solidarity of people working for a better world.

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