SGI Quarterly | SGI-Venezuela: Creating a Foundation of Peace

Creating Hope

January 2006

Banner photo: Katsuhiro Fujino

SGI-Venezuela: Creating a Foundation of Peace

by Lydia Salas, SGI-Venezuela General Director

In Venezuela, the Caribbean Sea shines emerald green, and the Orinoco and Amazon rivers nourish the country's rich soil. Venezuela is blessed with abundant natural resources and diverse scenery, while its people have a naturally bright and generous disposition.

The country has the oldest established democracy in Latin America, with a long tradition of offering asylum. During the First and Second World Wars, it opened its arms to thousands of immigrants from Europe.

SGI-Venezuela was inaugurated in 1973. Ever since, we have sought to contribute to the development of Venezuelan society through awareness-raising and educational campaigns, as well as providing humanitarian assistance when it has been needed. As Buddhist practitioners rooted in the humanistic philosophy of Nichiren, our goal is to uphold and spread the ideal of world peace in Venezuelan society. Our membership is a diverse gathering of around 2,000 people, including many individuals, especially women, who are making a notable contribution to the development of our country.

Bringing Hope

As is well known, our country has been entangled in a whirlpool of conflicts and disputes amongst various different social classes in the political arena. For this reason we feel that our mission is to bring hope to as many people as possible through the SGI's philosophy and ideals.

The exhibition "Nuclear Arms: Threat to Humanity" opens in Caracas [©Seikyo Shimbun]

SGI-Venezuela's most public activity to date was the hosting, in 1999, of the exhibition "Nuclear Arms: Threat to Humanity," held at the Ministry of Education in Caracas and at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Maracaibo, Venezuela's second-largest city. The Ministry of Education designated the exhibition as "a national program of educational interest." More than 72,000 people, including students from 300 secondary schools, visited the exhibition, and it received wide television coverage.

While we are not necessarily specialists in the specific issues that we seek to draw attention to, such as disarmament, the environment and human rights, we are committed to helping create solutions to the problems confronting humanity.

Children affected by flooding receive a donation of toys [©Seikyo Shimbun]

I believe that enormous energy for the solution of global issues is released when ordinary citizens become active in the awareness that they are part of the solution to even the most critical global issues. In this sense, the role of public education is vital. SGI-Venezuela's exhibitions, campaigns and lectures are opportunities for people to ponder and discuss current global concerns and to garner the commitment necessary to bring peace to the planet.

Flood Relief

When floods devastated large areas of Venezuela in December 1999, SGI-Venezuela responded with donations of toys, learning materials, money and baby supplies to help children in the affected states. SGI-Venezuela members also conducted an art workshop for children, responding to a request by the National Council for Minors for efforts to provide psychological support for children. Other initiatives included a workshop for 60 teachers from poorer areas affected by the tragedy, held at the request of the Ministry of Education, and a special donation to the Ministry of Environment to support the construction of permanent houses for the flood victims.

Angel Falls, the world's tallest waterfall, in southeastern Venezuela [Jacques Jangoux/Uniphoto]

The youth are the driving force in SGI-Venezuela's community activities. In May 2002, SGI-Venezuela participated in a reforestation project in the Avila National Park. Some 350 people, including school students, planted 1,500 trees. As the local government authorities acknowledged, as well as caring for the natural environment, such community efforts make an indirect but valuable contribution to combating violence in our society.

Since 2001, SGI-Venezuela has actively supported UNHCR's regional public awareness campaigns. These include the exhibitions "Big Little Eyes: Testimonies and Photography of Refugee Children"; "UNHCR: 50 years of Humanitarian Work"; and "Eradicated from Their Roots: Testimonies and Photography of Colombian Internally Displaced Persons and Refugees in the Andean Region." These were seen by more than 75,000 people. In 2004, SGI-Venezuela launched a program called "Peacebuilders" to prepare young people to contribute to peace. Later, this group joined forces with UNHCR, UNICEF and The Community Network, a local NGO, in the "Bridges of Peace" program, which aims to help protect and integrate refugee children into Venezuelan society and schools.

Working for Peace

In 2004, SGI-Venezuela began hosting the exhibition, "Gandhi, King, Ikeda: A Legacy of Building Peace," which was created by Morehouse College, the alma mater of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In preparation for the hosting of the exhibition, the members of SGI-Venezuela studied the philosophy and practice of nonviolence deeply in order to be able to effectively communicate at all levels of Venezuelan society the peace ideals represented in this exhibition.

Women members of SGI-Venezuela, Caracas, 2004

One result of the exhibition has been a decision by the University of Carabobo to incorporate the study of SGI President Ikeda's annual peace proposals into the introductory course of the university's Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences.

To date, some 2,800 students have written papers on the peace proposals, and lectures have been given on them. Feedback included comments such as: "The experience today has changed the way I perceive life. Peace is not merely the absence of armed conflict," and "I read the peace proposals, and I realized the responsibility that each one of us has to achieve world peace. Everything begins with us."

It is a great sense of joy for me to see so many young people receiving positive inspiration from the SGI's philosophy, based as it is on respect for the dignity of life. Our organization is determined to continue to contribute in ever more significant ways to securing the peace and happiness of the Venezuelan people.