THREE JAPANESE volunteers have come all the way to Cyprus to present a two-metre aluminium peace pole to UNFICYP’s Chief of Mission Michael Moller today.
The three representatives of the World Peace Prayer Society (WPPS) will hand over Cyprus’ first peace pole at a special ceremony at Nicosia’s Ledra Palace to mark International Peace Day.
There are currently over 200,000 such peace poles in over 180 countries around the world. Seasoned peace representative, Masayo Shibamoto from Yokohama, has delivered peace poles to 30 countries in the last 10 years, her latest planted in a school in Bangkok.
“The basic philosophy is to have as many of these as possible around the world; to spread the message and promote peace,” said Shibamoto.
The WPPS is a non-governmental organisation, which is not based on any specific religion. It uses officers and volunteers to send peace poles, carrying the words ‘May Peace Prevail on Earth’ around the world. So how does a country go about getting a peace pole?
“There are no conditions. If anybody wants to set up a peace pole, the only condition is that someone from within the country has to seek it and they have to put it in a public place,” said Shibamoto.
And through only three degrees of separation, the peace promoters found themselves in Cyprus:
“We got involved in 2000 with the President of the Baltic Cycling Association who is Lithuanian. They decided this year to ride for peace through Europe, with the tour culminating in Cyprus. A Lithuanian woman working in Cyprus heard about us and asked them to ask us to bring a peace pole,” she explained.
“We wanted to put one in the buffer zone, one in the north and one in the south, but we haven’t heard back from the two Nicosia municipalities yet.”
Here for only three days, Shibamoto already believes Cyprus is a good place for a pole. “This region which is the cradle of civilisation has so many problems. I hope this message will promote a new cradle of civilisation once again to the starting point of new ideas.”
Tomoko Okuno from Osaka said she had little knowledge of Cyprus before arriving but now feels it is connected with the many countries that have these poles of peace.
Akiko Kumagai from Tokyo explained that she volunteered to promote peace out of frustration with the world. “Peace is something that everyone in the world wants, it’s a common concept, and yet a lot of places can’t achieve it. My way of promoting peace is to bring peace poles and see for myself why,” she said.
Shibamoto was quick to quash any expectations of the pole having any mystical powers that might turn the intractable Cyprus problem into a happy solution.
“The pole itself doesn’t do anything. It’s the hearts of the local people that look at it that counts. A change won’t come from the pole, but from a change within the hearts of the people. And all people should work worldwide for peace.”
Saying all that, a week after Shibamoto planted a peace pole in south Lebanon in 2000, the Israeli Defence Force withdrew from the country after years of occupation. When all else fails, look to the tall and new…
