Every year on 20th November, the world celebrates “A World Day of Prayer and Action for Children (DPAC)” with a number of programmes including prayers, meditation and spiritual discourses along with ringing the bells of different places of worship to fulfill the UN Millennium Development Goals. We feel all undergoing a series of life-threatening situations due to violence, crime and looting. We have lost the peace of both mind and body and feel incapable of carrying out any activities that might work towards peace. We are helpless! We need to learn a lesson from this and wake up each day with a renewed vision and mission to give hope to the entirety of humanity. We are the problem and of course we are also the cure.
Let us start something positive, wherever we are. The sooner the better; we are already late. The best means of happiness would be through prayer and meditation. This brings about spiritual awareness throughout communities, the cumulative effects of which will indeed have a global effect.
It is our great pleasure to have Mr. Kul Chandra Gautam, former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF who is also the chairperson of the DPAC organising committee worldwide as the guiding personality for this movement. UNICEF Nepal is also ready to reach out with its helping hand for the success of DPAC at the local level.
Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC) has made an appeal to the world community to take up some initiatives in order to make the day truly successful. We are very happy to announce that Shanti Sewa Ashram / Peace Service Center (SSA) along with many other friendly social organizations (such as Hindu Vidyapeeth – Nepal and Youth Society for Peace, etc) have a long-standing connection with this global movement, running several programmes for different sections of the community. These inspirational successes have motivated SSA to get further involved in such programmes both more firmly and with greater commitment. We feel highly privileged to have this opportunity to co-ordinate DPAC programmes with GNRC throughout the country again this year.
“A World Day of Prayer and Action for Children seeks to bring together people of religion and goodwill to safeguard the integrity, rights and dignity of children, and promote their survival, development, protection and well-being.
A World Day of Prayer and Action for Children offers a unique opportunity not only to celebrate this common conviction that binds all humanity, but also to harness global solidarity to build a brighter future for all our children.”
Let us celebrate this day in every possible way in our communities on 20th of November. Let us work hand-in-hand to be part of this global event. Let us organise several programmes in our various communities in accordance with our convenience so as to make our brothers and sisters aware of the importance of prayer and meditation in fostering peace everywhere. Let us inspire all communities to initiate programmes of this kind in their schools, colleges, offices, temples, churches, mosques, stupas and our very homes. Let us express our solidarity for peace and harmony through organising prayer sessions according to our faith and beliefs. Let us ring the bells, sing the hymns and read the prayers wherever possible. Let us organise meditation classes and spiritual discourses in which all, young and old, will equally participate. Let us create an environment which will nurture peace from the local to the global level. We are one and with this spirit of oneness we will be able to create a lasting peace. May Peace prevail on Earth!
Chintamani Yogi
Founding Chairperson, Shanti Sewa Ashram
Founding Principal, Hindu Vidyapeeth-Nepal
Patron, Youth Society for Peace (YSP) Nepal
Country Coordinator, Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC)
Please, send us your program report, art, poems, articles and pictures of DPAC that you have organized in [email protected]. Click here to read ours.
