It is my joy to announce to all of you that our beloved Amb. Mussie Hailu received the first-ever UNITY EARTH Champion Award, presented by Ben Bowler of Unity Earth at the African Union in Addis Ababa during the first World Interfaith Harmony Week observance there on February 2, 2018.
The President of Ethiopia, the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and the members of the Inter-Religious Council of Ethiopia were all present for this grand occasion. Also in attendance were 65 members of the Unity Earth delegation of diverse faiths and nationalities, indigenous representatives from Canada, Australia and Mexico, and many leaders in the URI global community. I was delighted to see my old friend and longtime esteemed URI member Mohinder Singh, to get to know Subhi Dhupar and A.K. Merchant, to do ceremony with Hereditary Chief Phil Lane, Jr. and Jon Ramer of the Compassion Games, and, of course, to travel once again with my dear friend and our URI UN Representative, Monica Willard.
Amb. Mussie orchestrated the magnificent event at the African Union with his superb diplomatic skills and his heart deep in the interfaith community. Only someone so respected and genuinely liked could walk between these worlds with grace and so much success. I cannot begin to express how richly dear Mussie deserved this award naming him a Keeper of the Flame, so I will share with you this beautiful acknowledgment from Ben Bowler.
Rev. Deborah Moldow
Interfaith minister, Garden of Light founder, former World Peace Prayer Society Director, and active member of "URI at the UN" and "Unity Made Visible" Cooperation Circles.
At the African Union Deborah Moldow and Ben Bowler honor Mussie as the first Unity Earth Keeper of the Flame.
Amb. Mussie Hailu Receives First UNITY EARTH Champion Award
I am delighted that the first-ever UNITY EARTH Champion Award goes to Ambassador Mussie Hailu of Ethiopia! I had heard about Ambassador Mussie by reputation before I met him, from mutual friends in the URI in Australia.
Ever since I first began to interact with him, I realised Ambassador Mussie is a very special human being. Then I had the great pleasure to work side by side with Ambassador Mussie on the creation of U Day Festival 2018, Ethiopia: Land of Origins. I have never met a more dedicated person, working for the upliftment of humanity in some of the most challenging contexts on the planet.
Ambassador Mussie is a supremely gifted diplomat, a friend to all regardless of station, a skilled tactician, and most significantly in my opinion, a devoted and loving instrument of the Divine. It has been the honour of my career to work alongside Ambassador Mussie Hailu and he is a most worthy recipient of this award which honours him as Keeper of the Flame.
Mussie is indeed a most noble upholder of the fires of truth, of justice and of peace. He is a blessing to humanity and we are proud to honour both Mussie and his work, which is of vital importance to our world, with this inaugural UNITY EARTH Champion award.
Ben Bowler
Director, UNITY EARTH
