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Special Report |
LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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| August 20, 2004 |
Olympic Peace Ambassadors |
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| The three Peace Ambassadors in Nagasaki, Japan |
A day after the 2004 Athens Olympics started, fireworks and festivities once again lit up the night
as Peace Boat celebrated the return of not only the Olympics to its birthplace, but the rebirth of "Ekecheiria," the
traditional cease-fire observed during the ancient Olympics. Joined by three Greek peace ambassadors
from Japan to Athens, participants aboard the 46th voyage hoped to spread the message of the Olympic
Truce campaign at each port of call. Continued for over 1200 years - the longest lasting peace accord
in history - the truce not only gave athletes safe passage from their homeland to Olympia and back,
but also artists, musicians and spectators, effecting all levels of society. |
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| Peace Ambassador Vivian Myloni in Eluwan Kulam Village, Sri Lanka |
The peace ambassadors journey first started in Japan six weeks before the Olympics, with the trio
visited the atomic bomb cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima to share the Olympic torch of peace and carry
away the fire from those city's memorial flames. Speaking in Nagasaki, Peace Ambassador Vivian Myloni,
a doctor of International Management and cultural researcher, stressed that as in ancient times the
actions of all people, not just the Olympic participants, make the peace truce possible. "Everything
depends on us, on our willingness to forget about our prejudices, to approach each other in a friendly
spirit and to work for the common good," said Myloni. |
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| Peace Ambassador Konstantinos Papamichalopoulos in Nagasaki, Japan |
Travelling on Peace Boat, the three ambassadors shared the idea that peace is less impractical the
more people who are involved through peace events. Peace Ambassador Konstantinos Papamichalopoulos,
a Painter and Comic Book artist, admits that in the current atmosphere the Olympic Truce may seem
overly-optimistic, but that "it was happening for centuries in Greece, so it's not impossible," he
said. At ports in Taiwan, Viet Nam, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Eritrea and Egypt, they found their message
of "turning the fires of war into flames of peace" enthusiastically embraced by both participants
and people around the world. |
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| Peace Ambassador Eleni Mantratzi in Taipei, Taiwan |
That sports could effect something as serious as war shows how non-governmental groups can gain multicultural
power to solve social problems. Peace Ambassador Eleni Mantratzi, an Athens lawyer and volunteer for
many NGOs, thinks the Olympics is a good example of people not waiting for peace to come from their
government's leaders, who sometimes feel pressured by political expectations. "The flame is passed
hand to hand, citizen to citizen, it is an opportunity to show that citizen diplomacy can have real
and long term fruit, more than just politicians," said Mantratzi. Papamichalopoulos believes
that peace is built by connecting people with a common ground, such as sports. He points to Turkey's
400-year long occupation of Greece that also left a legacy of Turkish culture between the two countries. "Whether
we like or not it forms the basis for mutual understanding," Papamichalopoulos said. |
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| Narae Lee and Iba Farrah read the 46th voyage's peace declaration |
One of the big hopes of the three peace ambassadors is that leaders and people will see that violent
conflicts can be stopped for sports and began asking why they can't be stopped completely through
other means. "I strongly feel that we need something more than policies. Especially in the last
few years its become clear that activities dealing with culture - such as sports, festivals, concerts
and NGO events - have succeeded more than any than any political treaty," said Mantratzi. Vowing
to continue advocating peace beyond the Olympics, the peace ambassadors, volunteers and International
Students read a peace declaration created by Peace Boat participants, their hopes that the Olympic
Truce campaign would continue beyond Athens highlighted by a shower of fireworks overhead. |
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| For more information, please see the following resources:
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