Bridge of Peace Washington D.C.
Written by: Kaeleigh Moffitt
On Saturday, August 26th, 2023, 70 women and men gathered at The Washington Times Building for a “Bridge of Peace” program. The Bridge of Peace is a signature project of WFWP, and was developed as a means of transformative reconciliation for individuals of conflicting backgrounds to come together in forgiveness for the past with hope and determination for the future. Since 1995, thousands of women have crossed the bridge with determination for a more peaceful future.
Emcee, Emaculate Mungye, WFWP Washington DC member, opened the program by acknowledging the audience, “Your presence here today means you are committing to forgiveness, to being a part of and an active contributor for peacebuilding in your community.”
President, Kaeleigh Moffitt explained: “I started to see that some of the practices that the founder of this organization, Mother Moon, were really essential to peacebuilding. And it is something that I would say is missing in the current academic and professional approach.” Reading excerpts from Mother Moon’s memoir, Mrs. Moffitt ended with three lessons in peacebuilding from her example: a life lived for others, practicing true love and embracing the heart of a mother.
Katarina Connery, Vice-President of WFWP, introduced the ceremony, “Through this ceremony we are making a step from the head to the heart and towards being a bridge ourselves.” Each bridge crossing pair shared personalized peace pledges before crossing the bridge and represented different areas of conflict: black and white, inter-religious and Spaniard and indigenous tribes of Central America. The sisterhood pairs took responsibility for overcoming their own personal prejudices and made a commitment to embrace one another as a sister.
One of the bridge crossers, Ms. Vondale Mack, shared this profound pledge before crossing the bridge with her sister:
“I viewed you as a white woman that is considered to be the world’s most protected individual and looked at myself as a black woman as one of the most unprotected women. This journey of coming together to share that pain, to apologize and share our tears and share our commitment to change has been powerful and eye-opening. We have taken a stand of sisterhood, against violence, hurt and pain. I am grateful that we get to share this journey not just with ourselves, but we are committed to other women joining this journey.”
Following the ceremony Vice President Connery led the audience through a guided meditation to identify what a peaceful world would look like and to recognize the walls we’ve built in our hearts towards others that need to be eradicated. Each member of the audience, then had a chance to build a bridge with another attendee through discussion and compassion.
