At times, silence is uplifting and soothing; other times, silence is heavy and disconcerting. During the month of June 2022, the silence my wife and I heard at a Concentration Camp was louder and at more decibels than screaming. Our feeling of stillness and heartbreaking contemplation was upsettingly punctuated by gunnery firing and loud detonations at an adjacent German military range. My wife and I were confronted with countless invisible images passing into our thoughts as we stood before successive mass graves at the Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp filled with innocent Jewish men, women and children, prisoners of war and those who met criteria for all Nazi Concentration Camps, Jews and anyone for any unimaginable reason who were classified as an undesirable to the Nazi’s. The Bergen Belsen Museum and headstones on the grounds including Anne Frank’s, left no doubt in our minds that the administrators here are determined to maintain detailed testimony and testament to all the victims. We were deeply moved not only by the vast exhibit but by encountering German teenagers immersed in taking notes as they stared with concerned eyes at the photographs and descriptions of the atrocities. We were reassured to know that it is mandatory for all German school children to visit a Concentration Camp. A month before traveling to Germany, Destination Peace presented an online program entitled “A Survivor Speaks: An Unforgettable Hour with Marion Blumenthal Lazan, a Child Survivor of the Holocaust. Despite her brutal time as a child in Concentration Camps including Bergen Belsen, she focused on how the survival of humanity requires unity and kindness. A tour guide during our bus trip from Bergen Belsen said “at least we can say something good about the Nazi’s. They did build the Autobahn.”

Pushed to an extreme, endurance and patience, have motivated the determined and undeterred to reach beyond their capabilities. Fiona and Mike Thornewill are two such rare “climb to the top” explorers. They have climbed the South Pole as the first and only married couple. Fiona is the first to have all alone without aid reached the South Pole in record breaking time, and the first woman to reach both Poles (see list of accomplishments). Mike and Fiona have also brought up two of the most respectful and ethically driven sons, my wife and I, have had the pleasure to meet. Most home-officed working husbands and wives mostly “struggle” with chore scheduling issues and who ends up putting out the trash. Wife and husband, Fiona and Mike, pulled 200-pound sleds loaded with food and equipment during a 966-mile treacherous journey. Imagine, the driving distance from Savannah Georgia to Houston Texas is 966 miles (1554 km). At an average of three miles per hour imputing weight and height it would take 2,204,026 steps or 5,784.4 lengths of the London Bridge and have burned 98,764 calories. Their awe-inspiring stories have nearly convinced me to walk to Houston because according to calculations that would result in a net loss of 30 pounds! We met Fiona Thornewill following her stirring lecture series during our recent June 2022 trip to Europe. There is a significant reason Queen Elizabeth bestowed her with an MBE. Fiona epitomizes perseverance, grit, and the inner and outer strength to transcend whatever is inside of us that persuades us we cannot go further. Where a typical athlete eventually intervenes to stop a relentless treadmill, Fiona turns the switch higher and higher until it tilts, and when the premium fuses have blown relentlessly chooses to continue onward and upward.

Tonight a United Nations-sponsored gathering took place in anticipation of (and as a “pep rally” for) tomorrow’s speakers and participants in the annual POWER OF COLLABORATION Global Summit held at the United Nations. This august body brings together the world’s most diverse, inclusive, and innovative ideas, inspiring global leaders to collectively pursue endeavors that embody the best of our human values. At the core of the summit goal is private and business sector engagement and partnership in driving sustainable solutions toward inclusive and equitable economies. The event began with rousing welcoming speeches by the co-founders of Impact Leadership 21, Janet Salazar and Constance Peak. A personal highlight was hearing from a passionate candidate for president of Liberia, MacDella Cooper. I was humbled by the warm introductory welcome by Robin Sol Lieberman, author and founder of True Charisma, before I sang a song to set the tone before dinner. (See the video here!) Our dear friends from UCSD, Dr. Suresh Subramani, Dr. Ramesh Rao and Prof. Naila Chowdhury (who have appeared in previous Destination Peace blogs!), are presenting at the United Nations tomorrow. We had the mutual pleasure of spending time with Mr. Manoj Kumar(attending from Bangalore, India), who works with the Foundation for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship for Tata Trusts. It was an honor meeting and speaking to Ambassador Chowdhury about his dream of peace and how he has actualized his vision and passion through his personal passion for creating a “culture of peace.” The ambassador is the recipient of the U Thant Peace Award and UNESCO Gandhi Gold Medal for creating this “Culture of Peace.”

Several weeks ago, we greeted a young visionary leader from Nigeria after his plane arrived at Dulles Airport. Our drive back to our home faded into minutes due to the conversation with our engaging guest. Though his overnight visit at our home moved like an hourglass with rapidly descending sand, we relished every “grain of time” with our blessed guest. Chukwuma Okenwa was about to participate in the International Anti-Corruption Conference held in Washington DC. For his inaugural trip to the USA, he attended this conference with other internationally distinguished leaders and created unforgettable memories that will further ennoble him as he traverses a long, difficult but highly rewarding road to improving the safety and life sustaining values necessary for a civilized, compassionate world. Our esteemed Board Director, Naila Chowdhury, arrived at our home to meet Chukwuma and we filmed a memorable “Groundbreaking Conversation” together. Regardless of the brevity of Chukwuma’s visit, my wife and I have formed a lifelong relationship with this heroic statesman, visionary, teacher, and leader. We look forward to the day we meet his devoted wife and adoring children and visit his school in Nigeria. We hope you will view our most recent Groundbreaking Conversation digitally catalogued with our Destination Peace videos. Biography of Chukwuma Okenwa: Chukwuma Ephraim Okenwa, popularly known as CEO due to his initials, is a Social Entrepreneur and a Public Affairs Analyst He is the Director of Queen’s Model Group of Schools and the TV host of Enjoy Mathematics on ESBS Channel 50. CEO is the brain behind the one Nigeria Reality Project, endorsed by the National Orientation Agency and the project lead of ADA 042 Tourism and Cultural pageant. As an SME enthusiast, he’s been involved as a Mentor in projects such as Youth Empowered by Coca-Cola and the Boost Your Business training powered by Facebook. He is the Executive Director of LEAD NETWORK, Principal Partner at H-Formance Consulting, and the founder of CEO Media Agency. Okenwa has been appointed twice as a YALI Network Influencer in Nigeria. He is a fellow of the Leadership Course in Criminal and Security Intelligence Management (Defense Intelligence College, Abuja) and a Diplomacy 4.0 Alumnus of the United Nations Institute for Training and Research.

The Honolulu Martin Luther King Day Parade stopped traffic and momentarily created a unity amongst onlooking strangers. What is it that will ultimately defeat baseless hatred… to help us overcome… and share our dreams for a better world. With all the social media and connectedness ubiquitously available at our fingertips; it is time to embrace our commonality and grow from our differences.Our destination to peace is as important in the past as it is today for our future!

There are still places on earth to stand virtually and not virtual, in astonishment and awe. During a visit to the Kilauea Volcano, you experience the essence of traditionalists, religion, customs, and evolution. An active volcano is an ongoing historical testament to the Creators original plans for the earth and mankind. Standing witness at 4,000 feet above sea level, you feel that you have traveled back into primordial time. There is so much left dormant and volatile in an ever-changing world. Unpredictable and predictable eruptions of violence occur in every generation. Destination Peace is working to use music to “scale” upward past the destructive “explosiveness” of polarizing disputes and misunderstandings to “reach the unreachable stars.”