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| SGI Around the World |
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[Courtesy, July 2004 SGI Quarterly] |
| Peru |
| Transformation from the Roots |
By Carlos K. Shima, SGI-Peru General Director
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| SGI-Peru General Director Carlos K. Shima |
The city of Huancayo is located in the heart of Junin, the central region of the Peruvian Andes, about 3,300 meters above sea level. A thriving city in the industrial zone spreading along the valley of the Mantaro River in the Andes, Huancayo acts as a magnet for people from the neighboring villages and towns. Last November it hosted the SGI-Peru annual general meetings of Mantaro and Los Andes districts, which were attended by a total of more than 600 SGI members and their guests.
Although Huancayo is only about 300 km from Lima, the capital of Peru, getting there by car entails crossing the Ticlio mountain range which rises to a height of 4,818 meters. It is a journey I have made countless times since I first came to Peru in 1974. Although Lima is a city full of lush parks, it is, in fact, located in the middle of a desert. When one leaves the city, the desert stretches as far as the eye can see; and this vast expanse must be crossed to reach SGI members scattered throughout the country.
Peru consists of 24 regions, and it requires tremendous effort for SGI members in far-flung places to come together in Lima. Even so, they surmount many obstacles in order to do so. For example, when SGI-Peru held a major music festival to mark the 25th anniversary of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) and the 70th anniversary of the Soka Gakkai in September 2000, approximately 4,000 youth members were joined at an open-air arena in Lima by many from distant regions, including Piura and Chiclayo some 1,500 km away on the northern seaboard, Arequipa in the south and Iquitos on the banks of the Amazon, as well as Huancayo.
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| Expanding Cultural Ties |
Peru is the South American country with the longest history of cultural ties to Japan. The first Japanese to emigrate to South America arrived here in April 1899 and, overcoming language and culture barriers, set the precedent for future generations of Japanese immigrants, contributing to Peru's development. The first Peruvian SGI members, who emerged among the descendants of these early immigrants, began sowing the seeds of Buddhism in Lima in the early 1960s.
| Alejandro Balaquer |
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| Nevado Pariacaca, Huarochiri |
At that time, the Japanese immigrant community was sometimes criticized as being "closed" and inward-looking. However, pioneer SGI members made a point of being engaged in Peruvian society. The 1970s saw a marked increase in the participation of SGI-Peru members in events in the greater community, and this trend continues even more strongly today.
At present, there are some 300 members in Huancayo, many of whom have been practicing for decades. Huancayo's chapter leader, Rodrigo Castilla, embraced Buddhism 26 years ago. He is a salesman for a pharmaceutical company, and his wife, Hedy, the chapter women's leader, is a company secretary. Rodrigo's assistant, Santiago Quinto, is a technician working for an electrical engineering firm specializing in providing electricity to remote areas of the Andes where there is currently little infrastructure. They have been confident that the practice of this Buddhism would enable people to contribute to the development of Peru by becoming better citizens of the country.
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| Distributing relief goods to earthquake victims in 2001 |
Nearly 90 percent of the population of Peru is Catholic, so the vast majority of Peruvians tend to think in terms of the existence of an external divine power. To accept the concept of a Buddha nature that is inherent in each individual requires a huge change in perception. It is usually receiving benefit or experiencing a major change in their circumstances that makes the biggest impact on newcomers to the practice of Buddhism, but even such experiences can frequently be misinterpreted as the manifestation of an external power. Nevertheless, soon after embracing Buddhism, the innate good nature and earnestness of the Peruvian people generally result in an understanding of the importance of realizing one's internal potential through an inner spiritual transformation, and it is this experience of transformation that inspires people to continue practicing Buddhism.
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| Youth-Centered Activities |
Youth members provide the driving force behind SGI-Peru's growth, and their activities take many forms. Since the 1970s, one of the most important areas of activity has been participation in public events. There are also a variety of interorganizational activities for youth members centered on gymnastics, music, dance and a fife-and-drum corps. In May 1999, some 800 youth members took part in a major event held at Lima's Estadio La Uni?n to celebrate the centenary of Japanese immigration to Peru. Their performance on the theme "Peace and Solidarity: The Message of Humanism," which paid homage to the efforts of the early pioneer immigrants, was warmly appreciated by the audience of 15,000.
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| Youth members perform at Lima's Estadio La
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"The Beauty of Peruvian Folk Art" exhibition in Huancayo |
SGI-Peru has also initiated a wide range of volunteer activities centering on youth participation. For example, in June 2001, following a massive earthquake in the south, members went immediately to the disaster area and distributed food and clothing to 6,000 families, mostly donated by SGI-Peru members.
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| Universities and the SGI |
Peruvian society is demonstrating a growing appreciation of the SGI's principle of respect for life, its philosophy of humanism, and humanistic education based on Buddhist principles. This has been prompted in part by a series of exhibitions, including "Seeds of Change: the Earth Charter and Human Potential" and "The Beauty of Peruvian Folk Art," a display of traditional basketry and dolls, as well as the showing of SGI exhibitions about the need to protect the Amazonian environment, children's art and the dangers of nuclear arms. Many of these exhibitions have been held at leading universities in Peru, a sign of a growing acceptance of Buddhist philosophy. Most recently, early in 2004, the "Gandhi, King, Ikeda" exhibition promoting nonviolence was held in Lima's Ricardo Palma University, where it was viewed by some 3,500 people.
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| SGI members at a new community center in Lima |
The first links with Peruvian universities were forged during SGI President Ikeda's second visit to Peru in March 1974. On that occasion the SGI leader engaged in a dialogue with Prof. Juan de Dios Guevara, former rector of the University of San Marcos, the oldest university in Latin America which boasts a 450-year history.
Beginning in the 1970s, universities have held symposiums on Dr. Ikeda's writings and organized courses featuring his dialogues with Dr. Arnold Toynbee or the theory of value-creating education of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, first president of the Soka Gakkai. These activities reflect the understanding that education can transform society from its roots and that this is the only certain path toward the establishment of a peaceful world. Those in Peru who have a firm understanding of these ideas are increasingly supportive of SGI-Peru's activities in the areas of peace, culture and education.
Website URL: http://www.sgiperu.org
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