Organized by the international foundation “A Global Family,” the event was held May 6-8.
“Under the same sky, politicians, academics, teachers and gangsters constitute a family,” said Hawaiian participant Laura Ava Tesimale. “Sometimes we fight but we are united by a human heart. What we need is dialogue.”
People from 25 countries of Europe, the Americas and Asia gathered for the event, all wishing to share their own experiences and knowledge. Ava Tesimale developed “A Global Family” after the attacks on the Twin Towers in 2001. She travels the world looking to promote the message of service to others and respect for the Polynesian people, as well as other marginalized cultures. 
Some 250 representatives of indigenous communities joined the event after leaving Guatemala on March 21 on a pilgrimage that ended Wednesday in Guadalajara’s Plaza Fundadores.
Chamalu, an indigenous leader from Bolivia, said the event is an opportunity to change the current mode of thinking and move towards a coherent and peaceful world based on mutual understanding.
Tesimale shared this position and added that mothers and women needed “to promote security, peace, respect and compassion.”
Argentine Yanina Olmos was a Hindu monk for nine years in Hollywood and now works to promote interfaith relations. She said Guadalajara was a special place, as it offered such a broad range of religious expression. “You can see that he is a Mormon, I’m a Hindu next to a Toltec mother, he is Jewish, he is Christian and he is a Muslim. We all live in harmony and that’s very significant.”