UPDATE 2020 NOV: 2nd Factory-Boat Hotel Progress!

Hello again! Here is a report written by our own, Mrs. Tomoko Sato, reporting in again from Paraguay.

Rev. Moon's Words of the Day: Book 12 Cheon Seong Gyeong 2.2.2

In summary, the Pantanal's influence will become a great issue in the world's history. The question is how to settle this issue here on earth. The world can become a battlefield, a dangerous place where human beings may fall into the pit of destruction if they make one wrong turn. (300-182, 1999.3.3)

The Pantanal region is the earth's oxygen producer. Due to the destruction of forests, we are facing a shortage of oxygen. Pantanal must solve the world's pollution and environmental problems. Food problems will become a serious issue in the world in the near future. About an area half of Korea's size is now turning into a desert annually. The production environment for humanity is decreasing. It is the destruction of humankind. *

The Pantanal is where land, water and plants live together. It is truly exquisite. Creatures from the time of Creation have survived there in the Amazon Valley, in the Pantanal. They have carried on their line of species while living in nature untouched since the time of Creation. That is why the Pantanal is the world's Holy Ground. (294-56, 1998.6.10)

You will see so many things when you go to the Pantanal. The Pacu fish eat young alligators. When they do, they do not say, "Hey, do you have dung in your belly!" When a Pacu eats bugs, do you think it would wipe off the human excrement or dog dung that is on the bug's wings, or would it just eat it whole? Those people who do not know how to swallow things as a whole cannot unify the world. You have to know how to swallow things as a whole. You have to eat both good things and bad things. Don't fallen people discard the bad and eat only the good things? Love is not that way. Love takes in and digests even hell. (295-186, 1998.8.28)

God will restore human beings back to the world before the Fall. God has to take care of all the enemies in order to restore Adam's perfected world before the Fall. There were no enemies in that world. Everybody was like brothers and had only the concept that they were one family. It is about swallowing one another. In the fish world in the Pantanal, the larger fish swallow the smaller fish without regard, whether there is something filthy or not. It swallows the excrements of the internal organs and everything else. (297-170, 1998.11.19)

I love creation to liberate creation's realm of lamentation. In the Bible it says that all of creation has been groaning in labor pains. The lamentation of creation is also the lamentation of humankind. What is this? There is nothing more lamentable than the fact that humanity could not receive the Blessing centering on God. (295-199, 1998.8.28)

We have to go back to more primitive times and to return to nature. That is why I went back to nature, and in the Pantanal, I live in constant love with nature. The great oceans are pure. (295-277, 1998.9.8)

You have to love everything on the earth and love the world underwater. It is a process of re-creation. From God's love, we must connect with humanity. From humanity's love, we must connect with the earth, and by doing so, connect with the realm of water. That is why I am offering my utmost devotion in the Pantanal. (296-17, 1998.10.1)

* Chambumo Gyeong - Book 10, Chapter 3-5

Construction of the Second Factory in Asuncion's Projected New Urban Center is underway!

At the heart of the Chaco-i district (the projected new city center) on the opposite bank of Asuncion City, the construction of the 2nd temporary boat factory and boat hotel is steadily progressing. This is a full-scale first step for the city of Asuncion to be reborn as the "Third City of Water, Venice" and a major step forward for Paraguay to become an "Ocean Hobby Industry Nation." With support from the heavens and the earth, the construction of the Ocean Hobby Industry Model Base/City for the Age of Pacific Rim is now underway in the suburbs of Asuncion.

Why did our founder, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, instruct us to "build a boat factory in Paraguay, South America"? It is to avoid the "crisis of extinction" that is now slowly but steadily becoming a plausible reality. It is to protect the Pantanal, the lungs of the earth, the last fort that protects the global environment, the world's largest wetlands, through the oceanic culture and civilization.

Until now, human civilization has been centered around a land-based civilization. Today, Paraguay is the epitome of a carnivorous civilization that is also a major cause of environmental destruction. At this rate, the future of this country is dark. Paraguay will have no hope of surviving unless it is reborn as an advanced nation that creates an oceanic culture/civilization based on the waters and the sea.

In that sense, Paraguay has no choice but to become a seat for the "conversion of civilization," a nation that creates the oceanic civilization and will undoubtedly become a country that can send a strong message about oceanic civilization to the rest of the world. The ideology at the pillar of our project is the idea of "one global family based on absolute altruism."

"Second Temporary Factory and Boat Hotel" that will lead the Asuncion New Urban Center Plan

Acuamundo is located in the center of the planned New Asuncion Urban Center along the Paraguay River. The construction of a bridge between Asuncion and Chaco-i is steadily progressing as projected, and the bridge is located 5km from our factory site.

Route 12, adjacent to the factory site, will also be paved in the near future. In this way, the construction of Acuamundo's "Second Temporary Factory and Boat Hotel" is currently steadily progressing in the energy-filled momentum of Paraguay as a developing country! The meaning of the name, "2nd Temporary Factory," is that we are aiming to ultimately build a "Main Factory" with a monthly production volume of 120 vessels.

The Trajectory of the Boat Factory Construction Initiatives in South America

In 2004, Mr. Tateo Sato, then president of True World Marine US, was instructed by our founder, Rev. Sun Myung Moon, to "start a boat manufacturing factory and related businesses" in the suburbs of Asuncion. At the time, Paraguay was known to be one of the poorest countries and was said to be Number 1 in the corruption department. It was a nation with unstable politics, many landless farmers, and hungry refugees.

Why did Rev. Moon try to transplant the Ocean Hobby Industry centered on boats, the cutting-edge business of the times, into such a country?

The basis of Rev. Moon's idea of peace is: "All human beings are one family under God as their Parent. Therefore, all living should grow up as children of God, create an ideal family, and enjoy a rich and happy life." In practice, we are to solve humanity's difficulties such as hunger and other various issues through rich oceans that occupy 2/3 of the earth's surface.

The oceans are only 3-5% explored, and it is yet a largely unknown place for humankind. Rev. Moon has spent his life paving the way for the development of the Ocean Hobby Industry for the True Ocean Era, in order to realize the "ideal world" based on the oceans, which is a treasure trove of food and resources.

One needs a boat in order to manage (live, understand, and utilize) the oceans. Rev. Moon set the proposition, "How to make the oceans safe" for humankind, and researched and developed the FRP "absolutely safe and unsinkable boat" in the Mecca of boat development that holds 80% of the world's boat shares, the United States.

He established a solid position in the US boat manufacturing industry. His aim was the "world's No. 1 boat company" for the realization of true world peace. The meaning behind the "construction of a boat factory in South America" is to transplant the state-of-the-art technology completed in North America to South America. The purpose was to create a "rich country where no one starves" in South America. Through this process, he aimed to bring equalization to the whole world.

Rev. Moon worked on the construction of boat factories in Uruguay in 1996 and Brazil in 1999. However, these attempts were accompanied by unexpected difficulties, and the plans did not come to fruition. The initiative for a Paraguay boat factory in 2004 was his third attempt. In addition, in the year 1996, Rev. Moon instructed the then chairmen of each continent to build boat factories on the six continents around the world.

The Trajectory to the Construction of "Second Temporary Factory and Boat Hotel"

As you can see, the establishment of a boat factory in Paraguay is an inevitable project that must be completed. This is the first FRP boat factory in Paraguay!

In 2008, we finally succeeded in acquiring the factory site (which came about with some dramatic and miraculous testimonies!). While aiming to "build the world's No. 1 boat company" to meet the demands of the Pacific Rim Era, we begun to work on the construction of the first temporary factory, and then to boat manufacturing.

It was a series of challenges to solidify the ground at our feet, step by step. First thing was to train our technicians in the United States! Then on to mold construction! Fusion with the local environment in Paraguay! Applying for the Maquila Law for import/export! Importing 80% of materials from the US in order to maintain high quality as a "US product." We had to overcome various unexpected local barriers, and a lot of time had passed while we set up the factory for operation.

Among them, the biggest obstacle that stood out among all was the unexpected large-scale flooding in recent years. Deforestation in the Amazon region has caused the Pantanal River basin to suffer severe flood damage year after year.

Between 2014 and 2019, we suffered 6 flood disasters. Asuncion alone had 60,000 displaced locals in 2016, the maximum submersion of up to 2.3m (7.5ft), and the floods could last up to 6 months. Many of the buildings along the river were washed away, and Acuamundo was forced to relocate its factory site twice. The human, economic, and time loss caused by the flood disaster was enormous.

While patiently overcoming these difficulties, in 2018, the late Mr. Tateo Sato set our national-level goals for the year 2020. The goal was to have a "raised 2nd temporary factory and a boat hotel" that enables stable boat construction, and a "marine center" (showroom, VIP reception room, exhibition hall, and an eco-model-house that also is the main site office). Despite the best efforts, the project did not see completion.

However, in the midst of the world-altering Corona disaster, a strong circle of support from active shareholders who are determined to usher in the new era of the Pacific Rim Civilization rose up in April 2020, and efforts to build the 2nd factory resumed!

Construction Steps and Current Status

This summer, Asian regions suffered from heavy rain disasters. However, in Paraguay on the opposite side of the globe, there was little rain and the water level hit the lowest in recorded history. It's a once-in-a-century opportunity for factory, ramp, and marina construction!

We have been working to select a construction company since May, but the construction industry in Paraguay was active and busy even during this Corona Pandemic, and we finally reached a decision to go with the company, Baek Szmuc in July.

The area to be raised for the factory is 60mx64m (65 yards x 70 yards). Until the construction company was decided, Acuamundo worked on marking the land for raising and filling the area with 1.5m (5ft) of soil around the area. The sand transport ship then came and poured the sand into the site, the soil around the area preventing the sand from outflowing due to water also being poured into the site. At the same time, a water discharge channel was created. A total of 73 sand transports were carried out, and a total of 14,000 m3 of sand was used. This completed a 3.5m (11.4ft) high sand plateau.

The construction company put 20cm (7.8 in) of soil on top, laid 20cm (7.8 in) of gravel on top of that, and then put 10cm of concrete. The height of the foundation is 4m (13ft), the size of the factory is 50mx25m (54.6 yards x 27.3 yards), and the height of the building is 10.3m (11.3 yards). 60 reinforced concrete columns are driven into the ground to strengthen the foundation. The factory uses reinforced concrete columns and insulated galvanized iron walls, and the construction period is 100 days. The planned completion date is January 7 of next year.

On July 22, construction company staff visited the site and conducted a site survey. The company is co-presided by a Korean architect, introduced by Dr. Javier Corvalan, who also participated in the 2018 Ocean Family Festival. The company aims to create buildings that can coexist with water, which is in line with our philosophy as well. With detailed planning, a formal contract was signed with Baek Szmuc on September 9!

The following is the state of the construction site as of October 31.

On September 4, 2020, on the 8th Anniversary of Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Holy Ascension, we offered the "Consecration Prayer Ceremony." The construction of a new building will bring a large change in the principles of the local natural world. It is a prayer ceremony to report and ask permission from the Creator God, as well as report the purpose of the construction to the ancestral spirits who have protected these lands and ask for their protection and cooperation. We have reported that our purpose is to realize the ideal world for the entire humankind.

It is said that the oceanic people from Jomon from ancient Japan rode the Kuroshio Current and came to these lands to establish the Guarani culture. In the 17th and 18th centuries, they built a highly civilized community surrounding the mission towns. Since then, the patriotic martyrs who fought for Paraguay with the spirit to fight honorably to the death have carved the modern history of this nation. We have offered a prayer as representatives for all the ancestral spirits who were sacrificed for love, truth, and righteousness to be liberated through the success of this project, asking for their further cooperation.

Thank you so much, and until next time!

--reported by Tomoko Sato, November 2020