What's in a name?
By Wayne Smith. Founder of the Friendship Force,

When the Friendship force was established in 1977, the name was carefully selected. As individuals we may not be able to create peace single handedly but we certainly know how to make friends. Furthermore the underlying philosophy of our organization is that friendships across international barriers can be a powerful force in creating a more peaceful world.
Hence our motto:
A WORLD OF FRIENDS IS A WORLD OF PEACE.
Think about it: The force of friendship. Over the centuries people of the world have dealt with their enemies by conquering or killing them - using what we call in English 'Armed Forces'. We in the Friendship Force know that it is possible to deal with strangers and their differences - not through arms that shoot and kill but through the arms of friends embrace. Can we live in each others homes, share each others meals, play with each others children, and still be enemies? Therefore one reason for using force in our name is to convey the power of friendship.
But there is another reason.
Force in English is also a synonym for army. Here again the association is accurate. Don't we want to be a friendship army ...a friendship force? When thought of in these terms we see that the use of the word force can convey that what we do as individuals does not stand in isolation but is part of a worldwide movement ... an army or force for friendship whose goal is to use friendship as a means to achieve a better world. So you can see, I like the second word of our name almost as much as I do the first one, friendship. By combining the two we are able to create the image, and the reality, of the power of friendship - but only if we are willing to be part of a global army, or force for friendship. We call it;

FFGA BYLAWS


The Friendship Force.