“Walking for Peace and Children’s Rights”: Once again a great success!
On a warm October day on Thursday 12 October 2023, many children and adults gathered to take part in the ninth edition of the event “Walking for Peace and Children’s Rights” between Malcantone and Varesotto.
During the morning, two groups, one starting from Caslano and one from Lavena Ponte Tresa, walked towards the Ponte Doganale di Ponte Tresa with the sole objective of promoting world peace, children’s rights and solidarity between cultures and peoples.
The group from Switzerland assembled at 09:00 a.m. at Piazza Lago in Caslano, where there were welcome greetings from our President A. Margherita Maffeis-Natale, the moving speech on the importance of peace and love by the philosophy teacher Victor Claudio Vallerini, and musical entertainment by the Montessori school – la Casa di Irma with the winning song from last year’s ‘write a song for peace’ competition entitled ‘Peace is’.
The Italian group set off at 09:15 a.m. from Via Zanzi in Lavena Ponte Tresa. After a pleasant and meaningful walk in the name of peace, the two groups met on the Ponte Doganale of Ponte Tresa, as the bridge is the symbol of the union of people for this significant event.
The traffic was thus interrupted for a few minutes between Switzerland and Italy and this allowed the two groups to join together for the official photo as a sign of peace and brotherhood.
The reunited entire group proceeded then to Piazza Sangiorgio, where an official moment took place, with the presence of Swiss and Italian authorities, mayors and councillors, including the Mayor of Lavena Ponte Tresa Massimo Mastromarino, the Municipal Councillor of Tresa Daniel Buser, and the two Councillors from Lombardy: Giuseppe Licata and Luigi Zocchi, who emphasised the importance of peace and its promotion among the young generation. Among the guests, there were also Mayor Daniele Boldrini (Brezzo di Bedero), Councillor Elena Brocchieri from Luino, Marchirolo municipality representative Laura Olivas, Marisa Vaglio from Cremenaga municipality, Engineer Gianfranco Malagola President of the Monsignor Comi Foundation in Luino and coordinator of the Comunità Operosa Alto Verbano.
The president of the Culture Ticino Network Association, A. Margherita Maffeis-Natale, recalled that, just as last year we devoted the Walk for Peace for Ukraine, today we find ourselves in a similar situation with a new war in the Middle East and more than 60 armed conflicts around the world. The President emphasised that war, suffering and destruction are often perceived as distant and surreal, but that these obscenities are unfortunately present and must not be forgotten. Peace, says the President, may be considered a utopia, however, we cannot afford to lose hope.
To enliven the Walk, there were performances by the pupils of the primary schools of Lavena Ponte Tresa and the Montessori school ‘la Casa di Irma’ of Bedano with their songs dedicated to Peace. After the performance, the children exchanged gifts as a sign of Peace and Brotherhood.
The group moved then to the Tresa Municipal Hall, where the official celebration and the presentation of Our Association took place. The hall was then cheered up with musical entertainment by violinist Natalia Carpenco, magician StrongAle, and Marco Bernasconi with some songs dedicated to peace and brotherhood.
The day ended with a delicious refreshment, which also included the launch of our new solidarity cake ‘Tropical Cake’, in cooperation with the Panetteria-Pasticceria Bignasca SA in Sonvico, the proceeds of which will go to support the ‘Tesda Scholarships for professional training in the gastronomy sector and the start-up of independent businesses’ project.
Our Association would particularly like to thank the municipalities of Agno, Caslano, Bioggio, Tresa, Lavena Ponte Tresa, Brezzo di Bedero, Germignaga, Cremenaga, Luino, Marchirolo; the General Consulate of Italy, the Province of Varese, the Mountain Community Valli di Verbano, the World March for Peace 2024, the Upper Verbano Operosa Community and the Tavolo per la Pace of Alto Verbano, the Italian Red Cross of Luino, the CAILUINO, the Casa di Irma – Montessori School of Bedano, the Monsignor COMI Foundation of Luino and the Bignasca SA Bakery of Sonvico.
Thanks also for the meaningful articles dedicated to the Way. See links:
https://www.laregione.ch/cantone/luganese/1704468/tresa-ponte-scuole-bambini-ticino
https://www.tio.ch/ticino/attualita/1705312/pace-bambini-successo-stata-diritti
Finally, a special thanks to all those who walked with us and contributed to launching this important message of peace!
We look forward to seeing you at the opening evening of the 11th edition of the World Forum for Peace to be held on 18 November at the Hotel de la Paix in Lugano, which will include a Round Table with the participation of renowned guests and the exclusive Solidarity Gala Dinner where the fashion shows of fashion designers PamPinay and Miriam Tirinzoni will also be shown.