Stories from around the globe show how a united world is already in motion. This platform highlights experiences, initiatives, and projects from people and communities working for unity and peace. Explore what’s happening and get inspired.
<p><em>Experience of Pietro, Chiara and Matteo about political commitment and active citizenship<br /></em></p> <p>Good morning to everyone,, <br />We are Pietro, Chiara e Matteo, three students representing the school of participation in Turin, Italy.</p> <p>Together ith twenty other boys aged between twenty and thirty years we decided to begin a process of active citizenship reinterpreted in the light of the ideal of brotherhood expressed by the political thought of Chiara Lubich.</p>
<p><em>In the rural villages of North-Eastern Nigeria, the drought is creating huge problems for the population. From Onitsha (a 24-hour journey away), some youths and adults of the Focolare went to visit to share the situation and bring some material and spiritual help.</em></p> <p><strong></strong><strong>In Nigeria, there is great inequality in the development between cities and rural villages</strong> where there are almost no infrastructures and no electricity, medical care, roads, etc. Yakoko is one of these villages located closest to the desert, amid mountains – where the Christian and Muslim communities have always lived in great harmony. In the evening after working the fields, the men gather in the square to discuss while sipping an alcoholic drink produced from their <em>Guinea corn.</em></p>
<p><em>In the rural villages of North-Eastern Nigeria, the drought is creating huge problems for the population. From Onitsha (a 24-hour journey away), some youths and adults of the Focolare went to visit to share the situation and bring some material and spiritual help.</em></p> <p><img style="margin-right: 5px; float: left;" src="http://www.uww2015.com/assets/pages/gallery/imgs/u-nite1/IMG_1807.JPG" height="150" /><strong>“Fabric, Flavour, Festival. Discovering Fraternity”</strong>, Mumbai and Coimbatore, India, 27th April – 4th May 2015, the main event of the United World Week 2015 (<a href="http://www.uww2015.com/">www.uww2015.com</a>), attracted around 150 participants from 18 countries across the world. In recent months we have updated you a lot about the activities held there in India, as well in the other corners of the world.</p>
<p><em>"I wanted to start some activities which young people can freely join and feel at home"</em></p> <p><img style="margin-right: 5px; float: left;" src="http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7299/9593048563_1d55ec837e_m.jpg" height="150" />I'm Kyoko, I live in Tokyo.</p> <p>The life in Tokyo is very individualistic and too busy to create relationships with others. Many of us feel alone though places are so crowded. As I choose to live for a united world, I wanted to start some activities which young people can freely join and feel at home but in our society its hard to invite any activities where you would meet many new people.</p>
<p><em>A step towards equity and social justice in Ecuador</em></p> <p><img style="margin-right: 5px; float: left;" src="http://www.mppu.org/images/news/2013-2015/Quito_montage_794x488.png" height="150" />Hundreds of people participated in the national dialogue for peace and social justice conventions held in Ecuador, including invited guests: opposition and civil society. President Rafael Correa gathered proposals for a more equal distribution of wealth after the occurrence of protest and controversies last June.</p>
<p><em>In Mauritania, a Congolese mother is helping refugees to reconnect by teaching IT, 17 years after her own displacement. Written by Helena Pes</em></p> <p><img style="margin-right: 5px; float: left;" src="http://tracks.unhcr.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/07222015_Featured_RefugeesConnecting.jpg" height="150" />The city of Nouakchott, Mauritania, is no stranger to refugees. Around 1,500 people who have fled some of Africa’s bloodiest conflicts now call it home. One of them, Budiaki*, is sitting in a computer room at a bustling Women’s Centre when I arrive, using her own experiences of life on the run to help women just like her.</p>
<p><em>Experience by George and Lara, from Lebanon</em></p> <p><strong><img style="margin-right: 5px; float: left;" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/61/193869197_40092b8e93.jpg" height="150" />LARA:</strong></p> <p>We are George and Lara and we come from Lebanon. We thank you for this opportunity to speak.</p> <p>As you know, the Middle East is living one of the worst pages of the history of mankind. In front of such horror, the outstanding example of people sentenced to death because they refuse to renounce their religion, they pray for their persecutors and they forgive these massacres before their death, as it was for the twenty-one Copts killed in Libya during the events of last February; that challenges us deeply, both Christians and Muslims living in these countries. It reminds us of the greatness of love, forgiveness, which one day will change the face of the Earth.</p>
<p><em>Mario Bruni, sindaco di Alghero, in Sardegna, Italia, racconta come hanno affrontato il necessario sgombero di un campo, cercando insieme ai Rom la migliore soluzione #politics4unity</em></p> <p><strong>Il campo, da alcuni anni doveva essere sgomberato</strong> per seri motivi sanitari e ambientali, ma non era lavoro semplice, dato che lì abitava una comunità di trenta famiglie. Mario Bruni, sindaco di Alghero, ha deciso di farlo, nell’attenzione di coinvolgere le stesse famiglie rom nella scelta del luogo dove trasferirsi.</p> <p><strong>Ad Alghero ci sono tanti disoccupati</strong> e c’è anche tanta gente in lista di attesa per avere una casa. Quindi, come diceva il sindaco, può essere difficile far capire ai cittadini «che ci sono finanziamenti ad hoc, che dobbiamo tutti avere a cuore l’inclusione sociale e a volte prendere anche delle decisioni che sono impopolari, che a volte non si capiscono».</p>
<p><em>The steps of the long history until the beginning of the thawing</em></p> <p>In January, 1959, when Fidel Castro led a guerrilla army to drive dictator Fulgencio Batista out of Havana, the United States was not over alarmed that it would have much impact. But relations swiftly soured as the Cuban communists expropriated companies; 1961 ushered in an ideological ice age.</p>
Dialogue & Interculture
New Humanity NGO presented the M.E.D.I.T.erraNEW project — co-financed by the Erasmus Plus Program — to the Youth Section of UNESCO in Paris.
Peace & Human Rights
Amid the rubble of Syria, art becomes an act of resistance. Discover the story of Aeham Ahmad, the “The Pianist of Yarmouk”, who defied the horror of war with the invincible beauty of his musical notes.
Operation Mato Grosso is working on over 100 missions across Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia, all rooted in education, hard work, and solidarity. Jacopo Manara, who has been a volunteer for years, tells us their story.
An interview on communication with Michele Zanzucchi, journalist and writer, former director of Città Nuova, professor of communication at Sophia University Institute and at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and author of around forty books.
EN
