Comunità di S.Egidio
















By
Adriana Gulotta

 

 

The Country of the Rainbow movement
as seen by children and adolescents 

Children and adolescents tell about the movement:

"My name is Emanuele and I have been part of the Country of the Rainbow movement for almost one year. I think that the world should be more united because there are only a few communities and associations that help the elderly, the poor, and the immigrants. I think that war is good for nothing. We of the movement, we help the children from Mozambique because they do not have schools, water, money, and they don't have many streets. I think that this is right." 
(Emanuele, 11)

"I don't like this world as it is now because in many parts of the world there is war and because many people die and many children can be wounded and even die and it is not right that children do not have a childhood and it is not right that there is war because war makes a lot of people afraid. I, on the other hand, am not afraid because I live in a world of peace and I want peace for everybody.
(Samuel, 11)

"We of the Country of the Rainbow do not want children to work, instead it is very important that children play and are not forced to work. All children should have a house. Children in the world should play, those of color, the white ones, all together I mean. They should play and not fight because that would be like if a war came, if a war came into their hearts. Children should live in peace." 
(Azzurra, 9)


Children and adolescents of the movement reflect on the world

"The yellow of the sun is the color that unites people. There are two things that may happen: it may rain or there may be sun. Rain is war, which is where there are people who suffer. Sun is peace. When the rain stops it means war ends and the rainbow comes out, and then the children can say: "Thank you Country of the Rainbow" because our movement wants to bring peace to everyone.
(Valentina, 9)

"We of the Country of the Rainbow want all the children in the world to be happy. People who smoke throw the butts on the ground and from that butt step by step a fire starts and it burns the whole forest and reaches the houses. Forests burn and the air gets polluted and the children who will be born tomorrow will not have air to breath and not even water to drink because it will be all polluted. We of the Country of the Rainbow do not want dogs to go into the sea because they pollute it and the children who go swimming in the water get skin infections. I would like all children to be happy as we are."
(Speranza, 12)

"We of the Country of the Rainbow want the world to be cleaner and there to be no evil among people. We do not want war, now or ever. There are children who suffer because they are a different color and they are pushed aside by everyone. We want to be kids from all the races in the world, of any color: yellow, red, black� I would like woods, lakes, and rivers, too, to be cleaner." 
(Romina, 9)

"Ciao, my name is Carlo and I am 12 years old and I'm against dividing children in yellow, black, and white. We children are all the same and we must love one another even if we are different because of the color of our skin. But God has created us so that we love each other, and even if sometimes we fight then we should soon make peace. But some people are against different races being in Italy and they treat kids badly." 
(Carlo, 12)"

"We of the Country of the Rainbow want to help the defenseless and homeless children because we all have to be friends. We of the Country of the Rainbow want to change the world: they shouldn't make war anymore; they should respect nature, rivers, lakes and seas, etc. We should love each other. Here in the world, only one thing brings happiness and joy: Peace! I do not like people fighting because things can be solved with words.
(Jessica, 11)

"I am Sonia and I am 10 years old. On television I saw how some children from Brazil and Colombia live. I saw that they were sleeping on the streets and they had a blanket and they always wore the same clothes. They had one bed and they sleep three on one side and three on the other side. There were some kids who took drugs and smoked, 325,000 children are in prison and dying from hunger. I would like it if that never happens again." 
(Sonia, 10)

"It is bad that children sleep in the streets. I would like them to sleep at home with their moms." 
(Giada, 6)

"I don't like war and the fact that children have to run away. I do not like people who kill and people are mean to poor people. I do not like people who hit other people. I like there to be no war in the world and that people can live in peace and be friends." 
(Sabrina, 7)

"The things I do not like in this world are: the pollution in the sea and sky. Then I don't like war because many people die and so children become orphans, and so then they end up in the hands of people who exploit children who make them work. Even if they are little they make them work just the same. The jobs that they make children do are heavy: sowing carpets, digging in mines, and making shoes." 
(Emanuele, 13)

"I am Mattia and I like the fact that the Country of the Rainbow charter talks about the elderly. I have a grandmother whose name is Francesca and she lives near the bridges of Laurentino 38 (Rome) with me and my mother. Our neighbors often make her mad because they say that the animals we keep on the terrace bother them. They tell her that she should not live with us but that she should go away. I am sorry when people take advantage of the elderly who are weaker." 
(Mattia, 10)

"War is something bad because it is evil. It is bad because there are bombs like in Kosovo where they shoot and a lot of women and children die. I am happy that the war in Kosovo stopped, now it ought to stop many other places in the world.
(Patrizio, 8)


The Rom children's dreams

"I don't like pollution, that they make plastic bags, and the smog from the cars that pollutes the air in the sky. In Ciampino (Rome), in my nomad camp, I don't like how the baths are made because as soon as it gets hot they start to smell and I don't like the water that comes out of the barrel because we don't have running water. When I was little I enjoyed watching the planes with my friends, but when I grew up I got bored of it. They pollute a lot and the grown-ups told me that they cause sound pollution." 
(Giuseppe, 13)

"I want to say that people who make war are stupid because fighting is good for nothing. We have to love each other no matter what our race, even those with dark skin, the Chinese, whites, all of us. I want to say that in the nomad camp where I live, we are uncomfortable because there are no stores near by and I would like to move to another camp because I don't like to be there. Yeah, I really want to get away from there." 
(Jessica, 9)

"Ciao, my name is Semmy. I am 10 years old! I want bathrooms to be set up in our nomad camp, and also sewers, and showers. I want wars to stop. I want them to give us running water and to set up the nomad camps properly. And they also have to spray to disinfectant the camp because there are a lot of pests like ticks from the dogs. Planes fly over our camp and they make a lot of smoke and they pollute the air. I want all the children to play in peace." 
(Semmy, 10)