Sant’Angelo in Vado
A lesson of I.H.L. - International
Humanitarian Law –
in the
On the 16th May 2009, we, students from the third and second
classes of Sant’Angelo
in
As soon as we
arrived we took our places and sat down waiting...
Just before the crucial time of course, there was a little hitch - the computer
could not read the presentation -just one of those small technical problem that enlivens the
waiting moments! However, our teacher Monaco Cecilia and the person in charge
did not panic, and showing great proficiency in computer matters they were soon
able to solve the problem. At last the teacher started to show the slides of
all the work for the O.M.A.C. Project :"Open Minds
for Active Citizenship" showing drawings, texts, and all sorts of other information about the project.
The end result was excellent. Everyone concerned - those who worked
really hard and even those who were rather more relaxed in their research,
together produced a fine end result. The final product of our project is
available for all to see, as it is now published on the internet.
After the presentations about the European projects the speaker in charge of
the Italian Red Cross began to talk about International Humanitarian Law and
Human Rights. Faced with yet another presentation it seemed boring at first,
but then he caught our attention and we found it very interesting indeed.
Dr. Gianluigi Gulli
began immediately with a question :
"Do you believe that war is right or
wrong?"
In this way he
immediately aroused our curiosity.
The challenge of the direct question was a bit of a shock for us – not least
because it appeared at first to be a question with such an obvious answer.
However, throughout the presentation of the speeches, and whilst different
arguments were being discussed, and pictures were being shown, Dr Gianluigi Gulli kept talking,
commentating, on them, discussing different aspects of them, and we were
fascinated by his words and felt shocked by the society around us.
We also “dragged up” the past, thinking of all the deaths caused by the
cruelties of the World Wars. From time to time he asked some questions, but it
was very confusing ... everyone was talking, giving his /her own opinion or
comment. And so we come to the end, thinking of the "rotten and filthy
" present society: a society that
neither prevents war but also, in some way does not reject it either.
How can civil war within a country be justifiable, either morally or legally?
Fortunately, to improve and protect people’s lives there have been many
arrangements "the famous GENEVA CONVENTIONS" promoted
years ago by an enterprising gentleman named Henri Dunant!
The link between Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and International
Humanitarian Law is essential!
After many searching questions and lively discussions we returned to school,
happy with what we had learned during this meeting, ready to grow and to help
build a better future, where war will be finally banned and freedom will not be the opposite of war
any more, but it will become a way of life !!!!!
FREEDOM
Freedom
In both the
projects we are involved in at our school i.e. "Open Minds for Active
Citizenship" and "On dit non à la
violence: education à la non-violence et à la paix"
the main theme, and what should be dear to every human being, is freedom. According to Humanitarian Law,
it is the first thing that a person has the right to have, but today , it is
often severely violated by many of us. We, too - even as children- with our
faults and our selfishness, can affect the freedom of other people. The
constitution is like a veil that covers and protects us all, but just like a
veil, which is fragile, it is also very easy to harm it, by tearing it or cutting it with a knife. Freedom,
however, has several aspects, which may be either good or bad. The good aspect
is that it protects us, and does not prevent us from helping us to build our
future. The bad aspect is that freedom can allow everyone to act selfishly and
it is this aspect which is heavily implicated in wars and conflicts, where
nothing is forbidden and only certain freedoms " the good ones " are
protected by a few conventions.
Usually the word "freedom" does not mean what it says. It comes at a
cost. At its inception, “Freedom” had a very specific meaning, to enable every
person to be safe, to help others and to build a better world. Today however,
it is often used as the opposite of the word "war." After a war, what sort of freedom can there
be if everyone is scared, people are ignorant and these words are meaningless?
Is this freedom? Even today, are we really free?
The truth is that
today freedom is a "ghost word", an ideal we believe we possess, but
in reality we are still a long way from that!
We need freedom everywhere, and it is increasingly becoming more a necessity than a style of life, and this
is wrong, because we must not seek
freedom, but we must build it by helping each other!!!!!
MICHELA PASQUALI 3^ A Sant’Angelo
in Vado
TEACHERS : PALAZZETTI ERNESTA
CECILIA A.
