In Rondine it is the discourse that addresses the conflict, it is the path that looks to peace.
In these tragic days in which war, terrorism and all forms of violence seem to have interrupted that path, the Citadel of Peace is questioning itself, like many, about its mission.
As the rejection of war and violence as a means of dispute resolution becomes even more firm, the responsibility and will to defend a unique heritage in the world of “impossible friendships,” of bonds of affection and commitment to peace, those of the World House youth, the young ‘enemies’ who in Rondine face conflict outside and inside themselves, finding creative tools to transform it through relationship, is also renewed.
The Citadel of Peace offers them a space to process their own pain, to welcome the pain of the other and discover that it is not very different from their own, turning conflict into an opportunity for encounter. That is why, now, it is necessary to care for and protect that space in which right now these young people are creating an unprecedented “us” that smacks of a real future.
What is happening now between Israelis and Palestinians, continues to happen between Ukrainians and Russians, as between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Nagorno Karabakh, in Mali and in the hundreds of forgotten wars around the world: it is the sorrows of the world that in Rondine find a way to imagine a new future and break the opposing patterns that in these hours sow blood and break lives. Listening to our young people, we are aware of the need for the care of words and that the name of a people is not a label that can identify everything and everyone. Likewise, we see how societies are fragmented internally today more than ever before, and precisely because of this, the collective duty must be to protect those who care about dialogue between the parties and especially those who continue to do so in these moments. Despite the wounds, the lacerations, and with thoughts of their families and loved ones, each one of our young people tries tenaciously to break these patterns and nurture “the strength of… despite.”
Rondine refuses to think that its path can be broken by the new onset of war these days, that its commitment to a peaceful future can fail in the face of violence.
War wins if it can crush hope and allow anger to become hatred. Rondine’s work today more than ever returns to the roots of the Human, to defend the possibility of transforming pain into a path of reconciliation and building a peaceful future.
