COSTA ALMERIA NEWS: Peace starts with a smile in Vera to celebrate School Day of Non-Violence and Peace

UNDER the slogan Peace starts with a smile’, Vera marked the School Day of Non-Violence and Peace with a series of activities celebrated in the town’s main square.
Local school children came together with people assisted by the Asprodalba association for the intellectually disabled and from the adult education school, all clad in the T-shirt designed by the local council especially for the occasion. They also had banners which they themselves had decorated.
Organised by the local authority’s Education department through the municipal play centre, events included the reading out of a manifesto by youngsters from the Vera Municipal Youth Council and an Asprodalba user reading out a poem she had written herself describing the importance of each and every action in order to achieve a path towards peace.
Her participation earned her loud applause and served as the perfect reminder that the day was all about education in and for tolerance, solidarity, harmony and respect for human rights.
“Every common commitment has to start first with the individual commitment that we have to have towards people”, the children declared.
Events also featured a stirring performance by Vera tenor Enrique Parra.
Vera Education councillor Carolina Perez addressed the gathering, using the occasion to underline “the importance of living in freedom and a safe country, unlike those children who have to go to other countries as refugees due to the insecurity in their countries of origin.
“Peace start with small gestures in our surroundings, in our municipality, in our homes, in our plaza and with ourselves”, she added, “small gestures like a friendly word, a smile, and always respecting others.