The Peace Word: Cork schoolchildren send out a message of peace and solidarity with the Arab world

international | anti-war / imperialism | news report Monday June 28, 2004 13:30 by Dominic Carroll - Cork Anti-War Campaign / Anti-War Ireland / antiwarcork at eircom dot net

A Peace Project for Primary Schoolchildren in Cork

Primary schoolchildren in Cork have sent out a message of peace and solidarity with the Arab world. The children gathered in Cork’s Lee Fields to “assemble” the Arabic word for peace using large boards, each bearing a fragment of the word as painted by the children themselves.

More than 300 children were involved in the project, and each added their own message for peace and decorated the boards with a drawing. When assembled, the word covered an area of approximately 50 feet by 20 feet. Having assembled the Peace Word, the children sang together “The White Ribbon”, a song composed for the occasion.

The project co-ordinator, Professor John Maguire (composer of “Hey Ronnie Reagan”, made famous by Christy Moore), had recently visited participating schools to talk about the meaning of “The Peace Word” initiative, and to teach children his recently composed song, “The White Ribbon”. The art aspect of the project was co-ordinated by community artist, Elaine Garde. The project received the generous support of Cork’s Quay Co-op and Tig Filí.

A high-resolution version of the photo included here is available for reproduction in publications (300/600 dpi, CMYK or greyscale, tiff or jpeg). Contact antiwarcork@eircom.net or phone 087 1258325.

"The White Ribbon"
By John Maguire ©

Chorus:
We’ll wear the white ribbon for peace, and to declare that the slaughter must cease;
We’re aware that our true enemies are hunger and fear, despair and disease,
And war is the maker of these,
So we’ll wear the white ribbon for peace.
 
We’ll wear it and weep for our world, and for the harm that we’ve done it,
With all the weapons we’ve hurled, and all the scars upon it,
And also we’ll wear it in hope that a better world will be made,
Where all who have struggled to cope will be free and can live unafraid.

We’ll wear it and weep for our youth, and for the world that we’ve made them,
Where power has trampled on truth, and cruelly betrayed them,
And wear it as well to declare that power will not silence our voice,
And we’ll work in hope for the hour when in freedom and peace we rejoice.
 
We’ll wear it and weep for the hatred by which our world is divided,
Where cruelty poses as fate, and those left without are derided,
But wear it as well to proclaim that justice cannot be enslaved:
Though crimes have been done in our name, yet the future is here to be saved!