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After 159 days touring the planet with activities in 51 countries and 122 cities, jumping over difficulties and multiple incidents, the Base Team of the 2ª World March She concluded her tour in Madrid on March 8, the date chosen as a tribute and show of support for the women's struggle. That arrival was celebrated through different events between March 7 and 8.
Saturday, March 7: from Vallecas to Retiro
Morning in the Cultural Center del Pozo in the Vallecas neighborhood, a twinning concert between Núñez de Arenas School, the Pequeñas Huellas orchestra (Turin) and the Manises Cultural Athenaeum (Valencia); a hundred boys and girls performed various musical pieces, and some rap songs.
Before a devoted audience of family and friends, and with background images of human symbols of Peace and Nonviolence, Rafael de la Rubia took the floor, recalling that the first human symbol had been made precisely at the Núñez de Arenas school and that the twinning arose out of the preparations for the World March; He commented that in the course of it he had also found boys in various places using rap as a form of musical expression to connect with young people. Then, he encouraged adults to pay attention to those young people who are showing the way with new values, such as caring for the environment and solidarity with one another.
In the afternoon, the «official» closing ceremony of the March took place in the Arab House auditorium near the Retiro Park. Attendees were able to consult in the entrance hall various materials offered to the base team during the March, such as a book-suitcase with drawings of young emigrants arriving in Rome from different countries in Africa, crossing the Mediterranean.
After a few words of thanks to the Casa Árabe, Martina S. welcomed those present, some from India (Deepak V.), Colombia (Cecilia U.), Chile (Lílian A.), France (Chaya M. and Denis M.) Italy (Alessandro C., Diego M. and Monica B.), Germany (Sandro C.), also virtually including friends who could not physically be due to visa or health issues followed the session via streaming . Rafael de la Rubia first made a review of how this 2nd MM emerged and its nuances with respect to the first and recalled its thematic axes.
Afterwards, representatives of countries from the five continents gave an account of the most important events that took place during and around the march. Everything was complemented with comments, anecdotes, image projections and inserting video messages from various countries, resulting in a multicolored range of activities carried out both by activists and by countless groups and institutions.
Finally, some of the actions and projects were mentioned, which with different degrees of precision, had arisen on the journey:
- Twinning between educational centers. Colleges and Universities.
- Edition of books of the March: a) Illustrated book of the Saure publishing house with thematic blocks of the MM; b) Book of the 2nd MM, compiling what was done and c) Game of the Goose of the MM
- Declarations of municipal interest or cultural interest to the MM at municipal and regional levels.
- Bell «Mediterranean, Sea of Peace» declaring cities as Embassies of peace. Next action in the Adriatic Sea.
- Senegal (Thiès): Forum »Africa towards nonviolence»
- Latin American March for Nonviolence2021 in San José, Costa Rica, where two routes will converge from the north and south of the continent.
- Conference "Women entrepreneurs» in Argentina (Tucumán)
- Bell "Let's activate Peace » in Nepal/India/Pakistan
- Intervention at the summit of the Nobel Peace Prize Laureates (Nobel Peace Price Summit)in South Korea (Seoul).
- Participation in the conference on Nuclear Disarmament of International Peace Bureau and possible meeting with Guterres, Secretary General of the UN in the USA. (NY)
- Festival proposal to celebrate the ratification of the TPAN in Japan (Hiroshima).
- Observatories for nonviolence in Curitiba and permanent committees on Nonviolence… in Brazil.
The event closed with a nod to the environmental situation, inviting everyone to become sensitized and contaminated with the virus of nonviolence.
Sunday, March 8: Puerta del Sol, Km. 0 and human symbol
From 11:00 a.m. a strange ballet took place at Puerta del Sol in front of Km.0 attracting the attention of passers-by. The promoter team from Madrid with a few more friends, who had arrived the day before from Brussels and Tangier, were setting up the music equipment and unfurling banners while the symbol of nonviolence was drawn on the ground. A circle was created around which curious people began to swirl. Marian, from "Women walking the peace«, drew attention to the rhythm of the drum about the meaning of that event on that day and gave the floor to Rafael de la Rubia: «… After 159 days we close here this 2nd World March for Peace and Nonviolence.
During this time, the WM has carried out activities in 50 countries and more than 200 cities and has had a base team, of which there are several present, with which it has circled the planet ... This march is inspired by the fathers of nonviolence who have preceded us, whom we have honored along the way: M. Gandhi at the Sevagram Ashram (India) and Silo at Parque Punta de Vacas (Argentina), among others ... ". After thanking the participants, he invited everyone to join the project of the ¡¡¡3rd March !!! 5 years from now, in 2024.
Encarna S. by the Association of Humanist Women for Nonviolence, made a plea in favor of the role of women for a nonviolent world. “This is the time when women are rising up, owners of our essence and committed to life. We declare that life is threatened, that humanity is threatened, and we commit ourselves to its protection. Starting today we invite commitment to the protection of life, building ties, creating networks: networks of solidarity, care, human networks from the feminine. So that we manage to return to the sense of species, the record that all people are one»
Following a previously established choreography, two groups entered in a row across two poles and moved along the lines drawn on the ground until they set the symbol of Nonviolence. At the agreed signal, white and purple cards were raised, signifying how, from the purple center, the women spread nonviolence in white. Images were recorded from above to have a memory of the event. After leaving the circle, the participants shared joy with the rest of the audience.
Later, the March formally closed after 148 thousand km. circling the planet in the same Km.0 from where it had left 159 days ago.
In the afternoon the activists of the 2nd MM participated in the feminist 8M joint demonstration.
They were two full and intense days of shared laughter between people from different countries and cultures, ready to continue collaborating in the future. Proof of this is that the following day it was already compiling itself in informal meetings to articulate the projects of the Latin American March for Nonviolence and the campaign Mediterranean Sea of Peace ...