Exactly one year ago we started our Centre for Peace and Nonviolence and, thanks to the steady and passionate commitment of several people, we have managed to reach many of our main goals.

We have successfully organized two peace demonstrations, some public meetings on such topics as the arms market and the war on Iraq, we have submitted a project on peace and nonviolence to local schools, as well as stimulating our community to make a commitment to fight against war, racism, injustice and violence.

The tragic images of death and destruction coming from New York on September 11^th 2001 had different impacts on the world population; on us, like on other millions, they strengthened our commitment to nonviolence and pacifism, aware as we are that death and destruction will always be followed by more death and destruction and that we were all called to action.

Each of us can and must give their own precious contribution to improve all aspects of our world, from the protection of the environment, to education, immigration, human rights and the defence of the dignity of all human beings regardless of race, gender, religion, social status.

We have decided to entitle our Centre to Rachel Corrie because we were impressed by her bravery and human generosity, a frail young woman who chose to leave the comforts and safety of her home to go to one of the poorest places in the world in order to protect those whose existence nobody seemed to care about.

Our hearts ache because her life was destroyed and because we deeply resent the injustice lying behind all lives that are destroyed; on the other hand we cherish the smile we have become familiar with through Rachel’s photos, and intend to do our best to keep the memory of that smile alive.

Man’s history is a history of violence, but it is also the history of a number of individuals who have not accepted it as such – only some of them have become famous and illustrious, but many have dedicated their humble and obscure lives to the pursuit of peace, liberty and justice.

It is to such people that we dedicate our Centre, to those who, like Rachel Corrie, had and have a dream: to succeed in living without fear or violence, and lived and live to make such dream come true.

Dear Mr and Mrs Corrie, your presence honours us and binds us to carry on our work more strongly and more earnestly. I thank you very much for accepting our invitation and express the deep grief and participation of our entire community for the loss of your child.

We promise we will try hard to be worthy of Rachel’s name and to follow in the same path of commitment for peace, justice and solidarity, being as well aware as she was that the life of any human being is to be priced much more than any house, any strip of land, any oil well.

Thanks, Rachel; thanks, Cindy; thanks, Craig.

And thanks to all those people who are fighting all over the world, either on their own or in small groups, to make it a decent home for all human beings.

Massimo Arata, chairman

Ovada, September 11th, 2003