Fundraising by Andrea Silvestro

Last June 26, Clara Gandolfo, a young volunteer with Operation Dove, decided to celebrate her birthday by coming up with a special fundraiser: "35.80 Run for Peace." 35 is the number of her birthday; 80 is the number of kilometers separating Imperia, her hometown, from Albissola, where she now lives with her family. Clara took them on the run, like the important and urgent challenges, the ones for which you cannot wait.

The commitment against all war is one of them. All over the world too many conflicts rage, and to pay the consequences, today as yesterday, are mostly the defenseless, civilians. That is why, back in '92, Operation Dove was born. That's why, Clara, decided to set out on a run, raising 3,000 euros and sending an important message: against violence, we must set out.

In my own small way, I decided to pick up the example, to continue her journey. September 8 will mark exactly 80 years since the armistice of 1943. A crucial milestone in Italian History, which unfortunately was still followed by two years of very heavy civil war. But it is the concept "armistice" that should awaken consciences. All of them: those of those who materially act out the conflicts, those who profit from the arms trade, and those who, in the face of all this, remain indifferent.

On September 8 Iwill leave Albissola and reach, by bicycle, "my" Fossano. 95 km straddling Liguria and Piedmont to raise more funds and continue to raise awareness. Arrival is scheduled at the Condominio Solidale "Divina Provvidenza." A structure of peace and welcome, managed by the Social Cooperative "Il Ramo" of the Pope John XXIII Community, which since 2019 hosts elderly parents with disabled children, adults with serious problems of autonomy and young people engaged in cohabitation paths in the name of solidarity.

The intention is that the path started in June by Clara can reach all over Italy, making use of many volunteers: not necessarily linked to Operation Dove, as long as they are ready to set out. By running, by bicycle, at a walking pace: each according to his or her possibilities. To spread, mile after mile, a message of concrete pacifism.

A message that could become a practice, reviving the appeal that Operation Dove made 10 years ago: "Nowadays we are living a deep political and institutional crisis, but first of all a spiritualone.Our country does not have the necessary means to make a global impact in the economic sphere, let alone in the political or military sphere. It could, however, become a 'spiritual superpower,' a cradle of peace, by opening itself to an experiment: renouncing military interventions abroad for 10 years."

An appeal that has gone unheeded but is still relevant today. An appeal to be complemented by the call to stop the production and sale of weapons. On the way along only one road: nonviolence!

A path in stages all along our peninsula. Taking advantage of media opportunities to reach as many people as possible. After September 8, the third stop could be Boves, where the Caravan of Peace will arrive from Cuneo on the 24th of the same month, in remembrance of the Nazi massacre, also 80 years ago. Volunteers from "Paths of Peace" an association that supports Operation Dove have already made themselves available to travel the stretch. Its arrival will coincide with that of various authorities, including the national presidents of ANPI and ACLI, called to speak on stage. What better occasion to revive the appeal? If peace is a dream, dreaming is a duty. Step by step, let us make Operation Dove's appeal our own. Let us set out to transform Italy into a "spiritual superpower"!

Andrea