Castries, St. Lucia - UPF-St. Lucia and the students of Sir Arthur Lewis Community College (SALCC) held a March and Rally for Peace on September 20.
About 100 students holding placards participated in the march along with Mr. Urban Dolor, the Principal, Mrs. Jane Hippolyte, Dean of the Division of Arts and General Studies, and Mrs. Gloria Severin, a lecturer who worked diligently behind the scenes to organize the event and a few other teachers.
After the march, participants gathered under a majestic and venerable 400-year-old saman tree where a stage had been set up. Ms. Nathalie Fanis, the MC for the event, explained the significance of the International Day of Peace and read an extract of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's message.
Mr. Remy Taupier, the Secretary General of UPF-St. Lucia, was invited to address the participants. After reading the UPF statement, he reminded everyone that who we become is greatly influenced by how we are raised. The family is the place where people first learn about conflict resolution, peacemaking, and harmony. The family should be the place where children coming home from school can find relief from the pressures and negative emotions of the day. “Peace starts at home,” he said. Since the audience was students who will likely become parents themselves soon, Mr. Taupier urged them to prepare well in order to build loving homes.
Two students then read poems they had written, after which the principal spoke briefly. Then the choir led everyone in singing: “Let There Be Peace on Earth.”
It was a good opportunity for the students to reflect about peace in the nation, especially in the wake of the murder of their colleague Chereece Benoit, a very promising 19-year-old female student, two weeks earlier.