a message from france

picasso's 'peace on earth'

through the world of the internet, people come into our lives that never would have - it is a gift...

solange contacted me regarding the project... she was unable to make flags this year, but wanted to tell her story -

her family has experienced war through her brother's eyes, has seen the painful toll it has taken upon him and so many others... he still lives in africa where she points out that 'the line between war and peace is very thin', where she has met children and teenagers who have never lived in peace - they have only ever known war... 

and she wanted me to share some quotes with you -

'i do not want the peace that passeth understanding.

i want the understanding which bringeth peace.'

- helen keller

and

'la paix n'est pas un vain mot.'

'peace is not just a simple word.'

- former côte d'ivoire president félix houphouët-boigny

i was so moved by the life of this former president that i wanted to add here another passage from him:

'Nothing will change as long as statesmen do not make the quest for peace something more than the mere window-dressing of their policy. Everything will change when this quest for peace has become the main and real goal of their concerns and second nature to them. The interests they defended up to that time will then seem to them to have been very mean and perverse. Peace is not an empty word but a form of behaviour.'

while the flags serve as a visual reflection of the quest, it is indeed the thoughts, words and actions of each individual that bring us ever closer to our goal... 

thank you, solange, for adding yours here - 

may we never lose hope, may we never stop believing, may we never forget how powerful we become in numbers -

mary jane