Argentina held an act of solidarity for the Japanese people in April, following the crisis caused by the earthquake and seaquake that battered that country.

Saturday, April 9th we met at Buenos Aires’ Barrio Peruzzotti Public School for a heartfelt gesture to reach our sisters and brothers in Japan following their painful experience. Long-time member organizations had held preparatory meetings for youth to assimilate what had happened and come up with proposals to be shared.

The morning meeting was a real networking of ideas, concretely the creation of two enormous flags, one of Argentina and the other Japan with messages of encouragement, solidarity and hope. Also a street band prepared a presentation for the afternoon direct link with Japan. In the end, technical problems only allowed for children and youth to share their spoken expressions of closeness to Japan.

In the late afternoon, a march reached the town square, where the flags were unfurled, and a sound system was set up calling people to come together and share their solidarity with the Japanese people who are living such a difficult moment. The street musicians performed, sharing strength and comfort. Children, youth and families all shared spontaneous and earnest prayers. At the closing, prayers were shared by representatives of different faith-based groups.