Lecco (Italy). On 28 January 2023, the young people of the 2nd year Secondary School of Mary Help of Christians Institute (IMA) of Lecco, of the Lombard Province of Holy Family (ILO), accepting the appeal of the young people of the Economy of Francis, gave life to a reading stage of the World Marathon in favor of the rights of Iranian and Afghan women.
The young women of IMA of Lecco who had participated in the experience of the Economy of Francesco (EoF) – at Assisi on 24 September 2022, had in fact, together with more than 30 cities from all over the world, joined the proposal to read the oriental tales “A Thousand and One Nights”. The famous collection tells the story of King Shahriyar who, betrayed by his wife, marries a woman every night and has her killed the following morning. Until Shahrazad, daughter of the vizier, thinks of a solution. She will entertain the king every night, telling him a new story and postponing the end of the story until the following night. At the end of the ‘thousand and one tales’, the king will forget his hatred for women, so Shahrazad will save the women of the country and herself, managing to find a new story to tell every night.
The EoF press release explains the aims of the initiative. “We feel it our duty to stand alongside Iranian and Afghan women who are fighting for their freedom and all young people who are trying to build a better future. And we will do it by using words. The narrative device of the ‘Arabian Nights’ reminds us that narration is also a place to go to try to defeat death. It is a sign to celebrate and defend the value of words and their generative capacity for salvation, the fundamental right to express themselves, protest, defend, and fight for life, rights, and freedom. May it be women and young people who generate the necessary first words of the new world that must be born”.
Male and female students thus gathered in the Conference Room of the ConfCommercio of Lecco and, together with Federmanager, the youth group of the Small and Medium Industries Association (Api) of Lecco and Sondrio, ConfCommercio, and other citizens’ associations and movements began the continued reading of the work, alternating with testimonies.
“In this way with a small gesture, we try to make our contribution. After participating in the Economy of Francesco event in Assisi, we realized that as citizens, we also have a duty to take action and give our contribution to raise awareness and give a voice to those who at this moment have no rights”. These are the words of Altea, Miriam, Greta, Michele, Fabiola, and Ilaria of IMA, among the protagonists of the experience.
