Lasséran is a French commune in the Occitanie Region with 350 inhabitants. Last year, Lasséran built a peace garden with the collaboration of a local citizens’ group named “Sentries of Peace”.
On November 11, the day commemorating the end of WWI, Lasséran observed a day of peace events to inaugurate the new peace garden, which involved more than half of the population. Among the invited guests were Mr. Michel Cibot, the Executive Officer of AFCDRP-Maires pour la Paix France and Mrs. Miho Cibot, a Hiroshima Peace Ambassador.
The event began with a peace march from a square dedicated to Nobel Peace Prize laureates to the new peace garden. After a ribbon-cutting ceremony, children recited a poem and sang a song in front of a cenotaph for victims of the war. Ms. Cibot recited a French translation of a poem by an “A-bombed poet”, a poet who survived an atomic bombing, and an African poet read his own poem.
An exhibition of peace art by local artists and children was held in the community’s cultural center, whose facade is inscribed with the lyrics of “Imagine” by John Lennon. There was a screening of “La bombe et nous”, a documentary on nuclear weapons, followed by a discussion between the film’s producer, AFCDRP’s Executive Officer, and the audience of approximately 100 people.
The day of peace events in Lasséran was reported on public television network and gained national attention.
On one of the stone towers inscribed the dates of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. (Photos courtesy of Michel Cibot)