On Thursday, April 17, Mayor Jan van Zanen, students, refugee children, eyewitnesses and veterans walk together.
On this day, 80 children will walk twice from two symbolic locations in The Hague – the Peace Palace and the Waalsdorpervlakte – to Madurodam.
Children aged 10 to 13 will walk in pairs and talk to peers who have experienced war, to veterans and to eyewitnesses of the Second World War. Mayor Jan van Zanen will also be participating. Red-white-blue pine cones will be handed out at the starting points. Upon arrival at Madurodam, participants will use these to create the logo of the Walk for Hope.
A better world starts with listening to others and that is exactly the approach of the Walk for Hope. It conveys that commemoration is not just standing still, but that it is also important to literally get moving to preserve our freedom and ensure that the Netherlands can celebrate another 80 years of freedom. For more information (in Dutch), see
www.nationalekinderherdenking.nl
Understanding someone else’s world
The Walk for Hope is a new event under the banner of the National Children’s Remembrance Day on May 4. This walk is organized on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the special commemoration for children and in the context of 80 years of freedom.
There are still wars in the world in which children grow up in violence and oppression. Research by the Jeugdjournaal shows that children in the Netherlands worry about their future. They read and hear about war violence every day, both far away and closer to home on European soil. That is why the theme for this edition is ‘Hope’. On the day of hope (Maundy Thursday before Easter), the children will talk to each other in order to understand the world of another and to make them realize that there is hope.
About the National Children’s Remembrance Day on May 4
The National Children’s Remembrance Day on 4 May (NKH) is a commemoration for, by and with children that takes place annually in Madurodam. Children learn here in an accessible way why commemoration is important and that freedom is not self-evident, because there are still wars in the world where children have to grow up with violence. The NKH is for children what the National Remembrance Day on Dam Square in Amsterdam is for adults, just as the Jeugdjournaal relates to the NOS Journaal.
Image: Nathan Reinds