"Love is the basis of my life, my country has condemned love. This was the sentence that kept echoing in my head. I repeated it as a prayer, while the boat on which I found myself proceeded swiftly towards a world completely new to me, accompanied by the sound of the waves in the silence of the night and by those who, driven by hope, made the same journey towards the unknown".

This is the introductory sentence of the "Story of Bachiir", one of the winning stories of the 14th edition of the competition "Writing does not go into exile", an event organized by Centro Astalli in collaboration with Rai Cultura (Media Partner for the event).  This activity is dedicated to culture, books, education and school as means for an inclusive and supportive society open to diversity. Thousands of high school students from 15 Italian cities have participated.

The video with the high school winners of the competition

In order to comply with the measures to control of the Coronavirus pandemic, the event took place online during the morning of October 29.  This was an opportunity to award the winning students of the XIV edition of the literary competition "Writing does not go into exile" for high school students and the sixth edition of the literary competition "We write in Color" for middle schools. Over 200 students have sent their stories in recent months to participate in the two literary competitions promoted by the Astalli Center as part of the educational projects "Window-Stories of refugees", which forms part of the European program CHANGE, and "Meeting Paths of Interreligious Dialogue", through which 25,000 students who are either refugees as well as members of other religions from over 100 Italian institutions meet each year.

Video with the middle school winners of the competition

The winners were awarded with backpacks full of books. The professional jury made up of writers, journalists and representatives from international organizations awarded the winners with backpacks of books. The event was also an opportunity to aware the title of Refugee Friendly School and Student Ambassadors Program of the European project CHANGE to institutions that have promoted awareness-raising and active citizenship initiatives implemented by students with the aim of creating a fairer society which is more open and more welcoming. All information and educational material of the projects "Window-Stories of Refugees" and "Meeting Paths of Interreligious Dialogue" can be downloaded from the Centro Astalli website under the section "School Activities".