There are friendship and happiness stories. In my long experience close to the Erasmus world I have seen many of those stories and I cannot hide that sometime, in front of occasions such as this ones, I can be touched by all this feelings of unity and happiness coming from the voluntary world.
IEG, meaning International Erasmus Games and also known as “Erasmus Olympics”, are a young idea born to strengthen, through sport, the feeling of unity between European citizens. The rules are easy and effective. Each national team is not composed of people coming from that nation but by people that are doing the Erasmus in that country. It happens so that the national team, for example, of Spain has persons coming from all over Europe wearing the flag of the country that is hosting them, creating a brotherhood feeling between people coming from more than forty nations and representing eighteen countries.
IEG second edition arrived in Milan after the past year debut in Cracow. IEG was born by the farsightedness of the association Erasmus Student Network Italy and the feeling is to be in front at the beginning of a long way.
The first day has seen the 330 Erasmus students involved in a welcoming City Tour around the City of Milan followed by the official opening at the Great Hall of the University of Milan from where it started a colourful parade, which passed from the Cathedral of Milan till the Sforzesco Castle.
Yesterday, the first matches were played and today there are the finals. What to say, emotion is strong, the concept that is at the base of this event is even more important: integration between people.
During my long photographic route, patronized by ESN Italy, on the Great War’s Trail I have seen all the place where our and these Erasmus’ Great-Grandfathers were one hundred years ago and the horror that they have lived. The commotion I felt in front of those graves full of young people coming from all over Europe, nowadays silent between ice and snow, makes my emotion even stronger in front of all these flags together under the Symbol of the European Union. On six may 1916 no one was indeed playing sport matches but instead there were bloody bayonet’s assaults all over the Alps and between France and Germany blood was pouring on the damned quote 304 of Verdun.
So, sport, all this positive happiness and Europe are more than welcome! May the best win!
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