The 213° week of the vigil
in front of WHO
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Carole Bouvier, Liliane Deroche, Alison Katz and Françoise Bouvier - from 1st to 3rd September 2008 Michel and Christine Nodet and Jean-Yves Peillard - from 4th to 5th September 2008 Guy Demenge, Lamamo and Anne Marie Jeanneret - from 8th to 12th September 2008 Bernard Nicolle - from 15th to 19th September 2008 Thérèse Raitière, Paul Roullaud and Claude Jousseaume - from 22nd to 26th September 2008 Annick Bruneau, Jean-Jacques Monier and Marie Chantepie - from 29th September to 3rd October 2008 |
 Carole Bouvier (Geneva-Switzerland), Liliane Deroche (St Etienne-France) |
from 1st to 3rd September 2008 Françoise Bouvier (Saint Cergues-France) |
Alison Katz (Geneva-Switzerland) |
 Michel and Christine Nodet (St Antoine l’Abbaye-France) |
from 4th to 5th September 2008 |  Michel Nodet (St Antoine l’Abbaye-France) and Jean-Yves Peillard (Apremont-France) |
 Guy Demenge (Annemasse-France) |
from 8th to 12th September 2008 Anne Marie Jeanneret |
 Lamamo (Aix-les-Bains-France) |  |
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Bernard Nicolle (Feins-France) from 15th to 19th September 2008 |
from 22nd to 26th September 2008
I have just spent two days in the company of those people who are most deeply involved in the action. The General Assembly is always an intense time which gives the twenty or so people who take part in it the chance to benefit from this close contact. The people who maintain the vigil are numerous enough to allow us to make use of this time to get a clearer perspective on the action overall. It is particularly on this subject that I would like to give my thoughts. When I am installed at the Morillons crossroads, I think of all the men and woman who have been there before me and all those who will follow me. I know why I am there but that doesn’t spare me from the sort of questions that I’m sure all people who do the vigil must experience: How long will it be necessary to be there? Can our action possibly change anything significantly? To the first question I can’t offer any answer. As for the second, it seems clear to me that the required affect of the vigil was achieved on the very first day it started and it is confirmed every day that it continues. We have maintained a permanent and visible presence, a concrete expression of our criticisms, claims and demands, and this, to my eye, in the best way possible: women and men, on their own or in pairs, facing the fortress of WHO, revealing through their apparent fragility the impressive strength of conscience. It is a great victory to show to the bosses of WHO – in front of their employees and the people at large - that the world does not respect their opinions.
The reality of the world doesn’t even enter their thinking, just as we are physically kept outside the borders of their territory. We are there at the disposal of any person who wishes to speak to us; they don’t even have to open any doors. We are the world. It is incredible that we have been able to set up a “thriving business” in the midst of foreign embassies and other international organizations. During the four weeks of the vigil that I have done, I have only ever encountered one display of hostility. For the rest of the time it is like a sea of indifference from which signs of friendliness emerge from time to time. I really like to see the hands that wave at me but I tell myself that the less people show signs of sympathy, the more useful I am being – it is necessary that I am there, beneath the windows of WHO, to keep the flame of conscience burning. It doesn’t burn in vain. Since the 26th April 2007 we have significantly informed and enlightened hundreds of people, including a large number of people who work at WHO. More and more people tell us that the faith and trust they have in us comes from the fact that we have been there for such a long time, in all weathers. The question that I am now left with is not ”How long do we need to carry on for?” but how many people do we need to have to do the vigil to be able to keep the flame of conscience burning, in this place, all the time that WHO (an organization that has such a wonderful constitution) are so cruelly wasting (without conscience). People continue to join at about the rate of one a week. It is a rate that we need to keep up in order to double our current numbers. There are 180 of us at the moment. It is not always possible to find the words to explain what we are doing and what affect that could have. And it is possible that this could put other people off from joining us. I hope, with these few lines, I may have brought in a small number who might otherwise have been missed.
Paul Roullaud
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Annick Bruneau (Nantes-France), Jean-Jacques Monier and Marie Chantepie from 29th September to 3rd October 2008 |
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