About me

Hello. My name is Sylvie. I am 44, Belgian, mother, wife, gardener and webmaster.

4500 km from Belgium to Santiago

In 2008, a miracle happened in my life and I started to walk the Camino from home.

 

I crossed (parts of) 6 European countries and it took me 6 summers to walk about 4500 km to Santiago (indeed, I didn't take the most direct path !).

 

I describe my routes to Santiago on my blog (in French) http://www.radiocamino.net

 

In August 2014, I arrived at Cabo Fisterra, the end of the world.


"And now ?", I thought. At that precise moment, I saw the peace totem with this simple but huge prayer: "May Peace Prevail On Earth"...

Walking for peace

After 6 years walking for myself, I felt the need to walk for "the others".


Walking to Assisis, the city of St. Francis in Italy, was my first idea. But concretely, at my small level, how can I make this very abstract sentence "walking for peace" come true ?

Unconditional love, the way to peace?

I strongly believe that all men and women are equal, that we all are brothers and sisters. We might have different religions, but we all share faith. All religions have the same message : love, love, love, unconditional love for all Human Beings.

We all are brothers and sisters on the Camino
We all are brothers and sisters on the Camino

I am deeply sad to see that, in Europe, we tend to close our borders, our doors and our hearts to the others. The "foreigner", even if he or she was born and raised in our country, is seen as a threat. We fear each orner instead of trying to know each other.


This growing racism is the cause of many wars. Racism is the exact opposite to unconditional love taught by all religions in the world. 

Free hugs, a concrete way to show peace

It became obvious that I should not only walk, but concretely "do something" while walking.

 

I imagined that I would give everyone I come across a peace sign (like shaking hands and saying "Peace with you"), but this would look pretty weird and I would have to spend my time explaining people that I didn't want anything from them.

Christelle, a friend of mine, taught me about "Free Hugs". Yes, this is a great way to show unconditional love to the others, just offering love, without forcing anyone.

 

This is how I decided to give "free hugs" on the camino

My route from Santiago

I hope to start my peace march in Santiago, on Saturday, July 4th, 2015.

Walking from Santiago on the Camino Frances is a unique opportunity to meet (and hug!) hundreds of different people, from all over the world, each day.

The way followed by St Francis from Santiago to Assisis
The way followed by St Francis back to Assisis, 800 years ago

It is not clear to me yet wether I'll walk to Assisi, Rome or home, but I still have 2000 km (from Santiago to the Italian border) to make a decision!

 

Follow my camino for peace on the blog...