Dawson College students collect messages of peace ahead of sombre anniversary

MONTREAL – It has been almost ten years since the tragic incident at Dawson College, but walking through the halls you’d never know that a lone gunman opened fire there, killing Anastasia De Sousa, 18, and injuring 19 others.

Students and volunteers spent Tuesday collecting messages of peace to add to their Peace Garden project.

“We have an online electronic wall that is collecting all the messages as people are writing them,” one of the organisers said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We have an online electronic wall that is collecting all the messages as people are writing them," one of the organisers said.

The initiative began in 2011, allowing people from all over the world to submit messages for display on the Dawson Wall of Peace.

READ MORE: Dawson College remembers: 5 year anniversary of shooting

In anticipation of the tenth year commemoration of the shooting, the goal is to have either 10,000 total messages or at least one message from all 193 countries in the United Nations.

https://twitter.com/sustaindawson/status/722437999011766272/

So far, messages have been sent from all over, including India, Russia, the Philippines, and Ghana.

“We are choosing peace over violence and we want everybody to do that so we have peace on earth,” organisers said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We are choosing peace over violence and we want everybody to do that so we have peace on earth," organisers said.

Dawson College students will be participating in Peace Day activities at City Hall on September 21 of this year.