Dear readers,

This original poem, dedicated to the people of Sderot, came in via e-mail, and I wanted to share it with you:

you want to crush me
stronger I'll grow up
I belong to a community
I'll stand up
thanks to something so strong
my soul, my heart,
so strong
my identity

The writer, Denise Pepin is a French-as-a-foreign-language professor in Quebec City. To her, teaching is a way of discovering cultures, and understanding others’ happiness and pain, feeling their strength and perseverance. To her, the people of Sderot are examples of perseverance, determination and survival.