The Movement On Own Feet - Centipede

It is a great pleasure for me to be your patron, and I am extremely proud of your tremendous achievements. At the special time of the year, when all our thoughts traditionally turn to the message of peace and love brought into the world by the infant Jesus. It is important that we do not overlook the many children across the globe who do not know the meaning of peace. Far too many children only knot the horrors and suffering of war and conflict.
Children never start war, but all to often they are the ones who suffer most from its consequences. And you only need to watch the news bulletins to realise that children continue to suffer in such places as Afghanistan, Iraq and the Darfor. That is why, as I speak to you today, over fifty thousand men and women, including many from the Czech armed forces, are deployed on NATO-led operations in an effort to and that horror and suffering.

But of course, armed forces are not alone in helping these children. The Centipede movement, which brings together around 100,000 children from the Czech Republic as well as from Slovakia and Norway, is dedicated to helping children in war-torn areas. Your humanitarian activities in these regions are invaluable. In close cooperation with the Czech peacekeepers, you bring support, compassion, and practical assistance to the suffering.
You selflessly give up your own time to raise money and collect the necessary equipment to build and furnish schools; to construct water pipes for fresh drinking water, to help in AIDS hospices and psychiatric hospitals. All these affords make me so very proud to be your patron. I should therefore like to thank all of you for the wonderful work that you do and wish all of you a very merry Christmas and happy New Year.