Canada #UnitedInDistance: Rainbow of hope goes to Quebec
Gabriella Cucinelli, an early childhood educator in Quebec City, wanted to share a message of hope within her province. Inspired by her native country Italy, Gabriella decided to bring the rainbow symbol of hope from Europe to Canada, combining this with helping non-profit organisations (NPOs).
When Italy went into lockdown due to COVID-19, Gabriella felt an overwhelming sense of despair. She immigrated to Quebec City eight years ago, but her family, including her elderly mother, still lives in southern Italy. As the number of cases slowly started to climb in Quebec, she knew it would not be long before they would be in a similar situation.
Watching news from Italy displaying posters of rainbows combined with the phrase "andrà tutto bene" which translates to "everything will be all right," the 39-year-old instantly felt calmer. And that's when she got the idea to call Progetto Infanzia, the group behind the posters in Italy, asking for permission to translate the slogan to French and use it in Quebec. They said yes. Since then "ça va bien aller" took off.
"I didn't want to take credit for the message," said Cucinelli. "I just wanted to transfer the rainbow all the way to Quebec."
Besides giving people hope, Cucinelli felt making the posters would be a good way to distract children who were stuck in their homes, and would help soothe some of their anxiety.
Furthermore, since she owns the rights to use the rainbow and "ça va bien aller" combination, if a business wants to post the two together outside their shop window, she asks that they consider giving a donation to an NPO. Gabriella herself has been giving the donations she receives to La cantine pour tous, a food security organization in Montreal.
She's been overwhelmed by the hundreds of posters, rainbow displays and messages she's seen across the province. "I find it amazing how not only people, but institutions and organizations have been using it. So many monuments in cities in Quebec have lit up in rainbow colours."
Merci Gabriella for sharing the colours of hope across the globe! We are #UnitedInDistance
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