National
Staff Union Speech - UNIFIL
Maj.
Gen. Paolo Serra Farewell Town Hall Meeting
& Welcoming Maj. Gen. Luciano Portolano
Monday
21 July 2014
Dear Colleagues & Friends,
I would like first
to express our warmest wishes to Maj. Gen Portolano and say “Ahlan Wa Sahlan” to
UNIFIL and in Lebanon, this marvelous country which has contributed a lot in
spreading peace and harmony in collaboration with the United Nations despite
the repeated wars on its soil.
We greatly hope
today, after you have been appointed the Head of the Mission and the Force
Commander of UNIFIL, to collaborate together hand-by-hand for the noble causes
of peace and stability in South Lebanon; all that, through promoting the talents,
skills and capacities in UNIFIL in order to preserving what was accomplished
and achieved, and to continuing what has been planned for during Maj. Gen
Serra’s mandate.
We ask God to
support you in accomplishing your responsibilities and you have our full
support and respect!
And to our
father, friend and colleague Maj. Gen. Serra,
Today, I wish
to speak from my own heart to that of he who has been to us a benevolent
champion, a gentle friend, and a rock to lean on. With endless care and
support, he has opened before us a path of hope and horizons of success. From
him, we have learned that patience is the gift of the ambitious, that
cooperation is a rare gem, and that greatness can only be achieved through
innovation.
Sir,
You embody the
very concept of compassion, and you have generously given from your expertise
and advice. You have sowed the grains of solidarity, teaching us how to be
resolute without harming others, and how to win without making victims; today,
you may rightfully reap the seeds of loyalty and gratefulness.
To our dearest Maj.
Gen. Serra,
Only your
words, ever resounding in us, can sooth the bitterness of this farewell.
Whenever we feel nostalgic, we will remember you by the prints you have left,
and by every word you have said to heal our wounds and ease our trouble. We
have learned from you that the love one gives never fails to flourish all
around. You will always have a special place in our hearts.
Allow me to
express, on behalf of all my colleagues, our most sincere feelings of gratitude
and appreciation, for your generosity and open-heartedness. This is not a goodbye,
because we will always treasure the wonderful memories we have of you, hoping
to meet you again, and promising to keep you in our prayers.
We bid you
farewell, extending again our gratitude on behalf of all the colleagues whom
you have set on the right track.
Finally and
before saying goodbye, we would like to honor you today with a psalm from the
Old Testament:
“Il Giusto Fiorira Come Palma, Crescera Come il
Cedro Del Libano”
“The
Righteous shall flourish like the Palm tree, He shall grow like a Cedar in
Lebanon”.
