- ATD Fourth World

Poland was really expecting the Caravan! The municipality of Strzelce Opolskie, a little town of Silesie, welcomed the Caravan with honours. In this area which was previously a German territory, a lot of people who are unemployed and a lot of young people have immigrated to the Netherlands or to Germany in order to find work. The association Barka (an Emmaus type of community) has mobilised in order to organize the local community for the visit of the Caravan. The events – the parade in the town center, the workshops, (See the article : We count the farandoles but every farandole counts) and the debate - gathered a lot of people. And the local newspaper did not hesitate to make the headline “Strzelce, the big first in Poland”!

The preparation of the hats for the Parade:

Music and activities on the town square of Strzelce Opolskie:

Let’s not forget that we were welcomed in a community where there is a farm:

A song from the Gospel « Freedom » in a church :

The second stage, Kielce, a town of about 150 000 inhabitants 200 km south of Warsaw, focused on the meeting between young people. A mini-bus joined the convoy thanks to the support of Renault Polska. Young people from the “Club Wolna Strefa” (Free zone) joined the “caravaneers”. This was an intense period of mutual discovery and creation. After these three days, the young people presented a theatre-forum in the hall of the local Regional Council (Voivodie of Saint Cross). The little scene shows the reactions of the citizens waiting in the queue of an employment agency whereas a woman on the counter is having too much trouble to fill in the application.

Preparation for the theater forum :

An official presentation in the regional council :

The third stage took place in the town of Gorzno, which is in a rural area up North. Here, a couple of associations have joined forces for the rural development. For example, one of their causes is the creation of kindergardens (in Poland only 20% of the children are welcomed in school whereas in Western Europe the average is 80%). The encounters were full of warmth. People talk a lot in small villages… The inhabitants started to sing, and shared a popular song: “Is this caravan going to the sky? Is there a place for me in this caravan?”. Hania and Maria, two young people from Gorzno told us: “The caravan represents the hope that the world is not bad. The caravan comforted people. One must have confidence and feel that humans are good. One cannot explain it, one has to live it, one has to experience it.”

The time in Gorzo started with a bit of construction work:

And then a parade:

And workshops with the children :

"The caravan turned things upside down for me. It provoked big changes in regards to my ideas, to my outlook on life and to my life… Most of all I realized that we often complain about things that are not worth complaining about. Poland is not yet one of the very rich countries of Europe and we spent time in places where there were not a lot of means, however the welcome that we received was exceptional. I was surprised. We could have thought that each place we visited was participating in a competition for the best welcome. This people are open-handed!" says Antoine, who comes from Ardeche in France and who joined the caravan for its time in Poland

Don’t forget that the most important for us is to exchange and share what we are experiencing. So don’t hesitate to send us an email with your comments, questions and suggestions at caravanes2@atd-quartmonde.org

Thanks. We hope to hear from you soon !