The bird making movement

Albert - EVS volunteer from the Netherlands and one of the participanst of the workshops in Krakow&Radwnowice. International Volunteer's Day 2006
The Bird Making Movement!

What an incredible week learning so much in such a short time!
I never thought that I will do a project like this in my whole life, building up a strong relationship with a mentally disabled person, while we are working together. They are from now on my new friends. Giving at the end of the week a theater performance together was incredible.

So everything started for me 2 weeks ago on Saturday (2/12/2006) in Krakow.
There we met the other volunteers that ware also participating in this project. They came from out of whole Europe. In this group were also 2 fiscally disabled participants.
On Saturday we did very much on group building, shouting around, pretending that we were dogs we did it all! These were also very necessary for our survival in a monastery and of course to get to know each other better.
On Sunday morning we went together to a poetry reading that was in a really nice theater, but a not very social one. In fact we had to carry the wheel chairs whole stairs up and of course I did this with much pleasure. But it also made me think about why they have this stupid stairs, why no elevator. So as Pawel said later in this week: ''no stairs, no tears"

Sunday evening we left Krakow, to meet our new living place for one week: A monastery first a little bit scary for us all. But after putting something’s that were hanging on the wall down I already felt more at home.
The week for me really started on Monday when went for the first time to the working place of my new friends. This was great for me, it was like going to the happy place where everyone was smiling and open for each other, shaking so many hands!
But after introducing and walking around it was time to choose a workshop and start working. So this is also what I did.
I chose to make a bird mask and this is where I met my new friend Janek.
In the beginning a very silent person, but the silence was not very uncomfortable for us because we already broke the ice by closing our eyes and touching each other's face.


This gave me already a feeling that we had a connection, we already shared something together and we where creating together our relationship by making a bird mask. On Wednesday I got the feeling that I don’t want to go “home” anymore I want to stay here all my life! Maybe also I got this feeling because this day there was a very important guest Saint Nicolas and everyone, including me, was dancing around and being happy enjoying his visit. It was a big party with gifts for everyone. Even we got some nice gifts in the evening.
Thank you, Saint Nicolas!

And also this evening was a little magic for me, because we were thinking about how we could get the people from Radwanowiece our new friends, also on stage. This was very important for us because we created the bird mask together and we couldn’t show it alone.
So we sit down in our little bird mask group and were thinking about a little theater play.
But in the beginning I had to admit I had no inspiration at all, so we decide to go lacking the bird masks. While we were doing this everything we already did this week came up in me. What we already learned in this short time, our new relationships, how we worked together and looking at the fine result that was in front of us in that moment.
We started to think about the moment we start to know each other by touching or face’s and about how colorfully open and nice people they are to us.
How we learned from them by just treating them equal!
I think we find out that we really were starting to learn to fly together.
So we came up with a nice little theater piece we all were extremely satisfied about.
And we gave for my feeling a super show on Saturday night, showing what happened to us in this week and how it changed or lives 180 degrees!

When I’m writing about that “changed or lives 180 degrees”. Do I have to say that I’m thinking about Pawel one of the participants of the project who wrote this text. And he would read it when our show was going one, but he had to go home one hour before the show because of illness. This was very sad for us all. I felt very down till the moment I thought that it was half our before that we had to go on stage, we received a message from him. With the text that he was very proud on us and the we had “to fly my little birds!” this gave me a incredible feeling! It made me very happy again so, from of that moment I could smile again.
So when I was on stage I felt powered by Pawel, Thank you!

So now that I’m home again in my little village in Poland. I’m trying to share my experience with so much people as possible. One of my experiences was learning how to make a bird out of a piece of paper. So I started in my village a little bird making movement teaching other youngsters to create these birds and telling them my story about how I learned how we can all fly together!

Greets,

Albert


Elodie - EVS volunteer from France, one of the participants of the workshops in Krakow&Radwanowice. International Volunteer's Day 2006

I can imagine you, just before our magic meeting : in a train, a car or a city bus, alone or already with one of the group, sleepy, excited or a bit worried but everybody on the road for this seminar which sounds exceptional…We are already connected, waiting for THE moment…“All different, all equal”.

Saturday 2nd…Arrival in Krakow, some of us meet in the station or in the restaurant, the discussion begins…We can feel the urge to join everybody and to be all together. Then, the drama workshop is a great moment to discover everyone and to begin to built the group. Sitting in a circle, the first contact is in silence. We introduce ourselves with a personal movement, than the group say it in response. Darek is the leader, he plays with his body, his voice, his face and all the group copy him…Magic moment: everyone forget who he or she is and we shout, cry, laugh, run, dance…Next workshop, lead by Loesje association, we draw a circle, a line, what represents warmth for us, love…and we invent a story from it, to share with everybody. We begin also to make a poster on a topic: rules and laws, relationship between men and women, art, tea…Exchange of ideas and free expression!

It’s time to eat… in the restaurant “Tacos”, Mexican dishes for starving young Europeans. Perfect, a so big meal is waiting for us! Tiredness lead us to the hostel but the meeting continues in the common room…and it just begins!

Next day, a breakfast is swallowed and we leave for the theatre J. Słowacki to meet the famous polish actress Anna Dymna. She has a foundation “Mimo Wszystko” which organizes some activities with the disabled people we’ll work with in Radwanowice. In the theatre, there is the Cracow Poetry Festival. We are lucky! Sitting in a beautiful room, we listen some text of Beckett, reading by famous actors, and some music of Schubert, playing on piano. Nice omen: a pigeon is flying in the room… the bird is the symbol of our seminar!

After a lunch in Tacos, we go for some workshops, we are all here now, joined by Tomek, one of our leaders, and the last participants. We share again a magic moment, playing with the names, creating a common sound, feeling connection between us! Then, we create a bird which is the portrait of one person of the group. We discuss two by two, discovering the other one and his/her route. After we’ve looked at these birds ready to fly together, we are ready to leave Krakow and to join the place where we’ll spend the week…Big weekend! Full of emotions, mirror of what we’ll live the next days!!

Elodie