- ATD Fourth World

The first encounter is the first encounter. It can be "powerful", "magical", "moving", and even "disturbing"… but it remains the first encounter, that is, the encounter of two strangers with all the apprehension and distrust that it arises. At the end of the first encounter with another person the relationship created stays fragile. Maybe we will see each other again. Maybe we will never see each other again. Nothing is certain.

Thus, the end of the first encounter is often characterized by a melancholic joy mingled with fear. The fear of never seeing the other person again. The second encounter changes everything. It takes us into another dimension. When we see a person for the second time, if we exaggerate a bit… it’s as if we had been friends forever. The second encounter is composed of the joy of seeing each other again, the nascent trust and the hope of doing things together. It is clear that if we have seen each other two times, we will see each other a third time, than a fourth time… Everything comes in threes. The first encounter can possibly be synonymous to "an end", whereas the second encounter is synonymous to "a beginning". Thus, at the end of the second encounter there is a blend of sadness, joy and hope.

Anyway. Let’s come back to example of Strasbourg.

Thursday, the 28th of June 2007. Our first encounter with the children and some parents from the neighbourhood of “Port du Rhin”. A neighbourhood situated just across Germany on the bank of the Rhine. An off the center neighbourhood, forgotten and exhausted. But the children that we discover reverse in the blink of an eye the tiredness of the neighbourhood. Their arrival is a torrent of energy. They have been preparing the arrival of the caravans for the past six months with the team of the Street Library, and they are on full alert.

The goal of this Thursday? None. Well, actually there is one: to get to know the children… by playing football, playing little games and talking about everything and nothing. This is the first encounter. In spite of a certain mistrust we manage to get along with the children.

Friday, the 29th of June 2007. After our visit to the Council of Europe together with some of the families from the neighbourhood of the Port du Rhin, we undertake the "second encounter" with the children from this same neighbourhood. The theory of the "second encounter" works wonderfully! When we meet again the children, we have the impression to be meeting our friends. We call each other by our names, we greet each other without distrust, taking great pleasure in seeing each other again.

The following three days will be dedicated to the "creating and living together" which enables us to deepen our second encounter. On the menu: Forum Theater (an interactive form of theater where the public can replace an actor to propose a solution to a problem), construction of giant masks, farandoles, circus, painting, evening concert… A day spent in the city center all together (a place where the children from the neighbourhood almost never go) gives us the opportunity to bring awareness to other inhabitants of the city. Anyway. Four days filled with beautiful encounters. Four days full of cheerfulness and sharing with our friends.

Unfortunately comes a time when we have to say good-bye and prepare to go off again for our next stop. And here, even though we have lived a wonderful second encounter, we cannot help asking ourselves certain questions: • "What is the point of entering in such an intense way in the life of people for such a short period?" • "Do we leave the people that we have met with more strength to go forward in their every day life? Or do we leave them with the feeling that once again someone abandons them?"

These questions do not find easy answers. We simply hope that thanks to these very intense four days in Strasbourg, we have managed to launch a momentum. We hope that we have left the residents of the neighbourhood of Port du Rhin, and the members of the local team who welcomed us and without whom most of the encounters would have been impossible with a maximum of energy and maybe the inspiration to continue their actions. We hope that the local team will be able to "surf" on the energy that we have brought and tried to share. And even more simply, we hope that the way in which we entered into a relationship with the children and with their parents, by talking to them in a normal manner, by offering them our trust, by being their friends, will contribute to show them that they have the same abilities as everyone else. And thus we hope to show them that they are obviously not "good at nothing" as so many people like to describe them…

Maybe by just trying to get out of stereotypes, by changing the images we have of others and our way of meeting one another we can change the world…

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 !