- ATD Fourth World

A fourth world activist and her husband invite me for a cup of tea and we talk about the caravan. I try to find the words in order to transmit all the magic that I experienced… the places we visited, the people we met.

But as I look at their dubious faces, I realise that I have not been able to find the right words. They do not really have faith in this project. Actually, they have never really supported it. And it is always the same questions that come up: “What is the real use of this project? Why all this fuss about the caravans? And first of all, how much does it all cost? And what is going to happen afterward? What will change? Can you tell us what are the real objectives of this project?”

Of course I know very well all the objectives of the caravans! I have learned my lesson and I know what I am talking about – so many images come back to me ! – so I try to explain to them, and I try again to reexplain… I also try to tell them that this project is just another way to encourage us to meet people, to mobilize and to continue going forward… I try to tell them that in Rennes there are people who met one another and who have the desire to continue… I tell them that new ideas have been born. The same thing goes for Angers, for London…

Confronted with their « yes, but what happens afterwards?”, I try to explain to them that it is true that all this is always just little things, but when we put them together, when we multiply them by the number of cities where the caravan has passed, it’s a lot! But I can feel that the message I’m trying to send does not come across and that we do not understand each other! Maybe I’m just not giving them the answers that they’re expecting?

So, having exhausted my arguments I confess: yes it is true, I don’t know the budget of the project, and I know that all this costs a lot of money (to accommodate and to feed us) etc. But I tell them that in the caravan we are very well aware of all this. I tell them that we question ourselves all the time. I tell them that we are not “superman”, and that we feel tiny in regards to the international dimension of this project. I tell them that we try our best, but that we know very well that it is not always enough. I tell them that we are afraid not to fulfil the expectations; especially we are afraid not to fulfil the expectations of all the hope that people have put onto us…

And now I feel uncomfortable for having said all this… However at this point our conversation changes, it takes a new form and becomes a real exchange… The person makes the connection by telling me about the allies (friends of ATD Fourth World who help on a voluntary basis). She tells me that often the activists (people that have lived themselves situations of exclusion and extreme poverty and who struggle every day in order to try to live in a better way) do not really care to know whether the allies have problems in their lives. She tells me that sometimes they think that because the allies have money they cannot have problems… She tells me then about a co-training that she did with professionals during which she learned a lot on the way we can perceive each other, and she tells me about some powerful moments that she lived during that time.

How can we transmit the powerful moments that we experienced? How can we share them with others? I tell them that for us this is a real difficulty. I ask her whether she managed to find the words and transmit what she experienced. I ask her whether people understood… She shows me the text that she has written. And the dynamic changes: I was so full of desire to transmit to them some experiences that I had forgotten to be available to receive what they had to tell me.

We talked about a bunch of things. I think that it was a really beautiful exchange. They were interested in my life, they wanted to know whether I managed to live correctly by working only part-time, they wanted to know whether I wished to buy a car… We met each other on the road of our questionings and our doubts. And to think that we might have missed each other! I did not really realize it at that moment but I think that with this meeting the spirit of the caravan was carried on. The spirit made us meet each other, and it allowed us to spend time together and to envision new plans.

Perhaps this caravan is just a way to have a different view on each other? Perhaps it is just a way of life? It is perhaps a way of being with others, a certain care and sensibility which allows me to understand a little more what is essential… I hope that I will not forget not to impose my own point of views and my ideas on others, I hope that I will continue to be ready to go towards others, and I hope to remember to forget to desire to convince them and rather accept and receive all their treasures… All the things that I learned in this caravan.

And I am not the only one transformed, tugged, changed, energized by this project… it is thanks to it that I have grown so much… We are quite a bunch of young people who have embarked in this adventure. Perhaps we will not all continue with ATD Fourth-World, but here or elsewhere, we will carry with us the lessons of life that make us build in our own way, like many others, the movement that refuses exclusion and extreme poverty.

Lina

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 !