- ATD Fourth World

So spoke the residents of the Sceaux Gardens estate in Camber well Green, South London, when they met the convoy during the annual summer festival. The summer festival is part of the ongoing community project which evolved from the doorstep library started by ATD 3 years ago and the convoy arrived to take part in the festival’s many activities (dancing, drumming, painting, circus skills to name but a few) and to share the ideas and activities which they brought with them from Europe.

The convoy arrived to the summer festival slowly. Rather like a house being built, in the beginning there seemed to be little to notice of them. For us, the welcoming team, it was a confusing time – filled with the expectations of brilliant and instant construction, the reality of well-travelled people with tired faces and confusion in their eyes was hard to understand. And for a moment, it seemed as if the people of Sceaux gardens would stand on one side of the field and the convoy on the other, neither residents nor visitors willing or able to cross the cultural and linguistic boundaries which separated them.

But, one day you walk past the place where once there was only space and suddenly realize that a big and beautiful house is there – you wonder when it was built because you didn’t notice and it is such a natural part of the surrounding landscape that it looks as if it has always been there.

It was in this way that the foundations so quietly laid grew and grew until one day I turned round and everywhere I could see the people playing and laughing; sharing the company and conversation of each other and making beautiful things. I could not see where the residents ended and the convoy began and it was only if I strained to hear that the occasional French word or polish exclamation carried on the breeze.

Neighbours who had lived next door to each other for twenty years finally found courage and time to really meet, people who had once been friends and fallen out tentatively explored the possibility of a future and I know of at least one family that took the very brave step of joining in with the community for the first time. Everywhere the universal language of laughter, music and the stomp of skipping and dancing feet prevailed.

On the last day of the festival there was a lot of sadness and the bitter taste of finality as we all realized that the convoy would leave and not return. And the most asked question as the day came to an end? ‘Can we come with you?’ This was, for me, the sign that the convoy had not only come and brought a lot of fun and laughter, but had inspired people to want to see different places, meet new people and change their daily lives.

I was one of the lucky ones, when the convoy left London I came with them. I am now part of this convoy and feel so much at home that I find it hard to believe I have ever been anywhere else. I write this from Poland where every day we meet people who’s lives are very different from the residents of Sceaux gardens, but still I find similarities; the people I have met in Poland also want to spend time with us and the people around them in activities that link them to the rest of Europe; they too find laughter and happiness in meeting new people and rebuilding links with people they already know; they too see themselves in a more positive way as they see us seeing their strengths and wanting so much to be with them; they to ask if they can come with us to journey into the unknown.

The convoy has many questions for itself; at times we struggle to find the true meaning of this project and ask ourselves over and over again what is our priority?: To meet people? To reach only the poorest people? To gather testimonies? To advertise the ‘call to action’ campaign? And how flexible should we be in adjusting our aims to the expectations of the welcoming teams?

For me, these questions are answered easily when I think of the people of the Sceaux gardens estate. Of the people we meet, some will tell us their experiences and we will record them to share with others, some people will give their time, others will hear the echo of their own lives in the ‘call to action’ campaign or be inspired to create something that the world will see on the 17 October. Some people are moved to try and make their own way to Paris and stand with us on the Trocadero. Some people have time or energy only to wave and smile. All are valuable. We cannot always build a big and beautiful house, but we can together lay the first stones and give each other something to build on. And in this quiet beginning there may exist a home for all of us.

Charlotte

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 !