FRIENDSHIP ABOVE BORDERS

In 1997, students and teachers from Aalborg together with students from Bremenhaven and Kaliningrad, took part in exciting environmental camps organized by ECAT in Kaliningrad.

The camp was placed in Lesnoye, a little village in The National Park "Curonian Spit". Day by day we worked in mixed groups, and very soon students and teachers made friends with one another. Besides environmental issues we had a lot of social activities outdoors. We organised performances during which we introduced ourselves in songs, drama, etc.

The first Ecological Summer Camp ended up with the performance engaging all the participants as actors. We were all standing in a halfcircle - except a Russian girl - who was sitting on the floor with many lit candles in front of her. Another participant began to read a text by Joanna Macy. It was about all the animals who were in danger of extinction. Here is a little bit of the text which Natasha read to us:

"When Noah's time went to the end he prepared the list of the animals, too. We usually imagine how he stands near the ladder of the ship, calling the names of animals and deletes the names from the list. Today we delete them again.
   Indian python
   Howling monkey
   Mountain lion
   Grey wolf"

Each time an animal was mentioned in English it was repeated in Russian, German and Danish. And the girl on the floor put out a candle for each animal. A lot of invited people told us later that it had been a really great experience.

The camp boss was Sasha, a wonderful man. He could make a lot of fun, but was also very serious about his job. Everyone -from the youngest to the oldest - loved Sasha. And so did we. On the last evening when all the participants had been gathered by the bonfire, with songs, sausages and bread, he invited us to tea and cakes in his room. Suddenly Sasha made a touching speech for us. He had bought a little thing for each of us and said; "Even if you are Danes or Germans, and I am a Russian, we have made friends. I will never forget you. I love you." A special spirit and silence spread around in this little room. And we will never forget this.

Saying goodbye was hard. Sitting in the aeroplane one student said; "It is strange that after 1" hours flight time -you are in quite another culture!" After this first summer camp a lot of letters crossed the sea, because so many of the participants had made close friends. We wanted to improve our knowledge of the Russian people and hoped that a new Ecological summer camp would be arranged next year. And it really happened. We gathered a new group of young people. In fact we, the teachers, have been in Kaliningrad 4 times and hope to go there this year, too.

There is a big difference between Russia and Denmark. We have noticed that a lot of Russian young people are extremely hard-working. They know that it is very important for them to learn other languages.

We could tell many things about the Russians -among other things that they love to give presents to other people. And one thing many people could learn: they never give up. They always find a solution.

The National Park "Curonian Spit" is a wonderful place. The nature is beautiful. Let us hope that the Russians will follow their ideas not to spoil the forests and the coast with tourism at the spit. We have lost our hearts to this place and to the Russians. Visit "The National Park", and you will understand why we have found "Friendship across all borders".

It is really outstanding how young people from different countries meet each other and live together closely. Only then will they understand other people culture and manners.