Workcamp in Deutschland

Merkendorf 2011

von Gerard-Moreno Torres

The experience of a work camp is not easily described with words. I could not imagine anything like this. When you are there you have no time for long friendship or fully knowledge of everybody, but you reach true understanding, affection and union. The people you meet are from all around the world and you can work with them, suffer with them the weight of stones, and learn about their cultures. You have to forget everything you know if you want to do a work camp. Don’t expect anything, just be positive, open minded and you can get a little understanding of how the humans can be in this planet.

My first day of work was horrible. I hated it. Then I saw a funny Italian boy who did not stop working for a minute. I was surprised about his will. I asked him: Why are you working so hard? He said: Because we have to. Since that moment I tried harder and harder and then I just started loving the work. You can feel better just by using your body, helping others, moving stones. If you go to a work camp you will have to learn how to get along with 15-20 people in hard conditions. Maybe there is not much space, or showers, or not the food you like the most… in the end, who cares? Every stone will become the best of your day. Erase your feelings about every culture in the world; forget about how people can be. Just go to a work camp, suffer, learn, laugh, and live. In the end you will cry and still you won’t understand what has happened because it’s so fast you don’t have the time. Luckily for us, some feelings don’t have to be understood.

You will have time to work, to relax, to make friends, to learn other languages, to love the others. Every work camp is different so I find useless explaining mine, but I think that you can find the same feelings in all of them. We can try to make a better world; we try it since 15000 years. Who doesn’t want to be fine? Maybe we can’t be fine at all, but understanding each other will help to make people more empathic. Work camps bring comprehension to this screwed world, because stones are lighter when we all carry them together.