EMES Youthgroup gathers in Heerlen - 2 reports
Timothy Corrigan from Ireland Yearly Meeting and Barbora Marušincová from Prague Recognised Meeting tell us about their experiences at the EMES Youthgroup gathering in Heerlen, the Netherlands in September 2023:
This year was the second in person gathering of the EMES youth group which took place in Heerlen, Netherlands, from the 8th to the 10th of September. It was amazing to see each other again and also to meet some newcomers for the first time. Eight Young Friends attended from five different countries including France, Georgia, Germany and the Czech Republic. Once again it took place alongside the Border Meeting and we shared their theme which was Activism for Climate Justice.
Our weekend together started on Friday evening which was mainly spent getting to know each other, introducing our theme and playing games. One that stood out was a card game where no one was allowed to talk and everyone had a different set of rules. We all found it really entertaining and it also got us thinking about the challenges of being in a different country. We then joined the Border Meeting for epilogue before heading off to bed for a well earned rest.
Saturday started bright and early with a communal breakfast where many of us were introduced to Dutch delicacies such as chocolate sprinkle sandwiches. We then had a short meeting for worship followed by our first session where we transported ourselves to a perfect future and imagined the changes that had been made. We thought about the positive things that were happening in our ideal world and also how and when this global change in perspective occurred. We then learnt about EMES’s sustainability policy and ended the session by reading an inspirational letter about the importance of climate activism that was written to us by a German Friend called Kasimir who is part of The Last Generation and the brother of one of our participants. We also joined the Border Meeting for their session before lunch where attendee George Thurley talked about his experience as a climate activist.
After lunch we began a Dungeons and Dragons campaign where we had to save our village and the surrounding nature from a pink and evil force. We were making good progress before being defeated by a collective desire for ice-cream and we had great fun walking to the local shop and seeing a bit of the city. When we returned we had some free time before dinner and enjoyed having a rest while getting to know each other a little better.
In the evening we joined the Border Meeting for their social which involved singing stories and sketches and was lots of fun. The young people ran a game and also performed a sketch where we only spoke using common expressions from each of our native languages such as ‘I give my tongue to the cat’ and ‘don’t be such an offended liver sausage.’ It was a lovely way to spend the evening as it brought to life the community we were part of.
On Sunday we finished our Dungeons and Dragons campaign and spent the rest of our time writing postcards to each other that would act as a reminder of the time we spent together. This is a much loved EMES tradition so it was nice to spend the final few hours this way. We then had one more meal as a community before making our separate journeys home. It was an absolutely wonderful weekend and I am very grateful to have this experience.
Timothy Corrigan, Ireland YM
Na začátku září jsem měla možnost navštívit setkání mladých kvakerů z Evropy. Konalo se v Nizozemí ve městě Heerlen. Bylo to pro mě moc zajímavé, zábavné a jsem za tu zkušenost vděčná.
Konečně jsem se naživo potkala s lidmi, které jsem znala jen z online schůzek, což bylo skvělé, protože jsem si s nimi mohla popovídat, lépe se seznámit a dozvědět se, jak se žije v jejich zemích.
Téma víkendu bylo v překladu “aktivně za klimatickou spravedlnost”. Za to jsem byla taky moc ráda, protože mě změny klima a globální oteplování zajímají a ráda se dozvím něco nového, třeba i z jiných úhlů pohledu.
Bylo fajn si o tom popovídat i se staršími lidmi z border meeting, kteří s námi sdíleli ubytování, ale měli vlastní program.
Tento víkend jsme si užili spoustu zábavy, legrace, skvělých zážitků a když se to podaří, ráda se zúčastním setkání i další roky.
Barbora Marušincová z České republiky
Click here to find our more about the EMES Youthgroup
