Spectateur du Monde

The UFF Action

In the 11th of August 2006, me and my team mates went to Lindeberg for the UFF Action. To get there we had to hitchhike which, for me, was a challenge because I had never done it before. So, we were divided in 3 groups: me, Peter and Petr; Lenka and Patrick; Andrej and Roman. What can I tell about this experience?
Well, my group had to wait one hour and a half, in Lillehammer, to get the first ride. The problem was that the lady could only drive us some kilometers further away. She was very nice and she was very interested about what we where doing here in Norway.
After she left us, we waited maybe half an hour for the next car. This time it was a man who was not very interested in speaking. So, I just decided to be quiet and, some minutes later, I fall asleep. When I woke up we were already near Klofta, the town where he left us.
It was time to get to Lindeberg because it was almost 5 p.m. and we had to get there, maximum, at 7 p.m. We decided to go to a petrol station to try our luck, but it was pointless. That is why we started walking in the motorway waiting for a good soul. A man, maybe in his early thirties, was kind enough to get off his way and drive us until Lindeberg. At that time I was already feeling a little bit tired, but the young men was willing to drive until the warehouse. The problem was that Petr said something like "Don`worry! We can walk!" When I heard that I thought I could have him with my eyes...And the truth is that we had to walk almost for half an hour to get to the warehouse. When we arrived there, roughly at 6.30 p.m., the rest of the people was already waiting for us.
It was time to relax for a while! So, we sat and have a chat until we were called to have a meeting with the UFF`s owners, Rosa and Jesper, and two trainees from Zambia, Charity and Lazarous. They explained us what we would have to do on Saturday: hang and label 4000 pieces of clothes in 10 hours (from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m. with some breaks)! So, once again, we were divided in 3 groups: me, Roman and Petr; Lenka, Patrick and Andrej and, finally, Peter who had to paint some containers. Me and Lenka were the responsibles for labeling and the boys had to hang the clothes.
On Saturday, at 8 a.m., we were ready to start working and I knew already that it was going to be a long day. To begin with, I labeled my finger just a few minutes after starting. After a while I got the "technique", also because Charity was there to help me and the others.
It was my first time working in a warehouse and doing this kind of job that consists in always repeating the same movements. I felt completely alienated and I also felt that I was testing my limits both physically and mentally. For example, in the morning, we only had 10 minutes` break and lunch was only for half an hour. That is to say, when we were starting to eat it was already time to get back to work. The motivation was nil! But, in the end, we managed to finish the goal that they had purposed to us, but it wouldn`t have been possible without the help of Charity and also Lenka, Andrej and Patrick who helped us in the end.
After work, everyone had dinner together, outside the warehouse, and we talked about UFF, the projects in the Third World and our lives.
This experience made me understand, in my flesh, what it is to be a factory worker, but only for a day. Yes, for a day because even if I want to imagine I will never know the kind of sacrifices that he has to do and the strength that he needs to have.
The next day, we had a presentation at 10 a.m., by Charity and Lazarous who talked about the Humana`s shop in Zambia. They explained to us that the clothes come from Holland and they have to be sold in 4 weeks. In the first week, the goal is to sell 60%, second week is 80%, third week the discounts start and in the fourth week everything has to be sold. At that time, the prices are low enough so that poor people can also buythe clothes. Part of the money that the store gets will support projects in Zambia, like the Children`s Town.
After the presentation we said goodbye because it was time to get back to the road. If the trip until Lindeberg was complicated then I don`t know what can I say about our trip back home.
First, Jesper left us in a petrol station (on the E6) at 1 p.m. There was not many cars going there, so we decided to go to the motorway. The problem was that the police came and told us that we couldn`t be there. We had to go back to the petrol station and try our luck again, but, unfortunately, nobody was going to our destination.
Finally, we talked with a man that was going north west from where we were. We drove almost for one hour and we arrived to Kongsvinger. He thought that we wanted to go by train to Lillehhammer, so he stopped in the train station. We explained to him that we wanted to hitchhike, but, until now, I don`t think he understood...After he left, we walked until the end of the town to hitchhike...
We waited maybe for two hours. By that time we were already thinking where could we sleep, but then somebody stopped. It was a young man, Jon, who was already driving for five hours because he was coming back from Sweden. He needed to leave the car at his parents` that live in Elverum. Jon really enjoyed talking, so we shared with him what we where doing here, in his country, and he also told us about his life and gave us some information about Norway.
In Elverum we waited 45m, roughly, and other young man, with a BMW, stopped. He said that he had hitchhiked before and he knew how difficult it could be. He dropped us in a petrol station, in Hamar. At that time it should be already 8 p.m. We were tired and starved.We just wanted to go home! But, we waited and waited and waited....Patience is a virtue! At last a woman stopped and said she could drive us until the E6...our road! When we got there it was already getting dark and we thought again that we where going to sleep with the stars. That didn`t happen, thank God! A girl stopped and said she could drive us until Lillehammer and that was like music to our ears! I was so tired and with such a headache that I just closed my eyes after being seated in the car.
We arrived to Lillehammer at 10 p.m. After a while, Henk and Barbora came to pick us up. When we arrived home it was already 11 p.m. I ate some bread and I went to bed! It is good to arrive home!

posted by Naty Bett @ 7:09 PM