Meeting in Bonn

Evelyn Shire reports on an all-age gathering held earlier this month

Fifteen years ago I attended a European Friends gathering near Frankfurt. It was attended by several young families and the small children that we read stories to then are now Young Friends in their twenties. They had enjoyed this childhood experience so much that they decided to run another all-age gathering themselves.

So, we all met in Bonn, in Germany, early this August for a very successful and enjoyable event, which was hopefully worth all the hard work. The gathering was part of the thirtieth anniversary celebration of European and Middle East Young Friends (EMEYF). Over a hundred people from a dozen countries stayed the week, and more came on the ‘birthday’ celebration day. Most of Western Europe was represented, with Poland, Russia and Georgia from further east, and one Peruvian Friend representing the wider community of World Friends. A Kenyan and a Rwandan Friend were due to come also, but unfortunately were prevented from doing so by visa problems.

The all-age family aspect was particularly important. What if your Yearly Meeting is a small one and there are no other families with children the age of your own? An all-age gathering like the one held in Bonn is your one chance of a family Quaker experience. It also has the distinct advantage for those of us with less linguistic skills that simple parent-child interactions take place in public – and yes – you can follow it! Native English speakers often ‘have it easy’ and can sometimes, unintentionally, be too ‘powerful’ in discussions when English is the main language spoken by participants! Communicating mostly by smiles, I was allowed to watch and listen when a Russian mother read from a nursery book to her small child, and to hear her language.

English was the common language, though some talks were given in German and translated. We were in a church-based youth hostel/centre on the edge of Bonn, with a field at the back and a forest going down to the Rhine. The days were filled with a range of activities and as many as possible were ‘all-age’. I contributed a very adapted ‘Appleseed’ session with a group of children and their parents and this involved three different languages. Evenings were for bonfire parties, ceilidh and ‘taize’ singing. There was a grand, largely comic, talent show on the last night.

A theme of life stages, where experience could be shared between the generations, ran through the week. There was space for quiet, adult discussion-type workshops and, of course, there were many informal conversations. We sang a lot about ‘building bridges’ (the ‘Finlandia’ song of peace was particularly popular) and also a catchy song in German which (roughly) said ‘whatever happens, there will still be music…’

I felt the gathering was especially emotionally intense as we were meeting at a particularly uncertain and difficult time for Europe. Everyone is affected – even beyond the EU boundaries.

We were reminded of the importance of the role the Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) plays in Brussels and expressed support for its vital work. QCEA are at present, together with the Quaker Asylum and Refugee Network, doing a survey of refugee support groups across Europe and would be glad to hear from readers of the Friend.

Further information: www.emeyf.org/friends-of-emeyf; www.surveymonkey.com/r/QARN-QCEA (for the survey)

The epistle can be found at fwcc.world/worldepistles

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