During the last week of June, the group of six participants of the Occupational Therapy Workshop in Janowica, facility run by Polish Association for People with Mental Handicap Branch in Leczna, as the only group from Poland participated in the festival "Artistes Sans Aucune Frontiere" in France. The festival took place within the European project "Youth in Action". This educational and integrational project's program included workshops, meetings, discussions, presentations of artists and their works (during the art gallery). All activities were designed for a wide audience.
In addition to the french groups of people with intelectual disability, the festival attended the guests from Hungary and Bulgaria. During one of the first evening - meetings of all participants there was a presentation of groups an their countries. To give a short glimpse on our country's culture, we talked about nature, landmarks and famous people, we presented a few polish popular songs and the National Anthem performed by Lucas Lisek . Our group showed some photographs of the most important places of Polish culture - Krakow, Lublin, Zamosc, Czestochowa, Lichen, Warsaw. Mrs. Wioleta, who ran the entire presentation also told about the activities of our association and subordinate institutions. Participants of the OTW in Janowica have prepared some gifts for the foreign groups.
Representatives of the countries communicated in several languages: French, English and partly in Russian. Ms. Wioleta, the leader of our group coped well with the translation of everything for the rest of us.
The organizers have arranged a trip around Paris in the frames of the projects' activities - we visited the Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Louvre Museum, we drove to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower and we had a chance to swim boat on the Seine.
During the festival our group Figiel presented the latest performance - Psychomachia - based largely on the dance movements and steps which was specially prepared for the show. The performance was rewarded with thunderous applause of the audience.
During the 8 - days long stay were many opportunities for integration of foreign groups and participation in workshops and discussions provided us with feelings of fulfillment and success. The major challenge for some participants was the travelling with the public transport, including subway, and using those special smart cards completely on their own. We made new friends and contacts, met with a different culture and perception of the world, and the French kitchen surprised us with taste, texture and appearance of some dishes. Our handicapped artists are impressed by the plane, comfortable housing conditions and all the beautiful sites to see. Eight days, unfortunately, were not enough to see everything.
We are very grateful to the organizers for inviting us to participate in the project and we would like to warmly thank Mrs. Anne Djevelekov and her co - workers and
volunteers for everything.
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