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Paris-Bombay,
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| I AM A BOYS' BAND ... One global village... but innumerable differences... For some time, we had been wondering upon all which the myth of the global village could hide. What do we know of the daily life and of the dreams of a student in Bucarest? ...of a young Anatolian peasant? ...of a rickshaw driver in New Dehli? These questions remaining unanswered, we decided to go seek the answers ourselves by driving a bus from Paris to Bombay during the summer of 2001. Our goal : to carry the voice of youth and to promote a better knowledge between peoples. Not to fear cultural shock, but to go to it and to create reports : such is our way to exchange and to share our dreams, at 20 years old. Our Story - or how everything started The idea was simple : to go and meet young people in Asia, but to go by bus, and to go as a group. We were all in our way passionate travellers who had each already seen diverse horizons (simply have a glance at our portraits). Michael, our mad driver, had already accomplished alone a trip to Niger, from which he had created a website for his reports. Dominique was coming back from the Balkans and dreamt of bringing there young people by bus in order to organize shows and concerts with the people he had met in these countries. Rom was eager to step in China and Pakistan...All were left with the appetite to bring these crossed experiences much further, by assembling a team to prepare a long journey following one branch of the path for silk, and to build something lasting from this. From this initial idea, the association Asie-Etincelle was created, the team kept growing : each new arriver meant a step further toward the concretization of the project, and its enlargement toward the English and Spanish-speaking worlds... From increasingly precise presentation booklets to company forums, passing by contact making in the countries to be visited and the multiple (yet poorly successful) participations to project grants offered by local collectivities, we have obtained the necessary funds to finance our project. That period was also one of uncertainty but with incredible will to make this project solid and viable, and finally, with relief and pride to feel members of this or that company listening to us and being interested in what we we had to say, as we exposed somewhat nervously the "bet" of Etincelle for the first times. We have then formulated and reformulated our objectives, the how and why of such a trip. The point that we wish to enlighten most importantly is our long term perspective : etincelle, more than a trip, is the will to set up an evergrowing network, to create a place where young people may participate and express themselves. To listen, and maybe understand. A network, reports, documents, analyses are as many openings toward reflexion and sharing. Too ambitious? Why not, but we were too eager to try. Making Headway With our first big sponsor, everything else seemed to follow, everything had to be finalized - quickly! With some members on the other side of the planet (Elisabeth in Canada, Ana in Argentina, Marianne in Kenya...),with pages and pages of e-mails sent daily, and the many problems with passports and visas, we were advancing step by step. An important step was the purchase of Safar, our bus/house/symbol, which materialized the end all of all our efforts. The preparation of the trip was marked with encounters and with generous people without whose help we could not have left. André and the small universe of Villebon who opened the doors for us to the multiple secrets of mechanics and bus driving, in its good ol' garage, under the sun of June, were unforgettable. From there to the starting line, on the 29th of June in front of the Eiffel Tower, there was just a step. We all gathered, finally ready!, our luggage in the trunks, our bus washed, decorated, to listen to the motor starting and giving the final sign of departure for the journey that we had been preparing during 8 months... From now on, the sequel will be that of our reports. We hope that you will appreciate them! |
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