It’s madness of course. “It’s so stupid we thought we need to do it.”  That’s Marcin Potepski the night before he set off on a 10,000 mile drive from Leith to Mongolia in a nine-year-old Ford Fiesta with a habit of overheating. The Mongol Rally is for people with dodgy cars and a spirit of adventure – and it raises money for charity.

We first met Marcin in the safe setting of the Fort Community Wing where he is one of the volunteers at Swietlica the Polish drop in club on Monday evenings.

Now, as his Facebook page shows, he is on the road to Mongolia in a car with 86,000 miles on the clock and good wishes from friends and sponsors plastered all over the paintwork. His aim is to do the estimated six week drive in a month (that’s the time he has taken off his City Car Club job) via Paris, Milan, Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Balkans, speeding up towards the end with the help of Russian motorways. Or at least as far as the Fiesta will take him.

“Every time I drive the car I find something else wrong with it. Who knows, maybe I won’t get any further than Paris,” he said on the phone,  breaking off from the task of loading the car with food provided by Cafe Kleofas, some clothes, a little money (‘that’s all I have’) and a bunch of mobile phones which may come in handy if he needs to barter his way out of a sticky situation on some distant border.

That’s all part of the great adventure of the Mongol Rally – the rules require a car with a small engine  (no more than 1.2 litres), there’s no fixed route and no mechanical back up.  If you are thinking, “my goodness that’s a terribly silly idea the Mongol Rally  is probably not for you,” says the website. But then the League of Adventurists Mongol Rally launched officially in 2005 “to save the world from boredom”  – and this year it aims to reach £1 million raised by members of the team for charities across the world. As the Mongol Rally website explains:

All the teams taking part have to try to raise a minimum amount of money for charity (usually £1000 per team) and thanks to their hard work and clever tricks our target of raising £1 million should be reached this year.

Marcin had wanted to drive an old mini in the Adventurists Africa Rally last year but he was too late applying, “So we thought why don’t we go back to the original idea, we got on the Adventurists waiting list and our chance came up.” With luck he will meet with his brother Bartek on the way – they originally planned to drive together but Bartek’s visas for their chosen route didn’t come in time.

Marcin is hoping that he will make it as far as the rally’s big party in a Czech castle.  With Kasia’s help we will keep you posted!

Charities supported by the Adventurists Mongol Rally include  Hope and Homes for children in Eastern Europe, Pueblos Unidos for immigrants in Spain, Maiti Nepal rescuing young girls from sex trafficking on the borders of Nepal.

Just reminding you that Swietlica Domestic Violence Inter-Agency discussion is happening this Monday, 10th of May at 6.30pm, Fort Community Wing. This will be an informal and relaxed meeting chaired by PC Simon Daley. The aim of the session is to learn about different resources available for those who experience violence so that we can provide more appropriate advice, sign posting and services.

Swietlica volunteers are hoping to develop a more multi-agency approach to improve the safety of migrants. Please invite anyone who might be interested.

Kasia Raszewska

Swietlica – Edinburgh Polish Community,
Fort Community Wing, North Fort Street,
Edinburgh, EH6 4HF.

Politicians take note.  Sometimes the simplest ideas win the most hearts, minds and votes. Last night’s political drama in Fort Community Wing ended with a competition for a project to change life in Leith for the better.  And the clear winners of a small cash prize to make it happen were Maria and Marek for an idea that costs nothing to put into action.  Smiling Leith simply asks everyone to smile three times a day to a complete stranger. 

Try it, urged a smiling Maria and Marek, it can make you and someone else feel happier. It certainly seemed to work a treat for the crowd who had come to see the first night of Change, a political (with a small p) play exploring how we can influence positive change in our community.

The other two proposals are also good ideas: a leaflet campaign to promote the club for young mothers at the Citadel and a public event to excite support for the Greenerleith vision for pedestrianising the Shore. And of course they can still happen.  But it was the smile that won the day when Gavin Crichton, the ACTive Inquiry director, asked the audience to take part in an old fashioned democratic show of hands. Smiling Leith wins £50 for a poster campaign to get everyone smiling.

Gavin spent the earlier part of the evening in the role of The Joker (see right) coaxing members of the audience on to the stage to play their part in changing events.  With amazing success.

On the way into the hall Mridu said she definitely did not want to get involved in audience participation. Guess who was first up on stage after Gavin asked the audience to suggest how the main character Sophie might have done things differently to secure her dream of running a community course encouraging local people to take more control of their lives.

On the other side of me Al confided his fear of being dragged on stage.  Guess who was next up? Al improvised a scene skillfully persuading the community centre manager that Sophie might find an alternative source of funding for her project. (Later Al admitted it was very close to the role he played in getting Greener Leith started).

Playing their part: Mridu Thanki (left) of World Kitchen in Leith and Al Tibbitt of Greener Leith with Suzanne of ACTive Inquiry as the harassed community centre manager.

And by the end of the play even Leith Open Space was drawn into the action, persuading the bank who employ Sophie that they could help to make the community project happen and restore some of their bad name at the same time.

Try it for yourself – Change made its debut at Fort Community Wing thanks to the wonderfully enterprising Swietlica drop-in club. The play is now running in different venues throughout Leith during the election campaign. Next showing at Duncan Place Resource Centre, 4 Duncan Place, Leith on Wednesday 5 May 7pm.

And don’t forget to smile – ‘Three smiles a day keeps misery away”, is the slogan suggested by Mridu for the Smiling Leith poster campaign which will be launched with the help of the £50 prize awarded by ACTive Inquiry. Who knows who and what will win the next prize.  Could be you?

Teamwork: Mridu, Marek and Marcin demonstrate people power (thanks to Kasia Raszewska for the black and white pictures)

PERFORMANCES

all free
Wednesday 5 May 7pm – Duncan Place Resource Centre, 4 Duncan Place, Leith
[Thursday 6 May – still to be confirmed – Out of the Blue, Drill Hall, Dalmeny Street, Leith]
Saturday 8  May 4pm – The Lighthouse, 20-22 West Harbour Road, Granton, EH5
(plus a private performance  at NEECAG (North East Edinburgh Care Action Group) Older People’s Forum, at a  sheltered housing complex).

“I’ve never seen anything like it! It is such an interesting and dynamic way to explore issues. I really liked how the audience interacted with and influenced the play.”

While politicians debate, a Leith community theatre invites local people to explore what positive change  means and how we can make it happen.  Change is the name of a unique theatre project which opens with a first performance at Fort Community Wing on Thursday 29 April  at 7 pm.

ACT Two: the media analyses the second night of debate

With great timing, the first night of the ACTive Inquiry drama just happens to coincide with the third and final debate of the three leaders competing to win the general election. But the real life drama unfolding at Swietlica, the Polish drop-in club, could hardly be more different than the carefully controlled event taking place in front of the television cameras. [see also Be the Change]

In the Fort Community Wing the audience will be positively encouraged to take part as actors introduce the story of Sophie, a cleaner at a bank, who is inspired to use her new-found literacy skills to make her voice heard. Will her enthusiasm be enough to help her overcome the challenges she runs into…?

The story line was developed in a drama workshop, drawing on real concerns of real people from Leith. But the outcome will depend on the audience  and – unlike voters in the election –  in a Forum Theatre production no-one opts out.

Gavin Crichton, director of ACTive Inquiry, plays the role of the Joker interrupting the story and inviting the audience to take an active part in changing the course of events.   If you are the kind of person who never sits in the front row, fear not – as anyone who saw ACTive Inquiry making its debut in Leith Festival last year will know – Gavin has a wonderfully disarming way of getting people to take part.

Or as a member of the audience who saw the first production, Space, puts it: “I’ve never seen anything like it! It is such an interesting and dynamic way to explore issues. I really liked how the audience interacted with and influenced the play.”

Forum Theatre combines theatre and debate enabling the audience to have a say in how the Play develops. Active Inquiry a Leith-based theatre company  promotes increased participation in the arts as a catalyst for active involvement in society.  To quote the flyer for the series of performances deliberately coinciding with the election campaign (and a day or two after the results come in):

“How can we play an active part in positive social change, what stops change happening, and can we do more to change things than just voting every 5 years?”

PERFORMANCES
Thursday 29 April 7pm – Fort Community Wing, North Fort Street, Leith EH6
Wednesday 5 May 7pm – Duncan Place Resource Centre, 4 Duncan Place, Leith
[Thursday 6 May – still to be confirmed – Out of the Blue, Drill Hall, Dalmeny Street, Leith]
Saturday 8  May 4pm – The Lighthouse, 20-22 West Harbour Road, Granton, EH5
(plus a private performance  at NEECAG (North East Edinburgh Care Action Group) Older People’s Forum, at a  sheltered housing complex).

Ola Kasprzak with Malcolm Chisholm

Politicians, preoccupied with political rivalry, can forget the most important thing –  the needs of people they represent

Read Ola Kasprzak’s fascinating and forthright report of her experience  of shadowing two politicians in the Scottish Parliament and City of Edinburgh Council – she says they changed her negative opinion of politicians but her conclusions should be read by anyone standing for election this year. Or any other year.

WHY I WANTED TO TAKE PART?

I saw the Opening Doors shadowing programme as a great opportunity to increase my knowledge about political institutions and decision making processes so that I could make people in my community more aware of their rights and civil responsibilities and empower them to express their needs and concerns.

I think many people do not fully understand politics and realize how it affects the quality of their lives. They often perceive it as very abstract and unconnected to their everyday problems. This in turn can make politics even more distant from the ordinary member of society.

I come from a country where, for at least the last two decades, people have felt disengaged from politics. Frequent changes on the political scene and many scandals created a feeling of confusion, powerlessness and discouragement among Polish society. The situation illustrates how politicians, preoccupied with political rivalry, can forget the most important thing –  the needs of people they represent.

Ola at Swietlica, the Polish drop-in club in Leith

Perhaps these bad experiences help to explain the lack of civil engagement among the Polish community living in Scotland. Financial circumstances and the struggle to satisfy more basic needs may be another element.  Added to that,  the current economic and political climate (scapegoating migrant workers for the rise in unemployment), reinforces tensions and discrimination.  As a result members of ethnic minorities feel more excluded and withdraw further from social and political life.

WHAT I DID?

Shadowing Malcolm Chisholm in the Scottish Parliament and Lesley Hinds in the City of Edinburgh Council gave me a chance to see the work of politicians on two levels. Both of them ensured that I could observe the wide variety of their work.

With Malcolm I could see the work of different committees (Equal Opportunities, Subordinate Legislation and Public Petitions) and find out who they consist of and how they make decisions. I liked the fact that committees ensure public participation  and take into consideration opinions of different witnesses, specialists and members of organisations related to the issue.

The discovery for me was Public Petitions Committee, where every voter can lodge a petition. I think it could really benefit  society if this opportunity was better known.

Being in the Debating Chamber, where the competition between parties was visible in the way they present their views, was also an interesting experience.

Another part of the shadowing scheme I really enjoyed was spending time with Malcolm in the constituency, which included his surgery, visiting local community organizations (Mental Health Project and West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre in particular) and knocking on people’s doors and asking about their concerns. These were actions I did not expect from a politician and they definitely added a human face to the job.

Thanks to Lesley Hinds I was able to see the work of a city councilor, observing the Fire Board Committee and Labour Group discussing different topics and issues before the Council meeting. I discovered that the role of councilor requires a comprehensive knowledge from so many different areas. I also went with Lesley to her surgery, where people come with different concerns but all of them – even those which seem trivial – are treated seriously.

Lesley also gave me the opportunity to shadow her work in other organizations she is involved in, like community council and North Edinburgh Arts Board. It gave me an insight into how people from other communities work together and what they do to improve their lives.

CONCLUSIONS – ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

The shadowing scheme definitely helped to change my negative perception of politicians and increased my trust in them.

Thanks to Malcolm and Lesley I saw a human side of politics. I have learned that politicians are not just distant, patronizing figures, who are focused mainly on their careers but make an effort to be closer to people and hold  dialogue with them on an equal level.  I was  surprised there are so many ways of accessing politicians and politics for an ordinary person  – with public petitions committee as an additional advantage in Scotland. Above all, I have realized that the politician’s role requires a lot of time commitment, organizational skills and extensive knowledge.

However, I think that communication and cooperation between politicians and communities still needs to be improved.

1. Politicians should make an effort to speak to the public but, on the other hand, people have to understand that this is also up to them to improve their lives.
2. More actions should be taken to increase peoples’ awareness of ways of influencing politicians and politics (like, apart from voting in elections, public petitions committee, cross-party groups, politicians’ surgeries and other forms of contacting them).
3. People need to learn more about other forms of civil activity. The importance of their involvement in non-governmental organizations (the third sector) should be emphasized. It is undoubtedly easier to impact politics working together with others. Association gives a group of people an identity and additional strength. Also cooperation and networking between different organizations can result in more creative ideas and give people more voice in political institutions.

I think this would ensure greater understanding of issues different communities and individuals face and help to change their reality for the better.

Ola is now working with local voluntary organisations after studying ‘Working with Communities’ at Jewel and Esk College. She is actively involved in Swietlica, the Polish community group in Edinburgh.

We arrived just as Santa was leaving so we didn’t even have time to snap what might have been  a tell-tale picture of his boots as he disappeared out the door. Luckily Pawel Drozd was there with his camera to capture the atmosphere of another great Swietlica Christmas party – and two of the star performers.

It seems no time since we were at the last Swietlica Christmas party.  This year instead of the traditional Polish celebration on Christmas Eve – with 12 courses of food – the party coincided with the last Monday drop in club of 2009 at Fort Community Wing but as always there were plenty of good things to eat. And even if it wasn’t Wigilia (the Polish Christmas Eve) there was still the ritual of oplatek, the breaking and sharing of wafers of unleavened bread which gets everyone in the room talking to one another.

As Kasia Raszewska promised in the invitation, the evening was full of singing, some dancing and a chance to catch up with friends.

Thanks to Pawel for the pictures, to  Swietlica for inviting us to the party. And to Santa – or should that be St Nicholas? –  for the presents. (Rumour has it that he was an undercover cop but we don’t have a picture of the boots to prove it).

Grassroots at Redbraes during Edinburgh Festival 2008

On a stormy winter night it’s great to get a blast of summer. The picture shows the fantastic Grassroots Theatre Company when they visited Redbraes community garden in warmer weather. Now they are back for another tour of Scotland with what sounds like perfect timing for the St Andrews night party in Fort Community Wing on Monday 30th November – they are invited to give a workshop which should warm everyone up.

Here’s just a taste of what you can expect [picture from Grassroots Flickr site]

Last year Swietlica celebrated Andrzejki with the old Polish tradition of fortune telling – looking for signs of future riches or romance in melting wax and party games. This year Kasia Raszewska and the Swietlica team of volunteers are planning an evening of music and dance. When they heard Grassroots were staying nearby they invited the band to come and join the celebration. [Check with Kasia for details, or in the Comments at the end of this story.]

Unfortunately Leith Open Space is out of the country on St Andrews night but we have treated ourselves to a tour of the Grassroots website (and downloaded some pictures from their Flickr site) which gives a very good idea of what you can expect at the party on Monday night – though they might not be wearing the kilts you can see here.

We believe in the power of partnerships and friendships to share knowledge or ideas, to dream and turning dreams into reality – Grassroots Theatre Company

We missed the unveiling of the Burns Banner at the start of the Fringe but couldn’t resist going down to Market Street this week to try to spot the letters painted by Leith groups. See if you can pick out Ola Kasprzak’s contribution to the giant mural. 

Ola at the workshop organised by artist Stephen Raw [see more in Leith Open Space story Many Hands or Burns Banner blog on Scottish Poetry Library website].

Sorry, it is a bit of a trick question. In the original picture taken at the workshop at Swietlica in Fort Community Centre Ola seems to be holding an ‘n’.  On the banner (admittedly with a little help from the ‘map’ on the Burns Banner website) it has turned into a ‘u’ and it is pretty hard to pick out from street level as it is right up at the top in the first line of the poem by Robert Burns.

You can see it clearly in the nice sharp picture on the Burns Banner website. But it’s worth taking a walk along Market Street to see how public art and poetry brighten up the view.

Ola Kasprzak at the Swietlica art workshop

We were delighted to get the chance to put artist Stephen Raw in touch with some of the community groups representing Leith’s wealth of cultural diversity.  Stephen contacted us a couple of months ago when he had just a few workshops left to  complete the art work for the banner. This is a project to produce a spectacular display in Market Place as part of the Homecoming to celebrate the 250th birthday of Robert Burns.

The banner is made of letters painted by Scots across the world. And quite a few back home. Stephen was particularly keen to illustrate Scotland’s increasing multiculturalism and he thought Leith seemed the ideal place to come. “I would love to do a drop-in workshop in Leith,” he emailed as he headed south a couple of months ago.

We tracked him down somewhere in Manchester on his mobile phone and he explained he just needed a small group – all ages, all abilities – and a place to meet.

“It’s very simple,” he said, “It only takes an hour and all you will be asked to do is paint a big letter.” We started emailing everyone we knew…

Swietlica and some members of the Africa Centre and Shakti women’s group took up the challenge. You can see some of the results of the workshops  on the Burns Banner pages of the Scottish Poetry Library Website. Click here. [Thanks to Stephen for letting us pinch some pictures taken at the Fort Community Centre off the website!] You can also hear Brian Cox reading the Burns poem by clicking here.

Best of all, you can see the banner being unfurled in Market Street aat 11 am on 6 August.

Sneak preview: a mock-up of what the banner might look like. But go and see the real thing for yourselves.

Last year the group raised £7000 for widows and children disabled by war, donated with the help of the British Council. But something else comes from a tour like this. As with the  Reel Iraq events now happening in Edinburgh, listening to Ahmad Sham Sufi Qawali Group  gives us a rare chance to learn about a rich culture that has survived war and oppression.

“The music is really amazing,” says Kasia Raszewska, one of the Swietlica organisers who have somehow managed to bring the group to Leith during a festival tour that has moved from London, through Glasgow, Dumfries and Galloway to finish in Edinburgh on Tuesday 26 May at the Roxy Theatre.

On Swietlica’s behalf Leith Open Space sent out an SOS for Persian speakers to help the musicians communicate with their audience (if you can speak Persian please get in touch! ).

But music expresses emotions words cannot convey. You can see a video of Ahmad Sham Sufi Qawali playing in Edinburgh last year.  Read more about them in Songlines music magazine.

Best of all, come and hear them play at Fort Community Centre on Monday at 6.30pm.