Meeting a legend by Anke van Wijck Adán, City of Mula
Edited on
22 July 2022When, at the occasion of the KAIRÓS peer-review meeting in Cesena (IT) in November last year, it was unanimously decided to celebrate a last partner meeting, the City of Malbork (PL) there and then offered to host it. Immediately serious talks came underway in regard to the meetings in Malbork, but also to a study visit to nearby Gdansk. And jokingly the suggestion was made of an encounter with Lech Wałęsa, the eminent leader of the Solidarity movement in the 80s, Nobel Prize winner for Peace and President of Poland. Jokingly because none of us really could fathom that it might happen.
But it did, thanks to the determined and decisive involvement of Mayor Charzewski and the Malbork team headed by Monika Sasin and coordinated by Marta Borowiec. The day of our meeting in Malbork, we were asked to advance our morning bus trip to Gdansk by one hour because a surprise was waiting for us. And indeed, in the midst of a dense and interesting program, we had the privilege of being received by none other than President Wałęsa at the magnificent European Solidarity Center, adjacent to the legendary shipyard.
Ice did not need to be broken, when he showed up in his notorious Konstytucia T-shirt that he wields wherever in the world he travels to hold conferences or receive awards. Now in his late seventies, he still emanates the same energy, clear mindedness and strong vision. For all of us, but especially for the few of us who had actually lived the moment of breakthrough and courage that he still symbolizes, being able to listen to his considerate but firm speech, so subtly translated by Grzegorz Szarmach, has been an unforgettably moving experience. And that includes a picture taken with each of us, as it is the President’s custom.
Thanks again to the Malbork team for this amazing feat!
Submitted by Dorothee Fischer on