we don’t only clean the sea – some of us build boats!
- By Darja Rovba, a regional coordinator for Let’s Do It! Ukraine
Contact Julien Gee to volunteer in LDIM and LDI France! julien@letsdoitworld.org, france@letsdoitworld.orgBy Darja Rovba, a regional coordinator for Let’s Do It! Ukraine
I was lucky to catch a couple of free minutes during the Clean World conference that took place in Kosovo this February. I was even luckier to get an interview from Julien Gee, a member of Let’s Do It! France, who told me a truly romantic story about the French vision for making the world a better place.
‘We realised, that simply picking up trash on a cleanup day is not enough’, – explained Julien, – ‘we just didn’t want to clean up all the time. At the end of the day, Let’s Do It! is not about cleaning up at all. So, keeping that in mind, we focused on finding new ways of raising public awareness of waste management problems and ways to educate people and influence their attitude towards it. After some brainstorming we came up with a pretty practical idea: people can give us some old or even new things, that they don’t need anymore, we’ll repair and sell them for affordable prices. Basically, it is more like giving new life to old things, which otherwise would end up in the landfill’.
Can’t rent an office in Paris? Buy a boat instead!
So the new concept was thought through, however Julien and his team’s first concern was to find a suitable place. I hope everyone would agree that finding the right place for your project could cause you a headache and so it was in the beginning for Julien’s team. They
could not afford to rent a space in Paris due to the high prices. The nearest place they could afford though was too far away from the capital, which obviously was absolutely not acceptable for their target. So what to do? – Buy a boat, of course! Just think about it! A boat can navigate from place to place, you can store all the necessary materials there. Moreover, you can have a whole team navigating with you from one city to another! ‘It’s an absolute miracle to find a boat like ours. The boat, is called ‘Happy days’ (French: les jours heureux), was presented to France by the Germans after World War I.
Recycling at its best.
It was made from recycled weapons scraps and constructed as a transportation barge. After 50 years of transporting sand and other materials it became a shelter for women who suffered from domestic violence. When we heard this story we thought – that’s our boat!’, – shares Julien.
After signing all the papers the hard work started. ‘At first, we thought that the renovation process will be much easier’, – confesses Julien, – ‘Now we have six people working on the boat on a regular basis. From the start there were more than 100 people who helped us. And we are very thankful to each and every one of them. The boat is 38m long and 5m wide and it requires a proper service. For example, we would like to replace the old electrical wiring, as it’s the matter of safety. It is vital for us to get funding so that our project could continue. We would also appreciate any help from volunteers from all over the world. You are very welcome to join our small but enthusiastic family!’ At the moment the team is restoring some cabins, as the plan is also to let an apartment inside the boat. It will be a very small but cosy place with one bedroom and a tiny kitchen. On the question of who would be a perfect candidate, Julien says that the offer will be available for students: ‘A cool person is just what we need,’ – he says with smile, – ‘maybe we’ll prepare a few more bedrooms for rent, but I’m not sure about it now. Anyway it all depends on the amount of support we’ll get. Now the boat is located 20 km away from Paris and the team is waiting for authorisation. A lot of paperwork slows down the process, it’s hard to get an operating permit, also mooring prices are very high. The team doesn’t have a permit yet, but we are looking forward to getting one in the near future.
The Let’s Do It! France team already has an agreement with a publishing company. The plans is simple: if a book is unsold for a long time or no longer needed, the company gives the book to Let’s Do It! France. Kids with their parents visit the team at the boat, where one of the team members will read a book to them. It will be also possible for visitors to refill their cartridges for printers with ink, so please don’t forget to bring one on board.
‘Wow! So, actually you’re already making your dream come true, giving a second life not only to things that people bring you but to the boat itself. After such am amazing story, that I’ve just heard I can picture you standing on a deck in a captain’s hat with feathers flying in the wind’ – I’m teasing Julian. ‘Yes, yes,’ – he laughs, – ‘I can show you practically the same picture that I have. I’m really proud of it.’
So, here it is, a wonderful story of how to change the history of objects, give it a new birth and become a sailor at the same time. Good luck guys and I’ll be there to crack a bottle of Champagne before ‘Happy days’ will begin her new journey!
Please fell free to contact Julien for any other additional information about this fantastic project. The captain has promised us, that volunteers are always very welcome on board!
Join Julien Gee at LDIM and LDI France! julien@letsdoitworld.org, france@letsdoitworld.org
Why rivers matter?
