Saadia underwent the “Hemispheres” training in April on sustainable agriculture. This “Porteur de Paroles” workshop was the outcome of the mobilization she arranged with the young volunteers of an international work camp organized by the association Concordia. In Morlaas, a small village near Pau, Saadia invited 14 volunteers from 9 European and African countries to get involved in a discussion around the interdependence between the Northern and Southern countries. The documentary The Story of Stuff of Annie Leonard, which details the life cycle of consumer products, helped create a link between the issue of consumption and that of production, in particular in Southern countries. Together with Saadia, they have subsequently arranged the workshop “Porteur de Paroles” on the streets of Pau.

On Saturday 22nd August, right in the middle of the festival, the young volunteers invited people to express their opinions about their consumption. Answers were publicly displayed. Marilyne, age 21: “The idea of a zero waste society, defended by a few idealists, is currently only at the stage of hope. I hope that one day this will become reality.” For Ibou, 17: “Yes, I think we can consume less and I do not think it would be such a big sacrifice to do it. The idea of being so efficient as to only produce minimal waste is appealing.” David, 33, added: “It is difficult to consume less after generations of wastefulness, but it is a sacrifice that needs to be made for the health of future generations.”

For Saadia, the impact of this event is twofold, “It allowed volunteers to think and become aware of such issues. We have also included the local population in this discussion, each day as it came, for instance when we would go shopping. We have also organised an open day and 60 people came. 60 inhabitants from the village and some mayors came to exchange some ideas with the volunteers.”

This project is conducted with funding from the European Union.