REPORT · THE FACES OF SOLIDARITY
For months, dozens of volunteers have been giving their time, ideas and energy to support the Al Rayyes family and the work of Human Sea Bridge. This article is dedicated to them.
Behind every stall is a chain of preparation, presence and people spreading the word.
The actions people see rest on a multitude of quiet gestures. Without those who prepare, transport, set up, welcome, explain, spread the word and pack away, their reach would remain very limited.
Practical gestures, often unseen
A solidarity stall does not begin when the table is set up. Long before that, someone has to design the materials, make or gather the items on offer, prepare the stalls and the collection materials, print the information, organise transport and find the people who will staff it.
Then come the setting up, the conversations with the public, the explanations patiently repeated, the packing away and the follow-up. Some people give a few hours; others are there week after week. Some speak up; many prefer to stay in the background. All of them are part of the same chain of solidarity.
Preparing, packing, transporting: an essential part of the work happens out of sight. Behind the handmade items on offer lie hours of patience and shared skills.
Businesses and venues that open their doors
We are also grateful to the many businesses in Brittany and elsewhere that, since the earliest mobilisations, have hosted solidarity stalls, displayed information materials and opened their doors to these initiatives. They offer far more than a corner of a counter: they give the work visibility, make it easier for people to meet and build a relationship of trust with the public.
Today, whenever a collection is offered in the name of Human Sea Bridge, it is organised under the association’s responsibility, in liaison with the partner venue. Volunteers and businesses are essential links in this chain: their commitment ensures that every contribution gives practical support to the action for which it is intended.
Bookshops, cafés, neighbourhood shops, values-led stores and other busy local venues all play their part in the mobilisation, each in its own way. We could not name them all without the risk of leaving someone out; this thank-you is addressed to every one of them.
Hosting a stall gives it a place at the heart of local life. Each partner venue becomes a local point of contact. In a bookshop, as in other businesses, solidarity finds its place. Cafés and other social venues also provide valuable meeting points.
Community venues make encounters possible
Our gratitude goes to the MJCs (youth and community centres) and community venues that host, promote and support these initiatives, and most particularly to the MJC de Trégunc for its welcome. Without these spaces open to their local communities, many actions simply could not take place.
Stalls that also bring people together
The stalls have helped to gather vital support, but their role does not end there. They offer a chance to explain a situation, to listen, to answer questions and to make the steps under way known. A conversation can spread the word further; a small donation can become a useful contribution; a meeting can open up a new possibility for action.
From the Al Rayyes support committee to Human Sea Bridge
This mobilisation grew around Yaser and the Al Rayyes family. Those involved in the AL RAYYES support committee — volunteers, people who remained anonymous, local contacts and loyal supporters — staffed the stalls, found venues, circulated appeals and carried the advocacy forward when every voice counted.
Today, that energy continues to support the association’s advocacy for the Al Rayyes family. It also helps to strengthen Human Sea Bridge, so that the experience, relationships and capacity built up over the months can help other people whose medical care or education has been jeopardised by war.
To all of you who give so generously, without seeking the spotlight and often without even leaving your name: thank you. Your presence gives every action its strength and every advocacy effort a wider voice.
Simply, thank you
In a mobilisation of this kind, there is no such thing as a small gesture. Staffing a stall for an hour, offering a venue, making a few items, transporting equipment, sharing a post or telling people around you about the association: every contribution counts.
Our most sincere thanks therefore go to the volunteers, to the members and anonymous supporters of the AL RAYYES support committee, and to the businesses, MJCs, non-profit associations, cultural venues and everyone who takes part in these solidarity actions. Without this collective mobilisation, none of this could have the same reach.
FOUR WAYS TO TAKE PART IN OUR SOLIDARITY ACTIONS
Every new link in the chain can open up a practical possibility. Depending on your availability, you can:
- offer to host an information stall or a solidarity collection in a business, an association or a cultural venue: contact us so that Human Sea Bridge can organise it with you, under its responsibility;
- help to prepare, set up, staff or pack away a stall, even for just a few hours;
- put a skill or a creation at the association’s service and discover the work of Human Sea Bridge;
- support the mobilisation over the long term by becoming a member of the association or making a donation.
Photographs taken during solidarity actions and supplied by their organisers and participants. Any reproduction or reuse is subject to prior permission.
