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A purple bus and fifty people set off for Cologne.
Arrival — tired but glad to be there.
Depart for Cologne.
Arrival after much confusion and driving around in circles!
I get off the bus, the long journey of the previous day and night forgotten. The sun is shining and the sight that greets my eyes is amazing. We are on the banks of the Rhine with the cathedral on the far bank. Floating on the river is a boat with a large blown up champagne bottle proclaiming the message “ Drop the debt ”. On our side of the river there is a large stage and a number of small stalls. There are lots of people — standing around listening to what is happening, sitting on the grass and milling around visiting the stalls. We stop at a stall and purchase a rainbow scarf — everybody is wearing them and they are definitely a must. They’ve been produced by the German Jubilee 2000 supporters especially for the occasion. We move on and stand and listen to the speakers on stage — there are speakers from many different countries including Honduras and Sierra Leone and music from around the world. The crowd responds with shouts and cheers and the atmosphere is electric — so many people, from so many countries all making a stand for the same cause. On stage signatures are collected from many, many different countries. In total 17 million signatures from 165 countries are handed over to the world leaders.
Time to move to create the chain. Clutching our 10 foot chain I move with the crowd towards the bridge over the river. Everybody has to climb a small spiral staircase in order to cross the bridge. This is no mean feat but eventually I make it to the top. The huge chain is a wonderful tool for keeping our group together and also for attracting attention. Various people stop to walk and chat with us or to have their photographs taken with the chain. Across the bridge we go, completely holding up the traffic, singing and shouting as we go. There is a real carnival atmosphere — everyone is happy and the sun is shining. After the allotted time we walk on through the streets of Cologne singing and shouting as we go. There are people everywhere soaking up the atmosphere. We are interviewed by a reporter, talk to people in the streets and eventually end up by the cathedral. There is a salsa band playing, we raise our banner and chain and dance to the beat of the drums — a dance of solidarity with the poor people of the world.
Depart Krefeld for Manchester wondering what effect we had had upon world leaders — they can hardly have failed to notice us but exactly what effect had we had? The world leaders have decided to reduce the debt by $100 billion which stands to benefit 41 countries. However this is not enough — the amount that must be cancelled is $370 billion which is owed by 52 poor countries. Result — success but still the campaign continues. There is more to be achieved!
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Last modified: 25th November 2005