Dear all,
I need your help!!! (help question in the last part of this letter by the way)
Freedom. My generation, that ones after that and that of parents…. we grew up in a life without war. Freedom. It seems so incredibly common today. It should also be normal, but it is not. Many young generations have forgotten what we owe that freedom to. We are too concerned with ourselves. And why not. It's possible. We have an extreme food choice every day and can sleep safely and carefree every night.
It also has a downside. We become increasingly individualistic. We see ourselves as the centre of the universe. You "must" find your passion and make it work for you. You "must" have a large online social network, and you "must" have an exciting private life filled with fun things. And we are kind of gone too far with that. What was the passion of people in the second world war? To survive the day. Ensure that you had something to eat at least that day. Hope your loved ones were alive that day. And that in continuous fear.
How different that was 75 years ago. The second world war ended 75 years ago. 75 years ago we got our "freedom" back. 75 years ago men came from overseas who gave it back to us. A freedom for which many of these men died and suffered.
This year the Liberation Route opens. It is the route that the Allied forces travelled through Europe for our freedom. As of 6 June (landing day) I want to walk this route together with a Frenchman, a Belgian, an Englishman, an American, a Canadian a German, a Polish man and a Dutch person (me). Together. 1500 km in 75 days. From Omaha Beach to Berln. 75 days to freedom it is called. To honour those who have fought for our freedom. We are not professionals. We are just citizens and before we started training we could just walk 6 km. Well, that changed
Of course we know that we walk the route in completely different conditions than the forces back then. We will not be shot at, we have the right equipment and clothing, we do not have to worry about stepping on a land mine. We know that we can sleep safely and that our loved ones are safe at home. But we will not see them for 2.5 months. Because even though "safe" the route will be a huge journey. An adventure and a special journey. But we will do it together. Allied, occupied and occupier. Because only then the message comes across.
We try those 75 days to freedom without making any costs. By finding people who will voluntarily offer us a place to sleep and food who want. But we want to do more by approaching people and the media (think of famous people, veterans of that time, (famous) current veterans, soldiers, historians) to walk a day with us and to hear personal stories about their lives and what freedom means to them. And to sometimes just walk in silence together to honour the men gave us our freedom and to visit special points of interest on the route. Citizens are also allowed to join us on the stages.
Now we linked a good cause to this. At this moment 420 million children are living in war-affected countries - or one in nine children worldwide. The WarChild Foundation (associated with the international ‘Free the Children’ foundation) is a wonderful goal and we are now talking to them how to make this as huge as possible. Because we want every child in the world, just like us, to grow up in a life without war. Not just 75 years, but forever. So every child in the world can follow their dreams safely and in complete freedom, and make the difference for the generations to come.
To achieve this, we are going to be sponsored. The people who want to walk with us can also find sponsors. And the Warchild foundation will do a lot of marketing (yes, I even need to show my face on TV shows!! :-O
Here comes the question; For me it is aproblem to find that Belgian, German, Polish person and French Guy, UK, US and Canada. And my network is simply to small. So I hoped your organization could help me spread the message. We are NOT looking for a die hard sportsman/woman. Just an ordinary person like me. For whom the first 6 km hiking I did really hurted like hell 😉, someone who supports our goals and would be able to take a ‘sabbatical’ of 2,5 months for this goal. Age does not matter. Someone who has the heart and the courage to change the world, to make a difference. Even if just a little. We will walk 30 km’s a day so we can plan 2 resting days a week. There will be interviews in all countries so it can not be someone who is camera shy. Would you please help me to see if you know someone who would really like this?
Kind regards,
Mascha van Gool
Freedom Walker