Palm Sunday in a country with no palms

I thought about posting a tutorial, but it would take all year.

In the Christian tradition, Palm Sunday is the last Sunday before Easter. It commemorates the day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, and people greeted him by waving palm fronds and crying out 'Hosanna!'. A remembrance of that day is still practiced in most Christian faiths by bringing palm fronds to houses of worship.

But there is a slight problem. We do not have palm trees in Poland.

We do, however, have extremely rich folk traditions which date back to pre-Christian times, and which have largely survived in the Catholic custom. Such a tradition has evolved from the colourful Slavic decoration of twigs and branches in anticipation of Spring to the Christian weaving of palms.

Łyse, in the Kurpie region.

Two places are particularly well worth visiting in Poland for Palm Sunday: the village of Łyse in the Northeastern region of Kurpie, and the village of Lipnica Murowana, just Southwest of Cracow.

Only there will you find such elaborate palms made out of crepe paper and dried flowers, so tall that they cannot be carried upright.


Łyse, in the Green Kurpie

The village of Łyse holds a contest for the tallest and most beautiful palm. People from all over the region work hard for the fourty days of Lent to make their entries.

Contest-winning palms set up around the old church in Łyse.

The day begins with a mass and a procession and is then occasion for a market where the locals sell their handmade wares- palms, painted eggs, lacework, pottery, carvings, as well as regional food such as honey, bread, meats and beer.

You can buy handmade palms and little dough goats and deer. For luck.

Łyse is in the Green Kurpie Forest, a lovely area.

But be not mistaken. These palms are not only a testament to the rich folklore of Kurpie, but also a sign of religious devotion. Palm Sunday does not mark the beginning of a feast, nor is it a festival, but is the first day of the week in which the Christian God was killed by the very people who first greeted him with such joy. These amazing palms are first and foremost an offering to Jesus and a hope that believers may be strong enough not to betray him again and again as his first followers did, and modern Christians have no doubt done many times in their lives.

Lipnica Murowana, Lesser Poland

A slightly different type of palm can be found in Lipnica Murowana, a small village in the southern mountains. They are less stocky than Kurpian palms, with different patterns, and show more green twigs, boxwood and dried flowers than their northern counterparts. And most of all, they are much, much taller.

These are the short ones.

This is the tall one.

Like Łyse, Lipnica Murowana has its procession, market, and festivities. And like Łyse, it holds its own contest for the best Palm Sunday palm.

There are several categories, but the one that has everyone biting their nails is the Contest for the Tallest Palm.

This gets VERY competitive. And there are rules that make it all extremely exciting. For starters, no nails or other metal elements can be used in making the palms- only wood, willow, reeds, green branches and paper flowers are allowed.

In the photo above, the second-tallest palm of 2011 is raised, with great care and caution.

Wires, ropes and lines from synthetic materials are also forbidden. In order to qualify in the contest, the palm has to stand upright without breaking, it has to be raised with no help from machines (hence the men in the trees guiding the lines, and those on the ground, pushing with special long forks), and the author must be able to wrap his hands around the trunk.

The palm in the photo above is the first prize winner of 2011, at 36.4 metres- that's almost 120 feet! I heard someone say the whole thing weighed about 600 lbs. It took about a dozen men half an hour to get it upright.

Here are some of the shorter palms, arranged around the statue of St. Szymon:

And for a height comparison, this is me with the palms I bought. They were made by local schoolchildren:

As an aside and a link to pre-Christian Poland, to which we owe a great deal of these colourful customes, it's worth taking note of the little wooden gothic church of St. Leonard which stands in Lipnica by the Uszwica river. If you go inside and walk around behind the altar, you will find that it is suspended on a worn, wooden pillar.

This pillar is supposedly a Slavic Pagan totem which once represented Svetovid, a four-faced god. Though the building as we see it now was built in the 15th century, the first church on this site was originally built in the early 12th century, in a Pagan holy grove. Instead of being destroyed, the sacred statue was used as a support for the altar. Poland had only been Christian for a few hundred years, and the old Slavic faith was still very much present. But here as everywhere, the new religion replaced the old one- albeit with an unusual amount of respect.

The old religion and the new.

Meta information:

Location of Łyse:

http://maps.google.pl/maps?q=%C5%81yse,+Mazowieckie&hl=pl&ie=UTF8&sll=52.322433,20.761276&sspn=0.171024,0.528374&oq=%C5%82yse,+mazowi&hnear=%C5%81yse,+ostro%C5%82%C4%99cki,+Mazowieckie&t=m&z=13

Location of Lipnica Murowana:

http://maps.google.pl/maps?q=Lipnica+Murowana&hl=pl&ie=UTF8&ll=49.858349,20.524864&spn=0.090193,0.264187&sll=53.364151,21.564928&sspn=0.083484,0.264187&hnear=Lipnica+Murowana,+boche%C5%84ski,+ma%C5%82opolskie&t=m&z=13

Drowning the Marzanna

Marzanna is an ancient pagan Slavic goddess, and one of her domains is Winter. On the vernal equinox which falls on March 21st, we make an effigy of her, set it on fire and then drown it in the river so that Spring will come.

My Marzanna from last year

So, where does this tradition come from?

Slavic Pagans, of course.

Although Christianity in Poland has worked hard for the last thousand years to assimilate and conceal the multitude of wonderful pagan traditions within its Catholic celebrations, the drowning of the Marzanna persists despite many attempts to eradicate it. In fact it's traditional for pre-school children to make the effigy in class and then have a little field trip to drown her. Sometimes, older children will cut out paper numbers- symbolising their bad grades- and throw them in the water as well.

Your typical Marzanna should be made of straw, and dressed in white- or, as they do it in some regions, wound out of rags and wearing a colourful maiden's dress. The puppet would be paraded through the village so that she might draw out misery, hunger, sickness, and all the evils of the cold seasons out of every house. Once that duty was fulfilled, she would be set on fire and dropped into the water- and woe be unto those who looked back at her on their way home. Even torn to shreds, the goddess could still take vengeance with a curse.

The burning of Judas which was meant to replace it somehow never really caught on...and I am glad. Marzanna must die as the Winter cedes to Spring, but she will return next season to live again. Her burning is a symbol of the natural order, while tormenting a straw effigy of Judas only serves to translate guilt into angry righteousness.

Another ancient tradition would have us greet Jaryła, the god of Spring and fertility, with dances and rituals. Slavic religion persists in several modern-day faith groups, but so far my attempts to get in touch with them have been fruitless, so alas I can't give you an account of anything more authentic than the secularised drowning of Marzanna.

So. I haven't done this in a while, for lack of good company, but last year I found two friends who thought it was a great idea. We made our Marzanna from wood, rags and hay, so she should decompose well. The Ner river is pretty dirty already, but there was no need to contribute to the pollution.

Hello, Spring, goodbye, Winter!

You do have to set her on fire before you drown her.

As a bonus, here's a rather lovely video of the traditional drowning, shot last year by some Poles in...Glasgow. ;) Apparently they're doing it again this year, on March 25th. If you're in Glasgow, go join in the fun!

Meta information:

Wikipedia entry on Slavic Paganism:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavic_paganism


COSMOPOLIS- the authors of the Drowning Marzanna video:
http://cosmopolis10.blogspot.com/


Literary source: Polskie Obrzędy i Zwyczaje, Dr. Barbara Ogrodowska

The king of the forest

Since it's a bit cold and messy outside, allow me to take you on a little journey of natural discovery.

On the farthest Eastern edge of our country, straddled over the border we share with Belarus lies a magical wilderness: the primeval forest of Białowieża.

With only small villages to house guests and scarce transportation, the region does not, at first glance, seem like an inviting tourist location. No large hotels, no resorts, no shopping, no night life.

But one does not come to Białowieża for the night life. Not the human sort, anyway, which leaves you hungover and dry-mouthed, sleeping through the better part of the morning. In Białowieża, it behooves the tourist to rise before the sun, don her wellingtons, and rush through the dewy dawn with eyes wide open and camera in hand, to catch the boar, the deer, and the wisent at their breakfast grazing.

Deer coming to have a drink of water from the pond, at 4:30 am. A sight worth losing sleep over.

Leave man-made entertainment in the cities. Here, nature is your host.

A path designed to protect the undergrowth from humans in the strict protection zone of the National Park.
You cannot enter this area without a guide.

The border leaves most of the woodland on the Belarussian side, but what is left in Poland is still a vast and ecologically rich area. Over centuries, it was protected as a king's hunting grounds, and thus survived almost intact until the 1900s. Both World Wars caused significant damage, but it was in 1919 that the forest suffered what was arguably its greatest loss: the death of the last wild wisent.

What's a wisent, you ask?

Hello!

Otherwise known as the Bison bonasus, it is a cousin of the American bison (Bison bison), and the largest European mammal. A male can weigh up to 920 kilos (that's over two thousand lbs!), and lives about 25 years. Isn't it frightening that both species of this impressive genus, though divided by a great ocean, came so close to extinction by fault of man's drive to war and conquest?

I say they came close- because luckily, the wisent is back.

Back in style, baby.

In 1923, in that short period between World Wars, a society was formed in Poland with the express intention of saving the species and returning the wisent back to the European wilderness- starting with the Białowieża forest. Their hope lay in the many wisent from Białowieża which had been sent to zoological gardens worldwide during the 19th century. As it turned out, there were only 54 individuals who had survived in captivity. And not all of them were fit to reproduce...

But in the end, the attempt was successful. The first wisent, a male born in Germany and named Borusse was placed in the forest preserve a mere six years later. He was joined by two females, the pureblood Biserta and the half wisent half bison Faworytka, both raised in Stockholm. By the time World War Two broke out, sixteen wisent were romping in the forest- luckily, all of them survived the ordeal.

A little herd chilling out.

Today, there are over 500 bison living wild in the Polish part of the Białowieża forest. This is still a small number, and with the genetic material all going back to the same small group of wisent recovered from the zoos, it is important to control the further expanse of the population. Each new wisent is recorded in the European Bison Pedigree Book, published yearly- this helps guarantee the purity of the species and grants important information to breeders. Today, the Book counts over 4000 bison worldwide, over half of that number living in the wild. A 1000 of them live in Poland, of which half reside in the Białowieża forest.

So, you see, if you go visit Białowieża, you won't have too much trouble spotting a wisent, whether in the reserve, or out grazing a field. Just remember these few tips: don't get too close, approach them quietly and with great caution, and if the wisent looks right at you- stop, and don't come any closer. He's watching you, now. He'll keep on watching you until you go away. And if you don't go away- he will.

Most of all, remember that he's the king of the forest, and you are merely his guest.

By the way, the Polish word for wisent is 'żubr'. Have you ever heard of a vodka called Żubrówka? It's a yellowish colour, and comes in a tall bottle with a blade of bisongrass inside. Yep. It's named after the wisent, and it's one of the best vodkas in Poland.



Meta Info:

Wikipedia entry on Białowieża Forest:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bia%C5%82owie%C5%BCa_Forest

Official website of the Białowieża National Park:
http://bpn.com.pl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=104&Itemid=178

A photo of dr Erna Mohr and Borusse, the first wisent to return to the forest:
http://bpn.com.pl/images/stories/opisy/wydawnictwa/erna.png

The European Bison Pedigree Book in History and Today ( a pdf with lots of cool old photos)
http://bpn.com.pl/images/stories/opisy/wydawnictwa/krz/broszura_ang.pdf 

Wikipedia entry for Żubrówka Vodka:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%BBubr%C3%B3wka

Fat Thursday

I'll have a dozen of those, and a dozen of these.

The photo above shows a confectioner's stall at the market near my place. Normally the shelves are filled with different kinds of cakes- chocolate eclairs, honey gingerbread, puff pastries, jam buns...

But today, it is all pączki. Because today, my friends, is Fat Thursday, and custom declares that on Fat Thursday a person should eat as many pączki as they can. And then they should eat some more.

Last year, Poles are said to have eaten 95 million pączki. That's about two and a half per citizen.  You see, no one counts calories on this day(a pączek will set you back about 400 empty ones, if you really must know). If you don't eat, you'll be miserable for the rest of the year, superstition says.

But pączki are available year-round. Why are they so immensely popular on this one day in the year?

Afternoon delivery to the bakeries. All of those crates are filled with pączki.

Fat Thursday a.k.a. Tłusty Czwartek (pronounced twoosty tschvartek) is a mobile feast, falling on the thursday before Ash Wednesday. One week of Carnival remains; one week before sweets, fatty foods and festivities must be set aside for Lent. In Catholic custom, Lent is fourty days of fasting and religious reflection meant to cleanse and prepare the faithful for Easter.

The practical purpose of Fat Thursday is for bakers to use up all excess of fat and sugar before the fasting begins and business on sweet treats slows down. On this day, you might have a hard time finding anything BUT pączki in the bakeries.

Rose jam, marmalade, toffee, chocolate? So many different fillings...

The traditional pączek is a yeasty ball with a rose jam centre, fried in lard (vegetarians beware). But, according to the most famous Polish confectioners, the Blikle family, in the 17th century, pączki were stuffed with bacon.

Now, there is a common misconception in America, I have noticed, about this traditional Polish dessert called 'pączki'.  I'd like to clear that up.

First of all, we do not eat them on Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras is the Tuesday followed immediately by Ash Wednesday, effectively the last day of the Carnival before Lent, but it is not a feast celebrated in Poland.

We do not celebrate 'Pączki Day', either. That is a Polish-American tradition.

Second of all, they are not doughnuts. Doughnuts have holes in them and they are a completely different dough besides. And what you might think are doughnut holes are mini pączki, or pączusie.

Now, about the name itself. I have heard the word explained as 'packages'. Not so- the word actually means 'buds'. See the little tail underneath the 'a'? That makes an 'aw' sound, and the word is pronounced 'pawnchkee'. The confusion comes from replacing the letter with a regular 'a':

'paczki' 

are, indeed, packages, preferably wrapped up in brown paper and tied up with string.

 'pączki'

however, are buds, such as you would see on a tree in springtime, and though the cakes named after them do often come wrapped in paper, its colour is waxed off-white, and the string is ribbon rather than jute.

These are also pączki.

Note also that the word is plural, the singular form being 'pączek' (pronounced 'pawncheck'). One pączek, two pączki. Of course it is only natural that the English language would add an extra s and adapt the word as pączkis. :) (the aforementioned 'pączusie' is a diminutive, and indicates the 'pączek' has been shrunk to cuteness.)

If all this etymology has made you hungry, you should feel justified in running out to the nearest confectionery shop and bringing home as many sweet pastries as you can carry. It is, after all, Tłusty Czwartek.




Meta Info:


Wikipedia entry on Fat Thursday:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_Thursday


Blikle on pączki:


http://www.tvp.pl/styl-zycia/aktualnosci/lukasz-blikle-w-tlusty-czwartek-badzmy-lakomczuchami/4080794

The 100-day dance

Though the Polish education system has seen changes upon changes in the last couple of decades, the crowning of a high school education is still the passing of the Matura- the so-called 'maturity exam' which earns the student a diploma and the right to attend university.

The exams take place in May, but it is customary to celebrate them in January, approximately one hundred days earlier, with a school dance called the Studniówka.

Think of it as a sort of prom, or high school ball- it's a very important affair. Some schools choose to hold it in their gym, but many will rent out a hotel ballroom instead, which makes it easier for alcohol to circulate. One glass of champagne is the official allowed amount (18 is the legal drinking age in Poland), but we shall not speak of what is poured under the tables. My own studniówka lasted until seven o'clock the next morning, and I distinctly remember the hotel ushers asking us to leave, saying 'enough already'. The trick of the dance is that none but the most confident students can be certain of graduating, and the exam is months away. That certainly adds excitement!

So, precautions are taken that have little to do with studying. One superstition claims that in order to graduate, one must wear red underwear to the studniówka, then wear it again, unwashed, to the exam. In Warsaw, where I grew up, the custom is to go to the Old Town after your Studniówka, find the statues of poet Adam Mickiewicz and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, then jump around them on one leg. An unbroken skip around Mickiewicz will guarantee you a passing grade in literature and language, while Copernicus takes care of mathematics and strict sciences.

Seems simple enough, until you factor in the January snow, ice, and high heels.

But the most important tradition of the Studniówka is the first dance: traditionally and unquestionably a polonaise. Its roots lie in 16th century folk dances, and it is easy enough to learn. Even with two left feet all you need to do is follow the pair ahead of you, in time with the majestic music.

In some cities, the dance has been pulled out of the gyms and ballrooms and brought to the streets. In the bitter cold of January, hundreds of students file through the city, led in the dance by a pair or trio dressed in the historical garb of the 16th century 'szlachta'.

These boys would do fine in suits, but I maintain that even the
homeliest of men looks like a prince in a żupan and kontusz.

As they say 'We hope we don't see you here next year!'

Bystanders are welcome to join the dance and make the parade grow longer- it starts out as a column of pairs and ends up spreading across the whole width of the street with as many as sixteen people in one row. In Łódź, the students have been dancing for seven years now. One of the traditions for the dancers is to grab the statue of Tuwim by the nose as they pass it by (I wrote about the Lodzian poet Tuwim last year)- this is supposed to bring good luck.

So, we do wish them fortune and a calm mind during their upcoming exams. But they shouldn't thank us, no matter how polite that may seem- it's bad luck!

Meta information

The music you hear in the video is the most popular modern polonaise, composed by Wojciech Kilar for the Andrzej Wajda film 'Pan Tadeusz', based on an epic poem of the same name written by Adam Mickiewicz- the great Polish poet mentioned above. Here is the clip from the film featuring the score and the dance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq-VmzcJa3Y  

Wikipedia entry with links to articles about the clothes worn by Polish nobility 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kontusz 

Wikipedia entry about the Polonaise

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polonaise

The shipyard where it all began.

Gdańsk- always a special one among our cities, always with something loud, something different going on. While it always had a particularly interesting and rebellious history, the modern world recognises it first of all as the backdrop for the Solidarity movement's stand against the Soviet Union.

You could say it all started in the shipyards.

The Stocznia Gdańska- Gdańsk shipyard.

First came the illegal strikes in August 1970- illegal, because under communist law, neither strikes nor the forming of independent trade unions were allowed without government approval and the endorsement of the only political Party- the communist party.

So the government responded with open fire, killing dozens and wounding more than a thousand. The years that followed brough repression and arrests for union leaders and activists- among them, shipyard electrician Lech Wałęsa.

The gate to the famous Gdańsk Lenin Shipyard, with militia (police forces during martial law) parked
in front. Luckily, they're only actors! A film about Lech Wałęsa is being shot there right now.

But in 1980, the strike that ended communism in Poland began at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdańsk. In a move that was notably symbolic, Wałęsa, who had been fired from the shipyard four years earlier for his criticism of the union laws, leapt back over the wall and joined the strike. He was quickly appointed its leader.

The wave swept across Poland, unstoppable. Eventually, even the government-approved and party-controlled unions joined in.

The first victory was achieved quickly: the communist government signed an agreement which granted workers the right to strike, and allowed the formation of independent trade unions.

This is how Solidarity was born- post-war Poland's first legal independent trade union and mass movement. With ten million members all across the country, it was a force the communist government had no choice but to reckon with. Even so, its steady fight for freedom lasted ten years.

There were hurdles along the way; compromises, negotiations, hard choices, controversies, invigilations, murders, prison sentences. During the 1981 martial law (which I wrote briefly about this december), Solidarity activists were arrested and detained en masse. In 1982, Solidarity was outlawed again, and had to move to the underground for four years. In 1983, Wałęsa received the Nobel Peace prize for his efforts to resolve the conflict without resorting to violence. He always strove first and foremost to negotiate with the communists- a path which some will say was not radical enough. He could not even leave the country to receive the Prize, fearing that he would not be allowed back across the border.

History will judge us, they say. But the fact is that thanks to Solidarity's work, today, I live in a free country. I can speak my mind without being detained. I can challenge the laws and government if I find them unjust. I can purchase whatever goods I wish without needing permission from the government; I can own property, posess foreign currency, and travel abroad without restrictions. I can vote in an election and know that my vote will be counted fairly.

These and many other freedoms were denied to my parents for the majority of their lives. I myself was born into a country which did not guarantee me basic human rights. I consider myself extremely lucky to have had those rights restored while I was still a child.

There is more to be said about Gdańsk- much more to be said about Wałęsa, who eventually became our first non-communist President, about the work of Solidarity, and Poland's struggle to sever its communist bond with the USSR. I don't dare to try and explain it all on this fluffy blog ;). But there are many books and films which you can turn to. As we speak, Oscar-winner Andrzej Wajda is filming a biopic about Wałęsa at the same Gdańsk Shipyard (my photo of the shoot at the beginning of this post). I expect it will be a good primer to the subject.

So, if you're in Gdańsk, take a stroll away from the picturesque medieval part of town. Go West, past the train station, to the three crosses memorial for the fallen shipyard workers, the looming cranes, and the famous Second Gate. History was made here.

Shipyard wall and cranes, as seen from Ulica Robotnicza- 'Worker's Street'

Meta Information

Wikipedia entry about the Gdańsk shipyard:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gda%C5%84sk_Shipyard

Wikipedia entry about Lech Wałęsa:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lech_Wa%C5%82%C4%99sa

Wikipedia entry about Solidarity:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solidarity_(Polish_trade_union)

Solidarity logo is copyrighted to Solidarity and used under the terms of fair use with the intent of identifying the organisation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Solidarity_(Polish_trade_union)_(logo).png

The Great Orchestra

This is probably one of the most awesome things I will ever write about.

Every year in January, Poland explodes with a nationwide charity event called The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity. The organisation collects money for a different cause every year, usually focusing on pediatric care and neo-natal medical equipment.

WOŚP, or GOCC- literally the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity.

This sounds ordinary enough until you find out that...

In 1993, during the very first Orchestra, the foundation raised 1,5 million U.S. dollars, an unexpected success. So, the Foundation was formed and a new event organised every year for the next 19 years...

And so, in just ONE day last year, the amount raised came to over 13 million U.S. dollars.


One day.  Crazy, no?


And the sum of 19 years of such days is a staggering 125 million USD.

It's an unquestionable fact by now that in Poland, for just one day, everyone's pockets open up. Children bring their jars of pennies, adults donate precious items and jewellery. A small coin or a bill- every little bit counts, and the evidence is in the numbers. Thirteen million dollars last year bought much-needed equipment to help hospitals treat newborns and young children with urological and kidney diseases.

A heart made out of copper coins- people are encouraged to bring their smallest change and throw it
into the pattern. Many companies and businesses also brought bags of coins to add to the pile.

This year, the money collected will buy equipment to save prematurely born children, and insulin pumps for pregnant diabetics.

Thanks to the Orchestra and the equipment they finance, certain medical conditions which used to be a grave issue are now 100% treatable in Poland.

I believe that's the definition of awesome. The Orchestra's motto is 'We will play until the end of the world and one day longer', and for 20 years now they have lived up to it.


So, how do they do it?


Peace, love, and rock'n'roll. The hippyish philosophy works wonders on this one day a year. Free concerts are set up all over the country, with celebrities, musicians, sound and light companies and many, many other people donating their time. The national television's Channel Two dedicates the entire day to the event, transmitting live from all over the country.

The City Guard ride through Łódź brandishing the GOCC banner.

120 thousand volunteers walk around Poland that day. That's 120 thousand people who have to be trusted not to take the money and run- and, as the Foundation points out, the numbers suggest that an overwhelming majority proves to be honest. I was a volunteer a few times, it's a popular thing to do when you're a teenager- statistics say 11% of Poles were volunteers for the Orchestra at least once in their lives. You get a cardboard money bank, a laminated ID card, and several sheets of heart-shaped stickers. There are a few rules- you may not solicit any money before, or after the Finale Day. And knocking on people's doors is not allowed. But whoever drops money into the box gets a sticker, and so for the next few weeks you will see people walking around town with red hearts stuck to their coats and hats.

My friend and I way back in 1997 when I volunteered for the first time.
The angel wings definitely got people's attention.

Pony sporting heart stickers during this year's horse parade in Łódź

Similarly, the equipment bought with the foundation's help is also marked with their symbol- you will  see the red heart on quite a few hospital machines and ambulances.

Ambulance with GOCC logo- Wikimedia Commons file by Wikimedia user Reytan.

But the streets is not the only place where it happens. Items of value are donated for special auctions- online, even regular users can decide to donate their proceeds to the Foundation thanks to an official partnership from the auction site. And celebrities do their part- this year for example we have an auction for an invitation to an NBA match from NBA player Marcin Gortat, a fountain pen belonging to the late president Kaczyński, and even a special custom made bike from Paul Jr. of Orange County Choppers.

(My favourite, however, must be the pilot hat of Captain Wrona- the skilled airline pilot who elegantly set a 767 plane down without any landing gear this last November.)


The day in which all the collections take place is called the Great Finale. It starts bright and early in the morning with tv transmissions from the man behind all of this madness- Jurek Owsiak, a cheerful 59 year-old in bright red glasses with a characteristic stutter. With the donated help of airlines, helicopters and various transport companies he travels around the country, going from town to town before returning to Warsaw for the "Light to the sky". At eight pm all over the country fireworks go off as a thank you to everyone who took part in the event, and everyone is encouraged to light a candle, flashlight, phone, anything they can, and raise it to the heavens to show that we are here, that we are one, and that we CAN achieve great things together.

GOCC Finale in Łódź, 2011.

Another way of saying 'thank you' is the yearly Woodstock Festival, also organised by the Orchestra in the summertime. It is currently the biggest open-air concert in Europe.

It's kind of insane. 

This festival, while also free to attend is financed separately from the January charity event, through different sponsors. One of the important things about GOCC is their careful and detailed account of how they spend the money- it makes them all the more trustworthy in the public sight, and that matters when you're trying to save children's lives!

As if all that weren't enough, the Foundation also teaches CPR in schools, recruits special Peace Rescue Patrols that volunteer in dispensing first aid at public events, and run nationwide programs for early cancer diagnostics, hearing screenings, treatment of retinopathy in preemies, and diabetic therapy for children. And then some more. In 2010, they organised an additional, almost spontaneous collection for the victims of heavy floods from that summer- handing out special, blue heart stickers.

Here's an English-language film they produced explaining what they do.

And if you're abroad, you can take part, too! Either by bidding on an auction, by donating, or by joining the crew. Here is a list of foreign staff bases- we have them in the US, on the British Isles, in Germany, and even in Afghanistan.

Til the end of the world, and one day longer!



Meta information:

GOCC (WOŚP) logo is copyrighted to WOŚP and used under the terms of fair use with the intent of identifying the organisation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Serce_wosp.png

GOCC official website in english:
http://www.en.wosp.org.pl/

Wikipedia entry about Jurek Owsiak:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerzy_Owsiak

Image of ambulance from Wikimedia Commons:
http://pl.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plik:Karetka_pogotowia_2.jpg&filetimestamp=20080111181630