To raise awareness of the diversity of their actions and members, the Emmaus organisations in the Rhône-Alpes region of south-eastern France have launched a far-reaching communications campaign. It will be topped off with a week of festive events from 28 September to 4 October. “Watch out for ordinary people – they can be extraordinary.”
From 28 September – 4 October the Rhône-Alpes region will be organising its first Emmaus festival (Fet’Emmaus).
Seven days of events organised by the 38 Emmaus organisations in the region are to raise the profile of Emmaus’s diversity, values and wide-ranging solutions implemented by the movement to support people in difficulty.
On the programme there will be open days, fashion shows, concerts, an open-air cinema, hands-on crafts workshops, a giant barbeque, a soup kitchen, games for children, special sales, and street shows.
To publicise the event the region’s organisations launched a big communications campaign in early September under the banner, “Watch out for ordinary people – they can be extraordinary.” Their aim is to shine the spotlight on men and women, members of Emmaus, who create and come up with humane and solidarity-based models on a daily basis – people we often don’t hear about. “You do have to watch out for ordinary people, because together, they can change the world.” says Thierry Kuhn, Chair of Emmaus France.
People of the Rhône-Alpes region have got to know the faces of six men and women who are members of the Emmaus movement through a series of video clips, posters around the towns and a special website. Companions, students, retirees, activists and workers, looking to give meaning to their jobs, make up the rich fabric of the Emmaus movement and its daily work.
The campaign highlights their individual stories, initiatives and commitments, in a very original way!
This campaign invites us to look beyond appearances, and intends to show that becoming “extraordinary” is within everybody’s reach. As Abbé Pierre often used to say, “You don´t need to be perfect before you can start doing something good.”
See the campaign on the specially devoted website (in French):
www.les-extraordinaires-emmaus.org
