"When will I find our campaign to be successful? When we come to a point where a different colour of the skin and a different country of origin will not be a reason for insulting anyone", said Jose Torres, a musician and resident of Wroclaw, who has lived in Poland for several decades.
With his wife Izabella Torres, they concluded the "Wroclaw Tolerance Bridge" campaign conducted since a year ago by their Sztuka Zdrowie Tolerancja Foundation.
The several dozens of meetings they organized at schools and universities and the happenings held, among other places, in the Wroclaw's Town Square, involved about 10,000 participants. They were attended by persons born in Poland in mixed families, by persons born abroad who have lived in Poland for years, and by foreigners.
Jose Torres: "Meeting a person with a different colour of the skin personally and learning that person's experiences that resulted from being different was a unique experience to many participants as they had never had a similar opportunity.
In the case of many schools, representatives of the foundation were invited by students. "This was very important to us because it meant that they felt that they needed to talk about tolerance and intolerance", said Izabella Torres. "However, the most important event was the meeting at the Wroclaw University, at the international relations department. The meeting was attended by a large group of persons who were strongly opposed to any integration. This was surprising as there was a lot of aggression in their attitudes. However, other participants strongly criticised their views. This was an important lesson".
Izabella and Jose Torres emphasized several times that lack of acceptance for 'others' is due to ignorance. "This is a vicious cycle. Ignorance breeds fear, fear breeds aggression and concern that the others will take our jobs, our girlfriends, etc." said the musician. "Education is key to fighting stereotypes, which are deeply rooted".
The meeting was attended by teachers from the school where the foundation had organized meetings.
"We want more such meetings. At my school, the message of the meeting did not reach everyone, but this is a very difficult community. A number of persons gave it a thought and started to ask about those things; it is for them that such discussions should be organized", said a young teacher from a school in Leśnica.
The principal of Elementary School no. 107 noted that it is not about concrete knowledge that children will be required to learn but about giving them the impression that persons of different skin colour are people as much as they are.
Manuela Pliżga-Jonarska from the City Centre for Information and Social Development said that the city would continue its activities aimed at fighting intolerance. "Of course, we are aware that this may not be done only with the involvement of the foundation of the Torres family and that more organizations and institutions should be involved in the process", declared Mrs. Pliżga-Jonarska.
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