Ruža Kolaček

“My uncle went to Czechoslovakia on business in ’68 and he came back and said he’d bought us a knitting machine. It was a Czech-made Dopleta and my mother actually brought it home after a short time, following certain difficulties with customs. It paid off indeed! We would knit and undo at will! Caps, scarves, sweaters, skirts, hoods… It still exists – as an antique item. If there were a repairman who would repair it and someone who would work with it…”

“There was a young volunteer camp in 1982. The goal was forest planting. We would get up early and take a bus to the place where a forest had to be planted. We got the seedlings and determined who would dig the holes, who would plant the seedlings, who would cover the soil and who would water them. We tried to do as much as we could. We even cheated a bit sometimes – putting two seedlings in one hole so it looked like we planted more trees. Had anyone counted the holes, this would show… Such are some of the ‘gems’ about working with young people. We were happy with volunteer badges and the cultural life in the afternoon. There were various leisure courses: driving lessons, photography courses, literary courses and writing for budding journalists. We would write an information bulletin, collecting impressions and there was entertainment in the evening. We would stay up late… and then, like drunk kittens, got up in the morning to face new victories at work. You would think that, with all the calluses, you don’t even want to hear about volunteering again – but that was only true until the next spring when questions started popping out: Where are we going? With whom? What will we do?”