Volunteer Testimonies
What is Sammatz?
…There’s a question that everyone that arrives here is constantly trying to answer; «What is Sammatz?» And the truth is, that in a sense, it’s very easy to condense the response into a few key words. We talk about community, friendship, hard work, love, family.
And so, when you ask the people that are here how to summarize their experience, it’s very likely that you will get more or less the same response across the board. I have a very deep dislike for this fact, for a very simple reason.
Sammatz is the sum of its people, which together, are more than just the addition of every single person in it.
And this is probably my favourite thing about this place.
I wanted to make some interviews about the people that I’ve met here, and I wanted to transcribe them. And when I started doing this, a few very interesting things happened.
1: I realised that I did not want people to promote Sammatz in these interviews. I realised that when people talked about how they arrived here, and how they came to be, Sammatz sold itself. Sammatz does not need to be promoted, because most of the people here, are special in their own right.
Whether they stayed here for two weeks, or have been there since the begginning of their lives, it did not matter, because this is where we met, and without this geographical location, I would have probably not met the characters that I am interviewing a few pages down.
The formal definition of ‘’Sammatz’’…. is just a geographical location.
A 21st century problem
2: Community living is not perfect, but it allows for a very organic way to bond with the people you are around. And this is something that in the 21st century, absolutely everyone has problems with. I am not saying that there is anything wrong with deciding to live alone, and wanting your own space in the 21st century. Not at all. I am saying that everyone should make the choice to coexist with other people in a community, before they decide to venture out into the world on their own. This can be done in so many ways…. Universities, neighbourhood meetings, family gatherings…But what is truly special about being here, and why I would pick being here over any of the aforementioned, is that all of the work that is done, is imagined to be done with a sense of higher purpose. And this is carried by the people of Sammatz. And that sense of purpose can be annoying because it really is infectious, and you will not want to walk away from a job without doing it after a while. You will never do a job that is not absolutely needed…I have rarely met people who haven’t walked away more rich for this fact.
Meshing with other people in this community, has a way to integrate them into it in a way that is very rare these days. This is not an insular community. It’s open…
Which brings me to point #3:
…And it takes a brave group of people to be so open.
There are a 1000 things you could find about this place that aren’t that good. You can find things to criticise. It’s very easy, actually… (Actually, if you are in a mood to complain, call me. We’ll do it together. I will walk with you for 20 minutes and find something to complain about, like it’s my job. Seriously. I will add my email at the end of this page and we’ll talk)
I was enriched as a person
just by virtue of being here …
But that’s the point. No one here built anything or ran anything, being an expert about it first. I doubt that most of the people here that can do any job well, has any sort of education in the subject in which they are competent.
And excuse me for saying this, but this is f***ing cool. Because with the same ingenuity Sammatzians do their job, they will let you do yours. I made a
I was enriched as a person just by virtue of being here. I know that anyone that comes here and commits to staying for a while, will too. And maybe you don’t discover a higher purpose or build a rocket. Maybe you just make some cool friends and have a good time. That’s a pretty sweet deal too, if I’m honest. You should take it.
