ABOUT US
Emmaus Fredriksdal is a religiously and party politically independent
idealistic association working for a fair distribution of the Earth’s
resources.
We work by collecting and recycling our Swedish society’s surplus thus
creating resources for relief activities abroad and in Sweden. The association
further supports opinion building for the objectives mentioned and works for
human rights and counteracts racism and discrimination.
Equality and people’s equal value despite gender, ethnicity, age and creed
is a basic subject for the existence of the Emmaus movement. In our activities
we strive to look beyond the tainted sun glasses of ethnicity in order to meet
those ideals.
The basic business idea is selling second hand goods donated to the organization
through direct delivery at the organization premises and picking up of objects
donated to the recycling stations. This way the association recycles four metric
tons of objects every week.
Which projects to support is decided by the organization members at democratic
meetings. We also want to aid locally by offering employment, mostly to those
citizens who encounter problems entering the labor market, for instance the young,
the long time unemployed and people with impairments.
THE HISTORY OF EMMAUS
The Emmaus movement was started right after WWII in France by Abbé
Pierre, the priest. After the war came several cold winters and many
people found themselves without a place to live. Together with some
homeless people Abbé Pierre started to collect clothes and
rags. The house they used he called Emmaus, named after a place in
the Bible where some heartbroken disciples met the resurrected Jesus
after his crucifixion. Abbé Pierre interpreted the passage
as meaning that this was “a meeting that gave new hope to men.”
Abbé Pierre’s basic idea was helping oneself by helping
others. Soon the Emmaus movement spread to other places in France
and to the rest of the world.
Now Emmaus International has 400 member groups in 38 countries. Some
of them still have the Christian faith as their basis while others
have no affiliation
with any religion. Emmaus Fredriksdal agrees with the international
Emmaus movement whose device is, "Not merely abandon need, but
also do away with the causes of need."
