The 75th anniversary of our Foundation was a good reason to celebrate, 75 years of our centre in Caux an even better one.
When we launched the 75 Years of Stories series in February 2021 about 75 years of encounters in Caux, the team behind it had no idea what an adventure they had embarked on!
The inspiration came from Yara Zgheib, a young Lebanese novelist living in the US. She introduced the series by describing how she first came to Caux in 2010 and the impact this time had on her: ‘This place taught me to breathe, to see, others and myself,’ she wrote. ‘By the time I left, I felt so light I could have flown to Montreux.’
Caux’s story, she concluded, ‘contains hundreds of thousands of train rides, walks, talks, teas, conversations, and quiet moments of giant transformation’.
Over the entire year 2021, we shared 75 of them online. Turning them into a book once the anniversary celebrations were over seemed like an evidence and we are excited to announce it is now ready to order (English copy: £11.99).
In 1946, 100 Swiss families and individuals bought the run-down Caux Palace Hotel as a ‘place where Europeans, torn apart by hatred, suffering and resentment, can come together.’ Hundreds of volunteers from across Europe helped them to transform the building into an international conference centre. Over 100,000 people have taken part in conferences in Caux since then, seeking their part in bringing healing and justice to a divided world.
This book tells 75 stories – one for each year between 1946 and 2021 – of the lives which have been touched by Caux. They include far-reaching encounters, such as those between French and Germans after World War Two or between Somalis of warring communities in 2005; heart-stopping moments, such as in 1981 when Agnes Hofmeyr spoke from the stage with a man who had sanctioned her father’s murder; and stories from the corridoes, offices and kitchens of the many volunteers who have made the conferences possible.
These stories offer a glimpse of the magic at work in the international conference centre in Caux, owned by Initiatives of Change Switzerland for the worldwide network of Initiatives of Change.
If you wish to order a German or French copy, please get in touch with us by email
