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Keeping time for a moment ...

Ich schildere darin, wie ich IPF-Repräsentantin wurde und berichte über meine Brieffreunde und meinen Besuch in der ehemaligen Zentrale von IPF in Dublin im Frühjahr 1996.

Mein Artikel ist auch eine kleine Hommage an den Gründer von IPF, den Iren Neil O´Donnell, der die Leitung von IPF im Frühjahr 2001 aus gesundheitlichen Gründen abgeben mußte.

"The pen is mightier than the sword - Die Feder ist mächtiger als das Schwert"

- das war mehr als dreißig Jahre lang die Maxime von Neil O`Donnell, und unter diesem Diktum wird IPF auch in Zukunft geführt.

Das Foto zeigt Neil O´Donnell und seine Frau Carmel 

Die Geschichten, die Neil zu erzählen wußte, waren zum Teil so verrückt, daß man es kaum glauben mochte. Jenen Heiligen Abend, von dem hier die Rede ist, verbrachte er statt unterm Weihnachtsbaum mit der Suche nach der Argentinierin, die irgendwo in Dublin herumirrte.

Schließlich gabelte er sie auf und nahm sie mit zu sich nach Hause. Und da erwartete sie die größte Überraschung: Das "IPF Head Quarter" befand sich nämlich nicht, wie von ihr  vermutet, in einem präsentablen Bürohochhaus, sondern in Neil O´Donnells Reihenhausgarten - in einer eigens aufgestellten und spartanisch eingerichteten Holzlaube, in der außer Neil auch noch drei Mitarbeiterinnen arbeiteten.  

* * *

Irische Pubs haben eigentlich sonntags mittags geschlossen. Das heißt auf Irisch: Das Pub wird abgeschlossen - von innen! Und drinnen hocken sie beieinander und vergnügen sich munter weiter bei Guinness und improvisierter Musik. Ein irisches Pub ist übrigens nicht mit einer deutschen Gaststätte zu vergleichen. Hier finden sich alle Altersgruppen, ja, ganze Familien ein, und immer auch ein paar Musiker, die frisch, frei, frank live spielen.

* * *

Meinen festen Vorsatz, recht bald nach Dublin zurückzukehren, konnte ich leider nicht in die Tat umsetzen. Ich habe Neil seitdem nicht mehr wiedergesehen.

Am 4. August 2007 ist Neil gestorben.

Making a contribution to international understanding by letter-writing

... entitled a German newspaper in 1988 giving an account of my hobby.

But I should start with the beginning of the story ... It was in the year 1975 when letter writing became a passion with me, and Manuela, from the city Solingen/Germany, was my very first penfriend. We wrote to each other almost every week discussing our hobbies, school-problems and other items twelve-year-old girls were interested in. Answering ads in several newspapers I got two more penpals, Maren from Darmstadt/Germany and Eun Soon from Korea. Writing to Eun Soon were the most fascinating English lessons I ever had.

For hours I was skimming through my dictionary searching for the right words to tell her all about German traditions and life in general and mine in special. The same did she, and I always enjoyed reading Eun Soon´s letters and kept waiting for the next one. So letter writing gradually developed into my most important hobby and I regularly wrote to ads in newspapers to find new friends.

Reading a magazine some time in 1985 I found an advertisement of an organisation named International Penfriends (IPF) that promised to procure penpals all over the world. I ordered some information - without dreaming that this would be the beginning of a more than ten year lasting connection. (...)

I´ll never forget the joy at my first address list! For days I did nothing except for writing letters to America, Scandinavia, Italy, England, Nepal. Australia, Taiwan and some other countries. In Germany we jocularly say "My mail box is hungry" when there is no letter in it - my mail box has not been hungry any time since I joined IPF, although not all of the people I had written to answered my letters.

I learned a lot about different opinions, living-styles, preferences and some problems similar to my own ones. But I also got to know that penpals were as real as acquaintances: some became good friends to me, others remained speaking acquaintances and few stopped writing after a time. (...)

In 1986 I renewed my membership and asked for the preconditions for becoming an IPF agent; in spring of that year I joined Neil O´Donnells "IPF family" which consists of the IPF staff and about 600 Representatives around the world.

In the beginning it was difficult for me to recruit new members for I only had a little time in the evening to do the IPF-work because of my profession as a police-woman. Nevertheless the number of my penpals increased to almost 40 in 1987/88, and some of them visited me, for example Asha from New Delhi/India. There were ties of friendship between us immediately, but only three years later we got out of contact. In her last letter she told me that she suffered from an incurable disease and my letters remained unanswered. I think she has died and this was the most mournful event during my IPF-time.

In 1988 to 1993 many newspapers, and even radio and T.V., reported about my work helping people to find penpals throughout the world. But the more IPF members I recruited the less time I had to care about my own penpals. Today I am "just" writing to 20 persons living in Canada, Sri Lanka, Denmark, Sweden, Greece and Germany.

It was a sunny day at the beginning of March this year when I got a personal letter from Neil inviting me to come to Dublin and have al look at the IPF office. On Friday, April 19th, 9 o`clock in the evening my husband and me arrived at Dublin airport. We were welcomed by Neil and his wife Carmel, later on by a nice cat and three friendly dogs living together in harmony in Neil´s dwelling - no wonder in a house where international understanding is maxim, isn´t it? The animals weren´t confused when we were speaking German to them and nor seemed Neil and Carmel when we tried to speak English ...

We felt at home at once and enjoyed four wonderful days in Dublin. In the morning I usually did some work in the IPF office together with Neil: many items had to be discussed, some translations had to be done and (...) looking at the IPF card index box I got to know that I just had my 10-year-anniversary working as an IPF agent!

Apart from working it was very impressive to listen to Neil´s inexhaustible IPF stories. The best of all was the "Christmas Calling". Just on Christmas Eve - Neil´s family had been in Church - a club member from Argentina was calling.

"Oh, how nice of you wishing me a nice Christmas from Argentina", Neil said, but she answered:

"I´m not in Argentina, I´ve just arrived in Dublin airport and the taxi driver didn´t know where the IPF-building is!"

Neil stopped his account and with sence of humour he stated: "She thought IPF would residence in a skycraper!"

Neil´s philosophy is to offer a maximum of service to the IPF members, not to apply any money to the cost of representation. True to his motto: supporting international friendship and harmony by penfriendship for everyone - no matter of religion, language, colour or origin - it would be more likely that Neil spends free membership to twenty poor people than to buy a fashionable bureau chair! Although he is sitting at his writing table many hours a day to answer letters, to create information sheets and press releases and many other thing that have to be done to lead a worldwide organisation with more than 300 000 members.

But our visit to Dublin was not limited to the IPF office-work. Neil had prepared some nice diversions for us (...) so we visited - among others - Christ Church Cathedral and Dublin Castle. (...) On Sunday we had an opportunity (...) to visit a typical Irish pub. The weather was rainy but noone was irritated. Young and old people met there having a chat to each other and to listen to a music group playing traditional Irish folk music. It was as comfortable as in a private living room, and the Guinness tasted very well although we found out that the popular slogan "Guinness is good for you" only applies until the third glass ...!

When I think of the best impression during this four days I´m not really sure of it. But one of the most symbolic impression of IPF work I felt when I saw the colourful old Georgian doors nearby St. Stephens Green. The doors themselves are almost equal, they only differ in colour. Involuntarily I wonder how many different people have lived there during the last centuries ... and then I thought of the hundreds of thousands of IPF members. Aren´t they living behind doors in a figurative sense as well? Everyone in its own little world, with his own personal colour, and Neil and IPF are the key to get in contact with each other, to understand that people only differ in origin, religion - and colour.

I´m sure that it will not last to my 20-year-anniversary until I´ll return.

Nikola Hahn

IPF Representative, Germany

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