Greta Frankenfeld, new colleague in Calala's Programme Area in the Basque Country

“Encountering Calala was like unfolding a map of possibilities on a large round table where a group of diverse and powerful women colleagues have invited me to sit”.”

I come from afar in many ways. I was born on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, more than 10,000 kilometres away. I have travelled a road of almost 45 years to who I am today.

Although I always knew that my form of expression was reading and writing, I improved my relationship with words and invented the words I needed. Little by little, I broadened and deepened my communication, incorporating people, methodologies, reflections, ways of thinking, doing and relating to the environment and people.

I've always felt close to the idea that I am not worth less than anyone else and that no one is worth less than me. Although I often didn't know very well what this meant for me, I was living, learning and building it from my way of being a woman in the world.

That is why, despite the apparent distances, Meeting Calala was like unfolding a map of possibilities on a large round table where a group of diverse and powerful women colleagues have invited me to sit. On paper, a lot of roads already mapped out, a lot of territory to get to know, and yet the feeling of being at home and sharing compasses and mirrors (which point inwards to destinations).

For this trip I I also bring my own travel guides, borrowed and given as gifts, which talk about feminism, cultures, positive peace, reality, efficient and sustainable management, true love (not the usual stories), empathy, ambitions and everything that accumulates over so many kilometres, years and words. Imagine... My collection, at the disposal of my colleagues; and me, eager to read theirs.

I am a good listener of stories. I am a hermit and sociable. I am an enthusiastic passenger on crowded convoys and solitary journeys. I am an enthusiast of eves and roads. On this journey ahead, I hope to be a creator, a sharer and a recipient of joy, lots of joy.

Greta Frankenfeld, Calala Programme Area Euskadi