Different perspective on those Sarria crowds and young people

[C clearly]

This news article (the link was posted on the Almeria Association's Facebook site) is food for thought about the annoying large groups of laughing young people who take up a lot of Camino space between Sarria and Santiago.

If you use Chrome, right click on the page and select Translate to English.

A group of 170 people - children in cancer treatment and their families - walked to raise their own spirits as well as increase public awareness of the need for bone marrow donation.

 

[Felipe]

Inspiring story, really. Thanks for sharing.
I met a group that was walking with children with some kind of serious neurological disorders -very organized, respectful and happy.
On the other side, I think that nobody objects to large groups per se, or find that young people are bothering. It is the rampant commercialism, and the bad behavior of many people (usually, perfectly healthy) that is annoying. I knew about that beforehand, chose to ignore them as far as possible, and walked my way. It worked...mostly.

 

[gloria lowe]

I was in Santiago when they arrived and when they had their program in front of the Cathedral. They were awesome and the look on their faces will never be forgotten.

 

[Chris Gi]

How very inspiring. It always amazes me how very courageous most of these young children are in coping with cancer and other life threatening illnesses.

 

[peregrina2000]

Reminds me of something that happened to me years ago when I was writing Compostelas in the pilgrims’ office. We could hear a noisy young group outside, and not a few disapproving glances went towards the courtyard. Then when they started to come in we could see they all had the same t-shirt on —a picture of a boy with the words “te queremos Juanjo.” It was the one year anniversary of Juanjo’s death, and this group of friends and family had walked from Sarria in his memory. Good evidence of how life can be sad and happy at the same time. Somber in memory of their friend, but joyous at having arrived. I wrote the Compostela of a family member, and everyone on both sides of that long desk was crying by the time we were done.

Good examples to keep in mind when we’re tempted to turn up our noses at people who walk from Sarria

 

[longwalker60]

This news article (the link was posted on the Almeria Association's Facebook site) is food for thought about the annoying large groups of laughing young people who take up a lot of Camino space between Sarria and Santiago.

If you use Chrome, right click on the page and select Translate to English.

A group of 170 people - children in cancer treatment and their families - walked to raise their own spirits as well as increase public awareness of the need for bone marrow donation.

I remember that part of the camino. Buses of School kids, loud radios, running back and forth, garbage cans full, every quarter mile. The night prior to entering Santiago, I stayed at an alburgue, that had over 90 kids on the upper floor. They were respectful and relatively quiet. I knew this was coming based on reading prior reports on line. So, I appreciated the energy and vitality the kids had. Wished I had a little bit of theirs. I did not judge them, for the camino is for everybody. It was a positive experience. I was told most children in Spain, walk a part of the camino every year. At least they were doing something positive and that is also the camino experience. I think you just have to realize that the last 100 kms is going to be different from the prior, and be prepared for it. Buen Camino.