Lister

By Morten Grønborg
Translated by Tanja Cim Olesen

18-year-old Anders Therkelsen is currently responsible for the work of 125 people. With backup from the Cross-border Association’s educational consultant, Gunvor Vestergaard, who is officially responsible, he is in reality managing the refund stall at Service Centre East. ”No problem”, states the young man.

”We are a lot of people here, and besides I have experience from previous years”.

Service in many languages

”Half of the employees have German as their mother tongue and are either from the Danish minority in South Slesvig or Germans. The other half are Danes, who we know from the Cross-border Youth Association (Grænseforeningens Ungdom) or through friends”, Anders Therkelsen explains.

Since most of the employees also speak English and some perhaps even a fourth language, the Cross-Border Association are capable of servicing their customers at eye level. Especially as regards the Gipsies, who are energetic, major clients at the stall. Most of them speak German, not English.

Roskilde symbolises the target

”We are at the festival to produce a profit for the association. The money goes to social activities, for instance a youth camp in Latvia in 2009”, Gunvor Vestergaard explains.

Further, Anders Therkelsen emphasises that the Roskilde Festival in many ways makes what the Cross-border Association works for come to life, i.e. cultural encounters based on respect for the traditions, characteristics and values of the respective countries or minorities.

Open-mindedness is the keyword

The work springs from the conditions of the Danish minority in South Slesvig, but in recent years the Cross-border Association has been modernised and become more flexible.

Focus is no longer solely on protection of minorities in the geographically determined area around the Danish-German border, but to a large extent the idea itself of preserving one’s own national characteristics in the encounter with other cultures.

Open-mindedness towards others and self-consciousness are keywords, ”and in that regard the festival is the perfect place to be”, Anders Therkelsen concludes, before he starts concentrating on his work at the stall again, where thousands of cans and bottles are waiting to be refunded.