Looking at each other at eye level

We met with Jean-Louis Saporito just as we were looking for ways to commemorate, throughout the world, the 20^th anniversary of October 17, 1987 – the day when "defenders of human and civil rights from every continent gathered," and when, together, "they paid homage to the victims of hunger, ignorance, and violence… affirmed their conviction that human misery is not inevitable… pledged their solidarity with all people who, throughout the world, strive to eradicate extreme poverty." (Introduction to the text of the Commemorative Stone in honor of the victims of extreme poverty, inaugurated on that day at the Trocadero in Paris.)

We recalled Belles Familes (Jean-Louis Saporito. Editions Les Arenes, 2002.), collection of photos and interviews carried out by Jean-Louis in the Paris Area; there he met with families living in unbearable conditions, with respect for what they themselves chose to reveal to him. He asked us: "Why don’t we do the same thing with families around the world?" While listening to him, I thought of the words written by Father Joseph Wresinski, founder of ATD Fourth World, on the first page of the visitor’s book of the event that would become – five years later – the World Day to Overcome Extreme Poverty: The poor are waiting for us at the bend. What are we going to do? We were in full agreement: this 20^th anniversary would only be meaningful if this population of people who withstand contempt from others, day after day, could have the place of honor and be at the center of the event.

Two years went by and Jean-Louis took to the road. From Thailand to the United States, from Poland to Lebanon… Welcomed by the teams of fulltime workers, activists with experience of poverty, and friends of ATD Fourth World, he patiently followed in their footsteps to meet those who would be at the heart of this new book. Then he came back with the first photos. I was struck first and foremost by the faces. Then the texts came, words full of sincerity, unembellished, dignified. Jean-Louis Saporito knew how to make the faces and words of these young people, children, mothers and fathers rise up from the glossy paper.

Smiles Worldwide, in its pro-human standpoint, expresses the hope that these eyes will meet ours and that we will recognize each other. After closing this book, we may be tempted to put it away, forgotten, in a corner of our minds and hearts. But their words, carried here by the light and shadows of their faces marked by suffering, hint at a far more complicated, profound history – a history that can only reveal itself through a true, lasting, person to person encounter.

These eyes that speak to us are turned towards a future that we do not know how to make our own, living, as we do, in a society that moves forward blindly despite its aspiration to find a new way to live together.

Smiles Worldwide does indeed lead us "wherever human beings are condemned to live in extreme poverty." It takes us wherever "human rights are violated," and where "to come together to ensure that these rights be respected is our solemn duty." (Text of the Commemorative Stone in honor of the victims of extreme poverty, inaugurated on that day at the Trocadero in Paris.)

These words by Joseph Wresinski, engraved in 1987 on the Trocadero Plaza – the same place where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed in 1948 – help us to begin to see the depth and scope of the portraits that are given to us in these pages.

Strengthened by such stories of courage – courage often brushed aside, mishandled, despised;

Strengthened by such love – a love almost always unrecognized, trampled on;

Strengthened by such suffering – suffering that is scattered, erased from the history of others, torn from their own history;

many men, women, young people, children, poor or not, have mobilized themselves throughout the world.

They have initiated encounters that create space and time where human beings can finally "enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want."(Excerpt from the preamble of the universal declaration of human rights, united nations, December 10, 1948.)

Smiles Worldwide proposes a commitment guided by this question: what can I do so that all people will be able to reveal their true selves freely, showing the best of who they are, and allow others to do the same.

These eyes and these faces prepare us for and open us up to a positive encounter between worlds unknown to each other. Isn’t that a road to peace, on that leads to a place where all human beings can finally look at each other at eye level?

Eugen Brand

Director General

International Movement

ATD Fourth World