Most, Czech Republic

Regional status: in development (DEV)

The word “Most” means “bridge” in English. It is an inspiring place for an organisation that wants to build bridges. However, it is not the prettiest part of the country and often people ask why we would choose to be in Most when there are so many other places.

What they refer to are the deep crevasses on the north where the communists did strip mining yet where the pre-communist beauty of the land is starting to reappear again.  It is actually a beautiful region with volcanic pimples and beautiful hilly paths and landmarks.  Maybe it is a place of beauty because we want to see it be beautiful. Interesting for us is the fact that Most only has one church with a steeple. Can you find any other city in Europe with one steeple? That must be very unique.

But there are still four very small churches (that meet in houses) in this city of 69.000 (12 years ago there were 71.000 people so I guess people are leaving).yet during communism they were not allowed to have steeples. So much for a short introduction. Everything else you can find when you Google.

Brown coal created a place for industry, and many people came to Most for work. With the demand for coal decreasing in the past decade the unemployment figures in Most started rising. Today 21.4 % of the Most workforce is unemployed.

Since 1996 Atlantic Bridge has organised activities in Most. Various Circuit Riders (artists and teams) have been in different schools in the Most region. The first music group to go to schools in Most was the British band ‘Double Check’. Other circuit riding artists were Geert Doldersum (Netherlands), Steve Apirana (Australia) and Freddie Kofi (Ghana). exchange. In 1997 the International Youth Festival in the Czech Republic took place in the nearby town of Louny. In 1998 a group of 40 students from Most went to The Netherlands for a two week long.    In 2001 the first Marco Polo Team made up of Jeroen, Joachim (Netherlands), Todd and Beth (USA) researched the region to discover the youth culture. They found that young people were disillusioned about their city and depressed about their possibilities. They also found that this city had the highest unemployment rate in the country, at that time 24%. Since then, Atlantic Bridge has been anxious to increase the presence of staff and interns in this region to build an ongoing youth work.

In 2005 we started with internships and with two enthusiastic English interns, Phil and Simeon, under the supervision of two part-time staff, Lenka and Marketa. They established contact with the four small churches in town and built up a continuing presence in the schools. The highlight of that year was a concert in the Church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary with the Angels of Harmony, a black gospel choir from Philadelphia (USA) with the mayor and city notables in the front row.  Phill and a new intern, Tamas from Hungary, continued the work in 2006. In 2007 Sam Porteus, intern from Connecticut (USA), continued to build contacts in the various schools in the region, and in 2008 Kendra Hoover, youth leader from Portland OR took over from Sam and increased the impact of the mission especially in the town of Zatec through the Obchodni (business) Academy.  A Bridgebuilders Club from that school started after the visit of an American youth group from Portland OR in the summer of 2008. They visited the USA in the summer of 2009 . This trip also ended Kendra’s mission to Most experience.

People:  Much of the credit for building the work in Most in its early stages goes to two people: Lenka Cerna (now Fritschova) and Marketa Cermakova. As a team they worked together for several years working with interns from other countries.  But there are others and the list is quite long but we will limit it

After twelve years of various efforts in the Most region, it seems like we are back to the start but much wiser. Lenka Fritschova (Regional Coordinator) and the Zatec Bridgebuilders are back from the USA and we are wondering what is next. Will the now motivated Zatec Bridgebuilders continue and inspire others? Will a new and solid Regional Support Team emerge from the ashes and the wastelands in this region? Will we be able to find the funds to enable us to have supported staff  again to build the mission in Most, and will we be able to increase the number of young adults from abroad to come and help build an ongoing youth ministry in this town

Plans for a rebirth and increase of Bridgebuilders in Most 

By the end of 2012 we are planning to have one hundred new Bridgebuilders in Most. How?

In September 2010 two American and English youth leaders start on a part time bases in four different schools as English teachers. After school hours they become leaders of Bridgebuilders clubs. At the Circuit Riders week in schools in October young people are inspired and mobilised to join after school Bridgebuilders clubs. In December we hope to start with a minimum of two new  

BBClubs who start their cross cultural training through the Bricks curriculum in preparation for meeting young people from another country in the summer of 2011. After this bilateral exchange in the summer they will also go to the Internaitonal Youth Festival.  In September 2011 we would increase the number of English teachers by at least one more and so they could start 4 different BBClubs after the Circuit Riders week in October. This follows the same trajectory with now the possibility for a US trip for the first two BBClubs that started in 2010. This cycle continues in the fall of 2012 an this would bring about a total of 100 new Bridgebuilders, some of whom will be graduating from the 2 year program in August 2012 but still involved in building bridges in Most.

People: Lenka Fritschova is the Regional Coordinator

The focus on the Most region was a deliberate choice. After several years of itinerant work in schools across most of North and West Bohemia, it was evident that we needed to focus our efforts on one or two regions to build the mission deeper. In the north and west the choice fell on Most and that probably has a lot to do with the welcoming of schools in the Most region and the fact that Lenka lives in that region.