review
The Twente theater maker and author Manon Ossevoort is the initiator of this very special journey. This journey, which has not yet been completed in 2010, was born from a stream of thoughts that began to manifest itself in a dream. A dream that was about to come true. In the book, Manon takes the reader on her journey and shares her experiences and the extremely inspiring stories of people she met along the way.
During her studies at the theater school in Amsterdam, Manon Ossevoort decides to create a performance about the realization of dreams. This performance is the beginning of a journey to the ‘end of the world’, namely the South Pole. She chose the tractor as a means of transport because for her it symbolizes strength, humor and endurance.
The combination of a young woman on a tractor turned out to be a great success. Manon Ossevoort is a passionate young woman who found out that you have to make dreams! That you should not leave it alone with dreams. She went out into the world with a tractor with the aim of collecting dreams of other people, to show that the impossible is possible, to inspire other people and to be inspired herself.
Preparation
A lot of preparation was needed to realize her dream. Manon needed a lot of sponsors to make that trip. For example, her tractor was sponsored by the tractor company Deutz. She also had to take into account weather conditions in the various countries. Or me the roads, she couldn’t just go on the highway with her tractor. In several African countries, dangerous places also had to be taken into account because of the danger of war or rebels.
A common thread on this hike is the collaboration and cooperation of organizations such as War Child and World Child. These are represented in many countries and sometimes act as a kind of beacon for Manon Ossevoort. Marco Borsato keeps in touch with her via text messages.
Start
Her journey began in 2005 at the Oerol Festival on Terschelling. There she gave her theatrical performance: Doe, which she also performed during her journey in various places and sometimes under bizarre circumstances. With this she always attracted the attention of the indigenous population and managed to touch many, from a smile to a tear. Everywhere she went she tried to collect dreams that she takes to the South Pole to make a snowman there that is filled with all those dreams.
Initially Manon Ossevoort went out with a team and follow-up car. Later she went on alone.
Incidentally, a special journey once started from Terschelling: Willem Barentz’s first North Pole expedition.
The journey
- From Terschelling, Manon is on his way to Belgium.
- From Belgium it goes on to France.
- She enters Italy via the French Alps.
- From here she chugs on to the former Yugoslavia.
- In Kosovo, she bumps into her four-legged new travel companion.
- She returns to Italy and from there she leaves by boat to Alexandria in Egypt.
- She moves from Egypt to Sudan.
- From Sudan it continues to Ethiopia.
- Kenya follows next.
- From Kenya it goes on to Uganda.
At the end of August 2006, Manon will fly back to the Netherlands for a few weeks to continue her journey afterwards. She has roamed Africa for more than three years.
At the moment (September 2010) Manon Ossevoort is in the Netherlands and gives lectures. According to her website, she still has 180 lectures to attend before continuing her journey to the South Pole. Much more information about her and her project can be found on her site.