No ordinary village

Residents of Aigues-Vertes get down to some baking swissinfo.ch

At first glance, the village of Aigues Vertes looks like any other development constructed in the 1960s.

But what makes it different is that its 84-strong community is entirely made up of mentally handicapped people.

This unique project based at Bernex in the Genevan countryside, aims to promote the independence of the mentally handicapped by giving them jobs and encouraging them to live on their own.

The village has been constructed around a farm and includes 11 residences and four workshops plus a bakery, a grocery shop and a church. There is even a daily bus.

All the residents, men and women aged between 19 and 82, have conditions such as autism or Down Syndrome. Most of them live in the village but several travel in for the day.

Social workers – 120 in all – are on hand to help them in their jobs and in their daily lives.

Bread and cakes

The bakery, on the corner of the village square, sells croissants, bread and cakes, all made by the villagers. It makes the bread for the village but also takes orders from outside.

Seven villagers, plus the baker-social worker are at work. Arnold, who originally comes from the Congo, is concentrating on making pains au chocolat. He carefully cuts the dough before adding the little squares of chocolate.

“What I like doing here is all sorts of bread and croissants, and also what I’ve learnt is how to do some types of cakes, Black Forest or some mille feuilles,” he says cheerfully.

“So if it’s my brother’s birthday, instead of my parents buying a cake at Migros, I can do it myself as a surprise for my brother.”

Serge Bednarczyk, Aigues Vertes’s director, is pleased with the progress that Arnold – who comes in daily – has made.

“At the beginning he was not able to do anything. Now he can do everything on his own and this is exactly what we are looking for – independence,” he said.

Down on the farm

The farm, at the heart of the village, bustles with activity as its 25 workers go about their allotted tasks.

The farm houses a variety of animals: cows, which are raised for their meat, donkeys and horses, as well as ducks and chickens. Vegetables are also grown, although the village is not yet self-sufficient. All the methods used are environmentally friendly.

Workers start at nine in the morning and finish at five in the evening, just like a normal working day. They even receive a salary – but smaller than average because they do not produce as much as regular workers.

But Bednarczyk is careful to point out that Aigues Vertes is not interested in how much they produce but in how they produce it.

He explains that it usually takes a lot of time to train a handicapped person for a job and the task is made more complicated by the fact that they can normally only learn one thing thoroughly. But sometimes they are surprised at how well the residents do.

“There is even one handicapped person who is able to drive a tractor around the farm. This is fantastic because its not easy for them to drive and when you see him on the tractor he is very proud, ” Bednarczyk told swissinfo.

Independence

The pride that the villagers take in their work is evident. Nicole looks after the rabbits and the cows at the farm.

“I love my work at the farm because I love animals and I wouldn’t like to be sat down all day in a workshop. I prefer to be outdoors,” she said.

“I am the only woman at the farm but my friends look after me well, even if some of them say that I am the only woman and it’s not my work.”

Having her independence is very important to Nicole. Apart from working on the farm, she also lives in accommodation with three other handicapped people and is learning to cook on her own – an important step for her.

“In the evening I do my cooking myself. I’m trying to follow a diet and I eat lots of vegetables. My favourite meal is pasta but I’ve stopped eating that because it makes you get fat,” she explained.

Not everybody is as independent as Nicole. There is also a workshop which makes candles and paper for those who are unable to carry out tasks in the farm or in the bakery. Another workshop specialises in weaving and sewing.

Special environment

The idea for the village came about in the 1960s, when some parents in Geneva who were worried about the future of their mentally handicapped children, asked a group of anthroposophists to help them create a village based around a farm.

Bednarczyk explained that at the time the only alternatives for mentally handicapped people were hospitals or asylums.

The idea was to give mentally handicapped adults some freedom and the ability to develop through their relationships with the animals and other people.

According to Bednarczyk, the effects of the village’s environment on its residents have been astounding. Their life expectancy has jumped from just 40 years to 80 years old – with the oldest current resident being 82.

“Once you stop progressing, you start dying and this is absolutely unacceptable for me and for everybody in the village,” he said.

Although Aigues Vertes exudes a very warm and content atmosphere – it is hardly possible to walk down the street without people shouting out greetings to each other or giving friendly hugs – the social workers can sometimes encounter problems with the residents.

“We have to be careful because if you lead them too far, they are going to meet their limits and if you pass those limits, they become frustrated and can become depressed,” warned Bednarczyk.

Future development

The success of the Aigues Vertes concept has lead Bednarczyk to declare the village a model for the social reintegration of mentally handicapped adults in Europe.

To achieve this goal, a SFr64 million rebuilding programme is planned, starting with the farm and moving on to the other buildings. A nursing home will also be built in which the residents can live out their final days.

It is hoped that a further 30 people can be welcomed to Aigues Vertes at the completion of the work in 2010.

Financing will come from the Swiss government, the canton of Geneva as well as from donations.

In 2003, which is officially the year of the handicapped, the director also plans to go to Brussels to help form working groups on how to improve the lives of handicapped people – a theme very close to his heart.

“We want to change people’s opinions, ” said Bednarczyk. “Often we look at handicapped people as though they are completely different from us, but they are like us – they are us.”

swissinfo, Isobel Johnson

Aigues Vertes facts

84 people live in Aigues Vertes, aged 19-82.
There are 120 social workers.
The village is about 40 years old.
The villagers’ life expectancies have increased by 40 years in this time.
An estimated SFr64 million is needed to expand the village.