The fourth of March has finally arrived. It’s the day everybody has been waiting for. We meet in the Schöneberger Zimmer in the afternoon. The families are there too, with lots of children. It takes time to work out who belongs to who.

The workshop has been rearranged: as is usual in Arabic countries, the mattresses and seats are lined around the walls, the centre of the room remains vacant. As a result, the room looks oriental. There are a lot of delicacies on offer, everybody has brought something special for the occasion.

Daniel managed to rent an adjacent room – which is normally an art gallery – for the presentation of the manufactured mattresses. They lie on the floor, between them three plants. Here too an oriental-occidental atmosphere has been created. The guests are arriving, and they wander about between workshop and gallery. The weather is a miracle; the day is mild and dry in the middle of an unfriendly winter.

All of a sudden, a customer arrives for the first mattress. The news spreads like wildfire. Then there is another customer and yet another.  The team is happy and relieved.

Later Daniel reports that when he delivered the mattresses, all the buyers wanted to talk about the project; it has set something in motion! Another interesting observation: the flats of the new mattresses owners were all totally different. But no matter whether over-furnished or very simple, the new mattresses fit perfectly in all types of surrounding. That is a pleasant side-effect. A thing which was produced by so many people, representing such a variety of approaches and backgrounds, succeeds in becoming integrated into so many different furnishing styles while at the same time remaining something individual.

The meeting is a success. Three mattresses have been sold, everybody is in good mood, the team and the guests mingle. It is good to notice that people, who otherwise would not meet, come into contact – at least for one evening. But still, forgetting the euphoria of the moment, we ask ourselves what will become of the Project Matrah? Will it have a lasting effect? What have we achieved and how can the project continue?

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