How did this happen.....

Some days, in fact many, you're not sure how you got from a to b. How things work out, against all the odds and everything that is lost in translation?

So in our early morning wanderings, purely by chance we came upon a food line, outside a bistro, converted to provide a lunch meal. We spoke with the director, and a new connection made, a new place given to work. These things happen by happenstance. But we take these opportunities.

And then in the afternoon, we went to the refugee centre. You go there with a view as to what would happen.... forget it. We thought we would stand at a table sharing information. However, after discussions with the director, where for a long time we thought we were going to be brushed aside, he said he would take us into the rooms where the refugees were staying. Here a shout out to our translator. He kept explaining what we were doing. Suddenly, and I have no idea how this happened, we found ourselves in the refugee centre in the rooms where the refugees stay. I wish I had the words to describe their situation, abject misery maybe, beds and mattreses so close together. Some putting up sheets between the beds to keep some privacy. People lying listlessly on beds, cheek by jowl to the next.

In each room the director announced who we were, and we explained with the help of our translator what we were doing and the scheme we were promoting.

They listened to us and asked their questions. We answered as best we could.

I'm not sure how many of their lives we will change, but it's so moving that they let us have the time to share with them.Many will choose not to take the opportunity, but a few might.That is why we are there.

It's easy to loose track of what we are doing on any one day....you know how it is at our age, so we have kindly been given a whiteboard, so we vaguely know what we are doing.....

 

And we saw a rainbow in the fountain.....

Finally, we just wanted to share a gentle moment....we took soft toys, bought with monies raised. In a suitcase with one wheel hanging off. Both toys and the suitcases disappeared in moments. Children hugging soft toys as if they were the most precious things in the world. For now maybe they are....