Showing posts with label beauty. Show all posts
We look to the positive for each other
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Women 4 Women meets monthly at JRS UK as a peer support for women who have been made destitute by the UK asylum process. Facilitator and participants share why it matters.
All the ladies who come have no way to get money so we have to help them for transport and also for food, so they can eat first. Sometimes they are hungry when they come, so a fruit or biscuits helps them.
“For me, it has improved my life, otherwise, there is nothing for me to do in the day, you take it away, you take away my life. The others, they need it too. The staff are very friendly, we look to the positive for each other. I appreciate it very well.”
For the women's peer support group, it is a very clear piece of time for them, doing exercises, learning how to do massage or some mediation, it is time out for them. It is about their wellbeing, to feel, they can focus on themselves, such when we do creative things. They do drawing or colouring, expressing themselves in some way, they have gone back to a time in their lives that they can't have now, when they can just be.
We started off with 4 and those who have moved on have their papers, but it allows others new to come in as others move on. There is now a stability (in the midst of very chaotic lives). This year we started with a couple of Eritrean women who have now brought their friends. There is a sense of belonging and connectedness, it is not just a piece of fruit or the bus fare that they benefit from.
It depends on the person, but it can give a certain confidence. Some come uncertain and withdrawn, but now are more expressive and relaxed around people. It helps them more to be themselves also. Their confidence has been shattered with what they have been through.
“As asylum seekers we have lost our competence. I would like to improve, to do some training, share skills in cooking, baking, sewing, drawing... all creative things where we can have the satisfaction that we have made something from start to finish. To have some skills where in future I will be able to learn to stand again on my own two feet.”
A couple of participants now help lead. One has come out of herself and has more confidence and tremendously helpful. They help with preparation and good to see women who have had the same experiences can now lead.
Make a donation to help pay the bus passes of the women who attend: www.justgiving.com/jesuitrefugeeservice
Here and Now - a wisdom from the East
Photo by Mike Pedroncelli at Foter.com
We are going through the Lenten season. At the same time, the spring is coming, too! What would be true penance and true appreciation of life? This week, we listen to a wisdom from Buddhist tradition, which Sr Marguerite shared with us.
We are not capable of being alive in the present moment. We tend to postpone being alive to the future... now is no the moment to be alive. We may never be alive at all in our entire life.
Therefore, the technique, if we have to speak of a technique, is to be in the present moment, to be aware that we are here and now; and the only moment to be alive is the present moment.
THIS is the moment that is real.
To be here and now, and enjoy the present moment, is our most important task.
- Thich Nhat Hanh
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A Pilgrim Journey to Canterbury
“The first day was really an amazing day,” Charles expressed on sharing his experience of the pilgrimage. “We walked through the city of London and we reached Swanly which is 18 miles away from London and there we slept in a church – everybody! - and we had lovely dinner, conversations and so on. The second day we reached a place somewhere in Kent, not far from Ashford. We had a lot of discussion as we walked and the next day we were in Charing. And in Charing we discovered a church that was 700 years old, and the first vicar of the church was patronised by King Henry VIII. And we stayed there, we stayed in a school basically and there was evening entertainment where we organised comic strips, theatres, singers so it was a lot of fun. The fourth day was the last day, so we went to Canterbury. And at Canterbury we had a mass at Canterbury Cathedral.
Unfortunately the archbishop of Canterbury was not there but we did see the Dean of Canterbury and they had a choir. A very lovely choir, very lovely songs and we had a reading from those who are really, the thinkers of helping the community.”
On the second day of the walk, Charles, who has been taking part in a photography workshop at JRS, run by Fotosynthesis, a not-for-profit organisation that uses participatory photography to develop skills, give a voice to people and encourage community cohesion, was inspired by the beauty of the area and the joy he felt to take a photo.
“I just stood and I just opened my hands like this just to say how life is, how nature is beautiful and it just shows that although you are walking and people may feel like it was really painful and hard to walk for four days, after the second day, I was still feeling very happy and enthusiastic because it was for a good cause. It’s for people who need accommodation, who need support in their society, who need food for themselves. So my hands that way, show in life we have to be open to each other, we have to welcome each other, we can help each other, and by such action we can iron out some problem in the society such as homelessness, such as poverty and such as mental health problems.”
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A Poem dedicated to JRS
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| Above: The Parents - Woodcut by Kathe Kollwitz(1867-1945) |
The following poem titled 'Refugees' is written by Fr Patrick Purnell SJ, especially for JRS. The poet gives us a vivid picture of refugees with a dignified voice despite their agonising situations.
Refugees
by Patrick Purnell SJ
Stealthily, we moved from the edges,
Drawn by dreams of plenitude,
Leaving our homes at the margins
Of the deserted flatlands,
Where nothing grows
And what we had of wheels and cogs
Grow rust and harbour cobwebs.
It was fear that urged us on,
Hacking at our hearts,
Fear of the demented power,
That fed upon its own illusions
And cut the naval string
Which bound us to our Tribal Story.
We were stripped at gunpoint
At the precise point of intersection
Between what passed as frontier of the
Nations.
We carry nothing with us
But the golden memories
Of a love that had once
Bound us together as a people,
The incense of a gifted race
Which had ministered a fruitful land for a thousand years
And we carry, like a sacrament,
The myrrh of our Nation’s woundedness
In which is mixed the wisdom of our ancestors.
This is who we are.
These are our gifts,
As we stand before your walls
And if this is not enough
To gain entry to your land,
Let the sun come down
Upon our dry bones
And the moon carve us a grave.
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A Celebration of Sharing
JRS-UK Summer Party
The Hurtado Jesuit Centre in Wapping opened its door at 10 am on Saturday, 29th June to the staff and volunteers of JRS-UK, as well as to other volunteers from our nearby parish church, St Patrick’s.
A Celebration of the Beauty of Sharing in Life. Indeed that was what characterised the party. Amidst the busyness of making everything run smoothly, the theme of the party was effortlessly kept to: “See the beauty in everyone.” Beautiful, uplifting and courageous stories were shared as volunteers, staff and refugees talked, ate and laughed with one another.
The Hurtado Jesuit Centre in Wapping opened its door at 10 am on Saturday, 29th June to the staff and volunteers of JRS-UK, as well as to other volunteers from our nearby parish church, St Patrick’s.
We put up garlands and words of welcome written in the languages of the refugees who come to the centre, each welcoming the visitors who soon filled our centre in Amharic, French, Swahili…
The reception area was soon set up and a map of the world was affixed on a wall next to it, its purpose soon becoming clear when each visitor, after entering their names and country of origin, were given a pin to stick on their country. By the end of the day, the map was a visual reminder of every continent being represented.
There was even a pin stuck on Antartica – a joke or was there really someone from Antartica in the party? If you were that person, let us know who you are! It would be great to chat with you.
A Celebration of the Beauty of Sharing in Life. Indeed that was what characterised the party. Amidst the busyness of making everything run smoothly, the theme of the party was effortlessly kept to: “See the beauty in everyone.” Beautiful, uplifting and courageous stories were shared as volunteers, staff and refugees talked, ate and laughed with one another.
Talking of beautiful, the food that was brought out at midday was sublime in sight and taste. The Eritrean food provided to us by Zigni Restaurant was at its best.
And then after the food, we all came out into the sunshine filled courtyard where soulful acapella music was provided to us by the talented Stratford East singers.
We hope you can be with us next Summer, or sooner! In the meantime, sign up to the blog.
Subscribe to JRS-UK Community Blog by Email
Subscribe to JRS-UK Community Blog by Email
