My church, Highlands United, has sponsored a refugee, Hasna from Ethiopia. What is it like to arrive in a foreign country and not speak the language. I think one of the first words she learned was toilet. What is it like to be alone without family members? To eat food strange to the tongue? In order to brighten her days I took her to Van Dusen Gardens. It was the beginning of the summer drought and only the roses and water lilies bloomed. Even so, she delighted in taking pictures. On another adventure we walked around the Quay. In the beginning she couldn’t communicate and so I pointed out tree, leaf, flower and she repeated the words after me. I took her back to my apartment and drew the letters of the alphabet: a apple, b boy and so on. She slipped the list in her pocket to study later. When we went to the Ethiopian festival she was warmly welcomed and took home a whole tray full of food that her country men and women enjoy.
This year the churches in North Vancouver plan to sponser a family of seven, Syrian refugees. I have been invited to sell my two collections of short fiction: Llamas In The Snow and In The Dry Woods. The proceeds will go to the committee in support of this exciting project.