See people, not refugees. My Actifit Report Card: March 19 2022

merthin(71)

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My hiking friend had donated some money to support a specific refugee family (2 women + 4 kids). She said it should be spent for some new clothes for the teenagers and taking out the two Moms. I was all in.

We help refugees in our church, giving them shelter and all the help they need. It’s so easy to see them as “cases”. Problem solved, tick off, next please.

In all of this, I am human and I deal with humans. I developed a bond with the very first family we had helped. I visited them today not because I needed to, but because I wanted to. I took one Mom and 3 kids for shopping. Using my friend’s money, we bought cloths and shoes. They got some used ones from people, but I see the wisdom in buying something new. Of course we didn’t go for top brands. Still, the smile on a 15yrs old girl who got a new sweater - the one she liked, picking it herself - is priceless. The younger kids were just happy riding a little train in the shopping mall.

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I also bought more down to Earth things like 10kg of potatoes and 12l of milk. New cloths bring a smile, but it will vanish if there’s not enough to eat. In the afternoon we hiked a bit in the mountains where they temporarily live and spent really good time.

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