Okay so Day Two of the challenge. What has happened since yesterday? Well since the last blog post, JAB made to it Tesco’s to buy some food and managed to only spend a total of £1.83 on dinner and breakfast that should last three days (I’m working out that during the process it might be easier and more cost efficient to focus on two meals rather than three) and a major catastrophe was averted by Gillian Fitch, for when I discovered I had bought all tinned food and had no tin opener she very kindly came to my aid. So I actually managed to have dinner last night. I feel that Gillian’s very kind offer doesn't break the rules as we heard yesterday how the asylum and refugee community continually lend each other stuff including food ....... Startling when you think that they have very little for themselves or their own families without then giving it away to others ...... It seems to me that there is something very ‘gospel’ about this - looking after one’s brother or sister and sacrificial giving ... to name a few ideas that immediately spring to mind.
Though in todays post I wish to share with you, some of the conversations I had yesterday with Refugees and Asylum seekers along with some personal reflection.
What must it be like for a family who lives on this budget? - Well here are the words of one father .....
‘The baby goes through a lot of nappies and so much so that we can’t afford nappies for her all the time so at night we need to wrap her in a towel and place her on a plastic bag for the night.’
Or how do you dress yourself when you have left all your belongings back in the country who ave come from? Again i refer you to the words of one refugee ...
‘clothes ... we can’t afford clothes ... if you need something there is somewhere you can go and rummage to see if they have something that fits you ... if they do its yours, if not you leave with nothing ... we can’t even shop in charity shops.’ This hit me hard! As I sat there dressed to the nines and thinking about some other stuff I would like to get for the summer wardrobe. Stupid really!
Despite the apparent financial hardship, accommodation issues and lack of job prospects, one area I had overlooked was that of mental health - men and women living like this day after day with no real sign of hope
The strain was evident when one of the men commented, ‘living like this is mental torture’ with that look in his eye that articulated what he was trying to express so more effectively then his words ever could........
‘How do I think of having a nice meal with these beans as I have been eating them everyday for months.’
I really had to stop myself from crying - when I audit the places I have eaten recently and the weekly shop from Marks and Spencer’s - Even on weeks when I was budgeting it was nowhere near as severe as this guys experience. Yesterday I truly realised how affluent I am ... not just in terms of money, processions but also in terms of family, community and friends .... sometimes it is easy to take these smaller things for granted but your messages of support, encouragement and love has been amazing!
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