Return to Budapest
Well, time at home was short but sweet. It was great to see family and meet up with friends. Our family spent Christmas in Calgary with my older brother and his family. It was a special blessing to be with my nieces and nephew. They have grown so much! I've never seen the rocky mountains either, so that too was a special treat. We drove to Banff and Lake Louise on boxing day. That's where we saw the only significant amount of snow. It was fantastic.
I flew back to Toronto on December 27 and a few days later traveled to Ottawa with friends to celebrate New Year's Eve. It was a fun weekend with lots of laughter.
Not long after that, it was time to fly back to Budapest. To be honest, this time at home was great but I was missing the refugee kids. I couldn't really be joyful at Christmas because I knew that the kids were not with family, alone, perhaps with friends in the refugee camps.
My flight back to Budapest via Warsaw on LOT airlines was the worst flight I have ever been on. The plane was very simple which wasn't the major problem. The flight was also transporting the junior Latvian hockey team AND the junior Canadian Luge team. That's not so exciting as it sounds!! The Latvian boys were entertaining the Canadian girls for the whole flight in the seats directly in front of me. Flight staff did nothing. The rest of the teams were constantly walking back and forth from their seats to the bathroom. Do you think the never ending supply of Coca-Cola they were given had anything to do with that??
Somehow I survived the flight with my sanity in tact. I spent an 8 hour wait for my next connection which turned out to be a 10 hour wait due to technical difficulties. I would have liked to go out and see Warsaw at least, if I had so much time but the various officials told me that I couldn't. Had I pushed the matter, I think I could have but the weather was also rotten. But 10 hours in a tiny terminal was worse. There weren't enough seats for everyone so, you ended up playing this game where after sitting for an hour, you got up to walk around a bit, other travelers quickly took the seat you just left. Then the walking around the terminal consisted also of looking for another seat. There were easily three or four people hoping for the same seat. An interesting game of musical chairs!
It took me three days to recover from the flight and then another few days to get over jet lag. But, I have vowed to go back to Warsaw and see it after all....but not on LOT airlines!!
I could hardly wait to see our kids. They were happy to see me and I them. I was glad to hear that at least they all had a place to go at Christmas. One girl had said that she spent New Year's Eve alone in a new refugee camp in her room there. She spent the night praying. I told her, that I had spent a few New Year's Eves alone and praying too and they were the most memorable times. Just me and God. She agreed.
Shortly after my arrival, Babli Singh, our student from India had his refugee hearing. His Hungarian teacher, the church refugee program coordinator and I accompanied him. Unfortunately his claim was denied. The difficulty is that when the kids arrive into the country, they make a claim, a statement is taken under who know what kind of circumstances, who knows if the kids are allowed to sleep or eat before giving their statement. They arrive exhausted and terrified from the journey and from the authorities. So they must give a statement and that statement is considered the authority. In court, if you say anything that could be misinterpreted as being different from the original statement the claim is rejected. I think the system is unjust because they treat an 18 year old boy the same as they would a full grown adult. So we were sad about Babli.
We are currently trying to figure out how Babli and Joel (the two boys whose claims have been rejected so far) can still remain in the country at least until the end of the school year. The bureaucratic maze is quite complicated.
Please pray for this situation. We have one other boy, Richard from the Congo, whose status is not settled yet. His claim was also rejected in the fall but he is allowed to be reheard. His hearing is scheduled for March.
My colleagues and I held an extended staff meeting in the town of Mor to evaluate the past year and plan the future of the refugee program. It was a very positive experience for me as I really felt like I was part of the team. I hadn't felt like that in a long time. So, I praise God for the blessing of good colleagues.
I flew back to Toronto on December 27 and a few days later traveled to Ottawa with friends to celebrate New Year's Eve. It was a fun weekend with lots of laughter.
Not long after that, it was time to fly back to Budapest. To be honest, this time at home was great but I was missing the refugee kids. I couldn't really be joyful at Christmas because I knew that the kids were not with family, alone, perhaps with friends in the refugee camps.
My flight back to Budapest via Warsaw on LOT airlines was the worst flight I have ever been on. The plane was very simple which wasn't the major problem. The flight was also transporting the junior Latvian hockey team AND the junior Canadian Luge team. That's not so exciting as it sounds!! The Latvian boys were entertaining the Canadian girls for the whole flight in the seats directly in front of me. Flight staff did nothing. The rest of the teams were constantly walking back and forth from their seats to the bathroom. Do you think the never ending supply of Coca-Cola they were given had anything to do with that??
Somehow I survived the flight with my sanity in tact. I spent an 8 hour wait for my next connection which turned out to be a 10 hour wait due to technical difficulties. I would have liked to go out and see Warsaw at least, if I had so much time but the various officials told me that I couldn't. Had I pushed the matter, I think I could have but the weather was also rotten. But 10 hours in a tiny terminal was worse. There weren't enough seats for everyone so, you ended up playing this game where after sitting for an hour, you got up to walk around a bit, other travelers quickly took the seat you just left. Then the walking around the terminal consisted also of looking for another seat. There were easily three or four people hoping for the same seat. An interesting game of musical chairs!
It took me three days to recover from the flight and then another few days to get over jet lag. But, I have vowed to go back to Warsaw and see it after all....but not on LOT airlines!!
I could hardly wait to see our kids. They were happy to see me and I them. I was glad to hear that at least they all had a place to go at Christmas. One girl had said that she spent New Year's Eve alone in a new refugee camp in her room there. She spent the night praying. I told her, that I had spent a few New Year's Eves alone and praying too and they were the most memorable times. Just me and God. She agreed.
Shortly after my arrival, Babli Singh, our student from India had his refugee hearing. His Hungarian teacher, the church refugee program coordinator and I accompanied him. Unfortunately his claim was denied. The difficulty is that when the kids arrive into the country, they make a claim, a statement is taken under who know what kind of circumstances, who knows if the kids are allowed to sleep or eat before giving their statement. They arrive exhausted and terrified from the journey and from the authorities. So they must give a statement and that statement is considered the authority. In court, if you say anything that could be misinterpreted as being different from the original statement the claim is rejected. I think the system is unjust because they treat an 18 year old boy the same as they would a full grown adult. So we were sad about Babli.
We are currently trying to figure out how Babli and Joel (the two boys whose claims have been rejected so far) can still remain in the country at least until the end of the school year. The bureaucratic maze is quite complicated.
Please pray for this situation. We have one other boy, Richard from the Congo, whose status is not settled yet. His claim was also rejected in the fall but he is allowed to be reheard. His hearing is scheduled for March.
My colleagues and I held an extended staff meeting in the town of Mor to evaluate the past year and plan the future of the refugee program. It was a very positive experience for me as I really felt like I was part of the team. I hadn't felt like that in a long time. So, I praise God for the blessing of good colleagues.
posted by MaryG | 12:03 PM
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