“I am so grateful…”
I have just had a cup of tea with a stunning young lady and mother of seven children from Sudan.
Isn’t it usually the case when women meet that we just want to tell stories; stories of home, work, friends, children, and most always partners – because they certainly give us something to talk about!
This lady lives in Australia now, but of course my curiosity to ask about her younger days and how she came to be here, led to her stories of war, family death, running away to keep safe, losing her a brother, walking for months with no shoes as a six-year-old, dehydration, exhaustion, famine, another brother’s death, finding her lost brother four years later, and returning to their once home and village to find nothing and no one – just a field of bones.
At the moment when she reflected on her home here in Australia with her young family, her eyes made clear contact with me, as she said, “I am so grateful to be here.”
As most of you will be, I was saddened and ashamed to hear that her children get called names at school for their colour. She reminds them often, “Don’t react, move away and keep grateful.”
Her strength and leadership for her family moved me so much.
No regrets
Penny
Thank you for sharing such a heart rending story Penny