Beeches Green Friendship Circle: ‘The Roof of the World’ with Peter Berry and a talk by a Senior Support Co-ordinator from Emmaus Gloucestershire

OUR February and March meetings were both very interesting and gave us an insight into how different and very difficult life can be for others.

The February meeting was a talk and slide show by Mr Peter Berry and was entitled ‘The Roof of the World’.

It was about his recent visit to India.

Peter is a very keen photographer and also has a great interest in railways.

His journey had taken him 36 hours from Gloucester to his final destination.

This included a flight from London to Deli, then a transfer from Deli airport to a small regional airport in the foothills of the Himalayas.

It was a long tiring journey on quite a small aeroplane.

On arrival the passport control was a tin shack.

There were no street lights and the tree trunks were painted white to stand out.

Health & Safety was obviously not an issue here.

This last part of his journey was on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (also known as the ‘toy train’ because of its 2ft narrow gauge) to a cosy hotel in a village called Kurseong.

The railway was a British built and there were signs of the legacy they had left behind – Governor’s house, uniforms of school children etc.

The view from his hotel room window was superb and on a clear day he could see Everest.

There was no natural water in the village, it was all brought up and put into canteens to sell.

The electricity supply was minimal and not very reliable.

There were beggars everywhere many of them children.

It was very hot and the air was polluted.

Three to four earthquakes could occur yearly and the road and rail would be washed away and need repairing.

For the majority of people life was very hard.

Peter met many lovely people, a smile and eye contact was all you needed.

He visited the tea plantations and met and had tea with the owners who explained about the different teas and qualities of them.

He also visited a Hindu and Buddhist Temple.

The slides we were shown were very colourful and depicted a life that was hard but despite their difficulties the people seemed happy.

Our March meeting was a talk given by Steve a Senior Support Co-ordinator from Emmaus Gloucestershire.

The first Emmaus community was started in Paris in 1954 by Abbé Pierre in response to people dying on the streets from the cold and has its roots in the Church.

Abbé Pierre became an international figure and travelled the world spreading the word about Emmaus.

He continued to campaign until his death, in January 2007, aged 94.

Emmaus is now a worldwide international movement of people working together and the Gloucestershire Group, which started in this area in 1993, is part of twenty-five independent communities known as the Emmaus UK Federation.

It is a charity that provides a safe and supportive community for people who have been homeless.

They have a zero tolerance to drugs and alcohol in any of their houses and provide help and support to assist with mental health and debt problems.

There are many reasons for homelessness and it can happen to anyone, job loss, relationship breakdown, feelings of low self esteem etc.

These can all create an inability to cope and this can then become a downward spiral.

Emmaus seeks to help a person by providing a bed and a reason to get out of it.

They are able to help with the refurbishment and reselling of donated furniture and various other recycling activities to earn their place in a working community in one of their shops.

They each become companions and support to each other.

Everyone has to be prepared to work together thus giving them a feeling of value and self worth.

Monthly reviews are carried out and any problems are discussed and perhaps suitable courses suggested that will help get them a job within the community.

They fundraise as a group and donate to other organisations.

Steve came with two other companions Richard and Les who had both previously found themselves homeless and the Emmaus scheme had been able to help and support them.

Each told there story and our group found this very moving.

Without Emmaus they would not have been able to move forward with their life.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday, April 19, 2016, and will be our Annual General Meeting