Dear friends,
I don’t think I’ve done any translating from French since I was at University, but when I came across this poem on the day when a Sudanese boy was washed up on a beach after drowning trying to reach the UK, I felt that I needed to share it with all of you.
If this was your son
you would fill the sea with ships
under any flag. But don’t worry,
he isn’t your son.
You can sleep peacefully
because above all, of course,
it isn’t your son.
It’s just a son of a lost part of humanity,
of a dirty part of humanity
that doesn’t have a voice.
It isn’t your son.
You can sleep quietly.
It isn’t yours,
not yet …
David Lallemand Pesh and Marco Leoni
Welcome to the last weekly newsletter! As the reopening of the church building for public worship at the end of this month makes the distribution of a printed magazine possible again, it is time to return to a monthly publication. Thanks to all of you who have contributed to the newsletter during the last five months and to those who have faithfully distributed it. I am especially grateful to Chris for his technical support and relieved that he is happy to resume the role of editor. The deadline for the September issue is noon on Tuesday 25th August. I would encourage you to continue to contribute, sending items to magazine @ stmarysdunblane.org . The magazine will be available after the services on Sunday 30th August and copies will be left in the porch after that. If you are unable to collect one, please get in touch with me so that one can be brought to you.
The porch will now be open most days as an information point and a place of prayer. My thanks to Sheila for the ‘Crosses in my pocket’, to Andrew Buchanan for a lovely arrangement of garden flowers and to Sue for making a Covid-safe prayer board for all to use. There are also booklets which can be taken away.
If you were affected by the poem ‘If this was your son ..’ above, here are some facts from the Refugee Council which has been helping those seeking asylum and supporting refugees for the last 60 years.
At the end of 2019 around 79.5 million people were forcibly displaced across the world. Of these, 29.6 million were refugees, whilst 45.7 million were internally displaced within their country of origin.
85% of the world’s refugees are living in countries neighbouring their country of origin, often in developing countries.
Over 6.7 million people have fled conflict in Syria, and many more are displaced inside the country. Turkey is the biggest refugee hosting country in the world. At the end of 2019 Turkey was providing safety to 3.6 million Syrian refugees.
The UK is home to approx. 1% of the 29.6 million refugees, forcibly displaced across the world.
For more information and to send a donation, visit https://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk
With love to you all,
Nerys
