One of the Sisters working at Nazareth-Loretto is Sister
Kate O'Brien, IHM from Monroe, Michigan. She compares working in the clothing
room to what happens when the monks destroy all their work after they've spent
days creating a mandala of sand. It's a very apt image.
Having hurt my foot on day one, my mobility has been a
little limited and so most of my time has been spent in the clothing
room. With the help of the refugees and other volunteers we put it in
order so that when the time comes the refugees can hopefully find a change of
clothes for themselves and their children. Sometimes they'll also find shoes,
gloves and hats when we have them. Each one also gets a new set of underwear
and socks.
After 100 or so people go through it in a day and bags of
donations are dropped off, the room usually looks like a whirlwind passed
through and the organizing needs to start all over again. It's great,
though, as people walk out the door to see them in the clothes they have
selected.
As I walked around a little more today I saw some of the
people charging the ankle bracelets ICE gives them. They are so big that one of
the volunteers had to help cut pant legs so people could change their clothes
since they couldn't get the tight leg of their jeans over it. They have to
be careful in selecting pants that there is a wide enough leg to fit the
device.
Tomorrow is the first day of the New Year. Let's pray
the world situation gets better so the refugees can stay in their own countries
and not risk the incredible journey they have to make.
"Prospero año nuevo",
Sister Elaine
Sister Elaine
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