back to the routine

Hello,
It seems I am getting back to the routine of writing my saturday posts. Last time I told you that I was on my way to Holland. And indeed I went after I got in touch with a church in Tilburg. Somebody from my homechurch here in Velbert told me about friends in the one town in Holland which seems to have the highest population of Somalis in continental Europe. That of course was my goal to meet up with our people who have chosen to start a new life here in Europe, after their state has failed in such a dramatic way. And indeed I met a big number of them in Tilburg Noord, there must be thousands of them living closely together. The interaction was similar to what I see in Africa, it is so easy to get in contact with people once you speak their language. One calls his friend to come over and see this white guy who speaks our language and obviously knows a lot about their culture. In fact, I went to the park where the young and middleaged Somalis get together to chew that staff we call Khat or Chat. And we had a very nice time together. The sad thing about it all is, that most people there only wait for that Chat to come and that is the work for the day. It seemed to me as if people there really have no hope of a better future, there is no way of going back home, cause home is totally devastated and there is no sign of peace yet. Everyone was very friendly and I even got an invitation in a home where we had the chance to break the fast together, since we are in the month of Ramadan.
There again I appreciated the beautiful opportunities we have in Kenya to work towards peace in Somalia through medicine and through the introduction of the true maker of peace.
If you have a comment or a greeting, please feel free to write a note, till next week, Thomas