We took on the aprons with excitement. How will it go? Will our help mean something for them?
They arrived, they already knew how it works. We prayed and then started distributing the food. Often we heard "encore s'il vous plait" and hesitated because if you give more to one, another might stay hungry... But fortunately there was enough. Even salad and some dessert. One said "merci, vous faitez un bon travail".
The second group was also nice, they appreciated the warm lunch and some of them stayed to help cleaning. They spoke many languages and they were joking around trying to guess where we were from. Nice athmosphere.
After this experience we wonder how it will feel to see them on the street. We often just ignored them sitting at the entrance of the subway... We were told besides the meal we should provide a bit of "friendship". Now it makes sense and we understand why. They are ignored on the street while they are the exact same people as us. And food or money do not make people happy, often a few nice words or even a simple smile can do the trick ...
This was the first volunteering experience of Solidarité members in the Summer 2011 Stage with the Sisters of Mother Teresa in Brussels. Definitely not the last one.
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