A bunch of strangers showed up in Sri Lanka at the request of Medecins Sans Frontiers to help a population in need. The Tamil people, nearly exterminated, are trying to scratch a life from the red clay. They carry with them the wounds of the war. They have limbs that are missing, or non-functional. They have pieces of steel lodged in their muscles and sinews. They have memories that they can't forget. And yet somehow they are able to smile at us, we strangers.
There were a couple of Japanese, a Hong Kong Chinese, Western Europeans, and a couple of Americans and an occasional African. I have wondered at what has bonded us together. Why did our friendships blossom and grow? We didn't know each other. I'm not sure that I ever learned people's full names. We didn't even speak each other's language well. But we tried. And we smiled at each other, and we created a bond between us that will be hard to break. I'm sure that our reasons for being there were as different as the countries that we represented. But I believe that there was a common thread. Somehow, we felt driven to help people in need. We felt that we could let go of our comforts of home, to become strangers in a harsh land, in order to make a positive difference to a people who were uncertain of their tomorrow.
In a way, we were the refugees, the strangers in the new land. We shared the bond of exiles, the bond of the dispossessed. Our belongings were shared, we didn't really own anything. And we shared a hope for a future, not only for the Sri Lankan people, but for ourselves; for the world that we live in, and for the friendships that have formed. I hope that the bond between us never breaks.
There were a couple of Japanese, a Hong Kong Chinese, Western Europeans, and a couple of Americans and an occasional African. I have wondered at what has bonded us together. Why did our friendships blossom and grow? We didn't know each other. I'm not sure that I ever learned people's full names. We didn't even speak each other's language well. But we tried. And we smiled at each other, and we created a bond between us that will be hard to break. I'm sure that our reasons for being there were as different as the countries that we represented. But I believe that there was a common thread. Somehow, we felt driven to help people in need. We felt that we could let go of our comforts of home, to become strangers in a harsh land, in order to make a positive difference to a people who were uncertain of their tomorrow.
In a way, we were the refugees, the strangers in the new land. We shared the bond of exiles, the bond of the dispossessed. Our belongings were shared, we didn't really own anything. And we shared a hope for a future, not only for the Sri Lankan people, but for ourselves; for the world that we live in, and for the friendships that have formed. I hope that the bond between us never breaks.
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