Thankful

I just got back from a 'Volunteer Appreciation' evening organised by Refugee Services, where all 2008 volunteer support workers were awarded a certificate for their six-month commitment. Our team actually volunteered for 12 months (due to our family's high needs) so it was wonderful to receive recognition for the work we put in. The night was made all the more memorable because of the presence of A.'s mother, who was recently granted refugee status in NZ and could finally be reunited with her family after a long and terribly stressful period. To top it all off, the refugee guest speaker was our very own H.! He not only delivered a very moving speech but surprised Kathi, Paula and me by asking us to come forward to receive a token of his gratitude (we all got beautiful Arabic scarves). By this point we had all gotten quite emotional, because this family has now become an intrinsical part of our lives. They've overcome such immense hurdles since their arrival in April 2008 so to see how well they're doing now is truly fantastic. Definitely something to be thankful for :-).