Decided to forego the Early Morning Cuppa again . . . it's better to store up your excitement for later in the day
Quiet day - normally we have a 'drop-in' at Harpurhey Community Church but because it's half term the church wasn't running it so I was able to get with a bit of office work
A lot of emails & phone calls to answer today, more-&-more people want to take the Endurance Challenge & I've been answering queries & emailing the Endurance Journal & Shopping List . . . this is really great because it all creates more awareness of the plight of destitute asylum seekers
Had one guy phone this morning, from London. who has been sponsored to live with a food parcel & live in a hostel for a week
With so many people committing to the Challenge this has to be good for awareness even if it is only answering the questions of their friends & work mates
Having discussed the Challenge with some friends I am now considering, after Easter, 'rebranding' the Challenge so that it is not just a Lent event - although Lent's good, it's been a good 'hook' to hang it on & we'll probably do it again next year
Had a visit from an older asylum seekers from Eritrea (he is also a fellow diabetic), he is quite 'down' at the moment - he has afresh claim & has temporary support while his claim is processed.
He had received a letter saying his application had been turned down & he would have to leave his accommodation - spent quite a time talking & praying with him . . . told him to stay in his accommodation as long as he could & we would do all we could to help him - I really wanted to say we have somewhere for you to live but we haven't: resources are limited & anything could happen before his situation becomes critical
He also wanted to 'cash' some of his food vouchers - this is a problem for those in NASS* accommodation, awaiting their decision, they are given supermarket vouchers to be exchanged for food . . . but they can not draw cash with these vouchers which means they are limited to those items the supermarket stocks & having no available cash they can't pop on a bus etc
Not being able to catch a bus is a real problem when you want to collect your vouchers - bus fares are not paid - & it can mean a long walk to the housing providers office to collect your vouchers
Breakfast: porridge & 1 slice of dry toast
Lunch: tin of vegetable soup, slice of dry bread & banana
Dinner: baked jacket potato, baked beans, onion & hotdog followed by a pear(it was really good! we were surprised or maybe we were really hungry . . . but no it was good)
Bed time: blood glucose level 5.8 mmol/L (excellent!)
Click on this link to see an an awesome music video (Mattafix - Living Darfur www.mattafix.com) made on the borders of Chad & Darfur where many of the guys we work with come from - introduction by Desmond Tutu . . .
* NASS = National Asylum Support Service
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