Reality Check

Yesterday was a really interesting day and a bit of a reality check for me. I went for my first volunteer day at a group called the "Friendship Club." All I knew about it going in was that it was a place for women and children to go once a week who are new to Galway and trying to assimilate. Well, it was much more than that. I have learned that there is a pretty large refugee population here and most of them are from different parts of Africa. I met two women - both named Margaret- who were from Uganda and Sudan. The Margaret from Sudan actually lived in Kenya for about 6 or 7 years before she came here. They, along with thousands of others, come from war-torn countries and are hoping to get what they call "status", which is the right to stay in Ireland and work. The Irish government brings them and they are placed in a refugee hostel here in Galway. (I'm sure they go lots of other places as well.) They get assigned a public lawyer who meets with them once. Then they sit and wait until they get an appointment for their interview with immigration. The interview process is pretty intense and they even described it as fairly degrading. Then they go back to the hostel and continue to wait and see if they get approved. If not, they can file an appeal and wait some more. Both Margarets told me they have been waiting about 7 or 8 months, but there are others that have been waiting 7 or 8 years to go through the process. They came to Ireland alone, so they didn't know anyone when they arrived. They are assigned to a room that is shared with 4 other women and they are provided with the basic necessities of food and clothing. I think the biggest issue they are facing right now is boredom and depression. It is a horrible position to be in, even though it has to be better than being in their own countries. Anyway, these type of meetings offer some social interaction for the women and a place to play for the kids. I feel like I'm not doing a good job of describing the situation, but I can't imagine what these people are going through. It made me realize how fortunate we are to have choices and freedom in this life. I began to realize that any inconveniences we are experiencing by moving to Ireland just pale in comparison to what so many others are going through.