In case you missed Part 5 access it here.
Brian was led into the church hall, gazing incredulously around him as he ventured further and further into what was a very alien territory. There were some tables set out in a generally haphazard fashion, with plates on each one and chairs scattered around them in a similarly haphazard fashion. Before he could protest or indeed say anything, the well-spoken lady who had met him at the door, introduced him to Kateryna.
“This is Kateryna, Brian. She is from Ukraine and does such a marvellous job. But of course you will already know a lot about that…”
“Er, well, actually…”
“Kateryna, this is Brian”, the lady said in a confident manner.
“Hello, Brian it is good to meet you, after all this time,” Kateryna said in a distinctive Eastern European accent.
Brian looked at Kateryna, at her pretty blue eyes and long blond hair and simply replied: “The pleasure is all mine.”
“So, it is good to have you here. Let me introduce you to some of the other people here.”
Learning about asylum seekers
Kateryna went round the room with Brian in tow, introducing him to various people in the room.
“So, this is Nasrin. She is from Iran,”
“Why is she here?” asked Brian.
“She likes the drop-in and… the company,” Kateryna said a little puzzled.
“No. I mean in this country…”
“She had to leave Iran after she posted a video of herself on the, er … internet,”
“Why?”
“Because… she was wearing western clothes.”
“Yes. I was dancing and singing and wearing western clothes, a t-shirt and tracksuit bottoms. I put it on YouTube and then…I was threatened with arrest by the Morality Police. Still I feel safe here…as long as I can stay…”
As Kateryna and Brian moved on to speak to another person in the room, Brian whispered to her: “She wasn’t really threatened with arrest just for dancing and wearing western clothes…was she?”
“Yes, yes, of course, Kateryna replied, giving Brian a strange look.
The somewhat odd couple moved on and soon Brian was being introduced to more people sitting around the tables, some eating the mixture of food that was laid out in a buffet on a large table at the back of the church hall, while others were just talking and smiling. There was a warm atmosphere, which Brian couldn’t help but notice. He continued to say nothing about why he was really there and in fact said very little, but was prompted to ask Kateryna a question after being introduced to one particular man from Africa, who sat quietly and seemed to have eyes that looked like the pools of deepest sorrow.
Brian couldn’t help but ask Kateryna for a little information about him…
“He was a child soldier in West Africa,” Kateryna replied quietly.
“A child soldier?”
“Yes, yes. He was recruited at the age of 12 by a para…para..”
“Paramilitary,” Brian ventured helpfully.
“Yes, yes, para…military… He saw terrible violence, death, murder…was even forced to kill on occasions… He also now has health problems as a result of the poor food he got… And then having survived the war he was rejected by his community, who were, er, suspicious of him…various groups threatened him…he had to get out.”
Brian listened in silence.
A small misunderstanding
Suddenly there was the sound of loud talking from near the door. Brian and Kateryna turned round to see a tall man coming in, looking a bit flustered.
“Sorry, I’m late,” the man said. “Terrible traffic.”
“That’s alright. I’m Joan and you are…?”, a lady near the door responded.
“I’m Brian. I have come to talk to you all this morning.”
At the sound of the word Brian, Kateryna’s ears pricked up and she made her way towards the door. Brian followed her.
“So, you…you are Brian..”, Kateryna stammered in the general direction of the man who had just come in.
“Yes, yes, Sorry I am late. Terrible traffic.”
“That…that’s OK,” Kateryna replied before turning to the Brian she had been talking to for the past twenty minutes.
“So, who are you?”
“I’m Brian. I have come to deliver some wood to the church,” the first Brian replied.
“Deliver wood to the church…” Kateryna repeated.
“Oh, yes, I was wondering when you would be here”, a voice behind the first Brian chipped in. Brian turned round and was about to say something, but thought better of it.
“If you come with me, I will show you where the wood is to go,” the voice continued as Brian followed her out of the hall.
TO BE CONTINUED
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