Reaching Out

"Wednesday I visited with my friend from Iran. I call her my friend because she is a lovely lady and I think she will make a wonderful friend. I have volunteered to help her with her English, but what she really needs is a friend. She has found the people of Fredericton very cold and in no way willing to show friendship. I find this so sad, not only for her, but for the people she has tried to befriend. A person grows so much by reaching out and touching others.

Today my partner and I dropped of a copy of The Arabian Nights in English. She was brought up on the stories in Persian, so reading them in English will not be difficult, she will be able to learn vocabulary easily. I had just intended on dropping the book off, but she invited us in and I am so glad I accepted. We spent a wonderful 2 hours talking. She shared a book of pictures of Iran with us and we got to see what a wonderful and beautiful country it is.

It is amazing how little we know of the rest of the world. This was born out further to me tonight as I chatted with a new friend on icq. She is from Guyana. I knew nothing about this country until I started chatting with her a couple of weeks ago. Tonight she told me more and then I googled it. 50% of the population are descended from East Indians brought over as indentured workers to work the sugar plantations after slavery was abolished. Who would have guessed that a South American country would have such a large poplulation of East Indians? I love learning all that I do by reaching out to others. They are as in need of companionship as I am and together we can help each other be not so alone", I whisper.

Are you listening?