‘Are you any good at fixing things?’ Fiona asks me, handing me a pair of broken sunglasses and a tube of glue, then proceeding to walk out of her office.
It is my first day ‘Kadesh’, a safe house for girls in Floreal. Since I’ve found out that the word means ‘sanctuary’ in Hebrew. Very appropriate. Miss Appandu, as the girls affectionately call her, set it up just over a year ago. It is a safe place where girls from difficult backgrounds are welcome to live, almost as if it is a family home.
At present seven girls live there, one just left after turning eighteen. From what I can see it is very well kept, and they live surrounded by a great deal of love. On of the first things Fiona told me about was punishment. When the girls walk into her office having done something wrong they cower before her expecting something physical. ‘I would never lay a hand on the girls.’ I was relieved to hear this.
Shortly after repairing the sunglasses in a slight panic- it was my first test- I went for a little look around the place. Round the corner I came across two girls plunking away on an irreparable piano; it sounded like they were enjoying themselves. I began talking to various people in French and Creole and the seemed surprised, but wanted to practice English a bit. After all they already know their own language and have an exam coming up in English. If they fail it, like 30% of the Mauritian population does, they have to re-sit the whole year at school.
After piling onto a bus and driving for what seemed like a long time with a food stop on the way we arrived at the Black River Gorge car park. We sat for lunch, automatically separating ourselves into three groups. Young children (and Fiona), men and boys and finally young women; I fitted into the final category. Unfortunately, I had only brought a banana as I had been under the impression that all I had to bring was footwear other than flip-flops and a positive attitude.
We walked through tree-lined paths full of mosquitoes, over rocks, up steep dusty slopes coved in dry leaves, across rivers and beneath the scorching Mauritian sun above.
Speaking mostly in a mixture of Creole and French I got to know quite a lot about the girls and was amazed by their total commitment to God. One of them told me that even though her and her boyfriend were totally in love she knew that she had to leave him because she didn’t believe that he would ever give his heart to God! She also told me that she enjoys speaking in
tongues; wow, that came as a surprise. It was fascinating hearing about it.
After at least 3 hours walking, with numerous breaks- one of the girls didn’t feel very well- we arrived at a deep pool of water at the bottom of a stream. Everybody took off their shoes and walked in; the ice-cold sensation we experienced instantly refreshing us. We sang together, spoke of love and life and took photographs. Until I saw them I didn’t realise what a relative giant I am. I plan on returning to Kadesh soon to do activities with the girls there. The previous Project Trust volunteers in Mauritius spent a bit of time there every week for the eight months that they were here and made a real difference. In fact one of them, Lizzie, had sent a letter to the girls and Miss Appandu read it out on the bus to them; they were thrilled.
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