While in Ukraine, we had an opportunity to stop and visit one of our fellow volunteers, Heidi. I have really enjoyed opportunities to see in person what other volunteers are doing... for many reasons. It gives me a chance to put together a picture of the place they talk about at the seminars. It also gives me an overview of the work that's being done throughout the region and opens my eyes to take in new perspectives outside of Budapest. As my roommate, Silvia, put it last night: "I'm not in Hungary, I'm in Budapest." There's so much truth to that statement that I don't even know where to begin to describe what she means.
Anyway, while traveling through Ukraine, we stopped at a Hungarian Roma camp in a place called Szürte (Hungarian name). The emotions that flooded over me were too many to actually put words to, but I was reminded of the cardboard cities in the frontera of Mexico, the mountains outside Santiago, Dominican Republic and the bridge people outside of Nashville, TN... where the poverty was more than overwhelming. Matt, who was with us, even stated that it was probably the poorest place he's ever seen.
I apologize for the lack of pictures, but you must understand that out of respect, most of my visit was just "look and listen"... and trying to figure out how I respond in love (not necessarily to THEM, but to God's voice through this).
What do you say when one of the women tells you that it's just a poor village?
What do you feel when you see a tiny house without a roof after being informed that they had to tear down the roof this winter in order to heat the house?
What do you think when you see the one room smaller than your bedroom in which 3 children and two adults live?
How do you respond to a community with no running water, no electricity and while they're not content, they're still living there the best they can?
Where is God here?
...
the view from the community center recently built by a mission team... you can see some of the homes here.
our volunteer, Heidi, and three of her young friends :)
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there are sooo many snails in Hungary - reminds me of GVSU. After a rain, the worms invaded the sidewalks. here, snails invade the sidewalks!
ewww!
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We are waaay in the south of Budapest, checking out our city from far away :)
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