Thursday 9 March 2017

Nous sommes le jeudi neuf mars

A dry morning and a better forecast thank heavens. So depressing if it rains for a few days and everything in the grounds gets soggy and muddy, donkeys, dogs, cats all wet and dirty and my sets of boots caked with mud.
Tomorrow is forecast to be very warm, something to look forward to.
Today I am ferrying furniture around again and storing beds, bedding and microwaves ready for the next boys who are setting up homes ... or just in case another group of refugees come. One can never be sure when there is now a good paid French team in the area who has the knowledge to cope and help the young men  and now there are many Syrian families claiming asylum.
Anything extra we can sell for the refugee fund is also always welcome.
The young Sudanese staying at Bruniquel have settled well with no problems with the villagers, in fact the exact opposite, many solid friendships made. Soon these young men will be scattered around France into special CADA's centres of welcome they are called. Here they wait often many months or even years to hear if their asylum applications are accepted. A very stressful time waiting, waiting never sure of the response.
I spend my evenings emailing boys keeping up spirits and and answering questions. I know at least two who suffer such deep depression they have tried twice to commit suicide. They have all suffered so many traumas in their short lives, it cannot pass without leaving scars.

We are waiting with excitement the opening of the Moulin de Varen with new owners. We have met the owner, both Malc and I on separate occasions and it is sounding really good. The owners come from working at a two star restaurant so we hear they have high standards and the former owners of the Moulin told us " they are a step above what we offered !" I will let you know when the opening is.
We are going for a snack today at lunchtime to La Seye et Vous at Verfeil. It is not serving meals yet as one of the new owners has an eye problem but they hope all will be resolved in a couple of weeks.
Have a good day everyone, this afternoon a good time for a country walk
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