date : 5 octobre, 2012
(sorry...i don't have any photos of this!)
this is probably one of the best things i have done in paris to date. jennie, dr h's wife, heard a group of us talking about how we felt so bad for some of the homeless here in paris. she quickly jumped on finding a way for us to help without giving away all of our change.
she ended up contacting the american church of paris. every friday afternoon, they organize a lunch for 64 people who are down on their luck. they sign up during the week and show up on friday around noon for a delicious home-cooked meal that we got to serve them.
annie, sage, alicia, and i showed up at the church at 10 am to help set up. set up went really pretty fast, so we were told to go buy ourselves pastries. we didn't complain. haha.
after eating our pastries on a bench overlooking the seine, we headed back to the cathedral for serving lunch. i was blown away by how nice everything was. this is no american soup kitchen assembly line where you scoop a pile of something questionable on a tray. we had full place settings for each person, used real silver ware, and they were able to have a three course meal, complete with dessert and coffee. we were given the low down on how things would work. each of us would grab two plates at a time and get food on them. then we would serve the women first, then the old men, and then everyone else.
before we began to actually serve, we had a short volunteer meeting and had a prayer. it was a really neat experience to work together with people who aren't of our same faith but believe in the same god and the same christ that i believe in. i loved that we all wanted to just do something good for these people who may not be able to do something good for themselves.
it was such a wonderful experience to serve these people. they devoured their food. scarfed it. i can only imagine how hungry most of them were. sage told me this story about how she was going to clear a crumpled paper napkin from one man's place. he stopped her and told her, "i want to keep it. i need to shine my shoes later." it broke my heart. but it also confirmed that i was in the right place.
everyone was so grateful. i loved that. i served one woman who clearly had a speech impairment, but every time i helped her, she made the effort to slur out, "merci madame!" and give me a huge toothless smile. i loved her, even though i didn't know her name.
after serving lunch and clearing up the tables, we were shuffled into the kitchen where we helped to dry off the clean dishes. it was fun to talk to all the people there. most of them have been doing this together for years and they have their own little family. it was really fun to hear their stories and how they came to be in france. when we were done, we all felt so good. it was just such a neat experience to give back and love these people we had never even met before.
if anyone is ever in paris on a friday afternoon and has a few spare hours and wants to serve...please look up the american church of paris and contact them for volunteering. it was the most wonderful thing i have done in france so far.
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