Walks of life: Anne M Jones hikes with refugees
‘Walking alongside someone strengthens human bonds.’
Last month I went on a five-day ‘Refugee Tales’ walk, set up by the Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group. It is the fifth walk of this kind, inspired by Geoffrey Chaucer’s fourteenth-century account of pilgrims who walked from London to Canterbury. Just as it did 750 years ago, each evening ends merrily, with music and life stories – except in this century the tales are of seeking refuge and asylum. We walk alongside refugees, exchanging our stories as we cover the twelve or fifteen miles each day. On the way we absorb the beauty of the landscape, respect each other’s private moments when tales become too painful, and support the less able when legs become weak.
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