Refugee facility visit

We slept well and warm, because we left on the wall HVAC unit in our bedroom overnight for the first time. It doesn't seem to warm things up quickly, but over the hours it got the bedroom to a reasonable temperature, so much so that it was hard to leave that room when we got up! Each bedroom has one of those units, and we believe we can turn them both on without blowing a circuit breaker, but we'll maybe find out sometime. We were warned to be careful not to turn on more than one high-wattage appliance at a time, or we get to trek to the basement to reset our main breaker. Tomorrow the radiators come on, but apparently not until at least noon. Given the morning chill, maybe I can see why Europeans can be known not to shower daily!

In the morning we visited a facility of Intersos, an international humanitarian group (www.intersos.org). Ugo wants the GANS to do some service projects, and the Herways, a senior missionary couple with LDS Charities, has worked with Intersos successfully in the past and helped fund some of their facilities. Ugo told us yesterday how doing local service projects changed his life when he was GANS age, so he hopes to do the same for our kids. The Herways set up the visit and joined us there. Valentina, who apparently is one of the main workers there, showed us around their facility, which can currently house perhaps a few dozen refugees, though they have room and desires to expand. They take only minor children and single moms. They also have a  medical clinic for the community, and a mobile medical van. The refugees, almost all from Africa, get breakfast, dinner, and a bed to sleep in, plus bathroom/shower facilities, but during the day they are out and about, so nobody was there when we visited. It was cold and rainy today, so it's not pleasant to think what they go through. There are many much larger facilities around.  Most of the kids stay only a few days, hoping to get to France or Germany. Valentina said that they would be happy to consider any way we could help, and we would like to get something going on a regular basis, both with the GANS and with our ward, which meets very nearby. We'll need to talk with Ugo and see what makes sense. 

It was very touching and heartbreaking to hear and see how these folks live. My wife wanted to take her own (brand new) coat off and donate it on the spot. The Herways have gotten approval from LDS Charities for a 3000 euro budget for us to buy and distribute winter clothing for refugees. That's not much in the grand scheme of things, but if everyone pitches in somehow we can maybe make a dent.

After that, we got to the Institute early for Taco Tuesday, which was good because I was coughing so regularly that I was summarily banished from the kitchen for the day. Thus, my wife did all the cooking and cleaning. We had a great turnout, and the kids hung around for quite a while together, including some fun group karaoke.

My wife helped a couple of the kids with their family history, and I mostly took it easy. I felt a little more energetic than yesterday, but not still not great, and I have borderline laryngitis. Hopefully I'm getting better -- we'll see what tomorrow brings.

In the afternoon, Ugo came from an Ikea trip with his daughter Sarah. They bought a kitchen step-stool for my vertically challenged wife, as well as a Christmas tree with decorations.

Tonight was the online Institute class, plus two English classes. The place was full all afternoon and evening -- very nice! The only bummer was that I couldn't talk or interact with people much.