A beautiful insight into the daily life at the ShowerPowerHouse. Thank you very much for sharing, Gaye Ford.
Being a volunteer in the Shower Power house has created a new awareness within, it has shown me many different layers of humanity. When you have seen and felt such things… both resilience and hardship you can never go back to your norm, I am very grateful for the ShowerPower experience as it has opened my eyes as to how I’d like to move forward in this journey of life.
Each day we focus our presence and attention on the women and children who arrive from Moria. No two shifts are ever the same, every interaction is special and meaningful. Women’s intuition is a wonderful thing, and this certainly helped me navigate my way as a first-time volunteer with the refugees.
They say English is the universal language, but in the Shower Power house the language we communicate through is mostly non-verbal. It is the language of love, touch, kindness and compassion. In a world full of words that often don’t mean a lot, it’s lovely to communicate directly from one heart to another.
One of the many things that women have in common is that we love to share, and mostly this is done with a hot cuppa in a community setting. This is no different in the Shower Power lounge room, there are moments of laughter, moments of tears, sometimes just quiet contemplative moments where hands are being held. Some of my favourite times are when the women are happily chatting together after a warm shower and cup of chai, we the volunteers sitting quietly next to them just sharing space or playing with the children, I know then that the women feel relaxed and comfortable in their environment and we’ve done our job well.
I have received so much more than I have given. Sure, I have been plucked, braided, manicured and massaged but most importantly I have been the recipient of so much love.
