Hospitality is a two-way relationship – every moment spent helping someone else is rewarded … sometimes in a surprising way.

I’d been giving English conversation lessons for several years but I never expected being asked one day to give English classes in a centre for the disabled, and specifically in the Gremsdorf Centre for the disabled. I had serious doubts at first but then decided it was a challenge I couldn’t ignore but, on the contrary, had to accept. After the first courses were completed, someone suggested a trip to England. So then I found myself facing an even bigger challenge or, to put it another way, “an impossible dream”. Thanks to the goodwill and support shown by many people we succeeded in realizing that dream. We were lucky enough to come across a Catholic organization in London, the Sons of Divine Providence,  who not only provided our group with board and lodging but also laid on transport and invited us to visit their day centre for persons with disabilities – a gesture of great generosity and hospitality.  It made us very happy able to return that hospitality when we invited our London friends to Gremsdorf the following year. Our stay in London was packed with excitement. We formed deep friendships with the inmates at the day centre. The choir was holding a rehearsal when we visited the crypt at St Paul’s Cathedral, and in Kew Gardens we had the unexpected good fortune of seeing Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip arriving to plant some trees for the Gardens’ 250th anniversary.  Obviously, those things made our group immensely happy. To me, as a volunteer, I found the experience of being able to share in that joy profoundly enriching.