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Sunday, June 24, 2012

June 24. Day 176. The kindness of strangers

I was stopped at traffic lights today when a woman passenger in the car behind got out ran up and told me I had a flat tyre. I thought "%^*&@$" but thanked her because this stranger had made the effort to alert me and not knowing in this situation could be far worse than knowing. I drove around the corner to a service station and before I could even ponder how I would tackle the task ahead of me a bloke came up and asked would I like a hand changing the tyre. Would I? Hell yeah. David, Dave my new buddy, didn't "help" change the tyre. He totally changed the tyre while I looked on sort of pretending I could do something productive. When the job was done Dave would take nothing in return. He and his wife simply drove away. A random and totally appreciated act of kindness from a stranger.
With air in my sails and in my tyre I headed off to the World Refugee Day community festival.
There in a park in Annerley thousands of people were gathered to thank those who made strangers from strange lands feel comfortable in Brisbane. And for native Brisbane-ites like myself to recognise the huge contribution refugees have made to this city
Today's photo is of Sharon Were who was volunteering in the Kenyan Association tent.
Sharon did not come to Australia as a refugee. She came as a student studying microbiology and now Brisbane is her adopted home.
She explained that during a celebration like today's it was important that people from Africa come out, fly the flag and offer support regardless of how they came to be in this country. You can't argue with that.

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