Love and Dignity on the Menu

By Isabelle Privé


Last Saturday, several members of the team paid a second visit to Accueil Bonneau to help with a meal. I was privileged to be part of it.

Acceuil Bonneau isn't just about giving a meal to the homeless. Accueil Bonneau is the purest form of love, friendship and generosity.

We were given a visit round the premises when we arrived and the "little sister" who showed us round told us about its history. Highly organised, they provide clothes (already washed and ironed), haircuts, even help with the budget. It all goes like clockwork.

It's already a lot. But do you know what she said does the most good for the people who go there? It isn't so much the soup, the pair of socks or the haircut. It's the welcome, the smile and and the fact of just being noticed by someone.

I can vouch for that. My job at the meal on Saturday was to welcome them, collect their entrance tickets (handed out by another volunteer at the door) and give them a tray on which my colleagues could serve the meal. I was so impressed and touched by their pleasant manner and politeness. It was a cold day so they took the tray I handed them with cold hands but with a look, a smile and a thank you. Simple things, but I felt the pride behind them. And I too was proud because, for once, I looked beyond the itinerant at the corner of the street. I saw a human being like me, like everybody.

The sisters who run Accueil Bonneau thanked us for volunteering. It's funny, but I had the impression that we should have been the ones to say thank you. Thank you for allowing us to share in this exercise in love and friendship and for reminding us that a simple smile can be as warming as a  plate of soup. A lesson in living to remember and to pass on. And thank you to the Kili 2012 project for giving me the excuse I needed for going there. Another summit!

Translated by Pamela Gauvin