Stories From Conversation Café…

Christmas with my family.
At Christmas we bring meat – I bring beef or chicken.
I celebrate with my Aunty and Uncle.
I like to celebrate New Year – Time with family and friends is nice.

We went to church,
There were 90 people attending, for the first time since lockdown.
We learned about the culture in Sierra Leone.
It turned out there was a baptism taking place.
The baby was in a wee white suit with tails.
It was a celebration of cultures.
We had the sights and sounds of the world without having to leave our pew.

Most of our celebrations are about fire.
We celebrate Sadeh at the Autumn equinox.
We dance around a fire.
One celebration we light 7 fires and jump over them.
We respect water, trees and fire.
The roots of this kind of celebration come from our past, the fire was Holy in our past history.

Three women at the tomb,
with spices prepared
Son of Man betrayed.
Just as predicted.
He is risen from the dead!
Easter,
a celebration of new hope!

Months of growing you in my tummy,
Countless hours of labour,
Holding you in my arms for the first time
A hot summers day ahead
Watching it from my hospital window
With you cooing by my side and feeling quite contented.
Ailidh, you truly are a gift from God
My very own gift of life.

My graduation celebration was cancelled due to Covid.
So we had an event in the park, all friends together.
We wrote scrolls out for one another, they had precious messages inside.
We treated it like the real thing and wore colourful gowns and caps.
We got to wear summer dresses and enjoyed the sun.

-

Written by Helen, Doreen, Azita and Sophie. With Tutors Deborah and Dorothy. For the Glasgow Women's Library Conversation Café.