Food from the Jungle

A gentleman called Labied aka Uncle or Sheikh came and met us at the warehouse. He had arranged for a large supply of dates to be transported to our Wycombe storage unit to be put onto the lorry and brought to France. He also provided large sacks of rice, all of which was destined for the kitchens in the camp.

'Uncle' Labied gathered a few of our volunteers together; Gayle, Louisa and Fouzia. They were going to assess the logistics of distributing the dates and rice to where they were most needed.  The rest of us carried on with unloading the lorry and sorting other donations in the warehouse.

Gayle, Louisa and Fouzia came back from their recce as we were all stopping for a lunch. The volunteers all stop for a lunch break and, weather permitting, long tables are brought outside and bread and cold meats, cakes, juice and water laid out - all this food has donated by the volunteers themselves and from other donations brought in specifically for the volunteers. The cakes and treats that we brought with us were very much appreciated and enjoyed by all.

While we were sitting taking a few minutes break an guy cycled up with a rucksack on his back out of which he produced a large lidded 'bucket' which was filled with a vegetarian soup/ stew made with exotic spices, pasta and the most delicious mix of vegetables in. This meal had been cooked in the jungle at the One Spirit Ashram Kitchen as a thank you from the jungle to the volunteers - this was a moving gesture, a way for the camp to give something back.

Lunch finished, we continued to to empty the lorry by hand - the lorry driver didn't hang around too long when he realised that there was no forklift!! He unhooked his cab and drove off to get some sleep.