Marmalade Sunsets: From Bond Girl to Refugee Advocate?

I am convinced my fight against "evil" probably started around the 90's as I'd attentively sit glued to the telly, exhaustively fascinated by the all encompassing powers of a one particular Bond...James Bond. In fact, Bond's relentless plight to save the universe propelled my own curiosity as I desperately tried to evaluate and calculate how one tall Englishman had the capacity to save complete countries in just under 90 minutes! I thought about how Bond and I would meet at one of those extravagant Monaco yacht parties. I'd walk straight up to him, surprise him with a kiss on the cheek as I glide his sacred keys from his clutched hands, jump into his Aston Martin, and go forth to save the world (I may occasionally allow Bond to accompany me on some of my pursuits..007 sitting in the passenger seat of course!).

As my Bond Girl career hadn't panned out quite as anticipated, I've decided to explore other skill sets, which fortunately, is still very much aligned with my eagerness in wanting to explore the sensations of the world around me. One such story belongs to two refugees from Liberia, Johnson Doe and Paul Tiah, who, through their distressing experience of living in refugee camps for almost fifteen years throughout West Africa, mobilized their aspirations to form an organization called the Multicultural Refugee Coalition (MRC), so as to provide a voice and platform for newly arrived refugees who are acclimatizing to the resettling process.

As Paul and Johnson reflect on daily life in refugee camps, I cannot even begin to imagine how two people who have been through so much are still able to stop in their tracks and re-live these emotions in their empathy for other refugees. Their endurance to concentrate their efforts on alleviating a lot of the trepidation many newly arrived refugees face as they resettle in their new residences, galvanizes me to want to share their story. MRC, through their inception, not only strives to teach refugees innovative skills in their job development training, they also mentor computer literacy classes, English language instruction, cultural orientation as well as provide housing resources. One aspect which really engaged me is their demonstration of their Peace Education and Conflict Management program as an integral aspect of the Reconciliation process once refugees are resettled.

Meg Goodman, Executive Director of MRC, with an incredible and feisty laughter, smiles as she re-iterates how she became involved with the formation of the organization. Her background working as a Conservation Biologist compelled her to want to be more involved with the raw issues affecting indigenous communities, and the hypnotic allure of assisting refugees was one she could not ignore as she transitioned into her new role at MRC.

I am always enamored when I meet the Paul, Johnson and Meg's of the world. I think it's part of my insatiable appetite to want to be more present in a community of so many voiceless, so many mistreated and so many oppressed.

So, the Bond Girl deliberates as she looks at the road ahead.."I'll still have it shaken, not stirred".

For information regarding volunteer opportunities with MRC, please contact Meg Goodman http://www.blogger.com/info@mrcaustin.orgor see http://mrcaustin.org/

To watch our video interview, please see http://www.travelvolunteersearch.blogspot.com/

Keep a look out for my next interview coming up with Center for Rural Empowerment and the Environment focussing on conservation projects in Cameroon, Kenya and Guyana.

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