Love is a house / featuring author Yann Martel

In his book “The High Mountains of Portugal,” Yann Martel writes...   “Love is a house with many rooms, this room to feed the love, this one to entertain it, this one to clean it, this one to dress it, this one to allow it to rest, and each of these rooms can also just as well be the room for laughing or the room for listening or the room for telling one’s secrets or the room for sulking or the room for apologizing or the room for intimate togetherness, and, of course, there are the rooms for the new members of the household. Love is a house in which plumbing brings bubbly new emotions every morning, and sewers flush out disputes, and bright windows open up to admit the fresh air of renewed goodwill. Love is a house with an unshakable foundation and an indestructible roof.”  In this episode, we’re bringing you a story about a house. A house that belongs to author Yann Martel and now houses newcomers.  We explore what it takes to sponsor a refugee family. How it takes a village. A community. A network of people working together, using their strengths. How anyone can get involved with the resources, time or skills they have to offer. We speak with Yann and a number of people connected to the home he gifted—a family member who was once a refugee herself, someone from the sponsorship group and a neighbour. Full transcript available here.

Om Podcasten

Relief, Development and Podcast, is a podcast from Mennonite Central Committee. This show is about connecting with the realities faced by displaced and people made vulnerable around the world. Episodes feature special guests, stories from the field and updates about people and programs making an impact all around the world. Together we’ll hear stories about relief, development and peace, and how your support for MCC helps to meet basic human needs and work for peace and justice.