A Translator Named Davood
Hello friends,
Another person that continues to linger in my mind is a young man named Davood. He is a 21-year-old refugee at the camp who spends a lot of his time translating for his people.
Although I barely got to know him, I admire him a lot.
You see, a rather large detail of the trip I did not consider that English speakers would be in the minority at Camp Moria. I laugh a little as I write this because in hindsight it seems rather obvious, but I will chalk my ignorance up to my privilege as a westerner who lives in a primarily English-speaking culture.
Midweek of our time serving at Moria I was tasked to work at Info, which is like the customer service industry on crack. It was 8 o' clock in the morning and already there was a crowd of 20 people waiting with an exhausted eagerness to get their questions answered. As I looked out at the people waiting, I realized that most of them spoke little to no English. I started kicking myself for not attempting to learn Farsi or Arabic before I left for the trip. I approached the first person waiting with as much confidence as I could muster and then Davood walked up. I quickly learned he was a translator and asked for his help and he graciously came to my aid.
He kept on translating for the next six or seven hours and I was in awe. I was in awe because these people weren't asking easy questions. People were pouring out their frustrations and sharing the heartache of their situations. I felt totally overwhelmed but Davood went from person to person with so much ease, patience and kindness.
At one point Davood was helping me talk with a man who wanted to change his housing situation. We had to keep telling him the answer to his question was "no" and he got more and more frustrated until he finally said, "You call yourself a humanitarian so why aren't you helping me?" But the man said it in Farsi so I had to wait while Davood translated that into English for me....awkward.
Like I said above, I barely got to know Davood that day. I didn't hear his story and I don't know in who or what he believes but I know I experienced Jesus through him. Davood, being a refugee in an uncertain situation himself, willingly gave his time to help his people. I saw his heart wanting to help, to contribute and give a voice to his people. I admired the strength it must have taken him to hear so many hard stories and then tell people "no." No, there's nothing they can do. No, not today. No, you have to wait.
I'll be honest, I did not like working at Info that day, but I was glad I did because I got to meet and work alongside Davood.
Another person that continues to linger in my mind is a young man named Davood. He is a 21-year-old refugee at the camp who spends a lot of his time translating for his people.
Although I barely got to know him, I admire him a lot.
You see, a rather large detail of the trip I did not consider that English speakers would be in the minority at Camp Moria. I laugh a little as I write this because in hindsight it seems rather obvious, but I will chalk my ignorance up to my privilege as a westerner who lives in a primarily English-speaking culture.
Midweek of our time serving at Moria I was tasked to work at Info, which is like the customer service industry on crack. It was 8 o' clock in the morning and already there was a crowd of 20 people waiting with an exhausted eagerness to get their questions answered. As I looked out at the people waiting, I realized that most of them spoke little to no English. I started kicking myself for not attempting to learn Farsi or Arabic before I left for the trip. I approached the first person waiting with as much confidence as I could muster and then Davood walked up. I quickly learned he was a translator and asked for his help and he graciously came to my aid.
He kept on translating for the next six or seven hours and I was in awe. I was in awe because these people weren't asking easy questions. People were pouring out their frustrations and sharing the heartache of their situations. I felt totally overwhelmed but Davood went from person to person with so much ease, patience and kindness.
At one point Davood was helping me talk with a man who wanted to change his housing situation. We had to keep telling him the answer to his question was "no" and he got more and more frustrated until he finally said, "You call yourself a humanitarian so why aren't you helping me?" But the man said it in Farsi so I had to wait while Davood translated that into English for me....awkward.
Like I said above, I barely got to know Davood that day. I didn't hear his story and I don't know in who or what he believes but I know I experienced Jesus through him. Davood, being a refugee in an uncertain situation himself, willingly gave his time to help his people. I saw his heart wanting to help, to contribute and give a voice to his people. I admired the strength it must have taken him to hear so many hard stories and then tell people "no." No, there's nothing they can do. No, not today. No, you have to wait.
I'll be honest, I did not like working at Info that day, but I was glad I did because I got to meet and work alongside Davood.
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