Every year at MEP we like to organise a party for students and volunteers. This is a nice opportunity for us all to get together in a more informal way. We ask the students if they can bring in a traditional dish from their country for us all to share for lunch. This year we had a wonderful array of dishes and many of the students refused to take any money from us for what they had made. The party started with games organised by Cath. This gave everyone a chance to come together and have fun. One game involved going round saying the names of animals, you were out if you repeated a name already spoken. In another students were given questions to ask people about their likes and dislikes.
Students who had worked on the poetry project run by Kay Walton and funded by the Arts Council, then read their poems. We had very moving and personal poetry from MEP members from Iran, Ethiopia, India, Chile, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Syria and Bangladesh.
After the poetry we had music from Jamal, who plays percussion in the Syrian Orchestra, accompanied by Jenny on the drum. His skill on the tambourine is unbelievable!
The session ended with Chas telling us a story about a king whose quest to find the answer to his questions take him see an old hermit with surprising consequences.
The party finished with the delicious lunch provided by the students and by Kate.