Mark's Story: "such warmth and kindness left me feeling hopeful"

On Tuesday 9th of June I woke up to the news of the attack in North Belfast the night before.

I spent the rest of the day indoors glued to my phone watching reports of ‘protesters’ burning people out of their homes, enforcing ad-hoc checkpoints and rioting in the streets.

I’m a tutor in a school, and on Wednesday I was told that one of my students was too anxious to come to school. After another threatening message was circulated that morning, all lessons were cancelled and the school was closed early to ensure the children made it home safely. The following day I joined a ‘community and solidarity’ group on WhatsApp.

The group was set up by Anaka Women’s Collective and an NGO called PPR, to provide aid and support for migrants under threat.

On Friday 12th June I responded to some of the requests in the group. I picked up a family of four from a hotel, where they stayed the night before as they didn’t feel safe in their own home. I brought them to the central hub where volunteers were providing food, resources and shelter during the day. The mother spoke good English and the children bounced into the back seat with enthusiastic hellos. Thankfully they seemed blissfuly unaware of the situation and seemed to see the whole thing as a big adventure. They laughed and joked the whole journey and took great delight in telling me their names and how old they were.

After dropping the family off, I went across town to collect 500 takeaway containers to be used to distribute food that was being made at the shelter. As I went to purchase them from the checkout, the assistant graciously pointed out that I was in-fact about to purchase 500 lids without the cartons. Community care at its finest.

My last job of the day was to pick up a prescription for a woman that lived alone and was scared to leave her house. She was young but walked with a crutch. I can’t imagine what she had to do to get here, and for her to be smiling and meeting me with such warmth and kindness left me feeling hopeful.

In the community care hub I saw a team of people working tirelessly to support the victims of these attacks. I feel as though that scene represents the people of Belfast much more than the bleak headlines.