"Youth goes in a flock, manhood in pairs, and old age alone.
Those elderly, who go alone, hold as much of an important place in the heart of BASSMA's mission as in mine. It is for them that BASSMA has designed the project "Dinner Delivery".
With a great deal of joy, I went looking for those persons, be they alone because of old age or because of handicap, with the goal of providing them with meals that could cover many days of the week.
After this recruiting stage, the long-awaited D-Day arrived.
On Tuesday the 6th of July, 2010, Rachid, Mirvatte and I took the van and started our tour with a lot of joy and enthusiasm. First, we went straight to the Metropolitan Hotel to pick up the meals that were prepared with care for the benefit of BASSMA's families. Then we started heading towards the homes where people were waiting for us to receive their meals.
So we went from one region to the other, from one house to another... here we lost an address and went through a big detour to find it... there we couldn't find a parking place for the van... we had some physical practice going up the stairs in buildings without lifts... All those little pains do not count in the face of the smile and joy of the people who awaited us.
It is a beautiful and intense experience:
Those people's doors were wide open, and so were their hearts. They invited on us all of heaven's blessings... And what really touched me was the way they embraced and kissed me like a dear child that has just been returned to them.
These people are also very grateful for this service that BASSMA offers them. Some of them called the next day to thank us again and mention which meals were particularly delicious.
The meals that are offered are very rich and nourishing ones that the majority of these persons most often do not have the chance to eat.
It is absolutely true that "there is more joy in giving than in receiving"... these people fill me with their love... Through their welcome, their goodness and their joy, they give a meaning to my life, a meaning I have long sought until I lost breath, and that I found again in their eyes..."
