Well - I have just returned home to Australia from my first volunteering stint in Athens - at Mosaico House. I have to pinch myself - did I just live this amazing experience? Did I just get to meet and work with the amazing bunch of people who run this show? So selfless and caring - the wonderfully devoted and dedicated Anthi and Farida - I miss you and MH so much already! I miss the kids’ cartwheels, the futbol games in the ‘park’, paint and glue from one end of the place to the other! I even miss the rules – ‘no going into the cupboard’ with an orchestrated stern look and voice, the click-clacking of knitting needles, beads and baubles threaded with meticulous precision to make  beautiful bracelets.
Those little (and not so little) ankle-biters and their mums, who, metaphorically and literally, worm their way into one’s heart - memory forever inked with their hope, courage and tenacity. I arrived bearing small gifts of paper, pens and pictures but left with a treasure-trove of hugs and smiles and love and laughter. Priceless.
Sure we had our moments – fights about who wasn’t cleaning up, who had more stickers, or who got the pink lollypop and who was stuck with the icky green one. Tears over taking toys,  stubborn stitches, knotted knitting, ruined Rembrandts. Just like any family – but that’s what is special about MH – it is ‘family’. Where, despite the rough and tumble of the day, everyone pitches in and looks out for each other.
I also miss the inimitable united nations of volunteers, holding me spellbound with their enthusiasm, their endless ideas and incredible imaginations. We were like mother hens – sharing our pride and awe at what ‘our kids’ had achieved that day, or our worries and concerns when things hadn’t gone so well.
Some volunteers had attitude, others had know-how, most made me laugh. We shared our backgrounds, our culture, our knowledge, and though our paths may have crossed ever so briefly, we have forged a common bond that will endure – in some cases perhaps only symbolically, but in other circumstances, for a lifetime.
Inshallah I will return – until then, I hope others will also be fortunate enough to live and breathe, if even only for a few unforgettable weeks, the house of Mosaico.
Jill O’Connor