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December 2012

St. Nicholas visits Barka

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The British-Slovene Society supports Skupnost Barka, a community of people with special needs in Slovenia. Participants in this year’s carol service in London gathered £307.50 for the Barka community. A few days later St. Nicholas went to visit the community, as is customary in Slovenia, and brought presents for everybody. Here is a report of the group which organised the visit:

Kako lepo je prejeti darilo! … Še lepše pa je, če si ti tisti, ki obdariš drugega. S tem stavkom smo se mladi iz Gibanja Fokolarov tudi letos pridružili Miklavžu in njegovi ekipi, ki je želela obdariti osebe z motnjami v duševnem razvoju, ki prebivajo v Skupnosti Barka v Zbiljah.

Na Miklavžev večer se nas je tako zbralo kar nekaj; zavili smo darila in se nato skupaj s kombijem in še nekaj avtomobili odpeljali v smeri Gorenjske. V prostorih delavnic Skupnosti Barka so nas že komaj čakali, polni pričakovanja in z nasmehom na obrazu. Takoj smo zapeli nekaj pesmi in poklicali sv. Miklavža. Ta je obdaril prav vsakega – oskrbovance in tudi njihove spremljevalce. Najlepše je bilo videti veliko hvaležnost vseh teh oseb; darila so bila skromna, lahko bi rekli, da nič posebnega, a oni so izjemno cenili našo pozornost. Ko se je sv. Miklavž poslovil, smo skupaj preživeli še kar nekaj časa ob piškotih in toplem čaju, »Barkači« pa so nam tudi z velikim veseljem razkazali prostore njihovih delavnic in nam pokazali, s čim se vsakodnevno ukvarjajo.

Barka_Miklavz_foto Janez Strah_01 Barka_Miklavz_foto Janez Strah_04

Ana Praprotnik

British-Slovene Society fills church for Carol Service

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The London church of Saint Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe was filled by a throng of Britons and Slovenes celebrating Christmas with carols and Bible readings on Friday 7th December.

Wren’s church is hard to find among the City of London’s busy roads and little lanes leading down to the Thames, but this annual event organised by the British-Slovene Society attracts an increasing number of participants, young and old.

In a service conducted by the Reverend Guy Treweek, the London Renaissance Singers sang in English and impeccable Slovene. Members of the congregation read the Bible’s nine traditional accounts of Christmas in both languages. All joined in singing the familiar carols in an elegant historical setting.

Then the congregation repaired to the sacristy to catch up on news, drink Slovene wine (courtesy of the Embassy) and tuck into delicious potica cake, baked by Slovenes in Slovenia and England.

Participants contributed £307.50 to the Barka charity in Slovenia, which has long received support from the British-Slovene Society – and needs it all the more now due to Slovenia’s economic difficulties.