Last night Jason, Soren and I went to a banquet for Integration Week at the Celtic stadium (one of the 2 major Football teams in Glasgow) and had a wonderful time. Maryhill Integration Network (miN) was invited to come and also perform parts of their recent dance projects. It was a lovely time with strong performances from vocalists, break dancers, the miN dancers, and a theatre company all promoting racial peace, non violence and other important issues in the community. Remzije Sherifi, a leading force behind the miN, spoke during the evening as well and it was so moving to hear of her experience in her homeland and how she came to live in Scotland. She recounted her experience in Kosovo which was once peaceful and how it turned to a world filled with war and blood and death when Milosevic took power in Serbia. Her home was burned down along with her city. She hid one night with her 3 sons, her husband, a baby and some other family and the cold they felt was one that went deeper than the physical. She told how the baby began to cry when they were hiding, and how they feared being heard and discovered. They comforted the baby back to sleep and were eventually found by a cousin and starrted a two day walk to a camp the next morning.

After relocating to Scotland she pledged to dedicate her life to helping other woman in the UK relocate here, integrate and find joy. She has been here 9 years now and I feel so lucky to know her and learn from her.

She recently published a book about her journey called The Shadow Behind the Sun that I'm going to read soon.

After moving speakers and performers we enjoyed delicious Indian food (naan bread, korma and more) and good conversation.. . .a special night.

Remzije is the lovely woman in the middle surrounded by other women from miN.

This is Mirian. I took this while she was chatting with a friend at dinner and just couldn't resist. She is so beautiful.