Kwasi Joseph: tribute in Twi

Kwasi Joseph taught Twi to Adoaw Ester in person, on the phone and by letter. He has translated into English his own tribute to her in Twi.

TRIBUTE FROM JOSEPH,

FRIENDS AND FAMILIES AT GHANA

TRIBUTE IN LOCAL LANGUAGE (TWI)

Owuo, den nti na wo ye see? Wafa me dofo efr me nkyen. se nka etumi eka akyere owuuo se ofa medofo mere me. Nanso aka akyeri dodo. Onankopon na ema onoa na egye enti yen fa nnase mma no.

Oh! Adoaw, mante wo nne da kosi se wafi mu. Eye mme yaw pii se yen nkommobo no anka akyire. Nanso menim se senea ete biara ye behyiam bio na yea hye yen adamfofa no den. Eye woa adamfo Joseph a mefi Ghana ne ma abuafonyinaa.

DA YIE!!!!!!!

TRIBUTE IN ENGLISH

Death why do you have to do suuch a thing? By taken a loved one from me. I wish i could tell death to bring back the one i loved but it is too late. The lord gives and he has taken as Job said, May his name be praised.

Oh! Adoaw, I couldn't hear you till death has taken you away from us. Am very Sad and it painful that our conversation couldn't last. But i koow that we shall meet once again and continure our friendship. It your friend Joseph from Ghana and families wishing you.

FARWELL!!!!!!!

The Separated Child Foundation

Charity Commission for England and Wales registration number: 1120669
[The registration of the Foundation was announced during the “Ester’s Walks of Life” programme on 9 September 2007.]

The Separated Child Foundation has been established “in memory of Ester Gluck, a compassionate and creative young woman who was strongly committed to working for the benefit of refugees and people seeking asylum, and had a particularly deep concern for separated children and young people.” The Foundation seeks to extend and intensify her work.

By 'separated', The Separated Child Foundation refers to children and young people under the age of 21 who are refugees or seeking asylum and whose parents or guardians are not with them. Separated children experience the double trauma of separation not only from their homeland, culture and natural environment but also from the adults in their family who gave them care.

The Foundation has two objectives:

• to offer emotional, social, financial and physical support to separated children and young people—either directly or indirectly through their carers
• to engage in educational activities that raise awareness of the needs of separated children in particular, and of refugees and people seeking asylum in general—activities that encourage positive responses to those needs.

The Foundation will meet these objectives not only by generating its own projects but also by making grants to other bodies that are engaged in this field. The Trustees are considering a range of projects and ways of securing funds to initiate and implement them.

The Trustees are Mark Friend, Angela Gluck, Jonty Hurwitz, Michael Marx (Treasurer, 2007—) and Robin Richardson (Chair, 2007—). The Trust Secretary is Sarah Kleiman.

A sample of projects that the Trustees are considering:

ANNUAL GRANTS TO ‘THE ESTER CINEMA CLUB’
Ester Gluck raised funds for film and music equipment for use in the youth club run by the Refugee Council (at their national headquarters in south London); it has been named in her memory. It needs to renew its annual licence to show films and also needs blackout curtains so that films can be shown on light evenings.

A YOUTH CLUB IN NORTH LONDON
The youth club run by the Refugee Council in South London is the only one in the country for separated children. There is a need for a parallel club or other provision north of the Thames.

DAY TRIPS AND SHORT RESIDENTIAL HOLIDAYS

MATERIAL SUPPORT FOR NEW ARRIVALS AND THOSE AGED 16 LEAVING FOSTER CARE
This provision might include shoes or winter clothing, household items or educational materials.

SUPPORTED ACCOMMODATION FOR THOSE AGED 16-18
They are currently inappropriately housed in hostels or B&B where they may be physically and emotionally vulnerable.

‘MORE THAN A FRIEND’
This involves adults ‘adopting’ (in the style of an aunt, uncle or godparent) separated young people over the age of 16. A ‘more than a friend’ would offer friendship and invitations for meals and outings.

GIVING SEPARATED CHILDREN A VOICE
This entails recording the experiences of separated children based on their lives in their country of origin and in the UK. We hope that this will give separated children a stronger voice and that it will, over time, become a valuable record and educational tool. We will create a newsletter to enable separated children to communicate with each other.

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The website of The Separated Child Foundation is under construction and news of its completion will be posted here. Until then, please write to estermemories@hotmail.co.uk if you wish to:

• be kept informed of the Foundation’s activities
• make a donation to its work (this can be gift-aided for tax benefit)
• initiate a fund-raising event
• be involved in any of the Foundation’s activities

John Robinson: the force of her love

During the "Ester's Walks of Life" programme on 9 September 2007, John spoke about Ester before reading Patrick Kavanagh's poem In memory of my mother.

One of the last times I met Ester was on a beautiful hot summer's evening. We went to Golder's Green and spent several happy hours smoking Nirgila, drinking mint tea, talking, eyeing people up and generally putting the world to rights. I remember it as a gloriously happy evening, one in which we tasted the goodness of life together. I still return within myself to this memory periodically when I want to refresh my spirit and it seems to me that I am still warming myself at the fire that burned so brightly and beautifully within Ester, even from beyond the grave. I also knew Ester in the context of the painstaking and often difficult context of interfaith dialogue and reflecting on this several things stand out. Firstly, that amazing smile of hers which would light up her own features and had a way of spreading to the faces of others so that it seemed as if the whole room would light up. Secondly, her ability to dance all night, and I mean all night, to the greatest hits of Nina Simone, another occasion which will remain forever etched on my memory. Yet perhaps most of all there was the incredible warmth with which she could envelope people and issues so that it seemed that not even that which was most implacably frozen could stay in that state, but ultimately had to yield to the force of her love. The poem I am about to read was written by Patrick Kavanagh for his mother; I read it now for Ester:

Patrick Kavanagh: In memory of my mother

I do not think of you lying in the wet clay
Of a Monaghan graveyard; I see
You walking down a lane among the poplars
On your way to the station, or happily

Going to second Mass on a summer Sunday—
You meet me and you say:
'Don't forget to see about the cattle—'
Among your earthiest words the angels stray.

And I think of you walking along a headland
Of green oats in June,
So full of repose, so rich with life—
And I see us meeting at the end of a town

On a fair day by accident, after
The bargains are all made and we can walk
Together through the shops and stalls and markets
Free in the oriental streets of thought.

O you are not lying in the wet clay,
For it is harvest evening now and we
Are piling up the ricks against the moonlight
And you smile up at us—eternally.