@abdalahmed01 and I spent the day visiting #Uyghur families resident in Istanbul and spending time with them. They are very humble people and many of the widows are doing an amazing job taking care of their young families. Many families are very large and this is because of women adopting several orphans at a time. They are selfless and take excellent care of them. The family finances in all cases is threadbare but the mothers are proud people. The children are happy and the adults work around the clock to take care of their physical, social and emotional needs. Amongst the friends we met today was little Afifa, who is severely autistic. She was like a little angel, hugging and clapping hands. She rustled my beard and broke into fits of great laughter as she did so. I was happy to play the clown. Her mum told us that Afifa has a creative side and they both spend time on artistic activities each day. We thanked our hosts for enabling us the opportunity to spend time with them. We learnt a great deal about resilience and positivity in their presence. These are people who cope with their lot in life by helping others in the same or worse position to themselves. They are upbeat people and inherently believe in helping their fellow humans, whatever their circumstances are. The team at Lonely Orphans are working hard to provide support to the children and respite for the adults. If you’d like to support this important work please get in touch! #lonelyorphans #thewanderinglondoner (at Istanbul, Turkey) https://www.instagram.com/p/CfPk3mQIfxf/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
