Reflections on Waimarino by minister returning home

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 4, Issue 2, 10 June 1986, Page 12

Reflections on Waimarino by minister returning home

After living among you for 18 months I have observed one thing I think some of you need to face up to in the Waimarino. You are part of the global village in which we all live today, whether we live in the Waimarino, in Saskatche-

wan Canada, where we are moving to, or anywhere else. You are connected to the world outside the Waimarino. There was a time when you could shut yourself off from the outside world and the changes going on around you, some of which are defi-

nitely harmful. "Isolation" was a term I heard used to describe life in the Waimarino before I came here, and used frequently by local people after I arrived. Isolation is often harmful. When we shut others out, they usually shut us out. You are private and independent people here, generally speaking, which is good, but I think interdependent is even better. The current economic crisis demonstrates the truth of that. Rural or urban, farm or city, local or newcomers, we need each other. This is very true in our personal lives. My wife and I, as strangers in your midst, felt welcomed warmly by some of you, but largely "ignored" by the rest, until the last month or two which have been so much better. We wish we had got to know some of you long before. Rejection I would have thought it was "us" who were supersensitive to rejection - and we are. Except that many other people who have come to the Waimarino, especially Raetihi but not exclusively so, described their experience in similar terms. While puzzling over the lack of acceptance among people, many of whom I

could see were basically friendly, a local person informed me it was not personal against me. He said local people had been very friendly when the first group of transients moved in with Winstones. The next thing they knew, their friends were gone. By the time we arrived, they were past making the extra effort, unless new people demonstrated, first, they really wanted to be part of the community. On the other side, many new people are sitting back, waiting for local people to take the initiative. As long as either party is waiting for "them" (locals, or newcomers) to make the first move, it isn't likely to happen. New people will not feel accepted, will jump at the first chance to move on, and local people will wonder why. In your personal lives, and in your relations with the outside world, I urge you to keep the communication lines open and be prepared to take the first, or even the second step. You have lots to give to others. We know because we have experienced some of it, especially recently. You also have lots to receive from others who can add to the quality of your life here. My wife and I leave on June 15 to return to Saskatchewan, Canada from whence we came. Our eighteen-month term here is complete. Thanks I do want to take this opportunity to thank all those who have been kind and generous to us in so many ways. To those who have befriended us, and helped us to feel as much at home here as we could, thank you. A special thanks to the "Opportunity Shop gals" of our church and the staff at Waimarino hospital, who are extra special in the hospital-ity department. That's the kind of relationship that makes for a healthy, happier interdependent world for us all. We are moving to Wolseley, Saskatchewan on the TransCanada highway No. 1 . If you come to Canada, it would be nice to see you. May God be with you until, and if, we meet again.

Don

Bater