Refugees In 1990 a bedraggled group of refugees entered a hot and dusty village in Northern Kenya.

Some had gunshot wounds and were traumatised by the violence they had experienced when Somalia collapsed into civil war. The villagers welcomed them, and then more arrived, then more, until there were over 1000 living around the tiny village. And still the villagers, who were very poor themselves, continued to make them at home. So much so that in 2000 the local government recognised their efforts and set up special sanctuary which officially supported the hospitality of the locals. The Garissa Giraffe Sanctuary was born. These giraffes are not the only wildlife to be affected by war forced to flee their homeland by violence and disruption. White eared Kob and gazelles were among many species that fled into neighbouring countries during Sudans terrible civil war. Violence ripples out from the centre, it doesnt just affect the immediate area, it carries on damaging the lives of everyone and everything, spreading further and further from the centre. But in the midst of all the suffering the human spirit can rise supreme. Ok, the giraffe story is a small one in the vast awfulness of lives devastated by war and persecution, but it shows how even those who have very little in the way of wealth and resources, can still find enough to give to innocent victims. The villagers who gave a home to the giraffe could have eaten them; they are often used as bush meat. They could have driven them away, after all survival in the desert of Northern Kenya is not easy. But in this case they showed what it is to be fully human. The plight of the persecuted and the displaced is very much on our minds in this Refugee week, and my thoughts and prayers are with all those who find themselves on the run, afraid and marginalised including giraffes.