At my new home, this piece of art no longer hangs directly in view from my working position – so it is no longer something I stare at continuously.
I previously featured 38 Days in my blogpost Whatchamacallit 152.
Now I see it whenever I leave my bedroom.
It still resonates, as a testimony to the 38 days it took Ahmed Alali to travel from Damascus to Berlin back in 2015.
The world is a vastly different place today – having experienced a pandemic and now, alas, another war. This time the war is significantly closer and many refugees are coming straight through Poland to Berlin, making Berlin their first stop. The last numbers I saw suggest that right now at least 10,000 refugees are arriving every single day, taking the train from Ukraine to Berlin. Many move on to points beyond Berlin, but a substantial number are just happy to be here.
I’m thrilled that I live in a city that is so welcoming, able to absorb and help so many people.
Yesterday, while standing on a train platform, I spotted a Ukrainian flag flying proudly above a nearby garden plot.
Wir schaffen das.