The World Comes to Caithness

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One of the amazing things about being in a place like Freswick is that you can be living a quiet and undramatic life, hardly aware of anyone, but when you go a few miles up the road to John O’Groats you notice number plates from all over the world.

The most extraordinary connection I have ever experienced with a far-off country happened a couple of weeks ago.  I received an email out of the blue requesting accommodation - at the very last moment - for two young Sudanese men, Giel and John.  They were on their ‘Long Walk of Freedom for Sudan’, a charity walk to raise funds for schools in the refugee camps in Chad, and they needed a place to rest their heads for one final night before making the last intrepid leg of the journey.

Hospitality was provided for them at Freswick Castle, where we had a lovely meal together and shared some stories and experiences.  I had never before met people who had travelled to the UK on dinghies in the way we so often see on the news.   It’s hard to imagine such a journey, but suddenly I was encountering the reality of suffering and courage through these two travellers who had crossed the Mediterranean in a flimsy boat from Libya to Italy and then finally from Calais to Dover.  

Considering the terrors of war and genocide in Sudan, and such a treacherous journey, Giel and John were full of light and hope - a true testament to human endurance.  When asked why they chose to walk in winter through snow, sleet and high winds, they said that nothing could compare to what some of their friends and family and fellow Sudanese are going through.  It was the least they could do, they said.  They were walking in solidarity with the displaced peoples of the world.

We don’t know what humanity is capable of, in terms of the evil that can be done, but also the courage required to survive and make a new life in a foreign land.

Giel and John were joined that evening by Gulwali, a fellow refugee who had escaped the horrors of Afghanistan when he was a teenager. He and a few others came along to support the Sudanese hikers.  Gulwali shed new light on what it meant for him to rebuild life and a good future in a new country.  He tells his story via a remarkable book he wrote: ‘The Lightless Sky’.

One of the most heartwarming aspects of this long pilgrimage to the north was the tremendous support they experienced in Scotland particularly, not least via the generosity in giving to their cause. (Gofundme link).  

It’s only in meeting people face to face that we come to understand the depths of experience or a person’s character.  I was honoured and humbled by these young men and their passion and resolve.  As we drove alongside them to their final destination, Duncansby Head, Gulwali became very emotional.  I found it very moving as well.  

When Giel and John reached the lighthouse they attempted to unfurl their Sudanese flags, but in good Caithness fashion, the wind took control and wrapped the flags round their shoulders and nearly tore them from their hands!  But the wind could not blow away the huge sense of triumph in coming to the end of the road.  They were elated!  And in my brief overlap with them I couldn't help but share in their victory and all that it meant.

The image of them trekking through the northern moors on that last stretch of their 33-day journey to Duncansby Stacks will always stay with me.  These two brave men, walking for freedom, striding beyond their pain and taking the next step towards hope and light.

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