The enemy of love is not hate, it is indifference. The enemy of love is turning away from those in need. The enemy of love is doing nothing when you can help your fellow man. (from The Lightless Sky- An Afghan Refugee Boy’s Journey of Escape to a New Life, Gulawi Passarlay with Nadene Ghouri). These are the words of Gulawi Passarlay who was only 12 years old when, at his mother’s instigation, he fled Afghanistan after the massacre of his father and grandfather and started on the long refugee journey to England.  A journey that he nearly didn’t survive, a journey that robbed him of his childhood and left him devastated and despairing.  Yet, as Gulawi says, his story is also about faith, hope and optimism and being there for each other. Dunedin seems so far away from the horror that so many refugees face every day but we also know that we can make a difference, even if it is only a small difference.  In June last year, Fr Gerard Aynsley organised a meeting to consider how Dunedin people could respond to the plight of refugees and following that meeting we decided to investigate ways in which Dunedin could host refugees, as the city had done previously. From that small beginning we reached out to other Dunedin groups and discovered a wealth of experienced people working with former refugees and migrants.  Together we formed the Dunedin Refugee Steering Group, which grew rapidly as new groups and individuals from
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