Friday, January 26, 2007

It's Cold Outside....And Inside Too

It’s very cold in Spain this week, much of the country has a fresh layer of snow and temperatures have fallen sharply. As I write these words in Madrid, I can hear the noise of the wind outside. Whilst we all sit at home with the heating on it would be comforting to think that despite the bad weather we can still all cope with such severe weather conditions. However, we are forgetting someone. Somewhere in a large gloomy palace in the centre of Madrid sits Esperanza, wrapped in blankets and weeping softly as she realises that yet again her meagre salary is not enough to get her through to the end of the month. The heating in that huge, cold palace is turned off; there is no money to keep it going.

Now, I know that things are a bit tight financially after Christmas and the New Year period, but I just want to remind everyone that the appeal to help Esperanza is going to be open for donations until April, and every little helps. Maybe those donations will come too late to prevent a miserable end to the winter this year, but at least we can be sure that when winter comes calling again she will be able to flick that heating switch without thinking twice. Someone pass me a paper tissue.

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