For those of you new to this page, the question may arise: What is a hospitalero/a? For those who have walked or cycled the Camino de Santiago in Spain, the answer is "the angel that greeted me at the door of the albergue when I was tired and thirsty". And indeed, hospitaleros work at the albergues/refugios/hostels to provide clean, dry accommodation and sometimes provide meals.
Tom and Mary have both worked as hospitaleros in Spain and France and since 2007, we have been training past pilgrims to volunteer in albergues. The registration form for the next training session in London, Ontario is here.
This group shot are the new hospitaleros in Victoria BC, 2009, just before they hosted the November Victoria pilgrim gathering.
South African pilgrims are being trained using Tom, Mary and Rebekah's training manual.
ReplyDelete22 hospitaleros were trained earlier this year and Fiorenza served at Santo Domingo whilst Tricia served at Najera, with a Canadian volunteer.
We will have another training course at the end of November.
PS: Tom sent me a Canadian bandana and I will wear it when I serve again next year.