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Events It took a Eritrean, a Congolese and English person to create this picture. Others used Autumn leaves to create their own individual pictures.  Having tea in a local church after one of our trips is often a feature of Worldfriends afternoons out. We are greatful to Duke St in inviting us there after a walk round Sutton Park.  On a visit to Droitwich we saw a number of interesting buildings and things associated with the salt trade.  A Karate demonstration by two young brown belts made a rather different afternoon.  The warden at Woodgate Country Park shows the group a nettle and describes all the uses it can be put to.  Thirtieth birthdays are always special events but when you are away from home it helps to have some friends to help you blow out the candles!  Cooking is an international language so we were pleased to welcome Liz Hughes to give us a demonstration of Vegetarian and vegan cooking. She made three dishes which we then enjoyed tasting. She also brought a ready made chocolate cake which went well with our usual tea and coffee.  Our Christmas Party is usually a popular event and this year was no exception with over 50 people attending. Games, music & food were enjoyed by young and old. We welcomed a number of new faces and hope they will come again.  Books are popular in all cultures. After the Church Autumn Fair we often have many spare so anyone attending our meet that month can take them away. On this day we also hade some of the Longbridge methodist Youth Group visiting us and entertaining us. many thanks for their support.  We are grateful when people give us items that they are no longer using as we are quite likely to find somebody who can use them. We were recently given a scalectric set but rather than pass it on our own members (young and old) delighted in playing with it.  On a lovely sunny day in August our trip was to Sutton Park. CSV Environmental kindly helped with transport with their minibus and arranged for the Park Warden to take us on a walk around part of the park. We were able to see open heathland, woods and one of the lakes. Tea at a church in Sutton Coldfield rounded off a pleasant afternoon. We had forty in the party and represented eleven different countries.  In July forty three of us had a trip to Stratford on Avon. Some crossed the river on the ferry and then walked back along the river bank. Others enjoyed the sites in the gardens in front of the theatre. We enjoyed tea in the local Methodist Church before returning home.  On a sunny day in June we enjoyed a birthday party in the garden of one of our members.  On Easter Day we had of course to have a "Hunt for Easter Eggs". It was really for the children but a few adults were noticed to have found some! Our two young Sri Lankan friends have been going to dance classes so they demonstrated for us the dance from south India that they learnt.  Board games are enjoyed by many people and can be played whatever language one speaks. Here an Indian game is enjoyed by an Eritrean and a Rwandan. In other parts of the room we started planning a recipe book of favourites from each of our countries.  Caroline is a well known Birmingham artist who has her studio at Selly Oak Methodist Church. She volunteered to do a workshop with us. All ages joined in and we created a very colourful banner.  The Chinese New Year gave us the opportunity to do some craftwork. Some made coloured masks, others lanterns, and some just played. We concluded with rereshments which included food to celebrate the Hindu New Year.  Apple bobbing was one of the games at our party in December 2006. Not something that was familiar to all our friends.  Caring for the earth is something all people are concerned about. Making banners for an environmental church service engaged the group in putting together a message that everyone would understand.  Music is international so when Martha handed out instruments everbody was soon into playing a Samba!  The artistic talents of our members were put to the test when we again went to St Georges Church centre at Newtown to use their facilities and art materials . Thank you Ruth for producing the ideas to get people going and for your guidance during the session.  We recently sat around and told stories from our own countries. They were stories told to us by our parents. We were surprised how many of the stories were common to several countries. "Crying Wolf " was recognised by everyone. The blind men and the elephant was also known by most. Some things including stories are international! A visit to Sheldon Country Park & Farm on a hot sunny day was enjoyed and added to when the local vicar showed us how to ring the bells of St Giles Church next door. A cream tea in the church hall proved very popular.  A guided walk round the garden at Woodbrooke the former home of George Cadbury and then a picnic and games on the lawn.  Origami and painting proved popular .  At the meeting that fell in Fairtrade Fortnight members were introduced to some of the products now available  Jigsaw puzzles are not common in some countries but other games such as dominos seem to be widely known throughout the world.  As in previous years our December meeting took the form of a party. The University provided games, balloons, crackers and prizes whilst members brought some food. With the festive season approaching it seemed appropriate at our November meeting to be making cards and calendars.  Members were also able to help themselves from a large number of books that were being recycled. We were delighted that in October STAR were able to bring some of the University Circus Group to introduce us to their skills in magic, juggling, balloon animals, & poi. Most people had a try at at least one of the skills.  Back indoors for our September meeting we went to St Georges Church Newtown where we tried our hand at painting.  In August we went out to Woodgate Valley Country park and Urban Farm.  As well as looking at the animals we played french cricket and then went for tea at St Francis Centre. On the very hot day we met in July friends from Cotteridge Church joined us to provide some entertainment. We are greatful for their help.  As English summer fruits were plentiful we tried some fruit tasting. To taste were, raspberries, cherries, strawberries, gooseberries, rubarb, red currants and black currants. For more about English fruit see... In summer we try to make the most of the fine weather. For our June meeting we went down to the local park and tried to fly kites play ball etc. We later went for tea in the nearby garden of one of our members.  Our visit to Bewdley in May proved popular with forty in the party. Malcolm Dick told us about the history of the town and we saw the museum. 
Stratford, Evesham, Lichfield, Stourport, Bewdley & Worcester are shown below.
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Latest photograhs
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We tried
our hand at juggling at the April meeting although some people prefered
to try face paints and singing nursery rymes from several countries.
