yoshidamayuko 
People from completely different cultures, who lived in completely different environments and with completely different ages and personalities living together; that is what life is like in Arrupe.
In addition, refugees have many things to deal with, all of whom have a variety of backgrounds.
There are times when we are grouped together and have conflicts because of the differences between Asian and African cultures,
we fight over food preferences even though we eat together,
we argue over how to educate our children,
we have disputes over the rules of Arrupe as a whole every time,
there are constant disputes every day, there are arguments and complaints,
there are outbursts by one person because he/she has difficulty speaking the language and cannot argue, and so on…
Such is Arrupe! But,
Everyone always says
“Everyone in Arrupe is Family.”
We may fight, we may argue, we may ignore each other,
But it’s over before you know it,
And we laugh with each other and say,
“We are all family.”
We cannot communicate what they want to say to each other due to language barriers, but somehow we are all laughing together, chilling with each other, teasing each other, and having a great time…
“Everyone in Arrupe is Family.”
It’s like a real family.
Even if we are having a bad day, we acknowledge, forgive, and support each other, and this is the watchword of everyone at Arrupe.
One day, I heard this story.
Everyone at Arrupe is always talking about family, not really family, but like a real family, it’s important. It’s the only place we have.”
Everyone in Arrupe has a history of running away from their home country, having a hard time at the immigration office in Japan, and being kicked out of the place where they lived.
We are not a real family, we are strangers to each other, but I believe that Arrupe is an irreplaceable place we have finally found.
“If I leave here, I won’t have anywhere else to go, so this is no time to fight.”
He laughed jokingly when he said that.
“Everyone in Arrupe is my family.”
Behind that phrase,
I could see the complex colors of the various circumstances that everyone is burdened with, mixed with the warmth of the friendly place they have found at Arrupe.
But…
“The Arrupe family is funny!”
Loud laughter that blows away various circumstances is echoing in Arrupe today (^^)