Meeting an incredible person.
I was walking the Primitivo in 2016 and I was approaching Berducedo. It was already dark and it was raining heavily. I got to the albergue but for some reason I just stared at it. I did not want to go in. I knew from being here before that the church has a huge covered porch, I fancied that so headed there.
I walked into the church porch to find another pilgrim there, a young 20 something girl. She had no hiking gear as such, she was even wearing white slip on pumps. She was dirty and disheveled, and had a huge beautiful grin. Her and her story completely floored me.
She was from Belgium and was suffering mental health problems, but for one reason or other (she told me but it is private) her treatment had ended. When her treatment ended so did her state benefits. So she lost her apartment as she could no longer pay.
She was devout Catholic, and so she decided to walk to Santiago and ask God what she should do now. She was looking for answers. She sold everything she had, bought good gear, had funds, and set off from her home town in Belgium.
All went well until she got to Paris. She met a girl there who said she could sleep at her place. She took her things there and they went out for the night. In the morning she woke up and the girl had gone, and so had all her things. Rucksack, boots, clothes, purse, money, passport. Everything. It turned out the place she was in was a squat, it did not belong to the girl she had met. All she had was a thin pair of socks, a T-shirt, shorts and one pair of underwear. What she had slept in.
Undeterred she carried on towards Santiago. She was convinced God would look after her. Passing out of Paris she rummaged through bins. She found some food. She also found a pair of jeans trousers, and a denim jacket, fat mans size (she was tiny), old and covered in paint. She fangled the jacket into a rudimentary bag. The trousers she ripped up and tied to her feet. They were her boots. She also found an old curtain, that was her bed. In this she walked across France into Spain. She ate what she found, fruits mainly, and from supermarket bins. She never had a penny, nor asked for a penny.
Once in Spain she met her first pilgrims (Irun, Camino del Norte), she shied away from them mostly, but did befriend a few. She never attempted to sleep indoors (some offered to pay for albergues for her but she said no, and anyway had no ID), and would not except money, even when offered. Around this time some pilgrims managed to get her some clothes from donation boxes in albergues, and even an old 1960’s looking rucksack.
She told me that when she first set off she had been looking forward to getting to Spain, she had always wanted to try a real Paella. She presumed now she would never get to try one. She was wrong. One day passing through a little village a dog followed her. A huge wild looking thing, but friendly. It followed for about three km, she kept shooing it off, but would not leave her. So she walked back to the village and tried to find the owner. No one there knew the dog. She got stuck with the dog. She carried on walking until she came to a large town where there was an animal sanctuary. She went there to check if he dog was chipped to find the owner. They said the dog was not chipped, and no, they would not take the dog. She walked on, with the dog.
Not long after this town a police car pulled up and she was arrested for stealing the dog. It had been reported lost, and she had been seen with it. The police said the dog WAS chipped. After inquiries at the police station, they found she had indeed taken the dog in to the rescue centre, and they had told her it was not chipped. From now the police were on her side and looked after her. She had to stay in a cell overnight, she had to report or be seen by a magistrate or similar in the morning when they would let her go without charge. They let her keep the jail’s white plimsolls they had issued her. That was what she was wearing when I met her. They also said they had to feed her, what would she like? They went out and bought her a Paella! She spent most of the time in the office chatting to the cops. They looked after her.
Then I met her. After a few hours chatting I decided something. On a previous camino I had got short of cash for two days waiting to be paid and a kind lad gave me 50 Euro’s to help me out. Two days later I tried to repay him but he just said ‘pass it on’. Well here was a good time to pass it on. I told her the story and offered her the 50 Euro’s. She smiled and said no. She did not need it, God was looking after her. Then, she grinned and said “But look, I have money”, and rummaged in her bag. She pulled out a little plastic bag with about 3 Euro’s in. I found this walking she said. I argued the case for her taking my money but she would not have it at all. And at this time she was offering me food out of her bag. Apples, plums, lots of blackberries and such. After much persuasion I got her to agree at least that I buy her a meal in the bar – it was raining, it was cold, she could do with a hot meal.
When we arrived at the bar, we got seated and I passed her the menu while I went off to the loo. When I got back she passed me a beer. She had spent her little money buying me a beer. She broke my heart.
That night I offered her my sleeping bag to use, but no, she was fine. She was still sleeping under her Paris curtain she had found in a bin.
In the morning, she gave me a hug, and off she went. I never saw her again. She was bright as sunshine, laughing and happy. Convinced that once she got to Santiago God would point out the way for her.
I often wonder what happened to this wonderful person when she arrived in Santiago. I still worry about her today. I hope she found what she needed to find. I hope she is well.
But I was truly blessed to have met her.
Davey
