Live from the Camino - Refugio Gaucelmo

If you have walked the Camino de Santiago already, you are eligible to be a volunteer, either along the Way or in Santiago de Compostela.

My friend is scheduled to volunteer at Pilgrim House in Compostela this fall. That is a place where pilgrims can spend some time after walking and the staff/volunteers there are a valuable resource to help people process the experience, and perhaps help pilgrims to integrate the Camino going forward. It is said the the transformation of the Camino often happens after you finish walking.

In Rabanal del Camino I met Benjamin, who is a hospitalero at the monastery next door to our albergue. This is a place where pilgrims can pause during their Camino, to rest and reflect, and participate in monastic routines. There is a minimum two night stay, unlike regular albergues that send you on your way each morning.

By now you know that my own volunteer experience is directly on the Camino, as Hospitalera at Refugio Gaucelmo, approximately 245 kilometres before Santiago. For some pilgrims that is about two thirds complete. For others, it is their first day of walking, starting from Astorga.

Working as a volunteer has been interesting. The day to day chores are repetitive - breakfast, cleaning, preparing, checking in, afternoon tea (we are sponsored by a British organization), and preparing for the following day prior to closing the gate at 22:00. It is the pilgrims who provide the variety.

There are several services every day at the 12th century church across the square, though we don’t have time to attend all. Sometimes we have visitors from the Monastery next door for tea, and sometimes they invite us for lunch.

Llew, from New Zealand, is my partner hospitalero. We met in Astorga and walked up the hill to Rabanal del Camino together. And I mean hill. It was a 20 km walk with an almost 300 m elevation gain. When pilgrims walk on from this village they face another 350 m gain over 8 km up to the highest point of the Camino (1500 m at the Cruz de Ferro / Iron Cross.

Rabanal is a pretty village, population 58. Not counting pilgrims. About 35 years ago two British pilgrims were walking from Astorga to Ponferrada, a walk of about 52 km. At the time there was no stopping point along the Way, and they believed there should be (I agree). So a suitable building in Rabanal was acquired and renovated by the UK organization, the Confraternity of St James. It was the first albergue in the village, now there are at least ten accommodations. Plus more in many of the villages between Astorga and Ponferrada. Today anyone who walks that 52 km stretch without stopping does so by their own choice.

Sello /Stamp for our albergue

We have met several of the villagers, shop-owners , and restauranteurs. They cater mostly to pilgrims, but we also see local residents in the tiendas and bars. These people have been very friendly toward us and treat us quite well. I will miss them when I move on.

Hospitalera is a volunteer position. It is an act of service. Pilgrimage is like a river of people all walking toward Santiago de Compostela. When you are a pilgrim you are part of the river. You flow along, interacting with the other pilgrims in the river. Being the hospitalera in an albergue is like being a rock in that river. You touch people briefly and they keep flowing down the river. Sometimes that brief touch is powerful. Sometimes that pilgrim leaves a lasting impact on me. And I like to think that sometimes I might have an impact on some of those pilgrims.

One of my favourite things is hugging the pilgrims as they leave in the morning. We have many young pilgrims and I like to think their Mom would like to hug them, so I do it for her.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essay on Compensation, and Charles Haanel, in the Master Key System, both talk about being of service, to give without expectation of reciprocity. When you do, they say, you will receive.

I have received much. The pilgrims have left kind comments and told us they feel welcomed and cared for here. That is our goal, to make people feel welcome and cared for. Doing so make me feel happy.

Two days ago, when Brother Antoine came for tea, he said that we can see God in the pilgrims around us. In the book, Stranger in a Strange Land (Robert Heinlein), the common greeting is “Thou art God.” I am not sure if Brother Antoine has read that book.

At Vespers in our 12th century church, I did the reading last night. It was about giving and receiving in the name of the Lord. As hospitaleras and hospitaleros, we give love. And in turn we receive love. It is a worthwhile endeavour.