Accreditation and all that

Saturday dawned, another bright, warm and sunny day. After packing our suitcases again, mid-morning saw us being driven into Vancouver to the Accreditation Centre. Very small queues meant the process was quick and we emerged fairly speedily with our accreditations hung around our necks - but without uniforms. In these Games, although technically all chaplains are volunteers in that we're both unpaid and self-funded, we've been classed by the organisers as 'specialists' and therefore volunteer uniforms aren't deemed appropriate. This provokes an interesting debate between those chaplains who want to look like they belong by wearing the same uniform as everyone else, and those chaplains who feel our dress needs to be distinctive so that people know we're different and have a very different role to everyone else. Clergy have faced this debate in various ways over the years, with different denominations and ministers taking different approaches......
After accreditation, we were taken into the Vancouver Athletes' Village for the first time. It is certainly very different from the one in Athens in 2004, my only other experience so far. Whereas that was almost an 'out-of-town' venue, this one is very much in the centre of it all. Situated on the edge of False Creek, downtown Vancouver can be seen all around, with the mountains visible beyond to the north. The athletes are staying in what will become desirable (and no doubt expensive!) condominiums, whilst some other buildings will become community centres, restaurants or offices. The Village is much smaller now than it was a week ago - as there are fewer athletes in the Paralympics than the Olympics some of the residential blocks are now 'hidden' behind a fence. The Multi-Faith Centre, where chaplains are based, had a central location during the Olympics but because of the division of the Village now finds itself almost on the edge.
Mid-afternoon we had our orientation. As well as a walk around the Village, this included a meeting with the other Vancouver-based chaplains to begin to get to know each other and also discuss how we would work, as well as a time of prayer. Early evening saw me being taken to my second and 'permanent' hosts to settle in there prior to doing my first shift in the Village the next day; whilst Carolyn was driven to Whistler as she will be based in the Village there.