Hard work and good humour

Participants bags piled up in corridors as volunteers moved them by hand

Around 4,000 bags for Assembly participants were packed over three days by a dedicated team of Brazilian volunteers and WCC staff. Tied in bundles of 10, it took a whole morning to get them from the packing room to their destination, and passers-by were astonished at the numbers piled up in the corridors.

Among other items, the bags contained the Assembly folder giving vital programme information, a book produced by Latin American churches welcoming participants to Brazil, and - essential in the sub-tropical heat - a water bottle, donated in the name of the Ecumenical Water Network by Norwegian Church Aid and the Church World Service.