Tikhtak

Travelling with God into 2008

After spending a very enjoyable Christmas with my Mother and Father in law it was time to say goodbye. They were returning to an unstable Pakistan just two days after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. Before leaving home for Heathrow we sat down to pray for the practicalities of the journey and especially being able to find transport from the airport in Lahore back to their home.  Their school minibus driver was unable to get petrol as no petrol stations were open and with all public transport being halted; there was no straightforward way home. 
With no options my wife Irfana drew our attention to her daily bible reading notes for that day 29th December as a source of encouragement:

“And the Lord said, surely I will be with you.” Judges 6 16”

We prayed together and took this verse as God’s promise that he would be with them. After a tearful farewell at the airport we parted with a little faith and apprehension. The next morning we received a phone call from them both praising God for his faithfulness. When they arrived at the airport there were some taxis still running and so they hailed one expecting to pay 4 or 5 times over the normal fare. To their surprise the taxi driver had no intention of over charging them and in fact he asked for 200 rupees less than they normally pay. They got home without any problems.

As we step into 2008, we too don’t know what lies ahead but we can all take God’s promise from Judges 6: 16 with us:  “Surely I will be with you”

(This is my latest etrax post for 2008 inspired by recent events). 

Celebrating our 4th anniversary year

Today Irfana and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary with a hearty meal at Nandos in Streatham. Unfortunately it is on a day we won't forget with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan. This has of course thrown the country into turmoil and is a concern as Irfana's Parents return home on Saturday. Irfana's Amma (mum) took this photo on our return and did a good job.

Hello's and Goodbyes for Christmas

On returning from Sierra Leone it was great to be welcomed back home by not just Irfana and Zara, but also my Amma and Daddy from Pakistan. It has meant there is constant home made roti (chapati) and various dishes on the go and our need for child care is no longer an issue.... I have also finished my first term at Goldsmiths college   where I am studying  part time for an MA in Applied Drama. It has been a challenging term with lots of reading involved and over the Christmas break I will be writing a research question from my trip to Sierra leone to be handed in early in the new year.

King Jimmy's Market

Perhaps one of the highlights of our time in Sierra leone was being shown around King Jimmy's Market in Freetown. It is situated on one of the best natural harbors in western Africa and hence the reason why it led to the city’s founding as a refuge for freed slaves in 1787. Now it is a functioning market but also situated in a very deprived part of town. Anita, Mike and Myself were taken on an inpromptu tour by a few of the traders from another market nearby. Mike bravely snapped the pictures and you can see them on my flickr Otherwise check out this video, which gives a tour around the market with some of the history by local commentators. Also see all our pics of the Free For All project and our time in Sierra leone. Here is a picture of Nash one of our guides. As we travelled through the area we picked up more and more guides along the way, but we kept close to our trusted market guides.

Moyamba, Bo and home

We left early to get to Moyamba in good time. It meant traveling on some rough roads and in all it took us about 4 hours to get there. On the journey we saw many burned out buildings where rebels in the civil war had left their mark and many obsolete train stations. We arrived in the village and was led into a mud and wooden building, which was in fact the school. Inside sat 100 or so children and teachers and we sat on a top table. The school head welcomed us and after greeting and introductions we were treated to a cultural programme of african dance. The singing and rhythms banged out on the drums and percussion instruments made our ears tingle and it was an amazing welcome. We were shown the school being built - a concrete structure which seemed a bit out of place with the rest of the village. They explained that a further £5000 was still needed for its completion. After returning to the current school we said our goodbyes and continued on to Bo.

Bo is Sierra Leone's second city and unlike Freetown is supplied by electricity, although only a few buildings seemed to be connected. The cathedral was smaller then Freetown but the space to work in was actually bigger. There seemed to be much more of a relaxed and laid back atmosphere in Bo and working with the children we felt this too. A highlight for us was splitting everyone into smaller groups one day when waiting for lunch with a Free For All leader working with each one. As each group started to sing songs and dance it  led to an impromptu celebration as one of the students lept to the drum kit and started to play. We must have danced and sang as a group of around 150 for about 30 minutes. We performed on to an audience on Saturday and the children were great. It was possibly one of the best performances we have done. On Sunday we attended the Cathedral and expressed our thanks for a great few days. Bishop S Gbonda was delighted to get a Free For All T shirt and we presented all the T-shirts we had left to the Cathedral.

On Monday we took a last trip to the market for gifts and memorabilia and then all spent the rest of the  day on Laka beach. It was desert island like and a great way to say goodbye to this special country. These 11 days have been a special time for us all and we have all made our own individual connections. Perhaps for Zoe (Our Singer) it has been the most special. She had knowledge of her Grandfather living in Freetown but had never met him or that side of her family. Although he had passed away, the tight knit community were able to lead her to other siblings who turned out to be her aunties. As we say goodbye we have all been touched by this place and has been the perfect finale for the Free For All tour. Check out all our photos in the gallery and I will put a link to the video highlights of our trip in due course. To see photos out and about around Freetown and Bo click here

Freetown performance and trip to King Jimmy's market

After a good performance in Freetown cathedral on Wednesday with some fantastic individual performances from our Susannah and Mbe the greedy tortoise, Mike, Anita and I decided to have a quick look in the local market. Walking around Freetown in our Free For All tops has sparked a lot of interest and after getting into a conversation with some local traders about the slave trade they asked us if we wanted to see the place where the slaves were chained up and kept before being taken. It was in an area called King Jimmy's market (an old Portuguese market from the 15th century). As we were led through rocks along the coast and muddy paths, through tin-shack homes we realised we were in a slum. People just seemed to be sitting around everywhere and our presence of course attracted a lot of interest. We were shown into some ones home and a bed was pulled back exposing chains in the wall. We were taken to two tunnels where the slaves were led through to board the ships, now filled with young men taking drugs and lying around. We were taken to what is now a market with very little to sell, which had been used as a holding place for all the slaves with shackles exposed in the walls and with what looked like messages and pictures in them. Although it was a risk and not the safest place to go, we trusted our guides and kept close to them. For all the work we have done this week in Freetown with the children this was a real highlight and a privilege to experience. The next day we were bound for Bo with a stop off at a village called Miamba on the way to see a school building project. Check out this video made about King Jimmy's Market.