Tikhtak

Welcome to Hell

I drew the short straw and was asked to do the Alpha talk at Holy Trinity Church Clapham on How to resist evil. I think the talk was received quite well and afterwards we had a really good discussion in our group. But what really stole the show was my intro of Rowan Atkinson's skit "Welcome to Hell". He first performed it at the policemans ball in the early eighties but it contains some timeless truths. Check it out here on youtube.

Green shoes Theatre Website

Four friends from my Ma Applied drama course at Goldsmiths college have got together to start up a theatre company called Green Shoes. Apart from working on their own performance work they are looking to facilitate others to create Arts projects. Check out their new website.

Ghana schools link trip

Last year around this time we went to Sierra Leone on our CMS Free For All tour to perform a play about the abolition of the slave trade bill with children from local schools. As a follow up to that trip over the next week a group of teachers from schools in the Uk will be visiting and connecting with schools in Ghana. We hope that they will make links that will continue for many years to come. Mark Berry is also going to represent CMS and  Telford united FC and look at ways of developing a football connection. This trip will be followed up again for schools from the UK next year with a trip to Kashmir in India. Thankfully Anita Matthews from our Youth team at CMS will be leading this one and she and others will be contributing from a blog that you can follow by clicking on Ghana schools link blog

Open spaces - Ngugi Wa Thiongi

As part of my MA study this term I have elected a course on African Theatre. It asks the big question of What is African Theatre or Literature? Nearly all written books and plays in circulation have been influenced by Europe through colonisation and so are better discribed as EuroAfrican literature. in fact the rich oral traditions of Africa were completely degraded in colonialisation in favour of European literature and languages. One writer Ngugi Wa Thiongi, who himself was educated under this system, has made a stand against this history for some 20 years now by only now writing his plays and literature in Gikuyu a Kenyan language. In his book "Decolonising the mind" he talks about how Theatre in pre colonial Africa was part of the expression of the community. Drama, dance, song retolled stories of heroism or was used in ceremonies and ritual on a daily basis. It also happened, not in buildings but in the open spaces. When Europian nations colonised Africa for fear of revolution any gatherings in open spaces were banned which had a devastating effect on African community life. The education system put people in class rooms and all of this oral tradition was ignored in favour of Shakespeare and other English or European lietrature. On my trip to Sierra Leone last as I waited for the helicopter to take us to Lungi Airport an old man was selling as book about Sierra Leone. I bought it because I had seen nothing like it in the 2 weeks I had been in the country. It was a book about the oral tradtions of Sierra Leone and had been translated into English. At the time I bought it as a keep sake and because I liked the pictures. Now I realise what a gem I bought.

Culture shock back home in Blighty

Since arriving back from Manila last week I have had more than a few moments of  reverse culture shock. The first was receiving yet another Lambeth parking ticket for no apparent reason. AAaaaahg! However they have not all been negative. I attended the funeral of my Auntie Edna in Doncaster, which was really a celebration of her life and her faith. Also a good chance to meet and see family I hadn't met or seen for a long time. Over the weekend Holy Trinity Church in Clapham had a kind of Harvest Weekend  away (except we stayed in Clapham) The highlights of this was a good old barn dance in the evening, where Irfana took to the "up to the middle with a Cowboy yell" like a duck to water. (see pic top left) And on Sunday morning a number of young people performed an extract from our Greenbelt CMS 3D performance in the service. With two girls in particular Witt and Patricia stealing the show dressed as plastic bags. Check out more pics on Flickr. I definitely feel I am now back home.

Manila day 9 - Farewells to Jigsaw

Today was quite an emotional day as we said goodbye to all the children and staff at Jigsaw. At lunchtime we all met up and took everybody to KFC as a thank you to everybody. We had a lot of fun and we were presented with a t shirt each and a card from the children.

We have been really impressed by the commitment of Jigsaw staff to the work with the children.They really are one big family and perhaps a better expression of church than most around. The children themselves are amazing and have a faith that has transformed them, whilst difficulties around them still remain.

Tim Lee (CMS and Jigsaw staff worker) put into perspective the value of a project like Jigsaw, which doesn't lift these children out of their community but helps them to transform it themselves. Talking about the boys we have worked with he said " They will grow up to be good fathers, Uncles and Husbands." What a great legacy that is.

This evening we went out with Tim and Kate Lee and their 3 children for a Chinese meal. We had managed to find a photo shop to blow up and frame 3 pictures which we had taken that afternoon and we gave it to them as a parting gift.  We have an early flight tomorrow morning and then a 16 hour journey back to the UK. Check out our latest pics on dave's flickr and the CMS flickr.

Manila day 8

Today was our last day of filming and it was made a little more challenging with the tail end of a typhoon causing constant down pours. In spight of this the GV's (General Views) of Manila went on and in some ways they were more desperate with children having to huddle for shelter under trees and bridges. It also felt quite a cold and detached exercise as we filmed them in their plight. I know that the Dvd will be a tool to educate and challenge schools in Britain to these issues, but the camera couldn't filter out the fact that these are fellow human beings.

For much of the day we were based at Jigsaw and worked with the teenagers filming them going about  their business. Some played on a "Track and Field" consul game that I was hooked to myself at their age, while the girls played pictionary and did craft. Obviously the trick was allowing them to relax and not be too thrown by the camera and lights. At the end of the filming we got them together for a pose giving us their best Filipino look. It has been very special to get to know this group and they have been so welcoming and loving to us.

So we finally filmed the last shot outside a pizza hut where some of the children guided in cars to parking bays, which is a common way for children to get money here. As we made our way back through a traffic jam it was time to reflect a bit about the week and what we have achieved. One thing is for certain that we are all very tired and have crammed in a challenging project in to a short space of time. Superlatives can't be used enough for Tim and Kate Lee and their willingness and flexibility to enable us to film and interview both children and staff at Jigsaw. They are remarkable people working in a very difficult and yet blessed environment, with a real love and passion for both God and children. Check out our latest pics on Dave's Flickr or CMS Flickr.