WEEK 2: Moo Moo found the machete under the sink…

Shania Twain has a way with words. Everyone knew that the second she boyishly uttered “let’s go girls”, and face it, you thought “YES SHANIA!” (even though you were burley Bob from Barnsley). When she sang “You’re Still The One” she opened the song with the lyrics

“looks like we made it…

We might’ve took the long way,

We knew we’d get there someday”

That’s how I’m feeling. The two hardest weeks of my life have settled down like the dust after a hurricane and I’m finally seeing the sun again. I feel like I’m settling in to my new Asian home quite nicely and that I’m making friendships that feel like they’ve been in place in my life for years.

It’s funny how life changes. 5 years ago, when I was moving to London, I would have said I was a film composer. 5 years before that I would have said I was a song writer. 5 years before that I would have said I was a dynamic leader (idiot). And yet here I am, in Asia, doing semi-permanent charity work and being called “Pastor”. Every soul is in a constant state of changing and evolving. This is why people feel stagnant when they’re stuck in they’re comfortable routine – the soul is meant for change, be it with a relationship, marriage, a new adventure, a job change or location change, or a new colour paint on the garage door. We’re meant for freshness and evolution. We flourish in change.

So how about that machete? (Isn’t that a great sequence of words?! Put machete in any sentence and you have a winner.) So while I was exploring the apartment on the second day, mum found a machete in the cupboard (another great sentence, you see). These tools are for chopping those stubborn green outer-shells of coconuts so you can put your straw in and drink the water. They’re wonderful to wield and give the holder the sense of power that can only be compared to the power bestowed upon the wearer of The One Ring. However, it’s skilled work, needs careful attention and is like nothing I’ve encountered before. Thus the machete has become the symbol of my life here. Yes, now that I’m settling in, it’s time to get down to work. This was the week when I started meeting the kids.

Monday was a public holiday in the area, called Feast of the Church, so the kids at BLC had a day off. The girls had a day at the beach and the junior boys joined them later on in the day, so Pastor Martin took me to the beach to hang out with the two groups. The girls had caught lots of shellfish – muscles, crabs, etc and we’re going to cook them that evening. They knew what they wanted. The boys were mostly in the ocean, except for the little ones who preferred to stay away from such silliness and create their own silliness on the beach.

From Friday until tomorrow (Monday), mum and I have been staying at the volunteers apartment in the annex of Pastors Martin and Beena’s house. True Indian hospitality and then some. I’ve never know a couple so generously altruistic. More on them in a later blog entry (which will probably be entitled “Martin and Beena”, as their names together summon libraries of content, let alone blog titles). While we’ve been staying here, we’ve been close to the children’s homes which has made it easier for mum to visit them with her poorly leg.

First stop. The junior boys. Mum and her close friend Janet Dring had filled a suitcase with new clothes from M&S and so we went over to give those out and to help them with their after-school study and homework time. Mum, an ex-higher-level-teaching-assistant was insanely good and doing reading and comprehension with them. I sat back and watched her get a group of 5-10 young boys reading out and commenting on a short story. I felt so proud of her. I, on the other hand was asked questions about Ronaldo and Mesi. I did not fare as well, I’m afraid.

Saturday was mums chance to visit the girls home as I stayed back and formulated a plan for the church musicians, comprised of youth from the church and the senior boys home. They’re an incredible group of kids who are mostly self-taught. They even work out the chords, words, riffs and patterns themselves. All they need is direction and some training. Rohid the drummer was always reliable and ready for a joke or two, Manju the bassist took the chords I gave him for two songs and learnt them overnight, Johan the keyboardist was improvising with the wisdom and restraint of a pro, and Maxin the guitarist was pure strength and backbone. Rahul the sound tech was ON TOP of it and the two singers Rebekah and Josie were confident and always lead with heart and passion. It’s a great team to work with and I’m looking forward to working with them.