Heart of Darfur - Lisa French Blaker

A book launch on a Friday night? What a great idea (especially when they mentioned they would have some nice NZ wine!) Off to the Birkbeck University in central London to hear Lisa Blaker talk about her new book, Heart of Darfur.

Fay Weldon did the introduction to Lisa. Now in her own right would have been very interesting to listen to, she certainly has a story or two to tell! Of course tell them she does, with a very impressive list of publications under her name. Fay spent her childhood in New Zealand but now lives here in the UK. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fay_Weldon

Fay called the Heart of Darfur a "remarkable book." She emphasised that it is a great deal to have got into the British market - obviously this was an achievement in itself. She went on to say "it was a really good book, simple, written with great clarity, energy and wisdom beyond Lisa's years. It is moving. It will make you cry." Fay also talked about New Zealanders, and how there was a very high number of New Zealanders in NGO's (non government organisations) and charities, which is probably relatively unknown as New Zealanders "don't make a fuss." "New Zealanders are competent in difficult circumstances - more so than any other nationalities."

Then it was Lisa's turn. She explained that she wanted this to be an interactive session, and as well as Lisa telling us a bit about herself (the nurse from Howick), the book, reading from it, she would also show small sections of the "Sand and Sorrow" film which was recently released and is narrated by George Clooney http://www.sandandsorrow.org/about.html Do have a look at this link, its a great website and you can see small clips from the film there as well.

Photo is thanks to NZPA - my camera stayed home

After questioning us as to how much we knew about Darfur or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), she told us a little more and also played the DVD which explained the complex situation well. Frankly, the whole situation seemed so bad, so overwhelming, so desperate. Lisa soon picked up on that. "4.5 million of the 6 million people are dependent on foreign aid. What do these numbers mean? In my book, I wanted to get past the numbers and get to the feelings."

The first story Lisa read from her book continued to make me feel that it was beyond hopeless, and while I admired her for what she had done, it just seemed to much. How did she continue in the face of such a huge, overpowering disaster - a man-made disaster. Such cruelty and violence. Other people obviously had the same response, and (being the interactive session it was) soon chimed in with questions, asking how she kept going in such conditions.

"I focus on what is possible, one by one, just treat them, one by one."

Apparently this is the philosophy at MSF. Lisa acknowledged that self doubt and despair would often creep in, especially when she was so desperately tired. It did all seem to be futile and almost impossible. There was no escape for these people, no choices. They have nowhere else they can go.

"MSF desperately needs more people in the field. The situation was frustrating, it's hell of a frustrating; in fact, frustrating doesn't even cover it. That feeling of powerlessness can be overwhelming."

"I was shocked and frightened at the very little control I had over my own safety and my patients' safety. People there are being crushed every day. There are no human rights in Darfur. That's the reality. No human rights at all. There is no UN, no Red Cross, only MSF."

Lisa also mentioned that people in Darfur were generally well informed. Most of them had radios and would listen to BBC, Al Jazeera or other international broadcasters. How must they feel listening to stories making the news, far less desperate than theirs yet getting more attention?

Lisa then shared some stories from her book about hope. She recalled how she was sitting down with some elders trying to explain to them where she came from. Through demonstration of planes, working out how long it takes a plane to get to Khartoum (a place where they understood the distance from where they were currently situated) and then expanding that to the 23+ hours to get to New Zealand. The men could then comprehend just how far she had travelled. They were amazed. "they asked me to give their thanks to my parents for me being here!"

Lisa also talked about the children, and how they gave her hope. She said for every bad memory, there was as many about hope, through children playing and laughing and carrying on in the camps, in their hardship, playing, laughing and showing that there was always hope.

I'm glad I went (and the wine was nice). Lisa is an engaging and passionate speaker and someone who is making a difference, both through her work in the field and through the book. Lisa is not able to go back to Darfur (after having written this book, she cannot get a visa back into the country). We spent about another hour at the venue socialising, and I had the chance to talk further with Lisa, as well as get her to sign my copy of my new book. I then bumped into her again at Paddington station as I changed trains! I haven't read the book yet, but the first chapter (read on the train) has certainly captured my interest.

If you want to hear a bit more about Lisa's experiences yourself, I found this video from an Australian interview Lisa did.

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/9am-lisa-french-blaker/2257313770

The website for MSF is http://www.msf.org/ - apparently they have a very good e-newsletter according to one of the attendees.

To finish, Lisa's message rings in my ears. "You can all help, by spreading the word. Tell others about the situation in Darfur. That way we can make a difference."

Princess Anne & British Horse Society Wall of Fame

I had the opportunity to go to the unveiling of the BHS Hall of Fame (though that should be Wall of Fame in this case) today. HRH Princess Anne did the honours.

There were a number of the Laureates (people who are in the Hall of Fame) present including Pippa Funnell and David Broome.

David Broome (photo below) was one of my childhood heroes - a showjumper. There were a few other famous people there, except muggins here didn't know who they were. If you happen to know some of these people, do let me know! I put it down to my sheltered life I led downunder.

There were two horses there as well, also members of the Hall of Fame - Shear H2O and Colton Maelstrom. Colton Maelstrom, or "Apey", is possibly the most prolific winner of pony show jumping classes in the world, racking up more that 250 career victories and earning more than £50,000 in annual winnings. She has also won the Junior Show Jumper of the Year three times, had six career wins at the Hickstead Derby and was five times Pony of the Year Grand Prix winner. In 2004, at the age of 17, she was the leading pony in Britain and won her personal highest annual winnings. Apey did not compete in 2006 owing to attempts to get her first foal. Sired by Indien de Here, the foal is currently being carried by a surrogate mare and is expected in May 2007. She was certainly a bright spark!

Shear H2O was one of the rides of 2004 Olympic Gold medallist Leslie Law (he rode Shear L'Eau at the Athens Olympics). Shear H2O has achieved huge success in his career. He helped Leslie to Team Silver at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and Team Gold at the 2001 European Championships. When he retired in September this year, he had amassed a total of 1,871 British Eventing points making him the second most successful Event horse ever (after King William).

Anyway, it was a fairly subdued affair. A few members of the press were there to record the occasion as well as a gathering of interested spectators. I guess kiwis like Mark Todd, Blyth Tait and Andrew Nicholson don't make it to the British Horse Society Hall of Fame....

Anyway, more photos of the occasion on http://picasaweb.google.com/jane.thompsonuk/PrincessAnneBHSHallOfFame

Hiking in North Downs

Box Hill to Guildford - the Challenge Walk.

It was certainly a challenge. First challenge (once we had navigated out of Victoria Station) was to get up Box Hill!

Our London Hiking & Socialising Meetup group managed about 15 miles (although it seemed longer and there is some dispute over the actual number of steps taken) over some beautiful countryside. It was a gorgeous clear day although very cold and crisp, with lots of frost still around right through the day.

Our walk also took us to St Martha's church (which isn't far from Guildford) where we briefly paused (for a breather). I had a look around the churchyard and was attracted to two graves which were well adorned by poppy wreaths. It turned out to be the graves of Bernard and Barbara Freyberg. That's Major General Freyberg, Commander of the NZ Division in WW2 and also ex-Governor General of NZ. It's a beautiful spot. If you need more information on this very important character in NZ's history, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Freyberg

The group was larger than other walks today, and a really nice bunch of people from all over the world. Jasmina and Steven do a great job of organising everything, all we have to do is turn up with some energy and its all sorted.

The end of the walk was at Guildford where the socialising part of the group took over. My feet were giving me a bit of trouble (one very messy blistered/bleeding heel) so I hobbled off home at a reasonable hour.... (Post script: A lovely look was achieved on Sunday on my visit to the Farmers Market - socks and sandals. My heel wasn't up to closed shoes and it was too cold to wear just sandals!)

More photos (from the new camera too!) are available on my photos http://picasaweb.google.com/jane.thompsonuk/NorthDowns

Devon Weekend

Had a great weekend with Julie and Phil in Devon - in their new place "Higher Rixdale Farms" just out of Teignmouth. The weather was superb, the hospitality first rate, and the countryside beautiful. I went for a great walk up the coast from Teignmouth up to the River Exe - teeshirt weather! I helped some people with their dog who had a big gash in its side which looked very messy and definitely needed some vet treatment. The poor owner was very distraught, as were the other people but I'm sure the dog will be fine in no time.

Julie and I also went off to see Sue Trump's horse run at Exeter races. It went really well to finish third which was lovely, except that we lost our pound each way as they only paid out the first two placings since it was a small field. We proceeded to donate more money to the bookies, but at least Julie's horses kept winning the best turned out prize!


Lots of photos on http://picasaweb.google.com/jane.thompsonuk/Devon

Old Wine Bars and Sherlock Holmes

What a historical night out in Londontown. We (Vivienne, John and I) met first in Gordon's Wine Bar at the Embankment. I would not dispute its reputation of being London's oldest wine bar. It was like being in a cave with a few lights. John found a chair that may have well been there when it opened.

The bottle of Portugese red was probably not quite so old, it slipped down rather well. It's a very popular place, and unless you knew it was there, it would be very easy to walk past as the entrance is down some steps and then in a little door that looks like the entrance to the back of the kitchen. I have attempted to go there in the past a couple of times, but it has always been very very packed. Tonight we got in at the right time and there was a queue of people waiting for our seat.

The photos unfortunately don't show the lovely brickwork (cave walls) behind John and Vivienne, and while you get to see a bit of it with the photo of Vivienne and I (waiting perhaps not so patiently for John to take the photo), the photos certainly don't portray the vibe of the place. Very very quaint and well worth another visit.

If you would like to know a little more about it, check it out at http://www.londontown.com/LondonInformation/Bars_and_Clubs/Gordons_Wine_Bar/b994/

The historical theme continued, as we ventured out for dinner after the lovely red wine. We tried to get into the italian joint up the road from the wine bar but were not so lucky this time. Up to the Strand and along the road to Trafalgar Square, then down towards the Commonwealth Club we wandered and found the Sherlock Holmes Pub. The menu was very cute, so we ventured in. The food was as good as the decor. I had the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Special (roast beef), Vivienne passed on the Hound of the Baskervilles (aka Toad in the Hole) and went for the Retired Colourmans (Haddock, mushy peas and chips). John was tempted with the Dr Watson Favourite (London sausages) and went for the steak, I can't remember its name unfortunately but it was not named after any of the victims of the crimes Sherlock used to investigate.....

John ordered desert, and went for the Spotted Dick, which just had Vivienne and I in stitches, as we teased him about that. If you want to see the photos of the night, check them out at http://picasaweb.google.com/jane.thompsonuk/VivienneAndJohn

I'm off to Devon tomorrow, so expect lots of photos soon of one of the most beautiful spots in Britain.

Christine Lamb at Daunt Bookshop

Four of the "bookworms" from work ventured off to Daunt Bookshop to hear Christina Lamb talk about her new book Small Wars Permitting: Despatches from Foreign Lands as well as her work as a Foreign Correspondent.

If you would like to know more about Christina and her work, she has her own website which is http://www.christinalamb.net/home.html (photos in this post are courtesy of this site)

I have just finished reading her book and found it fascinating. She certainly has led an interesting and extremely adventurous life - she makes my trips look like Sunday outings!

I was therefore very keen to hear her what she had to say; could she talk like she could write? I certainly wasn't disappointed. The talk was in the usual Daunt Bookshop format (a fabulous bookshop in Marylebone High Street - probably my favourite bookshop in The Whole World!). We had previously been to a talk there by Lloyd Jones (Mister Pip).

Christina was "interviewed" by ITV's Mark Austin who is also a journalist but appears to be more famous for presenting the news now. Being a person who rarely watches TV nowadays, I was completely oblivious to this and had to have it explained to me by one who does watch TV. (in saying that, Im sitting in front of the TV watching the England v Switzerland football match, currently 2-1 to England).

Anyway, back to the event. The first question was "why do you do it?" Answer: "Because I love it." Frequently during her talk, she often said she fell in love with the places (Pakistan, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe) and the people, not the job but she is obviously a passionate journalist as well.

Looking very resplendent in an Indian style red coat with embroidery trim, Christina talked about her early work as a journo covering "knitting exhibitions" and the like. Her first big experience of international journalism was being invited, after a chance encounter, to Benazir Bhutto's "silks, jasmine and rose petals" wedding in Pakistan. She fell in love with the country and soon determined that she was going to be a foreign correspondent and go back. Unfortunately foreign editors at that time were not interested in Pakistan but they were interested in Afghanistan during the Russian occupation. Christina caught a mini bus to Peshawar where her first night was spent in a hotel which she later found out was one where all the arms dealers stay. She established this when someone tried to sell her a rocket launcher!

Acknowledging that being a foreign correspondent was not a normal way to live, Christina explained how for her, if it was a place she cared about, it becomes more than the stories. She thinks about the people she knows in these areas, and feels like she betrays them if she doesn't go back again and again. She described how she resigned after Bhutto's bus was bombed after her arrival back in Pakistan and she felt so depressed and full of despair. Her paper ignored her letter of resignation and she is still working in the role. A human rights lawyer from Zimbabwe helped her decide to continue. "The worst thing for us is if everyone forgets us. Your writing makes us know that you care about what we are doing" she said. Getting these people's stories out to the rest of the world is obviously a responsibility that Christina cannot walk away from.

Christina talked at some length about Pakistan and its chances for democracy. We will be able to read more in the papers about this as she is going back to cover the pending elections but is very sceptical about them. She described how once everyone wanted the Pakistan elections to be free and fair whereas now they are just asking for them to be credible.

Afghanistan is the third of the countries Christina said she has fallen in love with, even stating that if she meets people who don't like Afghanistan, then she doesn't like them. She described the Afghan people as being so hospitable; "people with virtually nothing would give you whatever they have." Afghans respect their elders, and have an incredible love of beauty. Christina saw Afghan soldiers stopping and picking a flower to put on their gun and there were often examples of a strange combination of violence on one hand, and poetry on the other. Christina herself has a similar personal dilemma; "when I am out of Afghanistan, I am trying to get back in, and when I am in Afghanistan, I am trying to get back out.

While she has covered so many wars, Christina insists that she doesn't like the "bang bang" side but is interested in the people surviving behind the lines and in particular the women and the way they try to protect the children. She talked about some of the women she had met, and their incredible bravery, including the supposed sewing circles (well covered in the book) which were just a front for discussing and learning about literature.

I was very taken with Christina's little asides, such as it being "such a luxury to have meetings like this without even thinking that they are a luxury." She also talked about how it was easier to go back to working in other countries as a foreign correspondent than trying to adjust to life here, where people's main worry was the shortage of plumbers or other seemingly mundane things.

Christina describes herself as "not brave but extremely determined" and how it has only be afterward she has realised that she has done some crazy things. She said she was indestructible at 21, but since then the job of foreign correspondent has changed. Journalists were not targets then. Now it is different; for instance the Taliban are very media savvy and know the influence media can have. They have even got to the point where they have invited journalists to be embedded with them. "No way" was Christina's response.

Zimbabwe is another country that Christina has fallen in love with. She describes how heartbreaking the situation is there now, especially in that it is all the result of one man's desperation to stay in power. Somehow it is easier to justify places being torn apart as a result of war, but not because of one person - Mugabe. The saddest thing from Zimbabwe is the people's faces, they are so repressed that their faces are now just blank, haunted.

I was fascinated to hear that Christina say journalists (including herself) had got Zimbabwe very wrong in their initial coverage of the white farmers being forced off their land. Journalists focused on the white farmers losing everything but the main victims were actually the black farm workers, and the people who depended on the farms for their livelihoods. White farmers were able to leave and start again in another country whereas the black farm workers had few other choices. Through focusing on the white viewpoint, journalists played right into Mugabe's hands, as he got support from other areas through being able to present it as a fight against colonialism. So many people have now left Zimbabwe - and they are all the educated ones who may have risen up against Mugabe. The people left are just busy trying to survive and feel like they have been abandoned by the outside world. They cry that this has happened to Zimbabwe as there is no oil.

Christina talked at some length about the current situation for the soldiers in Afghanistan and finished her talk by saying that she believed she "never got involved with Pakistan, Afghanistan or Zimbabwe because I thought they were going to be messes - it just turned out that way."

Yes, another interesting event at Daunt. Of course no visit to Daunt would be complete without a little visit to The Tapas Room down the road. A lovely bottle of Mt Difficulty Reisling was just what was needed on the eve of Waitangi Day.

Squirrels

Squirrels are still a novelty for me. There have been few periods in my life where there haven't been animals around and unfortunately this is one of them. The best I can do is the squirrels. There's a couple of fat chaps in the back garden who are very entertaining, especially when working from home. It's very hard to concentrate when there are four squirrels using the outdoor table as the main arena for the Squirrel Olympics.

So, instead of taking photos of the cats, dogs and horses, its now squirrels. You can view my photos of squirrels in various locations at http://picasaweb.google.com/jane.thompsonuk/Squirrels

Some of the photos have been taken through the window and I haven't been the best at cleaning the windows lately.....

Physic Gardens, Chelsea

http://picasaweb.google.com/jane.thompsonuk/PhysicGarden
Sunday was gloomy, cold but at least it wasn't raining. Not quite the perfect day to go and visit the Physic Garden in Chelsea but as the garden is only open for two weekendss in the winter, Kirsty and I ventured out. It was well worth the effort. I didn't realise how many New Zealand plants were there and it was also really interesting to see the Joseph Banks garden. I'll write more about this shortly (as I'm quickly updating this in my lunchhour at work!) but in the meantime, if you want to see lots of photos of plants, click on the above link and if you want to find out more about the garden, click on the link below!!
http://www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/