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scotts hut

Reaching the Pole

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English: Last expedition of Robert Falcon Scot...

English: Last expedition of Robert Falcon Scott. The image shows Oates, Scott and Wilson (standing); and Bowers and Evans (sitting)

So last week and this week I have been involved in a Research & Development project for a theatre company called Theatre Delicatessen.  I have worked with the company before many times, and on this project we are trying to research how to create a play about Scott of the Antarctic.  As a result I have not had much headspace for anything else, which is why I have decided to tell you a bit about it.

The fact is that the story of Robert Falcon Scott’s second Antarctic Mission is quite extraordinary.  It is also rather sprawling.  There will be some of you who have hear of the expedition – perhaps some of you will know some of the names of the men on his team – Dr Wilson, Bowers, Edgar Evans and probably the most famous man on the final polar push (save Scott himself) – Captain Oates.  OK, so you may not know his name, but you may still remember, faintly, the story of his death.  Having reached their destination (one month after the Norwegians successfully stuck a flag in the South Pole) the party were making the 800 mile journey back to their base on the coast of Antarctica.  According to diary extracts by all of the men on the mission, there were significant blizzards which prevented them from keeping up with the pace of their plans and reaching One-Ton depot (where they had laid supplies for the journey back).  Oates was sick, and barely able to walk due to frostbite and an old war injury.  Scott writes this:

He (Oates) has borne intense suffering for weeks without complaint…He did not – would not – give up hope till the very end.  He was a brave soul. This was the end. He slept through the night before last, hoping not to wake; but he woke in the morning – yesterday.  It was blowing a blizzard. He said, ‘I am just going outside and may be some time.’ He went outside into the blizzard and we have not seen him since.

I am sure that many of you will recognise the story – or perhaps just his last words, even if you’ve never known where they come from.

One of the big questions for me is why did these men do this?  Many of the men on the team (there were many more who risked their lives who were not on the final push to the pole) had been to the Antarctic previously.  Of course at this point in history the technology was very limited, and keeping warm was a significant challenge.  No one knew what to expect as no one had been to the South Pole before.  Walking across the frozen ice of the barrier or onto the actual landmass of Antarctica is incredibly dangerous – the ice is constantly shifting, leaving great crevasses in your path, and it is always difficult to see anything.  There are no defining features of the landscape and nothing lives there except penguins and seal – and they stick to the coastline.  The way these men chose to travel was by man-hauling, which means literally dragging your supplies on sledges behind you.  Frankly it is hard to explain the terrible nature of this expedition and how cold, how tiring, how dangerous it truly was.  Yet, Scott was inundated with applications to join his expedition when it was announced.  So, why?

This is one of the questions we’ve been thinking about, and we were lucky enough to be able to speak to Sara Wheeler, who is not only an expert on Apsley Cherry-Garrard (one of the men on the Terra Nova Expedition), but has also been to Antarctica.  So, why did she go?  In reality she was writing a book about Chile.  All the maps of Chile whilst she was there showed a segment of the Antarctic, so she decided to go and managed to get a place on an expedition.  But what was more interesting about talking to her was that she talked about the experience of being there.  She told us it is unlike anywhere else in the world.  Just surviving takes at least 1/2 the day.  One phrase she used that we all scribbled down was that travelling to the Antarctic is “an opportunity to step of the world.”  It is an ungoverned place – a place not bound by the societal structures by which we live.

It got me thinking about the challenges that life offers us all.  What is our response?  We cannot simply get off the world, so how do we manage them?  I make no claim whatsoever to have the definitive answer to that question, but as I am writing for the Chennai Challenge blog I think I will try to link it in to our work.  In order to cope with all of life’s challenges I think it is vital to be part of community.  Whilst Scott’s men were in Antarctica they lived in community. They supported one another, whether in a party of 5 or in the main group at their base on Cape Evans. Trying to do it on one’s own simply doesn’t work.  And that is why I think it is important to be active in your community – whatever that might mean.  Christianity teaches this as love your neighbour.  I think what Jesus meant was that we are all called, as human beings, to live in community with one another.  To support your neighbour when they need support and be supported when you need it.

Whatever your communities are I challenge you to think about how you can play an active role in supporting others.  If you’re in a church, then I suggest that this might be quite an easy challenge.  If not, perhaps you just need to really think about what communities you do belong to.  School, Work, Clubs, Neighbourhood, even virtual communities.

Both of our partners in Chennai (change of scenery!) work to enhance the opportunities for local communities to thrive.  Oasis particularly frame everything they do around the world in the context of building communities.  And I certainly think it is one of the things that has inspired us as a charity.

I didn’t really start this blog entry with a clear line of thought, and perhaps it opens more questions than it does answer them.  But I suppose that’s never a bad thing.  And it’s certainly not a bad thing to consider the importance of community and to challenge ourselves on how we might contribute to our own.

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little miss

Late…

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Im lateI wonder if you have ever been late for anything?  I know that it seems to be a character trait of youth workers, but I have always tried to get to places on time.  I don’t like being late.  I don’t like letting people down or causing stress or panic by not arriving on time.  So I would always set off early to endeavour to get to where I’m going on time.

I have however recently found myself being late for things.  Sometimes things are out of my control, like my drive into work.  It can take anything form 30-60 minutes to drive into work and the amount of traffic on the route depends on a number of things, the weather and the motorway.  If the weather is bad, then more people drive to work or school, more traffic means we end up stopped.  If there is any kind of problem on the motorway then all the traffic comes through town and so town stops too and I end up late for work.  This is outside of my control.

I find myself being later than normal now just because of the morning routine, trying to get myself, my husband and my child ready to leave the house by 7.30 is tough, it means that I have to be very prepared the night before, packing lunches and nappy bags and trying not to get the two confused!

Last week I was so late that I even missed an appointment at the dentist.  I really have no excuse for this, I just forgot.  But I felt awful after when I realised.

I bit like today when I realised that I should have posted a blog on Saturday and it’s now Tuesday.  I could give lots of reasons about how busy I’ve been or how tired I’ve been or that I’ve just had no time.  All of which would be true and actually tonight has been the first time I’ve been able to sit down and write it.  So I thought it would be good to write about being late.

Isabel handstandIt has made me think about some of the late experiences that we had in Chennai.  Some of the best team bonding time has been whilst we have been waiting for the minibus to take us to the Boys Town, two of my favourite moments are Isabel doing a head stand and counting the amount of mosquito bites on Rachel’s legs.  Another common late experience is waiting for buses to take us to or from Yelligiri, however again these seem to be some of the best time of just playing with the boys without a programme, being able to chat to them about their family, their like and dislikes and how they ended up living at Boys Town.  Some of my favourite moments have been because of lateness.

So maybe being late occasionally is a good thing?

What have you been late for?  Has it always been stressful or has is sometimes brought blessings?Imagine though if certain people had been late.  What if Rosa Parks had been late for the bus on the day she decided to campaign about segregation?  Would we remember her now?

Rosa_Parks_Booking

What if William Wilberforce had been late for parliament when presenting against the abolition of slavery?  Would it still be legal to own slaves? What if Jesus was late…what if he were late going to heal the daughter of a prominent leader because he was held up speaking to someone else, someone who wasn’t prominent?  What would happen then?  Then he would heal the woman who wasn’t important before going to see a dead girl and raising her to life.  Jesus uses he lateness to bring about a bigger miracle.

So maybe we should think a bit more about our timekeeping, because maybe just maybe there can be a bigger blessing due to our lateness.

Eggs Benedict & Recipe

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So this week in the news there has been the shock resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.  This would be the only papal resignation for 600 years and all the discussion are now how to appoint a new pope when the current one will still be around.  This is all because the pope is God‘s representative on Earth, can there be two? It must be an interesting discussion in St Peters.   So whilst it is an interesting discussion there, my view is that we are all chosen by God, that we are all his representatives.  However we are all chosen to do different things, we can’t all be called to be pope.  (Which is a good job, as I’m not sure they are accepting female pope‘s yet!)  So for me, God has called me to be a youth and childrens minister in Stafford, he has called me to be a wife and mother and he has called me to work with those living in poverty in Chennai.  It’s amazing how when you do what God calls you do, God really blesses you and the people that he calls you to work with.

So what about you?  What has God called you to do?  Is it to be the next pope?  Or bless others financially?  Or bless people by offering hospitality?  Or be a Christian in your school/college or workplace?  Or maybe to go on a short term mission to Chennai?  Want to come with us?  email projectleaders@chennaichallenge.com for more information and check out the rest of the website.

And so the title said Eggs Benedict and so here is my recipe for this tasty dish, serves 2 people

  • 4 large free range eggs
  • 2 toasting muffins
  • 1 jar of hot hollandaise sauce
  • 4 slices ham or bacon
  • Spinach (optional)
  • Knob of butter

1. Toast your lovely muffins and grill the bacon(if using).

2. In a pan of gently boiling water, poach the eggs.

3.In another pan, add the butter and wilt the spinach.

4. Place toasted muffins on a plate, add a slice of ham or bacon, then a spoon of wilted spinach and the poached egg.  Top with hot hollandaise sauce.

Enjoy

Future Forecasting

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A few weeks ago the Project Leaders of Chennai Challenge gathered at the YMCA Indian Student Hostel in London to talk over the future of the charity. In 2009 we created a “brand key” identifying who we are as a charity and helping us to have a recognisable character as well as clear objectives. Each of our individual situations have now changed and with the growth of Chennai Challenge we have to think about what we want to do moving forward. What can we achieve and what do we want to achieve.

It really got us thinking about the reasons we had for starting Chennai Challenge. I know that each of us fell in love with India and specifically with the capital of Tamil Nadu, Chennai. For each of us (Rob, Cathy, Emma and myself) our passion for the people we met there and the belief that God wanted us to do something there led to a change in each of our lives. Our experiences in Chennai and the journey of the charity being born has shaped nearly a decade of each of our lives (5 years in Emma’s case). But at this meeting we found there was something else behind Chennai Challenge. Something about the people we take on project.

We have always believed that the development of the individuals on team is as strong a motive for doing what we do as the small impact we make on poverty relief. But it seems like this is becoming more important for us. I suppose it is unsurprising considering that 2 of us are teachers and 1 of us is a full time youth worker, but we are passionate about personal and social development, growing life skills and education through experience.

So here we are. At the beginning of 2013 and ready to say we’re making some big decisions and we want to do more. I can’t say too much, but we made a very interesting 5 year plan that we got really excited about.

But for now, the question on everybody’s lips: What is the #First50?

Resolutions, baby food and giving

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I don’t know about you but I find it very difficult to stick to my resolution to lose weight.  I’m sure that I make a similar resolution every year and somehow (mainly through food!) I never manage it.  I always end up at around about the same weight regardless of how much I eat or exercise, I even didn’t gain or lose any weight by being pregnant and giving birth, I feel that I am in the eternal struggle of the weight loss cycle.

But food has got me thinking.  Malachi is nearing the age when he can start to eat proper food and I’m not sure about what to do.  I wanRiverford_mini_vegboxt to make sure that he has good food with no nasties in, so whilst I was pregnant I reinstated our fruit and veg delivery from Riverford.  Each week I get a delivery of good organic, pesticide free fruit and vegetables and they are brilliant, even if I do have to think creatively about how I use them (fussy husband!).  I have for a number of years only had free range meat, which tends to be more organic, but now I also get my meat through Riverford too, ensuring that the meat I eat is also organic.

So I am stocked with good food, but what do I give him to eat.  He is five and a half months old and many other parents I know have or had already started weaning by this age, but we are trying to wait until he is six months because of the Department for Health guidelines, which were based on recommendations by UNICEF and the World Health Organisation from research they had done with babies from all over the world.  Before a baby is six months old, their digestive systems and kidneys are not mature enough to process the food and so it can lead to an increased risk of infections and the possibility of developing allergies.  So in my head it seems like a good idea to wait.  Not only that, but weaning information states that if you start earlier than six months, there are certain foods that you mustn’t give your baby, like wheat, meat and anything made with cow’s milk; so again, why not wait until they are old enough to have a mixed variety of foods.

So we are going to go with baby led weaning, where essentially you give them what you are having to eat, in chunks that they can pick up, hold, chew and munch.  This is great for finger foods and my research has told me that cucumber, apples and pears are good to eat raw and carrots, sweet potato and parsnip are good to eat lightly steamed.  But to be honest, we don’t normally these things just lightly steamed.  In fact we tend to use these veg in stews, soups and of course curries.  So I had to find out if it were possible to give him these things too…and it is!!  It sort of stands to reason that Malachi should like spicy food, since when I was pregnant and breastfeeding I didn’t stop eating these things.  So when we start giving him food, we are most certainly going to give him curry, we may not get the jalfrezi or madras out just yet, but we hope that the milder curries like a korma should be just fine.

I know that I am in a privileged position that I am able to choose these good things for my child and other parents do not always have the same options available to them.  The Oxfam tv advert has recently made an impact on me, you can watch it here: Jodie’s Film It’s the film where twins are being given flour and water at one month old because their mother doesn’t have enough milk to feed them properly.  It makes me  sad that the guidelines from the World Health Organisation are not being able to be followed because of poverty.  2004 (32)

I have been visiting Chennai for the last 12 years, I have seen first hand what a difference clean water and good food can give.  One of my memories from an early trip was visiting the boys town before they got up for the day, seeing their morning routine.  Part of this was them having breakfast, which that day was a kind of rice porridge, made in a huge pan.  It looked awful, like what the gruel looked like in the film Oliver, in fact it made me think very much of Oliver, and his question ‘Please Sir, can I have some more?’.  That was a defining moment for me and I decided that I wanted to make a difference to the lives of these children.  Since then I have seen changes to give them a better diet, clean water and better living conditions.

So it really can make a difference just a few pounds a month to the lives of people who don’t have the same choices as us.  Please make a choice to help them and visit Oxfam to donate to them or help us at Chennai Challenge

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