Back to my Roots - Orford, U.K., April 2011

This is a movie I made during a recent trip to the U.K. I follow my Great Great Grandfathers last steps before he set sail for Australia in the mid 1850's never to return home. I wonder what would make him take such a big step and if his decisions have formed who I am today.

This is a piece of spoken word and music from my Didj that I put together for a friend of mine Juliet Omolo, one of Kenya's finest contemporary dancers. She developed it into her own, performing it at the Solo and Duets Festival in Nairobi, Kenya. The piece is essentially about our common roots that we still feel today and link us to our ancestors. We are one.

This clip filmed and edited by Chris Olver documents a small sacrifice of my dreads for benefit to others with cancer. It was great to be a part of the World's Greatest Shave. We raised over $3300 for cancer research and treatment! One love

This is my first real attempt at movie making. I wanted to see if I could make a simple movie with my digital camera with 2GB memory card during a recent field visit. I believe that film amateurs like myself can utilise the experiences and knowledge we gain from our field work to communicate to a variety of audiences. This film was taken during a recent field visit to Northern Kenya. I edited and recorded narrative on my Mac (iMovie) once I got home. Didn't come up too bad. Enjoy!

The Space Between
Engaging in development work attracts a variety of metaphors. Development workers, together with community and partners, the architects of community change. We build foundations, frameworks and structures out of our human successes and failures. And as development professionals and institutions we commonly engage through the medium of projects and programs. In other words there’s often a complex dance of joint interventions that aim at both saving lives whilst working to build and strengthen robust systems and structures. As co-contributors or architects for change we must therefore be continually mindful of the role we play in building a collective community future. My role and the role explored in this article is that of a Country Program Coordinator (CPC) for World Vision Australia. This article explores the implications for my role of a three-month secondment to World Vision Kenya, as opposed to the regular fleeting monitoring visit normally undertaken by CPCs.

Read the full article: http://www.worldvision.com.au/Libraries/Annual_Program_Review_2011/The_space_between.sflb.ashx

Ghetto Paparazzi
This article proposes an innovative approach to engaging youth in an urban ghetto environment in Nairobi, Kenya to assist in gathering information useful for community development purposes. Meaningful information, both at the initial assessment stage and during project implementation, is essential to a better understanding of the community impacts of a development initiative. One of the core principles of community development is community ownership of development initiatives. Another core principle is that the most vulnerable and marginalised benefit through the effort. This project proposes the creative use of mobile phones for information gathering, with the additional benefit of positive outcomes for the individuals and communities involved, including income generation, improved social cohesion and creative expression.

Read the full article at: http://www.vca.unimelb.edu.au/assets/ccp_student_assignments/Thomson_Ghetto_Paparazzi.pdf

Strength from Angel wings
Her love changes everything
Her love for Him
With the fear of loss and God
Within, I grasp on
Hoping she wont shake me loose
At the ends of the Universe
At the gates of Heaven
Amen

Sat under an umbrella
we hatch a plot
those rainmakers
weeping the shade
whilst holding it up

HUMAN EXPERIENCE
If I took my skin off
and you put it on
you would see that I live this life
not unlike you

MIRACLE
Death stared at me
without blinking
those fierce brown eyes
made for a weak heart
she was most beautiful
this little miracle
this breath of life

In time of rain
I ran this morning
with Kili at my back
she didn't mind though
with her weight of shyness
I almost forgot she was there
(but she was)

Watoto na wazee walinisalamia
shikamo, marahaba, sasa hizi
even the insects wanted to greet me
until one fly got too close and flew into my eye
blinded the ancestors passed by
and told me to keep up

So I ran those footsteps harder
pounded like the slaves passing this way
I tucked this road of pain away
to finish my internal marathon
So I pretended to dance
into the future

The day moved on
Chai, chappatti, ugali na samaki
and I forgot to sing
only to be enticed by the local brew
and dance as if confidence was king

Kili made an appearance
so to all my hearts relatives
as I withdrew I heard them chatter
messages for our future
to run in time of rain
to love in time of drought

Amen

In this life of great unknowns
Many believe there are known’s
The world is flat
All swans are white
God is good
Upon pain of death
Thee shall believe

Lines through which we draw life
Intersect on all sides
Some face up
Some face down
Following fate like our favourite cartoon

Optimism
Is the belief in me and you
To love within loneliness
Without space nor time

Longing is an inspiration
from which we draw
a picture of dreams
sketched beyond our reach

Pure heart
Stay with me tonight
We can dance slow and fast
I buy you a drink if you like

We can just talk
Or stare into space
I need this, I need you
To get me through

Pure heart
I am too much in love
Stay with me tonight
Or lose me forever

I saved up fairy dust for a rainy day
As I sat huddled up inside
A spell came to me from beyond
Time made me a man
I outgrew my Tinkerbell

A boy whispered the words of innocent love
And our souls brushed up against each other
Like a battle between Hook and Peter Pan
Or skin on a local bus
I felt it

We have started our journey together
Destination unknown
But like Hansel and Grettle we have left a trail of fairy dust
With no intention to go home
You may follow us innocent love, my sweetest Tinkerbell

Wisdom and Knowledge – Land of the Look Behind

‘Wisdom and knowledge left college
Wisdom went East to a black thief
Knowledge went West in Conquest
Technology became life’s test

Wisdom is because of what Knowledge did
Hid away until Judgement Day

Knowledge moved on
As far as the Moon
Cracked the Earth
And took it’s worth

Stole man from life
Messed up air
Poisoned everywhere

Creative Knowledge without Wisdom flourished
And bigger bombs were made and dropped on have not’s
Birth control became evolved
Knowledge of our monsters gained control

Souls were stole for mere gold
Technique was in the minds of man kind
Floating in wine, sailing through life in therapeutic waste
Learning new technical tricks, life slowly sliding away

Books, not feeling was mans thing
Man checked a book on how to cook
Took his life to a sight, into a book he would look
To label your brain, schizoid, paranoid or some other technical jive
That made you look at you and not He

Remember my Brothers and Sisters when I say to you
For life has showed me all its pain!
Labelled an evil thing

But raise your black heads high!
Because Knowledge without Wisdom will die
Wisdom is because of what Knowledge did
Hid away until Judgement Day

Judgement Day
Judgement Day!

And that ain’t far away’

she came in wearing those fancy pants
a step toward the stairway to heaven
of my heart

Memoirs from a balcony
Concerning all things Earthly
Travelling along a perspective
Of light and sound
From Heaven to Hell
The descent of love
And a rising tide
Flooding the town
Keep them out!