Monday, June 25, 2007







africa,africa...
ndkunda iwewe.

By now, all the hype about Africa should have been over. All the excitement over how the cargo got misplaced on the first day of arrival. How cool Matt, Ros, TK, Laban are. How we survive 10 hour bus trips with occasional stops for bush toilets. Watching hyenas, buffaloes, giraffes, birds, truck crashes, marvellous scenery.
How we pass by airport securities like VIP. How we meet up with UN officials. How we do 100 m free fall gorge swings. How we meet up with Scottish, Lebanese, Hungarians etc over pool games and beer rounds. How we can say hi to any random person. How we can wake up every morning to see different animal guests to our campsite.
How we go for Boma dinners with exotic meat and 2.02 m chefs. How we receive more than we give to the kids. How we manage to evade brunt of student riots. How we sleep for so little, yet remain so energetic.
How we look into the eyes of the kids. How i wont evert forget prema.How we are so adaptable.
How we are stunned by the sunrise.
How we adore the night sky.
How we can see the stars.....

Stars under the same sky. Wonder if the others in african team are looking up the sky. Are we gazing at the same star? If we're looking up at the same star, can we feel it? Does looking at the same star make the distance less between us? If so... I'd be always looking at that star.

Jasmine in Aladdin sang: "Indescrible feelings. Soaring, tumbling reveeling on an endless diamond sky." Not exactly that brilliant sky. Africa was a troubled place, is a troubled place and will always be a troubled place due to all the HIV, poverty, civil wars and stuff. Yet the eyes of these kids and people in dire situations still twinkle and their smiles brighten up ur day.... How did we in singapore manage to get so sad..?

PLus.. They need education alot, they really do. Let's show them and prove them how impt an education is by getting good results. I dont really produce excellent results in academics. Bah.. But i'll fold newspapers into paper planes and fly them all the way to Buseko to let them read! Just hope that Frank and the others can keep the newspapers intact! heehee..



I have awards to give to the fantastic fourteen.
Pingkan: Best old man + lyrics changer award.
Ben: Best fantare drinker award.
Kelly: Best auntie award
ChuanHan: Best entertainer award
Hewlett: Best photographer award
Huiying: Best cute award
Caryn: Best daughter award
Weiting: Best singer award
Renying: Best laughing award
Yiming: Best downfeather suit award
Xianghui: Best united nation general secretary award
Wenrui: Best blessings award
Kwanling: Best painter award
Myself: Best taking care of dog award

What people want and need is love. I'm only human.. I can only do this much. All the miracles we need, is just one touch of love. It may seem like a drop in the ocean. But that drop is still important because the ocean would be less of that drop. Mother Theresa's statement never struck me so hard till now.

By now all the African hype should have been over. On the way back home from the 10 hour flight and depature from Africa and everything, countless messages reminding me of my life started flooding in. all the events and activities which im supposed to do right after i came back. For two weeks i've been worrying about nothing in singapore. Seems like even when you're so far away from home.. things still bother you. Hope to go to AFrica again, pour out all my worries through a tape casette recorder and hope it stays there and never come back again..

PLus with blocks and everything else. Mongolia took me a week. It has been more than two weeks now.

BUt now, the African hype isnt over yet. Images still flash through my mind,



I've caught the African bug. It's growing bigger...

THe little kid who's finger got jammed with the wood fragments, i hope you're alright now... THe infected HIV babies @ mother theresa's home.. I really hope you people live strong..! the adults too..THe two little dogs @ the campsite, pls pls dont die of cold. Hope my hwachong t-shirt and track pants help... Kids at buseko, thank you all so much for what you have given me. So different.. so real..so small yet so huge.
dont cry so much too... just stay strong when you guys fall. We dried your tears for you when we were there... but now we;re not there.. stay strong!

THey say everything has an expiry date.. If memories had an expiry date, i wish it to last long. If this african trip has an expiry date, i wish it to last 10000 years.

-[[ yuxuan_ ]]- waiting fOr you @ 3:50 AM