Nelson

Nelson cracks me up. Really, he makes me giggle a lot.
Not that he is trying to be funny, its just the way he is and what he comes out with that makes my day.
Nelson is a long time street friend. Many of the Reach Out volunteers interact with him and he has touched the lives of many.
Nelson can be found in most places on the days that we operate the Street Feeding Programme. Sometimes at Bus Stand Klang, sometimes at Kota Raya, sometimes at Masjid India, sometimes at Menara Maybank.
He gets around a lot and sleeps where he sees fit.
He assists us from time to time and a few weeks ago helped get me and some of the guys down a very thin, very rickety ladder from Bus Stand Klang onto the riverside to take some food to few folks under one of the bridges.
Nelson is Chinese, 60 years of age and quite tall. He has a shock of grey hair and a set jaw that would intimidate "Rocky". His English is great.
But he has a weak spot.
He hates being photographed, (hence the reason there are no images of Nelson in this blog)!
Whenever a camera, or TV crew appear, he is the first, (and sometimes the only one), to request that he doesn't have his image taken.
Its not that he is superstitious about this. But we can't get to the bottom of his reason.
Long time ago he stated that it was because he didn't want his family to know he was living on the streets.
Just recently he announced, with a dramatic simulated cut of his throat using his left hand as an imaginary knife, that his family were "shhhhhhhhaaaa...mati"!
The next reason was that he was wanted by the Police in Penang. I checked. He's not!
Last Saturday the 23rd was another classic.
Our dear volunteer Ling and her hubby Jeff were with us at Kota Raya about 2.45am when Nelson approached.
Ling was wearing one of her yoga style thick dark headbands.
Nelson wanted to know if she had converted to Islam as she was now wearing a tudung!!
And Nelson has decided that he wants to become a priest!
He had a Bible recently and was proudly showing this to us but it seems to have disappeared. He has now asked us if we can get him another.
Mind you, Nelson spends a fair bit of time at the Christian Fellowship Mission and could get one himself. Or so he claims! Another mystery perhaps.
But he doesn't want to be "a goody goody priest" He wants to be "a baddy priest".
I have still to figure out what this means!!

Saturdays, Sundays, Everydays!

I love the buzz of the packing on Saturdays for the Street Food Distribution.
I love the smell of the fresh nasi lemak or mee goreng or whatever Datin Sury and Enn have arranged for the runs.
I love to see the kids, (both the young ones and the young at heart ones), working away.
I love the noise, the chatter, the energy.
I love to see how all those from all backgrounds work together in friendship and mutual respect.
But most of all I love to see the compassion as everyone works away filling the distribution bags with the food.

But theres more than just that.

I love to see the teams meeting up at the various locations for food distribution.
I love to see how the teams overlap and support each other.
I love to share a chat and some teh before the routes go out on their various rounds.
But most of all I love to see the compassion as everyone works together distributing the bags of food to all without favour.

But theres more that just that.

I love to see the children as they arrive for their schooling under the Reach/GIS Education Programme.
I love to see them learn and grow and experience something that was denied to them by circumstance.
I love to see them smile and leave happy, looking forward to returning again.
But most of all I love to see the compassion as all involved work together arranging, teaching, and assisting these kids.

But theres more than just that.

I love to spend time with our street friends finding out who they are.
I love the freedom of being able to do our work as we believe it should be done.
I love to see the photos of our work taken by our volunteers and read their experiences on Facebook, web and blogs.
I love the fact that many people care and trust us with their sponsorship.
I love working with other likeminded organisations and assisting them set up similar programmes.
I love how the energy transfers from Reach to our clients and then returns to us in Reach in so many ways, most of which we never realise.

But most of all I love the bond between all of us in Reach and between us and those we serve.

The Rambling Scotsman

Its a new week at Reach.
I normally judge our week as starting on a Saturday and completing on the following Friday. Why? Dunno. Just always been that way.
Maybe because in the early days we only operated on a Saturday.
So its off on new adventures, a new week.
Anyway!!
Why am I writing this?
Because I often look at what I do for a living. Look at it, and look at what I do at Reach. Part of my trying to understand what its all about.
And you know what? They are very similar in many ways.
I am continually confronted by those that need help. Those that are fearful. Those that need someone to settle things down, to take care of the problem, cause they are confronted by fear.
It may be robbery/burglary/violence.
It may be personal safety or safety of their loved ones.
It may be where they are working that causes them concern.
It may be the risk of what their organisation does.
There is the general feeling of uneasiness in our region due to events in other parts of the world which have impacted on the security and safety, (or perceived levels of safety) of those living and working in Asia.
These folks or their organisations are in need. In need of someone with certain skills who can help. Settle things down. Give them some comfort to carry on.
And then there are our 'clients' at Reach.
Same issues. Fear. Uncertainty. Security. Safety.
Different threat from different source, but just as real.
And again they are looking for someone to give them the comfort to carry on.
So what's the difference between our 'Real lives' and our 'NGO lives'?
Nothing. That's what my conclusion is. Nothing.
It seems to me that there are those people with awareness and those that just sleep through their existence.
The energy is most certainly with those with awareness. It makes sense.
Those that ignore, the sleepy ones, who can't be bothered or do stuff half heartedly, theres no real energy there.
But those who are aware.........
Those that sit, breathe, watch and then do, well that's whose gonna change things.
Those that are aware.
Those that see, really see, really feel, those are the aware. They will change things. They will make things happen for the better for those in need.
So as I start another Reach week, I look at what I can do to raise the awareness.
For my own awareness levels, and for those that are new to Reach, and for those that work in other organisations who can have a direct impact to those in need.
Feel the energy.
Hold the energy.
Transfer the energy.
Live the energy.
For all of us have a responsibility to remove the fear.