So one Wednesday in early July, I got up, a tad dazed, and as most of us young people do these days, went straight onto my iPhone, and checked my Facebook, e-mails, and Twitter, not expecting anything earth-shattering to swing my way. However, I was mistaken, as a boss of mine informed me he had turned down a job in the Bahamas, had recommended me for the experience, with an e-mail address to send my CV and phone number!
So I did an interview over Skype that afternoon, had my flights booked that evening and flew out the following Friday. I was the music co-ordinator for an amazing camp called Space2Create, run by the enigmatic William Simmons. I'll be honest, it wasn't the work that appealed to me more so than the Caribbean weather, the sun, the beaches, the relaxing! So much for that! It was tough work, looking after 15 kids in an academic programme 5 days a week, and I led the music programme in the afternoons six days week, teaching roughly 60 kids, in a camp that catered for over a hundred children from the beautiful island of Harbour Island.
As I said, the appeal for me wanting that job was the weather, the way of life, but what made me fall in love with that island was those children. Those children whom I cursed some evenings, whom I pleaded with to sing, whom I pleaded with to stop talking, hitting each other, make fun of each other, but at the end of the day, they are the abiding memory I have of the island, and only good memories.
Like Shantia, who asked me one day while I wrote on the board, 'Mister David, Why is your armpit hair so curly?!!', to which i had no reply, apart from 'Genetics?'!
Or the day i went to church, (which is bloody amazing, by the way, felt like I was at a rave, THAT is how people should celebrate their faith!) and Mischa, Breontae, and Elijah were part of the congregation, and their dancing and worship was something to cherish, like butter wouldn't melt!
These children are my abiding memory of Harbour Island, these children, who look forward so much to Space2Create every year, who run to William Simmons in the street in October asking about the following years camp. These children don't have a huge amount to look forward to, and I feel quite honoured to have been a part of their enjoyment.
I am also honoured to have been a part of this arrangement, in our final show. It is safe to say there wasn't a dry eye in the house (and the staff were a disgrace with their blubbing!), as our kids realised they had 'What It Takes'!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21jflQht3oU
More words on the Bahamas to come, until then, Sing It Louder!
