By Mel Cooke, Freelance WriterWESTERN BUREAU:
TRUE TALES about the kindness of total strangers to those in desperate need were the triple exclamation mark to the three-day long sentence of wit, passion, short stories and poetry that was the Calabash International Literary Festival 2004.
'The Kindness of Strangers', from the editors of Lonely Planet, was presented to the backdrop of a setting orange sun, most times glowing behind a thin cloud cover, but occasionally bursting through to wink a cheery farewell at the faithful gathered under the tent at Jake's in Treasure Beach, St. Elizabeth.
Kindness seems to be best found in far-flung places, as Tim Cahill, Amanda Jones and Laurie McAndish-King read stories from Turkey and different places in Africa.
Cahill's story was about the journalistic pursuit of a story about the supposedly extinct Caspian Tiger, which had been reportedly sighted. In the ordinary course of things that would have been a joyous jaunt, but in this case there are matters such as the fighting between the authorities and the Kurds to consider.
The crew is stuck with a guide they do not particularly want, Saheem, but who proves to be excellent in getting them through security checkpoints and out of tight situations. After getting the crew through many a sticky situation, they end up in a town where they are not supposed to be, with maybe two minutes before the security forces come to get them if they do not leave. This is where they try to pay Saheem the thousands of U.S. dollars they owe him, but he refuses to take the money, saying that the Caspian Tiger is for the world.
"The tiger is without price," he said.
Amanda Jones' tale, 'One Night In The Sahara', was of a totally non-verbal encounter. It took place in Niger, as she travelled in unpleasant company across the edge of the desert. Taking a night walk she gets lost and, stumbling around in the harsh, cold environment with very thin clothes on, she is at her physical limit when she encounters a lone Widabi tribesman.
She greets him in the only Widabi word she knows, he does not reply, she tries French and gets no response. However, he gives her warm clothing, feeds her and leads her back to her party, never speaking.
As he leaves her, she touches her heart and says the only other Widabi word she knew, 'thank you', and "he laughed, his perfect teeth gleaming as he backed away, two palms up".
"I stood and watched as until the desert night reclaimed him," she said.
Laurie McAndish-King told a pulse-racing tale of dancing along with some belly dancers in Tunisia, then being offered a ride by a stranger as she and her companion left the building. The car they are in is followed by another, with two men who left the club behind them, and they are trailed into the desert night.
Things come to a head when the car they are in is forced off the road by the other and they have to choose between staying in the one they are in or going with the two men who are trying their best to urge them to get out, not knowing if they are being rescued or taken hostage.
She convinces her companion to get out and they do, getting into the other car and now driving through the desert with two strangers.
King left the story there, to groans from the audience.
With the glow of a reading lamp before them and the sun breaking free of cloud cover providing a similar hue behind, the organisers did the wrap-up duties. This included thanking sponsors Air Jamaica, The CHASE Fund, Jake's, the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) and the Jamaica Tourism Challenge Fund.
The name of every single person who presented at the festival was read in alphabetical order, from Chris Abani of Nigeria to Anthony Winkler of Jamaica, read to continuous applause and kudos paid to the people of the community.
"The fundamental thing why it (Calabash) keeps getting better is because the people of the community of Treasure Beach demand nothing less," Calabash founder and artistic director Colin Channer said.
Noting that people keep asking what will happen when the festival gets "too big" for the area, Channer said "my consistent response is people have to get cast out of paradise, they don't leave".
Two traditions embarrassing festival producer Justine Henzell by getting her to speak and an ending prayer were observed. "The path of the just is like a shining light, which shines more and more on a perfect day," went the quotation from 'Songs of Solomon' - and indeed the sun had broken free briefly to illuminate the sea from the horizon to the placid sea behind the stage at Jake's.
Calabash programmer Kwame Dawes ended it all with four words - "take care, walk good".
