100 Strangers Project - 53/100 /  by Michael Pung

I see Elly ambling down the road heading in the direction of Broadway Market. She is wearing a black bowler hat, a white blazer and patterned loose yoga trousers. She tells me that she is heading over to yoga class. I ask her about her hat and she says that she bought it from Shoreditch earlier for a grand sum of ₤20. She is happy to have her photo taken.

She lives in Berlin and was living in London for 3 years prior to moving.

"There are too many rules in London," she replied when I asked her about why she moved, she continues, "Things are freer in Berlin."

She is a stage actress and has been doing it since childhood. Recently she has been focusing on comedic acting and specifically as a clown. She loves the character of the clown because they are tragic characters. Although they are always failing at tasks, they never give up and it's the grit and determination that they exude which inspires her.

In addition to being an actress, Elly also is a musician and busks on the street with her accordion. 

"When performing, it's about how connected you are rather than how good you are unless you're really, really good."

Thank you for taking part in the project Elly!

The Horses /  by Michael Pung

A little over four weeks ago I embarked on a trip to Mouries Farm. It's a horse breeding farm located on the Greek island of Skyros which is around 119km north of Athens. Working with horses was something I've never done before and probably something that was not normally associated with and thus chuckles were received from a friend every time I mentioned the words 'horse farm' to him. Regardless, I was excited to see what it would be like to work with horses on the farm and see what life was like...

Marion, Manolis and the Ferrari

I was greeted by a gregarious lady called Marion upon arrival from the port who took me to the farm in the Ferrari -a car affectionately named and not for its prestige- and introduced me to the other volunteers. They were many! When I started there were 4 Italians, 6 Belgians, 3 English, 1 Scottish, 1 Spanish, 4 Greeks, 1 Brazilian, 3 French, 1 Estonian and 1 German. Marion helped run the farm along with her partner Manolis who ran the tavern. The aim of the farm is to help the species grow in numbers and thrive.

Everyone worked 4 hour shifts for 6 days a week. We were tasked with feeding, cleaning the horses, cleaning AFTER the horses and taking them on tours with kids who come to visit with their parents. There was plenty of time to take it easy and visit the beaches and towns. There was one problem however: there wasn't a public transport system on this island and getting around can prove costly, especially for people who were on a budget (like us). I was told by one the volunteers that to get around this island one would have to hitchhike! And so, this was the way we got around the island during our down times.

Taking the horses out for the tours.

We were a huge family - working together, having dinner together, beach days, hiking, the siestas...  but because of the nature of the volunteer work we also had to say goodbye many times. It's never easy to say goodbye especially with people who you develop such bonds with but the way I see it that it's more "see you again sometime..." and I hope to keep to that.

Farewell selfie

It wasn't always easy hitching a ride.

Now let me talk about the horses! The Skyrian horse is a rare breed that has existed on the island for around 2000 years and most grow to around 11 hands tall (112cm)- they even made me look big! (At least in images). They are an endangered species with only around 270 of them left in the world. Upon meeting them for the first time I thought that they were gorgeous. The horses were friendly, affectionate, intelligent, shy, cheeky and social. Some times they were annoyed and during others they were loving. They were truly beautiful creatures and it was a wonderful experience getting to know them.

The horses roam free in the paddock and work on tours for two and a half months in the year. For the rest of the year they live up in the mountains where they are looked after by the people living on the farm.

A highlight of the trip was when a group of us woke up early in the morning to take the horses to the beach for a swim.

We were worried about the weather though because the night before we had gale-force winds and an overcast morning. But it gradually cleared up and by the time we got to the beach, this happened:

We spent nearly an hour there, watched the horses splash and walk around in the water and just enjoyed some time away from the farm.

The three weeks I spent on the farm eventually came to an end and I made some incredible friends, bonded with the horses and just took some time out of the busy life that I lived in London. It was more of the quiet life but it was also a beautiful life and one that I would say was quite perfect for my summer away.

100 Strangers Project - 52/100 /  by Michael Pung

"I'm really awkward in front of the camera, that's why I talk."

I met Stefo as he was chaining his bike to a post. He's a bartender who comes from Sweden. He was just about to get into work when I caught him. He said that the bar he works at has a lot of taxidermy and that there's one which is a snake shoved down a goose's throat. Which would have been quite confronting to see. I asked him if he likes taxidermy and he resoundingly said no.

Thanks for taking part in the project Stefo!

100 Strangers Project -51/100 /  by Michael Pung

So Inap was talking with a group of other people about his thoughts on the state of affairs in the world and remember that musician I told you from the previous post? Well that musician's name is Amos Bellot also known as Sky Joose.

Sky Joose started creating dance music back in 1984 and broke into the underground hip hop scene here in London in 1990. He has been producing music for the underground until recently where he has decided to take a break. He tells me that there have been other people taking his ideas from the tracks he's made and not paying credit... or paying for that matter. I ask him about why he does it, and he says that he does it for the scene and if he didn't do it then there would be no scene.

He is a man who has music coursing through his veins. "Music is in my body. One of my ex-girlfriends says that I drum in my sleep! " Sky Joose also has five brothers of which three of them are musicians. His brother Dezy B is a talented drummer who can play with high energy, intensity and can go for up to 6 hours constantly playing at a party (you can see him play here).

He then begins talking about the way he makes tracks. "Never start with the drums. You got to get your melody right first and then you have to do the drums and bass last." He adds, "I just need four bars to make a track. If you play guitar and just give me four bars of a riff, that's all I need to make a song." He speaks passionately about his craft and became animated as he was talking me through his process, "I have to start at the end. My friends tell me: Sky Joose you work backwards!"

Thank you for taking part in the project Sky Joose!

100 Strangers Project - 50/100 /  by Michael Pung

I noticed a man standing outside a shopping centre talking with some people.  He was wearing a brightly coloured traditional African dress that illuminated him from the crowd. He had a set-up which included a large chest, a board with an open coconut, 4 beetroots and a painting he made using oil paints and fragments of fruit. Soon after talking, he sat down on his chest and played music on his harp. He was tuning into his music and letting what came to him flow out. I asked him about the way he was playing with his harp:

"When we tune into the frequency, eventually what's inside of you comes up."

His name was Inap and he has been living on the streets since the 22nd of June. A decision which he made after he decided that he wanted to be free. Before this, he was training to become a doctor and had actually finished his qualification to become a junior doctor. I asked him where he came from and he said that he is from a place called Biafra, a region that is between Nigeria and Cameroon:

"In 1914 they decided to amalgamate the north and south together so they can control the oil in Bayelsa. They signed a contract called the amalgamation contract but these people didn't agree to the contract. They were always their own nation so why are they trying to force them together? There was a fight in 1967 for us to become our own nation and they said it was a civil war but by all definition it can't be a civil war. Civil war is a war between the same nation. But we've never been the same nation. In fact our culture is different. We circumcise our children under 8 days. They don't do that and there's a friction they are not accepted in Nigeria, it's like a forced relationship. They were fighting and three and a half million people got slaughtered in that war.

There's still a a lot of agitation in our nation and that's why I would never say that I'm Nigerian simply because of the propaganda... I believe in Africa as one but when there is an agenda you have to ask yourself why? Why is it that you can't let people just be themselves?"

At this point a couple of other people entered the conversation, one who came to say goodbye (a musician who I finished interviewing a little earlier) and another, a friend who was hanging around.

"...Corporations are running us, but it doesn't have to be like this. They taught us greed and vanity so everyone is trying to obtain this invisible dream. Everyone is trying to climb this invisible ladder to try to be something that you're never going to be. No matter how big your bank balance is, you're never going to be bigger than the banks. So the banks are your gods. All these religions they're all fighting saying we worship God. No, you worship money. What is worship? Worship is something that you're constantly focusing on. So what are you really pouring your attention to? You only pour your attention to only on a weekly basis but every single section of your day you're focusing on money. How I'm going to live, how I'm going to eat, how I'm going to pay my council tax. And I got to pay this, I got to pay that and this all ties in to banks. Those are your gods.

So it's deep man, what are we gonna do?"

There was a brief pause.

"We have to change the rhythm," said the musician as he was walking away.

"Change the rhythm that's it! I like the way he said it, he's a percussionist. If you change the rhythm, everything: your synapses, your thoughts, your heart beat is set to a rhythm. Change the way you think. Once you change the way you think, then you change your perceptions on which shapes your reality.

When I look at that homeless man do I see myself connected to him? Love your neighbour as you love yourself. We don't need no religion, our religion should be love."

While I was standing there listening to his story and words, people kept coming up to him, greeting him, giving him hugs, food and just looking to make conversation with him. He offered me a banana.

"There's a reason why we're different. There's a reason why the hand grabs, the legs walk, there's something I'm supposed to learn from you, there's something you're supposed to learn from me. So yeah, we all got to do our little part one person at a time."

I asked him about why he decided on embarking on his journey:

"I left everything. I was in Birmingham, I had a place in Birmingham, I had a landord over me. I don't want a to have a landlord over me. I don't want anything over me. I want to be free like the birds. Where do birds go? The wings, can you contain the wings? Where does it come from, where is it going? So I want to be a free spirit. I see myself as a caged lion and I'm not even a lion, I'm a domesticated cat *laughs*. But the cage has always been open, I thought I was closed up, so I thought I had to pay my council tax, I thought I had to pay for water, I thought I had to do this and do that. And I thought I had to live for this guy called Bill and Debt, but I don't know who these people are. I've never been out of the jungle before and that's where I am right now. My journey. I'm figuring it out. So I came out on the 22nd of June and I'm trying to figure out the basic things, food, water, shelter... Now my mind  is getting understanding as the weather changes I have to change location and that's how people used to migrate. I'm not trying to be in the lottery of a system, a lottery that's exploiting and harnessing my energy. I'm going to define my own reality.

It's just been amazing. People have been. I've never lacked one day since I came out. I didn't come with anything and I've not been hungry. Just like the birds, they've been fed somehow and that's how I know there is a most high. We're too afraid, there's nothing to be afraid of, the main thing to be afraid of is you, look in the mirror and understand yourself. I don't feel that I completely understand myself yet but I'm on that journey."

Thank you Inap for sharing your story and I wish you well on your journey!

100 Strangers Project - 49/100 /  by Michael Pung

I noticed a lady as she was exiting the overground train station. She immediately caught my eye and I gave myself 3 seconds to approach her...

Her name was Jo and she had just finished her first day of school for which she spent preparing for the kids' first day of school. It is going to be her first year of teaching full time at an academy where she will be doing her training simultaneously. She was excited about the prospect of teaching her own class for the first time this year.

Good luck with your first class and thanks for taking part of the project Jo!

 

100 Strangers Project - 48/100 /  by Michael Pung

I met Gezahgn while I was out meeting a friend at a business park in Chiswick. He was sitting enjoying his break from work. Often I feel a little shy about approaching so my friend encouraged me to do so:

"I'm a slightly shy person, it's not my personality it's the way I've been brought. Being slightly shy is polite. It's tough for us to adapt ourselves here in this society being shy, there's no place for being shy. You have to come out to stand up for yourself in everything. I'm like you.

Even if you know, for instance you are supposed to look someone into the eye. If you are genuinely honest then what you're saying is true. I don't think it's the same in my culture you don't need to see people like that. We are challenged but I like it, that's my value."

Gezahgn is an accountant and has been living in London for 12 years after moving from Ethiopia. I asked him why he moved to the UK:

"I met someone who lived in this country and got married and ended up living here. I was actually here for study and met her while I was studying. And I went back home, the introduction continued. We started communicating when I was in Ethiopia."

How did you keep in touch?

"Email was the main, telephone was the most expensive mode of communication by that time. We usually communicating by phone and that's how we kept in touch. It is amazing how time has changed. I remember my younger sister went to America. This was 25 years ago now. I remember when she was calling us in Ethiopia, we all: my mum, my dad, myself and my little sister waiting for our turn to talk to her."

We then chatted about his previous work, his time in Cambodia and the abundance of water compared to where he came from in Ethiopia:

"I went to Phnom Penh for a work purpose, I'm a water engineer from my previous profession before I became an accountant. I went there for two weeks to see this project. This is a water project called BioSand filter and it is a household water purifying device. People get water from water sources like from streams and rivers. They put the water through a device with a sand layer that filters the water.

Countries like Cambodia don't have clean water as such and Cambodia is very ideal for this project. Water is accessible but not clean. People can get water from reasonable distances but the water is not clean. If you see in Ethiopia we may need to walk long distances to have water."

Thanks for taking part in the project Gezaghn!

 

100 Strangers Project - 47/100 /  by Michael Pung

Andrey comes from Russia from a town near Moscow although has lived in London for 14 years. When I approached him, he was happy to be involved and in fact he said that he was also a photographer so it was no problem. We geeked out a little bit over camera gear such as the Canon 550D he uses with adapters and old manual lenses.

We only had 5 minutes to talk and take the photos, but he has recently finished his studies and is currently a head chef at a restaurant. As we parted ways, he said that he is also a musician who produces music as well as being a DJ for parties.

Thanks for taking part in the project Andrey!