Over the past few weeks aid has been gradually deposited in St Johns crypt and on Friday I finally manage to go through it and pack it into plastic boxes for protection during the journey with Road to Hope. I am not going with the convoy this time sadly because the commitments of studying are too much to do both. Instead I have donated £600 of funds raised to support Hasna and Laura to buy a vehicle and I have more to use to buy items to join the next leg of the convoy. We received lists of equipment wanted in Gaza - items like C-arm operating equipment allows X-rays to be done during operations I think - these are urgently required but we don't have time to source or fund one to go on this convoy.
On Friday I spend all day sorting and packing the aid - ideas of study time are out of the window for now. I take the boxes up to Chingford and have the new experience of hiring a streetvan. Its pretty convenient once you have registered. Its amazing how quickly the company's system has customer info ready - I registered at 7.15pm and was picking up the vehicle at 7.30. It was easy to get the delivery done within two hours. Then back to meet Anwar and Walid who have made me an iron-on transfer image for the costume I want to wear for the fundraiser tomorrow night. They are on their way to pick up their vehicle from Chingford as well so I give them a lift up in the car to where Tox's friends and supporters are having a football tournament - raising more money for the trip. They don't get done until 1am. Tox has been sold a 1956 Green Goddess fire engine amongst many other vehicles for the trip!! But it is going to be too expensive to run the vehicle all the way so instead it may be sold on after some publicity work. It is frustrating I still do not have a camera since Israeli forces removed such items from Mavi Marmara.
On Saturday it appears the drains at home are blocked for the whole building. I cycle to town to a friend's home and get ready for a wedding in the afternoon. This involves travelling to Bromley and back with my bike on the train. Very tight for time because the big fundraiser event at Scala is tonight yeeeehaaaa!! Theme is 'Lunatics have taken over the Asylum' and has 150 volunteer performers and producers involved. I got to So High Soho to get a piece of costume - a straitjacket. This is white cotton and when I get home I iron on the transfer requested which says "Lunatic State" with an Israeli flag formed from guns a barbed wire. A bit of time to make some calls about final arrangements for the convoy such as news that a paint shop in Bethnal Green has donated 150 paints for use in graffiti work in Gaza. Funds raised to be shared between Fairtunes and Circus to Gaza .
Anwar and Walid arrive and pick up the paints and trainers and drop me at the venue. At 10pm the queue is growing and I work on the door with two other girls and Steve B. It's a long busy night with people flowing through the doors and we are still admitting people at 3.30am. The performances are amazing, a massive effort has gone into areas of the event such as the Slumbarave Sanitarium where people are being strapped to beds and given treatments, face and body paint etc by charming and slightly crazed nurses...great music and fantastic dancers doing stage shows. Its a great night by all accounts and we have succeeded in raising several thousand pounds (final figures and destinations tbc).
This morning the Road to Hope convoy converged and then departed - carrying many people and items for Gaza including 15 boxes of medical aid, graf spray paint and Public Nuisance trainers collected by us. See short video report:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_hDKSqWu6w&feature=autoshare
I can't make it to the departure location because I left Scala at 8.30am and need to sleep. I am later told that 30 or so vehicles set off. They have a massive task as they are travelling through Europe to Northern Africa then across North Africa to Libya before joining further vehicles there around 23rd October.
In the evening I can see Hasna has updated Facebook to say the convoy have reached France - well done crew...wish I was with you.
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