A MITE FOR A FIELD OF DREAMS
In my wallet I have a mite, a US$ bill that reached me by snail-mail from a fellow bookcrosser in Columbus, Ohio. This note I will sell to one of my Zimbabwean casuals (illegal or not - I don’t care) who can take it home where the US$ has long since replaced the Zimbabwean Dollar as legal tender. The exchange rate I’ll get would be better than taking the note to the bank who’ll deduct commission and all kind of exorbitant charges. Barter is best in Africa. What I get for the mite I’ll use to buy a book or two for Field of Dreams.
The sender used the word “mite” in the lovely letter that came with the bucks; it’s a word I haven’t heard in years
“A small coin formerly circulated in England, rated at about a third of a farthing. The name is also applied to the lepton, a small coin used in Palestine in the time of Christ; A small weight; one twentieth of a grain; Anything very small; a minute object; a very little quantity or particle.”
Nice.
Since my last post (scroll down the blog for previous entries) the Field of Dreams library project I started as a LEADSA initiative is coming together nicely.
Amecon will begin construction early in October and I’ve had a couple of cash donations (Thanks Doron of Bookdealers in Jozi for the latest) that will help to cover the balance of the building costs and other expenses. The first book donation from Book Promotions is already in the Reading Matters warehouse for storage.
I also chatted to Rasty at the Greyscale “Negative Development” exhibition last night and the PCP crew is still very much committed to create a mural at the Albert Street School. I met Faith47, one of the best mural artists in South Africa, at the exhibition who seem interested to get involved in the project. These extremely talented creatives will produce a work of beauty that will brighten up a drab city wall and bring light into the lives of the refugee and orphaned children of the Albert Street School.
The wanton destruction of PCP’s work at Melpark Primary in Melville still touches a sensitive nerve. This mural might change the views of Mrs. Rose, Sharon Sabbagh and dear Mr Jones, who so emphatically stated that Rasty’s time is past; about the positive role street art serves in an ever changing urban society like Jozi. Sadly some attitudes don’t ever change….
The “Negative Developments Exhibition” is well worth visiting if you’re interested in graffiti and street art - http://pressurecontrol.co.za/NET/ - and if you can spare a mite, send me a PM through my Live Journal or directly to dereks@read.co.za so I can give you a bank account number to use.
This library will be fully functional when the school open in January 2011.