Mangia876 - Launching the way Forward

Last Saturday Mangia876 had its first event and it was perfect. Don't get me wrong there was a whole lot happening under the surface but like swans we glided serenely through the evening while paddling furiously. We were able to serve up a magnificent evening.

It was perfect because we were able to do what said we would do. We wanted to create a network which represented the international nature of our lives here. Check.

We wanted people in that network to meet one more person they hadn't known before and learn something new about anything. Jamaican, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Ghanaian, Indian, South African, British ( and the list is by no means exhaustive) culture, food, attitude. Anything. Check

We wanted you to taste the wonderful blend of particular cuisines; Jamaican & Italian fused dishes cooked by our amazing British-born Indian chef. And love it. The food was amazing, so much so we had to upgrade rankings from Mangia Irie to Mangia Wicked. Check.

We wanted more than anything to raise funds for the benefit of our first project: the St Andrew Parish Church Girls' Home. We wanted you to see that there are no problems too large to tackle if we acknowledge that the tiniest contribution can make a huge difference and if we do it as a community. The accounts are in and from ticket sales, donations leading up to the night and donations and pledges on the night itself we made£4,944.52. Check.

This means we are already near that five thousand pound threshold which will allow us to become registered with the UK Charities Commission. Check.

And we wanted to move forward with you as a community. At the first event we started our £5.00 per month fund. Five pounds per month might not do much in London town. But each five pounds added to another one makes our pool deeper and our reach longer. And each five pounds can and will go a far way in Jamaica.We are almost complete with our HMRC registration which will allow us to maximise the value of each pound by attaching the Gift Aid tag. Do read about Gift Aid here. Thirteen people signed up for this commitment. We are overwhelmed and grateful. Check.

And next we will head to Jamaica to hand over proceeds, meet the wonderful girls and administrators of the Home and make more connections as we look to expand to other girls' homes. We have only just begun.

The night could not have been a success without the whole community pulling together. Without the Mangia876 project team to whom you were already introduced here and an amazing set of volunteers some of whom were pressed into service on the night but did so with grace and with a smile. Without the extended Mangia876 family in England, Jamaica and Italy who introduced us to their networks, or who was able to track down the Living Legend Mr. Bolt so we could have a signed copy of his biography for auction,or  who provided the perfect mix for the evening with what is now the patented Mangia876 soundtrack nor without the magic spark of the wonderful Skamonics ( we have already liked them on Facebook). Without the amazing sponsorship and donations from Grace Foods which provided the flavour on every dish and National Bakery who provided that special hardo bread base for our bruschetta. Without the warm cooperation of the Jamaican High Commission in London. Nothing works without community.

There is no doubt though that the most important element was you. You ate our food, you danced, you talked, you sang. You went into your pockets and filled our bowl. We owe you everything. And though thank you does not seem to be enough, grazie mille is perfect.

A Simple Mangia 876 Vision

When I was a child my world was books. We were poor but my mother always made sure I had books. Books by the score. I loved books so much that I would sometimes lay them out like a giant puzzle and look at their colourful covers. This happened more often than not after assorted major or minor flooding catastrophes which forced me to take them outside to get sun-dried. I lived Andrew Salkey's Hurricane on those days.

In this world of books there were other worlds, other countries, other lives. Rarely were there other little girls like me. And somewhere in that young me a kernel formed which would eventually push me out of Jamaica and into those worlds of imagination.I had seen the world ofJjean DaCosta's Escape to Last Man's Peak and I knew all about Miguel Street and Cricket in the Road, I lived them. I wanted to see those other worlds, the heaths the Famous Five solved mysteries on ( avoiding coves for fear of smugglers though). Tea, scones, jam, treacle were familiar tastes for me long before I had my first cream tea in Kensington. The Count of Monte Cristo and the Three Musketeers made France a must, Dickens' London, Shakespeare's Italy. I had to see them all and be there. I had to be the little girl that looked like me that I never saw in those landscapes.

Seeing real the places in my imagination have changed me. Walking along roads  on which gods would have rained down vengeance have made me different. I see the wide expanse of humanity and I feel my connection to it. I am Jamaican, always will be but I am also

more. I am human and that is who I am first and last.

With Mangia 876 I want to have a chance to help other children see more, so that they can be more. See more worlds through books and opportunity. Through travel and cultural connection. To know that their own worlds are never as small as they think they are and that anything and every thing is possible for you. Your only bar is your imagination. And if you broaden your imagination exploration is the natural result. That they are a part of this wonderful, crazy sea of humanity, they are connected and no less important than any one else.

Mangia 876 will grow because it has an imagination which is many times the size of mine. It will grow with more support, more supporters and as it grows it will help others grow.  Mangia will grow because it is not about me, it is about a community which recognises that there is nothing greater than the community and nothing works unless everybody gets it.

There is no accounting for the impact of one act, one book, one trip, one shared interaction, one discussion, one meal. It can change the course of a life. And with the recognition of that responsibility I consider it Mangia's duty to make all actions acts of truth and integrity.

Always.