Unsung Heroes :.
I had fun interviewing members of the Brunei Chess Federation Everest Base Camp Expedition team (phew! What a mouthful and a half!) this evening. They talked for three whole hours about their experience, and I have to condense it to a 900 word article.
But I doubt words will ever suffice to describe their experiences.
Despite being exhausted from a late night, and a hectic day of baking, I made my way to The Arch and waited for both expedition members to appear. I am so grateful to V.C for getting people to see me at such short notice. I sat entranced (yet sleepy) when they regaled me with tales of fears, exhaustion, heartache, sickness and absolute joy.. I felt so priveleged as they narrated their story with a slideshow of pictures, and I could see from little gestures and facial tics what affected them deeply. At times, I was almost in tears, but I hid them by scribbling madly in my notebook, sixteen pages of incomprehensible chicken scratch/scrawl by the end.
Yet in a crowded cafe, they were just two ordinary people, that went largely ignored, except for the rapt audience of one. Yes, they only made it to Everest Base Camp, but that’s an achievement in itself.. and effort worth celebrating, considering they were the first Bruneians up there. In a nation full of lazy idiots and ignorants, they were a shining example and a beacon of hope of what could be..
Three hours later, I put my pen down, exhausted, thanked the gentlemen for my tea, took pictures, and slumped in my little red Chevy, and wept. I wept for the team members who didn’t make the climb.. I wept for the members who did make it, and were awed by the sheer majesty of the view they saw.. I wept for the hardships and financial troubles that they went through, as at the end, for all their goodness.. (Their trip was basically a fundraiser to help the poor in Brunei..) they were truly unsung heroes.
So it’s my turn, it’s time to do my part and tell their story. I doubt I’ll make it through the whole thing without tears, but you know what.. this is the part of the job I love the most.. The telling of the story.. Let’s hope I get it right.
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Now playing: Dashboard Confessional – The Best Deceptions
via FoxyTunes
