The 46th Harry Brittain Fellowship
17 May to 24 June 2004
CAMERON THOMPSON (Australia)
The power and passion
The words of Midnight Oil's anthem "The Power and the Passion" keep running
through my head.
For me, this is what the Harry Brittain Fellowship - class of 2004 - was all
about.
The "power" - as it was described on day one - was how there would be many
doors opened to us during our six-week stay that many others would give
their right arm for.
What we did beyond those doors was up to us. And that's where the passion of the people kicked in which made the fellowship a lesson for life - professionally and personally.
Talk about passion and you're talking about the main actors at all of the
newspapers in the UK.
You could see it in their eyes, and hear it in their voices ... the
newspaper game it is not one for the faint-hearted or the half-hearted. (And
there was definitely no-one getting around with a pacemaker as far as I
could see as they gave a presentation on each of their mastheads!)
Talk about passion and you're talking about the guide at Old Trafford who
hasn't missed a Manchester United home game since the 1970s.
Mind you, he's never been allowed in the players room on match day, but as
he tells you who sits where and the routines they go through before
kick-off, you swear he must have been there in a previous life.
Talk about passion and you're talking about Colin Chapman and Bob Satchwell
who gave us a series of practical workshops on our industry ... where it's
at, where it's going wrong, where it's going right.
Talk about passion and you're talking about the coal miner in Cardiff who
had the rug pulled out from under his feet when the Thatcher Government
closed down the industry virtually overnight. Thankfully for his family he found a job taking tours down the Big Pit mine. Thankfully, his annecdotes live on as a legacy to a new generation. Thankfully five-year-old children no longer have to spend 12 hours every day in total darkness slaving away hundreds of feet below the surface.
Talk about passion and you're talking about any of the politicians we meet
in Belfast. It is amazing how many different theories there are on what is the root of
the problems and what is the way to solve them. Yet there is still no real
resolution to the whole thing, and not likely to be in the near future.
Talk about passion and you're pretty much talking about anyone in Northern
Ireland - period.
Bari Atwan from the
Al Quds newspaper |
Talk about passion and you're definitely talking about Bari Atwan from the
Al Quds newspaper. He was blindfolded and driven into the remote mountains of Afghanistan to interview Osama bin Laden. He lived to the tell the tale - just - and provided an incredible insight into this latest world conflict through the eyes of the "enemy", as it were.
Talk about passion and you're talking about the people on this year's
fellowship. Such a wide range of cultures and characters it really was an enlightening experience. Living, listening and learning from each other 24-7 for six weeks is something I will always treasure. It has opened my eyes to many new ideas and given me a total new perspective on a world that is far more complex than I believed a month or so ago.
For further information on the training programme,
contact
Jane Rangeley -
jane@cpu.org.uk
Tel: +44 20 7583 7733 Fax: +44 20 7583 6868.
