Love Healing 2011 Tour
This year’s tour kicked off at Centreprise Bookshop in Hackney on Saturday 2nd July. Ras Daniel Babu had been at this venue two years earlier – courtesy of the Ethiopian World Federation (Sister Wolete Gabreal), who hosted him again in 2011.
Despite the late start a full-house audience attended. All listened attentively to Sister Kandeka’s power-packed presentation, punctuated by graphic images of the brain and the nervous system, and detailing technical information on the impact of stress on the human body.
Ras Babu’s talk was spiced with the usual humorous anecdotes. He emphasised the increasing pace of modern life and the extreme toll of the rat-race on our internal organs – particularly the kidneys, liver, spleen and heart. He cited this factor as fundamental to the pandemics of stroke, obesity, high blood- pressure and diabetes that were rampant in the international Black community.
Both were loudly applauded for their differing but complementary discourses on stress. Ital meals (topped off with authentic Ethiopian injira) were served in the break, followed by a lively Q+A session.
The enjoyable and informative evening began and ended with drums and chanting from the EWF crew in attendance.
This opening event set the benchmark for a whirlwind tour of the UK community. Two days later on Monday 4th July Ras Babu was featured at the Open House in Bow, a community health facility affiliated to MIND, organised by the enthusiastic Sister Adda. There was much interaction with a highly focused audience, who asked many pertinent questions on the dietary changes they should make to combat stress-related illnesses. A deliciously thick vegetable stew – accompanied by some tasty sorrel – rounded off the afternoon’s proceedings.
On Wednesday 6th July another new venue in North London, Open the Gate, co-ordinated by Ras Robert, was the pleasant setting for the third lecture. A basement hall crammed to capacity listened spellbound to a mic-ed presentation from the charismatic healer. A wide age-range and social spread were represented in the audience. This prompted vibrant exchanges and a broader analysis of stress-levels throughout the community. Traditional remedies used by elders were recalled. Our overall responsibility to the younger generation was ‘stressed’ (! )
The following day Thursday 7th July was the turn of Theorem Music Complex in Willesden, with ace musician and radio personality Bongo Dashi chairing a panel of ‘alternative’ health practitioners. Another full-house audience was given crucial information by Bongo Dashi, Stephen Ssali, Lennox Finlayter and Ras Babu. Each therapist gave an outstanding presentation on stress from a specific discipline and perspective. As usual the programme ran beyond its intended time-frame as panellists responded to a range of questions from an audience bristling with pens and notepads.
Saturday 9th July was a special event for women conceived and facilitated by TV presenter Sister Flowers. The event was hosted by raw-food expert Derin Bepo at his Healthrestore Centre in Brixton. This time the crowd outstripped the venue. Sisters encamped in the aisle and on the stairs leading up to the spacious room where the session was held. Derin Bepo opened with a brief insightful message on the dangers of mercury and lack of sunlight. Ras Babu focused on fibroids, cancer, the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and menopause as major problems affecting young and elderly women in the community. He was besieged by sisters who queued up for information and guidance both during and after his presentation – which again ran into overtime.
On Sunday 10th July we travelled to Birmingham and were met at the city’s Bus Depot by the dynamic Empress Zauditu, head of the Sick Be Nourished international project. We were ferried to Pinnacle, the newly-opened Rastafari complex in Soho Road. After a welcome breakfast of banana porridge and coconut water Ras Babu treated several ailing members of the community before transferring to Malika House in Handsworth for the main event. A broad cross-section in age and background attended. The packed Midlands audience warmed to Ras Babu’s presence, firing myriad questions, and looking on in rapt attention as he demonstrated his ‘o-ring’ diagnosis technique. With time running out we were provided with yet another tasty ital meal for the return journey. This refreshed our spirits and sealed up a truly memorable occasion.
On Tuesday 11th July one-to-one consultations were held at the Tabernacle in Powis Square between 3pm and 10pm. Twenty people, including youths with a variety of health problems, were seen by Ras Babu and his trusted assistant, Sister Woinkpa.
Wednesday 13th July. Isis Family Health in Catford is a must venue for Ras Babu’s annual programme. Sister Sheron’s commitment is key in managing this event. This year it was the final leg of the tour. Those who had missed previous dates came out in full despite the midday scheduling. Filmed by Brother Kwame and a 2-person Channel 4 team, the event lived up to expectations. In a presentation laced with wit and humour Ras Babu wowed his audience with a hard-hitting expose of our over-reliance on western medicine. We had a solemn duty to reclaim our health by reviving traditional methods of herbal treatment. Once again there was a sumptuous meal for attendees. Once more the session overran its schedule. Ras Babu gave recorded interviews for both visual and audio media in attendance.
In addition to the above, Ras Babu was interviewed on Radio Galaxy (Saturday and Sunday 2nd and 3rd July), Radio Genesis (Tuesday 5th July), Conscious Radio (Wednesday 6th July), Ben TV (Thursday 7th July), Voice of Africa (Friday 8th July), Radio Omega (Saturday 9th July), and Mystic Radio (Monday 11th July). A crucial feature of the tour was the interest, involvement and participation of alternative therapists at most gatherings.
In summary this year’s intensive tour touched a raw nerve in the health debate, highlighting the crucial dilemma faced by the local and international community. In Ras Babu’s words we were all victims of stress, and had forgotten how to deal with it. The accelerated pace of modernity was negatively affecting our everyday lives and lifestyles. Many people skipped breakfast, ate late at night, stayed up late, were addicted to fast-foods and sugary diets, or used computers overmuch. The total picture added up to self-abuse through stressful living. In the long term this made us candidates for health disorders and chronic disease. We were no longer aligned with Nature. We were alienated from its processes, seasonal changes, and earthly remedies. In an increasingly toxic world environment we often opted for quick cosmetic fixes rather than fundamental wellbeing. To quote Ras Babu, weapons of mass destruction are in our hands: knives, forks and spoons! We queue up for seats on the Titanic. We jump over pounds to pick up a penny – bent on a crash-course in self-destruction, chasing the illusion of western culture and imbibing its synthetic medicines.
Most sessions ended with the injunction that we should ‘Live the life we love, and love the life we live.’ Love emerged as the central healing message: love of self and fellowship within the community. Our health is both an individual and communal gift of the Most High to be cherished and shared as in the days of old. Our health is our real wealth.
Ras Baku
To Contact Daniel please email babu@itzcaribbean.com