This is not really a signature story of Radio Changes. There’s no radio changes in it. But there’s radio and there’s changes. ”It’s nice to swim” is a six minutes audioscape on what Christmas sounded like in Carl Sithole Centre’s children’s home in Soweto, Johannesburg. The changing question goes: what are you grateful for?
We cycled to Carl Sithole Centre as we learned that it’s run by two Finnish people: Metti and Tero Saajoranta. We recorded the Christmas magic since what can you do when you meet a Santa speaking all the 11 official languages of SA. We asked about gratefulness since it’s one of the biggest things that surprises us here, day by day – because it’s quite often missing in front of small things and good basic life in Finland. Pardon, ei ole tarkoitus jeesustella. Usein vain tuntuu, että niin moni asia Suomessa on hyvin, että perusasioita pitää itsestäänselvyyksinä. Siksi ennen joulua syntyi tällainen juttu. Ja se, että perusasioista on kiitollinen, ei tarkoita, etteikö kaikkea voi parantaa ja kyseenalaistaa. Kiitollisuus on bensaa.
Thank you for a hot day’s Chrismas party, everyone at Carl Sithole Centre on the 18th of December 2014. A special thanks to Santa, the longtime renowned chauffeur of the Finnish Embassy in South Africa. Haha, off went the fairytale Santa magic… But this man was true magic, as were the kids’ Christmas gifts and lunch offered by the embassy staff.
Photo: Matias