Season Two Episode Seven 

Introducing Jane Best OBE, Legend of Fuji Rock

"I've had such a variety of experiences ... I think it's really important; make the most of good opportunities; even in the time of the pandemic find what there is good in life, I mean it's great isn't it, and people are great ...generally!"

You will see Jane's great lust for life come through in this Legend. She is a force for good, and from an early age overcame chronic shyness and discovered debating. this led to a heightened political awareness and a theme that runs through Jane's work is a combination political activism and awareness, learning and unlearning how to give support and service, especially in the form catering and cooking. She has made Shepherds Pie for the Rolling Stones, released a book about traditional English cooking in Japanese, and has visited numerous refugee projects that Refugee Empowerment International has funded over the years. Jane has an optimism and enjoyment of life that is clear to anyone as well as numerous stories that will educate and inspire. Now in her 60s she lives in the far West of Tokyo in the most idyllic house in the mountains next to the river

***Trigger warning - we talk about colonial harm experienced in Africa, we discuss the attitude of white people living full time in Zambia, we discuss South Africa during apartheid and use some of the language of that regime descriptively. Please take care listening as we may be clumsy but I believe these stories should be told lest they are lost***

In this episode we talk about:

• Growing up in a village 100 yards from the sea South of London “I don’t ever remember learning to swim”
• How she found her way out of chronic shyness
• Being a young woman in the 60s and 70s and getting involved in the student’s union, music and marches and demonstrations
• Sex, NOT <drugs> booze and rock n roll
• Moving to Zambia and having a rude awakening
• The confusion of apartheid South Africa and the complexity of the horrific system of apartheid and how dehumanising it is for everybody in the system
• Hitch hiking from Zambia to Kenya through Tanzania (Zambia borders Malawi, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia and Zimbabwe) and the ‘dream city’ of Nairobi
• The return to the UK, her first marriage and getting itchy feet and arrival in Japan 30+ years ago
• The waste of the Bubble Years and post-Bubble starting a British food restaurant; 1066
• Starting 1066 Fish & Chip stall, in her 40s, at the first Fuji Rock Music Festival in 1996, and becoming the British Queen of Fuji Rock!
• What is Refugee Empowerment International and what is the approach to funding projects and supporting displaced people?
• How important financial support is to support refugees in getting their businesses and projects of the ground - it is not a case of skill, expertise or intelligence; it is a case of resources
• Jane elaborates on our Refugee Empowerment International (REI) projects on the Thai-Myanmar border, Lebanon and Nairobi, and encourages everyone to take opportunities and make the most of them
• “People are great”. She says. "Well most of them!"
• And so much more...

"PEOPLE WHO ARE DISPLACED JUST WANT A NORMAL LIFE - THEY WANT TO RETURN HOME, OR BE CLOSE TO HOME".

Brilliant ways to gift friends or support our projects 

https://rei-npo.org/en/get-involved/