CHARLIE ALICE RAYA

‘Hello, everyone, and welcome back to our live coverage of day one of phase two of our town project,’ Mudiwa said, facing the camera. ‘We are in the courtyard of the Front House and with us now are Kim Bower, head of the landscape architects, and Jason Eagles, head of the architects.’
Kim Bower, a tall woman, white, athletic, dark haired, in her early thirties, and Jason Eagles, sturdy, black, twisted curls, in his late forties, flanked Mudiwa while Rose gave them a thumbs up from behind the camera.
‘Good morning, Kim and Jason.’ Mudiwa said. ‘Thank you so much for meeting us this early.’
‘No problem,’ Kim replied. ‘We wanted to inspect the Front House roof gardens anyway.’
‘Great,’ Mudiwa said. ‘Kim, you joined the project from Canada, didn’t you?’
Kim nodded. ‘Yes. Tom Holbon knew me from several projects, and he invited me to the first Easy Town meeting at his estate.’
‘So you’ve been with the project from the beginning?’
‘Yes. And no regrets.’
Mudiwa smiled. ‘Jason, you were at the first meeting, too?’
‘Oh, yes. And what a meeting! There was so much doubt among us, but as time passed, this doubt slowly transformed into some kind of explorer spirit, like: It’s crazy, but we could try it, couldn’t we?’
Mudiwa chuckled. ‘How did you hear about the project, Jason?’
‘For that first meeting, it was all Tom pulling strings and using his extensive contacts. So, a day before the meeting, I got a call from someone who said that Tom had heard about me and wanted me for a thing. Well, I couldn’t resist. I mean, this was Tom calling … So, I left the Isle of Wight, my home here in the UK, took the next plane across the Atlantic, and there I was — and I stayed.’
‘That was exactly five months ago, wasn’t it?’
Kim and Jason chuckled.
‘Yes, on the first of April,’ Kim said. ‘We made a few jokes about that — at first.’
Jason nodded. ‘Weeks later, Alice said that the town will always celebrate its anniversary on the first of April to remind us never to take ourselves too seriously.’
Mudiwa shook her head. ‘I didn’t know that. Say, Kim, how far have you come since that first of April?’
Kim smiled. ‘Through the universe and back again with bags full of goodies.’
Jason laughed. ‘That’s a good one.’
Kim smiled and added a little thoughtfully: ‘When we did the first draft for our town, back at Tom’s, we worked without limits, letting our imagination fly. As a result we have this huge amount of ideas, in my case ideas for gardens, and quite frankly, I could fill several cities with those garden ideas. Now, in this second phase, our shaping phase, we will have to focus on which ideas to use for our first town.’
‘What’s so special about Easy Town?’ Mudiwa challenged.
‘Uh, a big one,’ Jason said. ‘There are several central points where our town deviates from other towns. Our town has a purpose, a focus, something to aim for. Our town will be built for the towners, for their communal life. Our town attempts to restore nature and find a way to coexist with it. In our town health plays a central role. Our town leaves nothing to chance. Instead we compose our town thoughtfully. Our town will interweave everything it has to offer: a welcoming town layout, great architecture, amazing gardens, incredible clinics, inspiring arts, ingenious crafts, progressive businesses, inspiring education, uplifting parties and more.’
‘Wow!’ Rose exclaimed from behind the camera and clapped her hand over her mouth, blushing. ‘Sorry!’
The others chuckled, and Mudiwa said: ‘I have so many questions. Let me start with this one: What does it mean when a town has a purpose, a focus, something to aim for?’
Kim smiled. ‘A town with a purpose brings together people from around the world who share an interest, a passion, a calling, people who want to further explore the topics they are interested in and who want to share their findings.’
Jason nodded. ‘A town with a focus, picks one main topic and builds pretty much everything around that. Our first town will focus on the neurological patient.’
Mudiwa smiled and put her head to one side. ‘What does it mean when a town focuses on the neurological patient?’
‘A lot of things,’ Jason said. ‘The town: layout, architecture, green spaces, gardens, arts, businesses, research, everything we design and do has the needs of the neurological patient as its starting point.’
Kim nodded. ‘Our aim is to create an environment that is as nurturing for our scientists as it is for our patients, and for everyone else.’
Jason chuckled. ‘It’s all about this fascinating slimy stuff in our heads, and we will build an amazing place for our amazing brains so that we can be at our most relaxed and most ingenious, and so that our patients can heal.’
Kim nodded: ‘To make this possible, we work with seven main project teams: the Design Team, the Health and Care Team, the Ecology and Agriculture Team, the Economics and Business Team, the Arts and Crafts Team, the Research and Education Team and the Admin and Society Team. Jason’s and my team, Architecture and Landscape Architecture, are part of the Design Team.’
‘I’m impressed,’ Mudiwa said.
‘Really?’ Jason teased. ‘We’re only getting started.’
‘Don’t let me stop you.’
‘Kim already mentioned that a town with a purpose brings together people who are interested in a similar field. So, in our town most people will have some connection to neurology, most notably scientists, lecturers, doctors, nurses, therapists and helpers who specialise in neurology or related fields.’
Kim nodded. ‘People like the gardeners in The Senses Garden, the craftspeople in the wheelchair workshop, the artists who do projects with the patients, the cooks at the clinics, or the admin specialists who take care of all the patient’s paperwork will also have a direct connection to the recovery processes of our patients.’
Jason smiled. ‘Then there are the neurological patients themselves. And we pay special attention to the family and friends of patients. We will support them, offer them flats, jobs and networking opportunities if they want to stay in town for their friend or relative. In our town, they will not be alone but find all the support they need.’
Kim nodded. ‘There will also be people with no direct link to neurology, like the primary school teacher, the baker or the waste water worker.’
‘Nonetheless,’ Jason said, ‘we hope that everyone who moves into town will have some interest in neurology and that the towners as a group will have a shared interest in providing the best possible environment for neurological patients, an environment which is both calming and stimulating.’
Kim smiled. ‘And we believe that a place which is beneficial for the injured brain, will be beneficial for all other brains, too. As I said earlier—’
Suddenly Rose made frantic signs from behind the camera.
‘Oh,’ Mudiwa uttered and smiled into the camera. ‘We have to take another break. These are Kim Bower and Jason Eagles. Thank you so much for watching. We’ll be back soon. Stay tuned.’
Rose turned off the camera and said: ‘They are here! They are here! Jargal spotted them. They are outside of the Front House, on the square.’
Kim and Jason exchanged a smile, and Kim said: ‘Then we’d better slip away.’
Jason nodded. ‘We want to let them settle in before we drag them back to work.’