It’s James aka Tuxey…

Hey, my name is James but everybody calls me Tuxey. Im 17 years old and doing my HSC at Cumberland High School. I live in the Seven Hills area. Ive
been a Christian for 5 years and loving every minute of it.

This will be my first stump ever and what a great one it will be. This is going to be the most fun but the hardest thing i have ever done. Hopefuly I’ll get to see all you guys soon.

GUNNA BE SICK!!!

(We’ll check with Tuxey later whether he means ’sick=good’ or if he’s been sneaking a peak at our food challenge recipe list!)

Welcome to Tim (picture below), survivor #6 and Dylan, survivor #5.

Tim’s details are up on the survivors page, but Dylan is playing it like the international man of mystery that he is. His details will be uploaded when available.

One down… nineteen to go! The first survivor has taken his place in the Blackstump slum. Here’s James in his own words…

I was kind of a bit stumped when asked to describe myself so I went to a couple of friends who kind of described my best characteristic as being ’stupidly optimistic’ in just about every situation.

I’m currently in my second year of a counselling degree at Tabor college in Sydney and I work casually at a Christian campsite teaching little kiddies to shoot archery and doing other outdoor rec stuff.

I live in Bowral and its a really weird place to be…theres like 8 old people to every person under 30. They’re everywhere and they smell funny. One thing thats cool though is that I go to the same church that Sir Don went to! We’re on the Bradman tour and everything!

I love going camping, bushwalking, playing union (not league!) and hanging out with friends. I think during slum survivor I’ll be the sort of person that won’t hold back! When I’m eating rice in the mud , freezing in a dirty slum with fat mozzies eating me I’ll still have have a big smile on my face while everyone else is having a depressive episode. I don’t play dirty but I do things tough and take them as they are. It’s going to be a interesting weekend!

Survivors page updated

When we ran Slum Survivor at Stump in 2004, one of the challenges - certainly the most watched challenge, and the challenge that scored the loudest cries of disgust and horror and the most near-vomiting experiences - was the food challenge.

We weren’t really very culturally appropriate, in that a lot of the food we’d chosen (like preserved duck eggs or seaweed) aren’t really common food in slums, but we did expose people to a lot of new taste sensations. (It was a bit tricky finding food that was challenging and also safe.

Here are a few of the foods that Survivors had to chew, swallow and keep down:

• Raw chilli
• Preserved duck egg
• Chicken feet
• Pig’s intestines

Take our food challenge poll and tell us which food you’d least like to eat…

*General note about challenges: Attempting the challenges is compulsory, but completing them isn’t. Several Slum Survivors, when faced with a foodstuff of, um, unusual flavour, texture, appearance and smell, chose not to eat it. Some would say they were the smart ones. (FAQs updated)

We have confirmed the prize(s) that will be flung at all who survive.

First, there’s the glory that will accrue to all Slum Survivors. Your names will go down in legend… Well, at least Stump legend… Anyway, you’ll probably be talked about on the Stump discussion boards.

More seriously, though, you’ll have been through a challenging, inspiring and life-changing (maybe a little bit) event that will stretch your horizons. And through you, everyone at Stump will have been challenged and inspired.

As for the loot, booty, prizes, gear and stuff that you’ll receive for being part of Slum Survivor:

• Thanks to the generosity of Stump, everyone who survives will receive free entry to Stump 2007.
• You’ll be proud to wear the fabled Slum Survivor t-shirt.
• For something to inspire your reflections and actions when you leave the slum, we’ll give you a copy of Steve Bradbury’s book, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Love.We’ll update the FAQs, whenever news like this comes to light.

So, Slum Survivors will be eating two meals a day of rice and daal. What exactly is daal?

To answer that question and prepare for their ordeal, Survivors-in-training really ought to test themselves on this delicious and nutritious dish. When you’re done, take the Daal poll…

Recipe for Channa Daal

• 1 cup chana daal (a type of lentil)
• 7 cup water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp cumin powder
• 1/4 tsp corriander powder
• 1 tblsp tamarind pulp
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tblsp vegetable oil
• 1/4 tsp black mustard seeds
• 1 chopped garlic clove

Preparation

• Soak the chana daal in 4 cup water for 2-3 hours then wash and drain.
• Boil 3 cups water and the salt in a pan.
• Add the chana dal, cover the pan and cook over medium flame for 30 min.
• Stir the dal when cooked.
• Add cayenne, turmeric, cumin, coriander, sugar the tamarind pulp (skin & seeds removed).
• Stir well and allow to simmer uncovered.
• In a separate frying pan, heat the vegetble oil over low heat and add the mustard seeds and chopped garlic to it.
• When the oil gets hot, add the oil mixture to the simmering pot of dal.
• Immediately cover the pot and keep covered for 2 min. while the dal continues to simmer.
• Cook chana daal uncovered for another 5 min. and the dal is ready to be served with rice or bread.

If you want to see what Slum Survivor was like when we ran it two years ago, check out the newly uploaded photo gallery.

The only thing that the photos really can’t convey is the viciously cold and wet weather we had while we were building that slum house. We started construction at about 4pm and finished up around 8:30pm, in the pitch dark. Even with a coat on I was soaked from head to toe, and from outside to inside. In fact, I didn’t completely dry out until about 3pm the next day.

If you don’t believe me, here’s an ABC news stories from Friday October 1, 2004: Wild weather lashes NSW central coast (it also lashed Appin!) and this snippet from the Bureau of Meteorology:

NSW October 2004: Extremes in rainfall, temperature, hail and wind.

Overview: October in NSW was a month of extreme weather events. The beginning of the month saw an intense low-pressure cell bring strong winds, heavy rain and cold temperatures to various locations in NSW.

Have you got what it takes to be a Slum Survivor?

Get cracking and apply and if you’re chosen as a Slum Survivor, you’ll even get to feature on the website of the same name!

Only 51 sleeps until Blackstump.*

And this year, for only the second time in Stump history, we’ll be running the all-in simulation, Slum Survivor! This site is still under construction, but hopefully you’ll be able to find out everything about Slum Survivor here before too long.

Why are we doing it?

In a nutshell, because it’s a fun, challenging and edgy way to help Stumpers engage with the issues of urban poverty. This is reality: about 1 billion people on the planet live in slums and if things keep going the way they’re going, there’ll be 2 billion people in slums by 2030.

Global poverty is not just a sad bit of news, or an interesting statistic. It’s the biggest tragedy, the starkest moral issue, and maybe even the worst crime, in the world today. And all of us can do something about it.

We agree with Nelson Mandela:

Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.

And overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life.

So, if you’d like to have your horizons stretched, and help challenge everyone at Stump to think about and find ways to respond to poverty… If you’d like to reflect on Jesus’ call to take his love into all the hard places of the world… Then join in.

It’s not for the faint-hearted. Having spent 4 hours in the pouring rain and wind building a slum house when we ran it 2 years ago, I can guarantee that. But it’s fun, challenging, and hopefully just a bit inspiring too.

*(Less than that if you’re a student and you pull a few all-nighters, or a parent with a vomiting child who won’t let you sleep!)