The Paper - February 26, 2015

Page 1

Volume 45 - No. 09

February 26, 2015

by lyle e davis

Some day, way in the future, some archeologist is going to be stymied on the origin of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the Sahara desert so I claim here and now that I introduced them via the Algerian army escort that we had (it was a bit of a war zone at the time . . . ). Brian introduced them to Wagon Wheels, a British chocolate and marshmallow concoction. They made us honorary Captains of the Algerian Army - that’s just how popular my p&b’s and Brian’s Wagon Wheels were . . . .) Janene Possell Shepherd Just one of many stories that came out of the Rainbow Rover Humanitarian Missions.

Most of us don’t get a chance to hobnob with royalty . . . or with world famous movie stars and other bright lights in the entertainment world.

Brian and Janene with two translators and Marianne Foster from the BBC who accompanied the convoy. The BBC presented a documentary on the Rainbow Rovers in addition to a daily news update on 'Pebble Mill' - early days of satellite transmissions.

Brian with Sir David Steel who was head of the UK Liberal Party at the time and helped drive a lorry (truck) to the camps.

Brian and Janene Shepherd did, and do.

It all started in Jollie Olde England. Brian and Janene were just two of the people that made Olde England so Jollie.

Brian was in the music and entertainment business so it was natural that he’d meet the biggest names in that stellar world. Janene was an actress, as well as part of the music world, so she, too, got to meet a lot of the other stars. Because of the circles they traveled in, and because of the reputation they both had earned as caring people who always accomplished their mission(s) it wasn’t long before the rich and powerful called upon them to lend a hand to the less fortunate. Janene takes the story from here:

“One of the biggest projects we were involved in was the Rainbow Rovers humanitarian convoys to the Saharawi refugee camps in the Sahara Desert, southwestern Algeria.

In 1988 Brian was asked by Lord Winchilsea to accompany him to the refugee camps because of Brian's involvement with Band Aid and Live Aid. Chris Winchilsea or Lord Winchilsea, the Late Earl of Winchilsea and Nottingham, was the biggest mover behind the humanitarian convoys to the The Paper - 760.747.7119

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President Abdelaziz of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic in his Rainbow Rovers sweatshirt and hat hosted a dinner for the team, a great honor. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize two years later and is one of the longest serving African Presidents.

A photo from the second convoy - they visited a school during their first convoy and noticed that children who had either had polio or suffered a mine explosion only had sticks to walk with so in the second convoy they brought a truck of secondhand childrens' sized crutches and were guests of honor the next day at a soccer match. Some used their crutches to run with, others hit the ball with theirs, it didn't matter as long as they could run and play the game. Very cool.

Saharawi camps. An absolutely lovely man with the biggest

A group of children from the camps came and stayed with the Shepherds in their village. The Bibury Village school got involved and created personal boxes for each child to welcome them. Actually the whole village got involved, it was awesome. The children that came to stay in the UK for about a month were chosen by their teachers based on how hard they worked in school.

Brian and Janene in the Saharawi Reception Center upon arrival. It was a massive (but fun) effort and they could hardly believe they had made it. The next day, there were many thousands of refugees lining their route into the first camp. Serious tears.

heart ever, he was the main mover behind it all - once he had roped Brian and then myself into his passion, we were up and raising funds, participants and awareness.

The Rainbow Rovers Continued on Page 2

At these amazing refugee camps, the two cooked up a plan to bring rainbow colored vehicles from UK filled with medical and education supplies and bring


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