The United Kingdom probably contains one of the smallest Mandaean communities in the world, we number around one hundred and fifty to 200 people, the numbers are slowly increasing. Most of us are situated in the cities of Manchester and London.
Obviously, we can-not build a Mendi (The Mandaean equivalent of Church, Mosque of Synagogue) inbetween Manchester and London as it would not be close enough for either community. So each community has to set about finding its own solution for the problem.
The Manchester community is where the MHM is based and although we number around thirty-five to fifty peoples, we are one of the most respected and talented communities in the Diaspora (no bias involved, I promise).
Despite our talents though we have struggled to find a community centre, a religious centre, we looked at Churches and Mosques and thought they were too expensive and there just weren’t enough of us to keep the place running or full up. Also, raising sufficient money to establish this place seemed impossible. So the odds were stacked against us or so it seemed! Until one of the MHM guys (well there’s only one other one, Sam Nashi) told his parents that the space at the back of their lawn is big enough for a small baptismal pool, a sitting area and the possibility to convert the shed into a decent-sized room of worship. The location? Private, natural…Just perfect, I didn’t know why we didn’t think of it before!
We started clearing the area today, who knows; maybe it will stay just an idea (we will be bringing in a few builders though to take a look at the small site).
At least we are trying, we will succeed eventually!
Noah Kimit
