Health and safety, Indian style!

There's a construction organisation here called "Condident Group" who are building apartment blocks, shopping malls etc. all over Bangalore and Tamil Nadu. Yesterday the recently cast 20th floor of an under construction apartment block slowly collapsed downward taking successive lower floors as it yielded to gravity. It took 50 minutes as collapse was slowed by the rebar bending / pulling out. No one was killed but a few hurt falling over things in escape runs. The injured were treated at hospital and then the whole site was whizzed away by the company to an undisclosed location. Police who arrived to investigate were simply told to p........ off.

Peaches Geldoff.

I always think you can be a little more adventurous with a girl’s name than a boy’s. Paula Yates and Bob Geldof have certainly pushed these boundaries to the limit. In a strange way though, I think the name ‘Peaches’ has gradually grown on me.

Bob Geldof has had to endure a lot of criticism since the death of Paula Yates, especially with regards to his daughter. I am sure Bob could have taken a more effective role in the parenting of his daughter by his own admission, but I’m certain that could go for most parents, never mind those in the glare of constant publicity, from a media ready to pounce on the least transgression. It must be even harder to be strict on a daughter who at an early age has dipped her toe in the ‘ocean of plenty’, tasted the sweetness of notoriety, and found herself quite liking it.
Peaches was quoted as saying ‘I felt like thirty when I was thirteen’. Children are too eager to become adult these days, whether it is dressing provocatively, smoking, drinking, having girl friends/boy friends, and taking part in adult type relationships. With both parents often working these days, the proliferation of computers and game consoles, all of which detract from ‘family participated activities’. Maybe children are prematurely searching for ‘love and attention’ that is often so lacking at home, in the only other way that is constantly presented to them.

Cruelty or curiosity.

Cruelty or curiosity, torture or medical experiment, justice or revenge?

What if you caught your child burning ants with a magnifying glass? Would I bother you less than if you found him torturing a mouse with a soldering iron? How about the family cat or even his own sister?

Does Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the infamous Guantanamo detainee who says he personally beheaded reporter Daniel Pearl, deserve the rights he denied Mr Pearl? And if so which? A painless execution? Exemption from capital punishment? Decent prison conditions?

Changing a child to fit society.

Nine-year-old Ashley had her uterus and breast buds removed, as well as doses of hormones to stop her growing taller. The mother of fifteen-year-old Katie also wanted her daughter’s womb removed, but was prevented from doing so by an ethical row that subsequently erupted.

Bob Benson, Scope’s community development director, recently said ‘We mustn’t change the child to fit society, we need to change society to meet the needs of the child’. An idealistic statement, or one that maybe doesn’t take into account the stress and difficulty of living with and caring for a severely disabled child.

I should imagine most parents have concerns about the future for their children, a desire to see them settled, happy and secure. Ashley suffers from severe and permanent brain damage, she has the mental ability of a three-year-old baby…she cannot walk or talk. Before we condemn, judge and spout on about ‘abuse of human rights’, we need to scratch below the surface and think a little deeper.

Parenthood is about raising a baby through to adulthood, seeing them develop in character, blossom and mature, become independent. To care and to cherish…the love you receive in return that makes it all worthwhile. Parents, such as those of Ashley and Katie have a life sentence of caring responsibility, with few of the aspirations and rewards that we often take for granted.
What seems to many as inhuman, are in fact desperate measures to cope. Support and understanding is what is required. What is right for one parent is not what is right for another. From my own perspective, control of menstruation could be important, where breast bud removal and hormones to stop growth maybe going a little too far. I don’t think you can underestimate for a minute the devotion, dedication and sacrifice involved in caring for a severely disabled child. How can the caring parent of such a special child be perceived as selfish or abusive…so easy to condemn, immensely difficult to live the reality.

Cesar Manrique.

Who is Cesar Manrique you may ask! A few weeks ago I would have asked the very same question, but as our family holiday to Lanzarote draws to a close, I find the same name has been encountered numerous times over the last two weeks. It seems as if this man meant so much to so many people and his legacy as "Lanzarote's most famous son", is richly deserved.

Cesar Manrique was born in Arrecife, on April 24th 1919, and sadly died in a car accident on the 25th September 1992, at the age of 73. He became involved in many things during his life, he was a painter, sculptor, architect, ecologist, monument preserver, construction advisor, planner of urban developments, outliner of landscapes and gardens.

His profound influence on Lanzarote's development was inspired by its amazing volcanic landscape, so much so that he built his studio home on top of a volcanic trail, formed from an eruption that occurred between 1730 to 1736.

Malone Outrage!

Carole Malone's outrageous comments in the News Of The World on August 17th condemn her to the depths of gutter journalism. This relates to her comments on Colin Stagg and his £706,000 compensation payout for being accused of the murder of Rachel Nickell. She describes Colin Stagg as "unsavoury and unlikable", as well as stating "as much as it pains me to say it, he is entitled to compensation". Malone also goes on to question if Colin Stagg would have achieved anything notable in the last 15 years that justified a reasonable salary. The series of events that followed the tragic death of Rachel have resulted in poor Colin Stagg being condemned as a national hate figure and unable to get a job, something that is going to affect him for the rest of his life! It sounds a lot of money, but do you think it is worth the media attention he has had to endure, the humiliation, to be shunned by society.

God help you if your background is less than perfect, you are accused of a serious crime and a narrow minded bigot like Carole Malone is on the jury! The majority of her comments have nothing to do with justification for compensation, in fact I feel she has little appreciation of what compensation is all about! Her opinion amounts to nothing more than a character assassination of a man unable to defend himself.

It must be devastating to be accused of murder, especially of one so brutal and callous.

Unconditional Love.

I recently read a moving article in the July edition of Candis. In it Lauren Booth described how, as an adult, she broke off all contact with her Mother, after a difficult Mother-Daughter relationship that started to go wrong as early as when she was two!

Lauren seemed to put it down to the fact that she looked and sounded too like her father Tony Booth, who was very famous for his role in 'Till Death Us Do Part'. Lauren even described her mothers feeling towards her as hate.

One thing that particularly stuck in my mind was her description of her Mother's reaction, when at the age of twelve, she proudly produced her school report. A quote from her year tutor read, 'Quite simply, Lauren is an asset to the class'. After reading the report and exhaling a single word in a cloud of cigarette smoke: 'Creep'.

I can only imagine at what such a comment would do to a young girl, especially from her mother! Now a mother herself, I can only identify with her delight, as her daughter Holly ran up to her, flung her arms around her, saying 'Mummy, you are really, really nice!'

Such a simple statement may not sound much, but the love of a child is one of the the most amazing things in this world! As adults, whether we are aware of it or not, we are constantly judging people and having deep rooted unconscious thoughts about them.

A child is completely different, all they need is your time, for you to show an interest in them and to show them love. What do you get in return is worth all the money in the world... their unconditional love. Something to be nurtured and treasured for a lifetime.

My daughter Kim will be eighteen in a couple of days time and as I look back over the last eighteen years, I am proud to say that not only is she the best daughter I could have ever asked for, but she is one of my best friends. Thanks Kim.