A boy on the news yesterday that he had nothing to do, where are all the youth clubs? As the old saying goes the devil finds work for those with nothing to do. It seems that we are a very selfish generation, thinking of none but ourselves. The trouble is that we are a generation that appear very selfish. It was Volunteers day a few weeks ago, and where are all the people that became Scout Masters or Mistresses, or Brown Owls or leaders of teenagers in Church, it can seem daunting to some people, but can be rewarding. It keeps people in touch with how the youth is thinking, that can help in troubled times.

An FGM clinic Closes.

I have discovered today that a clinic specialising in FGM, a lifeline for a great number of Women suffering from this barbaric practice, is closing. This was at a doctors' surgery in Acton and a lifeline to many women in that area. Ealing Council is closing their Well Women clinic which was a great support.for that area. So where is the closest clinic? There needs to be a series of clinics for this problem which is a hidden but a growing problem. There is a rumour that this clinic may stay open as there are so many people that were horrified by this and so many families it affected.

Little irritations

• On Phones: I was with Initiatives of Change at the weekend and was amazed how the MOBILE phone had taken over.  A friend said at meal times they had to leave their mobiles in another room, so they could eat together.
• On Women's rights: It is difficult at this time and working in the Middle East for women to have the same rights as some men. I was listening to someone on Radio 4 this morning who was writing songs and she felt that the music business was totally man driven and that people took no notice of what women thought. The ladies who became Suffragettes laid down their lives to get the vote.
• On Organophosphates: Andy Burnham MP was looking into the effects Organophosphates have on any one who has sheep dipped. He was the only person that highlighted this problem which effected a small but unheard section of the farming population. There are many that have taken their own lives because of how it had effected their lives. 
• On FMG: How FGM had been such a pivotal action in the being of so many families here and the middle east. It needs to outlawed world wide. I even met someone in London who was saying this last week!

Lets hope that for most it is
A Happy New Year ! ! !
Veronica Morris.

At last News from Nigeria!

We have been waiting so long for news of those school girls kidnapped by Boko Haram and today 21 were released, the parents were there and there! The name of the town was Chibok from where the girls  were taken. There are 190 girls still kept. The girls are among thousands of adults and children who had been abducted by Boko Haram.
Negotiation with the Nigerian government had been complicated by the splits within Boko Haram.
Isis with which this group is affiliated  with, they too have removed a couple of activists.
Since they have, they were an armed group and controlled a swath of land the size of Belgium at the start of 2015, but Nigeria's army has recaptured most of the territory, so what will happen next?

Who are those poaching the world's most endangered species?

I am horrified that so many animals are being poached

There is no telling that the Ivory from Elephants and the Tusks from the Rhino which are being decimated by the poachers. The general public are still buying merchandise from these animals not realising that this is just promoting the slaughter. Money speaks with Poaching, creatures that might be wiped out and the thought of losing these beautiful creatures, such as tigers although most of these creatures may never be seen by any of us.
These creatures are here at the moment and we are the stewards of the planet but if we let these animals disappear so that our grandchildren will not be able to see these wonderful animals and will we able to tell them that we were to greedy as a race that we have lost all these special part of this earth.   

Sad Sudan

What is going on in South Sudan? It is never talked about and hardly ever reported from. How do we know what is happening there? One brave lady came to talk to us about it at a meeting in the house. I kept asking her why did she go to South Sudan. She said that she was a teacher and with a friend who was HIV positive set up a school in Nimule near Juba. The two of them had started a school, they had encouraged the diaspora to stay and join the school. They had got 60 on the school role.
Rebecca is a very self effacing young lady and there were a great many people who had come out to see both of them and Rebecca was moved as she says "moved by the spirit" and talked to all the people and told them how they had been guided to start the school.
She had never spoken in public before but as I say she felt that they should know how it had all come about. A remarkable lady that moved us as we listen to her.

We were with a prayer on our lips of to keep her safe!

An MS weekend

On Saturday 17th of September I went with a friend to the MS weekend which they held at the Excelcentre in East London, We went to the first talk. I had felt as I had lived on a farm in Wales and had treated the sheep with Sheep dip and was using Organophosphates and felt that this had been the thing that triggered the MS.
I spoke to a Professor that was speaking at the conference that I felt was the start of the condition. He felt that it wasn't proven that there was no proof that there was a link, Many people suffering from this would strongly disagree. There are many farmers who have committed suicide because their means of living had gone.
I was invited by Andy Burnham and another lady member of Parliament who were very concerned for the farmers and felt the Government should recognise there is a link. What has to happen before someone starts to eat away the government's insistence that all these symptoms are in our mind?
Thirty years ago this started, how can those few farmers get recognition this has happened to them.
It has ruined so many lives why hasn't this been proved?