Archive for December, 2010

Christmas is many things to many people. It is meant to be a time of good tidings and great cheer. Sadly to many this will not be a reality because of personal sadness, maybe oppression, heart ache and uncertainty. In this, what to Christians the world over, is a time of joy and remembrance of their Lord and Saviours birth, it is also a time that extremist Muslims of different faith plot to rout misery and destruction for whatever pleasure or purpose that is both ill founded and unfounded.

The giving of presents in centuries past, was left to Boxing Day , when the servants and the underprivileged where given the left overs in boxes, whereas Christmas Day would have been a somber time when few would have ventured out of doors. I recount being told by my grandmother many years ago that such a day ( and in fact most Sundays) were spent reading the Bible in silence….not just for a few moments , but hours on end, often in candle light.

How things have changed. Today Christmas Day is a time of giving and receiving gifts , from Garden and DIY vouchers, to Ipods, X Boxes, Radio controlled Helicopters to fashion label clothing. The next day ( Boxing Day) has become synonymous with shops having sales at greatly reduced prices. It will be interesting this year (2010) to see if shoppers react with the same vigor of past years , as shops leading up to Christmas have been heavily discounting prices as fewer people are spending.

As a boy in the 1950′s it was a gift of either a handkerchief or a pair of socks, to which we always had to appear grateful.Times ( and money) in those days were so much harder ( but happier) than they are now almost sixty years later.

Christmas  is also a great time for reflection . It comes often in the presence of family and friends and often leads up to us making New Years resolutions  …some we do our best to keep, whilst others start with good intention only to find the wish list becomes wishful thinking!

I would like to share a small number of photos that reflect a poignant memory of 2010.

Interspersed with happiness came the immense sadness of losing our 2 and a half  year old granddaughter Evie Amore ( Callander). We can not even comprehend the emptiness and sadness that  Rachel and Sam must feeling on an ongoing day to day basis on the loss of their little only child.

The second photograph was snapped after waiting for almost half an hour. It was a case of waiting for this magnificent bird to fly exactly at the right height and for the sun to shine so the white spray would be illuminating in the background. And no skill on my part…  just point and shoot….. and hope that my timing is spot on. An undoubted highlight of what must be one of the greatest jaw dropping must see tourist attractions in the world…The Igussau Falls. Great things are worth waiting For!!!

The next photograph shows how many of the worlds poor are forced to live. On the outskirts of Bogata , on a flood plain  this house is flooded all year round. When I took this photograph it was during the “dry” season  . Recent flooding in the area will mean that the inhabitants would be forced to live on the roof. ( or worst). Evidence that if we have a dry house, a little cash in our pockets, and the basic life necessities , we are better off than 93% of the worlds population. Humbling Eh??!!!

Photo Four is of a little boy doing some  “school ” work in the back of a very small shop in Puna, Peru. He is one of the very lucky ones. He has a mother who encourages him to learn, even though he is unable to go to a school .Puna is the city (100,000 inhabitants) on the shore of Lake Titicaca. At 12,400+ feet it has a wow factor as well as leaving you slightly breathless, as you meet the gentle, friendly and gracious Uros people. 147 floating reed islands and  glorious clear blue skies makes this a must see transit point on route out of Peru to La Paz Bolivia.

Photo Five, shows one remarkable “snap shot ” of a Colombian man balancing on his chair. Taken out of the window of a moving car ” this point and shoot” shot only required two things….one for the man to remain in frame and secondly for him to remain on his seat!!. But as we saw as we walked around sewage flowing around in streets, houses made of corrugated cardboard, scraps of iron held together by twine, life is a balancing act.No government support or hand outs. No work …. no income… no eat!

As for this man???…..well he must be on his lunch break….besides it was Saturday afternoon!

Photo 6 The final one chosen out of close to 8,500 photographs…is one really tugs at my heart strings every time I see it. This beautiful little girl ( not one we personally sponsor) but is  part of  the Compassion/ TEAR Fund program where children are for the first time in their lives, are given the best chance to break the poverty trap, by a caring loving sponsor somewhere in the world. Despite her beautiful smile, her grooming and her clean clothes, chances are that she lives in the slums described earlier.She is one of the blessed ones…..for a meagre $1.50 a day sponsorship.

It is moments such as these that makes us want to do more ….. and I cannot stress that sponsoring of these little ones makes the greatest life changes imaginable for that child..And for a little more ( the cost of one or more of the books featured ) 150 children will have completed classrooms .

In this time of Western affluence it takes such  little effort to make a difference.And to see a child smile that comes all the way from their little heart makes you realise the importance of the important things in life.

Merry Christmas to all my wonderful readers wherever in the world you are.

I look forward to writing to you in 2011.

Lindsay Walker

Christmas Eve 2010

Oamaru New Zealand

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