Deadliest year for journalists since records began.

Since records began in 1997 by the International Press Institute (IPI) 2012 has seen the largest number of journalists killed within a year - 132 to be precise.

This article from Wannabe Hacks, explains all.

132 journalists died in 2012, article

Latin American media 2012

2012 was a rather hectic year for Latin America, with some of the most compelling media stories emerging from the region.

From Mexico, Argentina and Venezuela, this 25 minute report from Al Jazeera will give you all the scandal you may have missed in 2012.

Science of Life 24/7 NGO Promo Video

This is the promo video I produced for the NGO Science of Life 24/7, Cambodia during my three months working with them in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

If you know anyone who is interested in getting involved with some voluntary work in a developing country, or get teaching experience...this is a great organisation. You can also make a much needed donation.

Visit sols247.org to help.

Besos,

Stevie G x

LIFE FEATURE: Mehr Fardoonji: A living marvel

I speak with Mehr Fardoonji about her life including her move from India to England, her time working for the Ghandi movement as well as owning Oakcroft organic gardens in Malpas, Cheshire and her views on some environmental and social issues affecting the world today.

Photo: Mehr working her land, Oakcroft Organic 
Farm, Malpas, Cheshire.

I met Ms. Fardoonji on the rows in Watergate Street, Chester, on a very dull Friday afternoon in December. I was faced by a small, well spoken lady who told me I had thirty minutes to interview her before it got too dark - she does not like to drive home at night.  She then proceeded to guide me to the back of a tiny storeroom in the shop of a mutual friend where we met.  Next, she pointed out a place for me to sit and asked me what I wanted to know – ten minutes later and that December afternoon did not seem so dull anymore.

Born in 1930 in Lahore, she grew up in Multan, India (now Pakistan), to Parsee (Zoroastrian) parents. Mehr, now 82, came to Manchester with her mother and brother at the age of seven – her father passed away when she was five. After living a happy childhood and completing a degree at the London School of Economics she longed to return to her homeland, which she did at the age of 23, alone and by land.

“I recon I was one of the first women to do it on my own.

“I wanted to see the world. I spent seven months travelling with £70. I went across the channel and through France. I then went to Germany which was occupied by various countries at the time because it was after the war. After that I went to Vienna where I met a friend. I was hitchhiking most of the time but she and I and her boyfriend went to Yugoslavia by car. They left me there and I got the Orient Express to Istanbul, stopping in Northern Greece.

“I stayed in Istanbul for a while and travelled to some other parts of Turkey as I was interested in seeing education there. After that, I took a boat to Israel. I carried two passports (British and Indian) because I wanted to visit Arab counties as well. I stayed there for three months working on the land and things.”

Mehr then went on to Cyprus, Lebanon and onto the city of Damascus in Syria.

“I stayed in Damascus for a while. I had contacts from university where I met a lot of foreign students, so I got addresses of people who lived here, there and everywhere. After Damascus I took a bus across the desert to Bagdad and stayed there quite a while because I had to wait a long time to get a visa to enter Iran because I was using my British passport and the Brits weren't too popular there at the time.”

“I eventually went through Iran in the month of February, when it was very cold. I got to the east side and from there I wanted to go by train to Pakistan – it was India at the time, now its Pakistan.”

Upon return to India, Mehr spent five years working in a Ghandi inspired land-gift (Bhoodan) movement – a voluntary land reform movement – fronted by a man called Vinoba Bhave. Mehr became convinced that land was the basis of life and organic farming the only way to the health of land and people. She then spent four years settling landless labourers and working in a Bhoodan village in the Himalayas.

1959 was the year that brought Mehr back to England due to family reasons.  This is when she moved to Cheshire where her brother had been employed as a civil engineer.

“We left Manchester during the war, and my brother was employed by the government, because in any case my mother wouldn't have sent him into war because we were pacifists.”

She was twenty-nine now and travelled through England, working at different market gardens to gain experience. In 1962 her brother bought her the piece of land in Malpas known as Oakcroft which she transformed into an organic haven.

From then on, Mehr sustained a living from her organic farming. It was her livelihood. She would sell the organic fruit and vegetables she cultivated at Chester market and various farmer markets, which she said wasn’t an easy living. Sadly, in 2006, she fell unable to carry on with the work.

Photo: Mehr on the Watergate Rows, Watergate Street, Chester.

“I married very late – in 1990 – and my husband was quite a bit older than me. He got Parkinson’s at the beginning of the century, then I started looking after him and I found I couldn't go on with the gardens – so I gave it up.

“Since then I've had people come work the land for me, but it’s not been very successful.

“I want to find someone to work my land – the right person. I’m hoping that I can find the right people.

“My husband died, and I have decided that after my death I am going to give the Oakcroft land, and the house, to the Soil Association Land Trust, of which I am a trustee, so that it will never be built on.”

Mehr keeps herself busy these days teaching yoga and philosophy and is also working on becoming an organic market gardener – which is something she says she is very dedicated to, along with the idea of equality, and the whole environmental aspect.

I was interested to find out what Mehr thought about various peoples attempts to sustain the environment, and also what things were most important for her in life.

“There are two things that are most important to me in life. Non-violence is the first. I believe people should learn about this topic from childhood and how to deal with it and be a non-violent person. The second is to be ecologically aware, which includes all organic things, not destroying the environment and planet. Those would be the two most important things for me and they are actually rather interlinked as far as I’m concerned.

“The government are certainly not doing enough, and as for environmentalists, some are doing a great deal, and some not. Organisations like Greenpeace do a great deal, but it’s very difficult to do it alone without the support of the Government.

“I would say one of the things governments should do would be in relation to energy. Nuclear energy should definitely be phased out completely and renewable energy should be more encouraged. That’s only one point, there are lots of other things too.

“I think consumerism is one of the biggest evils we have in society – the encouragement to have money and spend spend spend. I am strongly against growth and I think we could have a sustainable way of living, rather than a growth all the time.

We then spoke about the topic of religion and its connection between much of the violence happening in the world today. Mehr was born into a Hindu related religion, but she is no longer practicing.

“It is definitely related to violence. But I don’t think it’s that simple. I think it is enhanced by it however, I think people’s attitude is the bigger problem. I have had so many people come through my garden to help me with help from an organisation called willing workers on organic land. All these people had great ideas, but putting them in practice they’d never learnt. They were always hitting out at people, verbally, rather than looking at the beam in their own eye – like the pacifist outlook of turning the other cheek.

“So, I would say I am not against religion – the basic ideals – but I am against religion in the way it is practiced."

We were now twenty-five minutes later, and I thanked Mehr for her time.

“Oh, is that the time already. Well, you got a lot out of me, didn't you?” she joked.

A beautiful person, with a heart of gold, who deserves every bit of credit for what she has worked for and the values that she has supported during her lifetime.   

Besos,

StevieG x

How much money does USA invest in Israel/Palestine?

In the midst of a frantic search to catch-up on the recent atrocities happening in Gaza, I came across this very interesting article (via Global Post) about the stark contrast of foreign aid that the US provides to Israel and Palestine and the differences for which it is used.

Click the link below to read. 

Israel/Palestine foreign aid article

Photo: Gaza yesterday (Sun 18 November) - Last week conflict
between Israel and Palestine flared up again.

Belfast residents want Peace Walls to remain

The Belfast Telegraph has posted an article based on a recent survey of local residents in Belfast living near the peace line.

The peace lines were erected in Belfast in the early 70's during the height of The Troubles (an era of heavy political conflict throughout Northern Ireland) to divide the fighting and lower tensions between closely situated Catholic and Protestant neighbourhoods.

They were intended to be temporary structures while the British government found another solution, although due to their effectiveness they became permanent structures and many more were built in other parts of Northern Ireland.

What do YOU think about them still existing today?

Read the full article by following this link below:

BELFAST TELEGRAPH: PEACE WALLS


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Syrian children mistreatment

TODAY the BBC has published a story focusing on Save the Children's charity findings about children in Syria.

They say that Children are being subjected to APPALLING torture, imprisonment and abduction, and the charity believes that this issue needs urgent attention.

The conflict in Syria has been going on for 18 months now with not much foreseeable hope of ceasing.

An extract from the article reads:

"One 15-year-old told the charity he had cigarettes put out on him when he was imprisoned in what used to be his school.

Another described being given electric shocks and sharing a cell with decomposing bodies, while a third teenager, Wael, said he had seen a six-year-old die after being tortured and starved."

READ THE ARTICLE HERE:

 BBC NEWS - SYRIAN CHILDREN REPORT

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