Jill Rees: Welcome Press

A factory in Guangdong China has been making ‘free Tibet’ flags for ages apparently, thousands of flags are being shipped out. the workers didn’t realise what the flags were about. It may seem like a mockery, but this is actually the seed of victory.

Human beings try constantly to be enemies, mainly egged on by some capitalist bastard who is out to make a profit and has no respect for the dignity of human life. However hard they try to hate, life must go on. People have to co-operate, that is the nature of humankind. Peace always breaks out. The question is only, ‘If not now, when?’

Here’s a link to the story

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EIA teachers returning from stints in the schools in Amstetten, the geographical centre of the European Union, reported that it was a ‘really weird place’ with a ’strange atmosphere’. During the World War IIAmstetten was a seat of two sub-camps of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp. Only a few years ago Natascha Kampusch was herself rescued from a basement in Vienna where she too had been kept in a similar way. All the time I was in Austria the official line was, this is a great country, we love it here, everyone is happy, no-one wants to leave, there is no crime, everyone is honest and so on. So how come Hitler came from here? How come the Austrian people welcomed the Nazis and were delighted to help round up and torture ALL of its Jewish citizens to death? And how come to this day they will not talk about it. Someone said to me, ‘The Germans at least are always willing to talk about the past, to try to understand how their parents could have done this, to apologise, to regret, and to vow as a nation to make amends. But in Austria no-one talks about it, they pretend it didn’t happen.’ This is known as ‘Master and Marguerita syndrome’, after the book. in the book, Pontius Pilate realises but denies what he has done. On his way to heaven he prays to God ‘Tell me I didn’t do it, tell me I didn’t do it’ and God in His infinite compassion says, ‘You didn’t do it’. Well just listen to this, Jeannie, by Falco from Austria, a song about a creepy guy who killed his lover. Not everyone in Austria failed to notice something was up. Yes Falco knew, and we knew. Austria is provincial and silent. Most of the population are deeply Catholic, not a religion known for its just and respectful treatment of children. things are hidden here.in the 7 weeks I spent there, two of them teaching in Catholic schools, my over-riding impression was that much is hidden. As my beautiful friend Evelyn said, ‘It is no coincidence that Hitler comes from here’. Enlightened Austrians know it is a deeply troubled and sorrowful country. If you only look at the snow-capped mountains when you’re on holiday, you will see only beauty; but look closer at the reflections in the ice, and you will begin to perceive the terrible pain in the people’s hearts. The man’s wife and all his neighbours swear they knew nothing, yet the police had an anonymous tip-off. Like the concentration camps, they knew. They have no excuse, except, like the damned Pilate, to pray for oblivion one day. Austrians need to take a long hard look at themselves. The people who drove out Sigmund Freud on fear for his life, taking his remaining family to Auschwitz, need to call back some therapists and get this out of the dark cellar of their subconscious, so that their future will be brighter and they can actively work for the safety and happiness of all their children. We’re beginning, beginning in Linzerstrasse.

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Who do you call ‘Sir’ in Nigeria? It’s baffling to the newcomer, and reveals the delicate structure of levels of authority in Nigerian society.

When I first arrived, I naturally wanted to call my boss ‘Sir’ as a mark of respect. My Nigerian colleague was horrified!

‘He’ll take you for an underling now,’ she said.

In the UK, ‘Sir’ indicates that you regard someone as a gentleman, or that you expect him to behave as a gentleman. It derives from the days of the knights and courtiers. In the Middle Ages, the King, who had absolute rule, was served by his knights. Honourable young men who came from good families or who had performed great and noble deeds, and later of course the sons and nephews of these, merited a place at the King’s side. They were knighted with a touch of the King’s sword on their shoulder and took on the duty of service to the King. (This ceremony still takes place in the UK each year to bestow honour and show gratitude to citizens who have performed an especial service to the nation.) Clad in suits of armour and dashing on horseback through the kingdom, they performed brave deeds and fought courageously in wars. They held a position of great privilege, had free run of the land and had the ‘droit de seigneur‘ which permitted them to sleep with any of the Kingdom’s maidens! Today, the handshake remains from the days when gentlemen would offer their right hand as a greeting to prove they came in friendship and were not carrying the sword.

Gradually ’sir’ came to be used for anyone in the position of authority, which, in the UK, meant property ownership. ‘Gentlemen’ originally meant men who owned property and land. As Britain industrialized, many property owners turned out to be the new rich: factory owners and shipping company proprietors, some of course who made the bulk of their wealth from the lucrative trade in African slaves. As the Victorian era progressed throughout the 19^th century emphasis shifted onto moral values, and ‘gentleman’ and ’sir’ came to develop the moral meaning it has today, when we use ’sir’ as an indication of our respect for a person’s moral status, to show that we recognise him as a man of good character. Beneath this use of ’sir’ lies the belief that values such as honesty, integrity, trustworthiness and fairness are recognised as the true virtues. So we find British people will as often call a doorman or a working man ’sir’, to show him respect as an honest person.

I have heard ’sir’ used in this way in Nigeria too. When status and authority are less of an issue, and the intention is to show simple respect, especially for an older man, and it warms my heart. My colleague, however, ventured the opinion so often offered by Nigerians, that the men in positions of power in this country are not always true gentlemen. Instead, they may be the least developed in terms of honesty, integrity and fair dealing. That’s why, she said, she refuses to call certain people ’sir’.

In Nigeria the demise of the middle classes has led to a widening gap between rich and poor, between those who have good fortune and live comfortably and those who struggle every day, living from hand to mouth. Often workers are so grateful to have even the smallest amount of money, the meagrest of jobs and favours; while those who can, pocket the lion’s share. This means that it is increasingly difficult for ordinary people to work and save, to move jobs, to bargain for a better deal or for greater responsibility, to develop professionally, and even to finish their studies. In the long run, this will lead to a dearth of skilled workers and of educated and capable leaders. If the political will to really bring Nigeria into the 21^st century so that she takes her place as a major African player should ever come about, the workforce required to develop and support the country may no longer exist.

Perhaps the need to consider when to address someone as ’sir’ should be carefully judged. By calling someone ’sir’ and showing him deference, you are disempowering yourself and empowering the other person over you. If he is a true gentleman, he will never use that power against you, but will acknowledge the respect you show him by showing you the same respect. If he is not a true gentleman, you are putting yourself in a position of weakness.

Democracy is the right to choose who has authority over you. We should think carefully before calling someone ’sir’.

790 words

©Jill Rees

6 November 2007

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The UK is the best country in the world, as most of the world agree. If you have any doubt, go somewhere else for a while and then come back. Relatively calm traffic, health care, almost total liberty of action, when you eat, how long you sleep and so on, all these things are purely individual decisions. Wit and repartee of free speech and the respect others are held in.

Even as we walked through the airport when we arrived back from Bulgaria, not the world’s most repressive state in itself, all the passengers of my plane as usual gloried in our freedom. As we came into the passport hall, where you’re supposed to walk round the miles of ribbon that force you al into a queue, we dipped under the ribbon and walked straight to the front. The watching, unarmed police paid no attention, trusting us to act in a fair and dignified way.

The only thing slightly strange was a bin, subtly placed in the middle of the aisle, which spoke, saying ‘Mind the bin’ as you passed each side of it. Amanda suggested that was put there just to remind Britons that everything is mad here, in case we’d forgotten during our stay in foreign fields.

As the dollar plummets and Europe’s unemployment mortifies its youth, as the US plunges into depression both economic and moral, the UK remains buoyant. The oafs who criticise Gordon Brown have no memory of when our country was thrown to the dogs in the last recession by the Tories, nor any awareness of the difficulties faced by less well-governed nations.

The crisis today is global. only the UK is pottering on as if all is well in the world. The crisis in the banks has been averted, there is low unemployment, good support for the poor, investment continues in welfare programmes and the planning is long-term. What a disaster it would be if, just for the hell of it, the unthinking people of the UK let such a jewel go and land themselves with Beavis and Butthead in power. Get real Little Englanders and stick with Gordon, before you push things down the pan for no good reason.

London’s fair city could do with a break too, and be Boris-free. I hope no-one is seriously thinking of not voting for the greatest hero of our land for many a long year, Ken Livingstone. a great humanitarian who has always stood up for the weak and powerless, and the ordinary citizen, has spent his entire life protecting and caring for his beloved city. I’m grateful to him every time I take a bus through the capital or walk along the river, once a no-go area, and unashamedly kiss the ground he walks on. Again, the important thing is gratitude, and not to take for granted the wonderful leadership we currently have, the likes of which I doubt I will see again in my lifetime.

‘Count your blessings’ my Mum always says. Good advice my fellow Blightians.

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To my mind people are the same everywhere. We all have our worries and try to care for our families. When women sit down together we seem to say the same things whatever our background, and the men we complain about seem to have the same strengths and weaknesses. It seems obvious to me that people are the same everywhere, as we live the same life, and it is hard for me to understand how anyone can see the differences that they claim to see between peoples. How do people end up with seemingly absurd views that to me, appear racist and extreme?  You would imagine these would be street thugs, but sometimes they turn out to be educated people too. This is when bias is systemic and institutionalized.

Last week we all had a laugh at attitudes white people had in the US and the UK about how Africans live. People tend to have an image of Africa as full of lions and, bizarrely, tigers, where people sleep in the trees and eat nothing but aid parcels. It may not surprise people in Abuja to know that some of these strange ideas were expressed by black Americans and not just whites. Perhaps it’s understandable, after all, how would they know?  Apart from Tarzan, the only images we have of Africa are news stories about warzones, refugees and the subsequent famine. Ordinary life just isn’t that interesting. But the point has to be raised, don’t people in the white countries study anything about Africa, and the shocking answer is, no we don’t.

History, it is said, is written by the winner. While Africa has been home to various empires throughout the ages, the decline in the 17^th and 18^th centuries in all but the Arab Empire, led to its vulnerability and inevitable defeat by the British, French and Dutch. They are the ones who have written the History of Africa, and it is one of slavery and lost identity.

Neither did the white societies bother to try a relative interpretation of the traditional belief systems of the diverse peoples who ended up trying to rescue shreds of their memory of Africa in centuries of hellish mistreatment as slaves. Deprived of their name, language, community and families, the slaves struggled to pass their traditions down with any coherence. There are merely whispers of voodoo, and the echo of drumbeats.

There was a window of opportunity in the early 19^th century, when the African Association in London tried to explore West Africa and the Sahara, obsessed with tales of great empires, kings with marvelous treasures, trade routes beyond compare, and streets paved with gold in Timbuktu. Explorer after explorer trudged through the swamps and deserts in the footsteps of the great Mungo Park, who eventually did discover Timbuktu after sickness and capture, only to find a small huddle of mud huts, the gold having been pillaged by the Arabs. He managed to leave a letter about the first half of his journey behind, before following the River Niger onward and drowning somewhere in what is now Nigeria. On record too, is a song a local woman wrote for him, which asks why he has come here without any wife or family to care for, the lonely white man who as no home. Even then, Africans thought northerners were a little crazy.

Most of the explorers, who sought nothing except knowledge, died of malaria, dysentery and other tropical diseases, leaving West Africa to become known as ‘the white man’s grave’. By the coast, minerals and precious stones were found, as well as local traders selling people, and thus started the rape of West Africa and the accompanying slave trade. Those who had cared about the culture and history of this mysterious continent were ridiculed for interfering with profit and industry. Who now would claim to be interested in the African people?

In October 2007, James Watson, a Nobel Prize winning scientist, declared that black people are less intelligent than white people. Basing this idea on his study of IQ test results in the US, he surmised that intelligence is not only genetic, but racial. I remember reading this in Abuja, and marveling at the incredible idiocy of white men.Critics rose up angrily in outrage. The black MP Keith Vaz commented on how sad it is to see such an eminent scientist make such ‘baseless, unscientific and extremely offensive comments,’ which, he says, seems based simply on his personal prejudices.

Watson himself was stunned at the reaction to what he thought were simply facts: in recent IQ tests, black people had achieved far lower results than white people. What was he supposed to think? As well as his personal prejudices, his blinkered belief in science had also prevented him from seeing clearly. He took psychology as a science and believed that IQ testing is scientific. In fact, IQ tests had been under a deal of debate which had passed Watson by, as it came under the flag of social sciences, which do not come into his radar. Modern studies# have shown that when IQ tests are socially corrected to take race and class into account, the difference drops from 15% to 5% lower. At the very least, this shows that the tests are biased. It also shows that social resources have more impact on the ability to show intelligence, than race or ethno-cultural background.

The gap in understanding between people brought up on the African continent and Euro-Americans needs to lessen before we can really find a way to work together to create the kinds of circumstances Africans want to see, and Europeans hope to support. Somehow, the myths about life in Africa need to have light thrown on them in the rest of the world. Heroes like Mandela at least create a dichotomy in the minds of non-Africans, which is an improvement, as they struggle with the images of an intelligent, humanistic hero and the uneducated victims of drought and famine we see daily on our screens. Perhaps gradually as African culture, music, plays, cinema, novels and statesmen become increasingly central and respected, the image of Africa will start to change. Since the white man currently seems to find himself blinded by the African sun, it looks like the onus is on Africans themselves.

*According to Larry P. v. Riles (1971-1979) from: Culture and Bias, Kamphaus. R.W. Clinical Assessment of Child and Adolescent Intelligence (2^nd. Ed.)

#Satler in   Cleary 1968 A critical re-examination and analysis of cognitive ability tests using the Thorndike model of fairness Authors: Chung-Yan G.A.; Cronshaw S.F.Source: Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Volume 75, Number 4, December 2002 , pp. 489-509(21)Publisher: British Psychological Society

1119 words

© Jill Rees

April 22, 2008

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In November 1990, Soka Gakkai was finally excommunicated from Nichiren Shonin sect after a battle which involved various issues including the behaviour of the Nichiren priests under Nikken, and including the High Priest Nikken himself. Nikken had become persona non grata in the US for skullduggery involving prostitutes. His fundamental misunderstanding of Nichiren Daishonin’s intent was displayed when he accidentally left a bag full of Gohonzon intended for the US members in a toilet in a brothel in LA. His low life condition expressed itself finally in the destruction of the magnificent Sho Hondo, considered to be one of the wonders of the world. At this time members of SGI around the world began to understand the benefit of having had to undergo the painful rupture from the Priesthood. It enables us to feel the devilish function which is inside each of us.

Authority is the enemy of Buddhism and incorporates the slander of our essential humanity. This is what must be overcome in order for us, as Gakkai members, to establish peace, or kosen rufu. The devilish function arises in us at times, hiding its face, and we have to challenge ourselves each time that this happens.

The important thing is this: the Priesthood issue happens inside us and we have to overcome it with our daimoku. It is not the responsibility of someone else to overcome, just as it was not the responsibility of Nikken to solve the negative functions within Soka Gakkai.

I am giving the experience below in case it might help people who themselves are going through the devilish function of misplaced authoritarianism. In Greek the word for Tyrant is tyrannos, and the word for those oppressed by the Tyrant is tyrannoi. The devilish function of authoritarianism is the same whether you are the tyrant or the oppressed!

Experience

I started to practise in the south of England, and was a pioneer member in my area. As the area grew, I found it increasingly difficult to get on with my local leadership. I did lots of activities at our centre, Taplow Court, and benefited from the great training of Soka Gakkai activities. I chanted to deepen my relationship with my chosen master in life, SGI President Daisaku Ikeda, and did lots of study to understand his intention. The local leaders seemed to be creating their own coterie of yes-men, to revel in their own sense of importance and not to care for the welfare of all members equally. As well as having their favourites, they tried to discourage activities, spread rumours among the senior leadership to discredit me and others, and even at one point trying to take praise for donations to the kosen rufu fund in my area. When the members created something great, they were quick to take the praise.

I complained to senior leaders, chanted a lot of daimoku for them to move out of the area, and generally caused myself and other members to feel unhappy about our local situation. Eventually I came to chant about the Priesthood issue. I realised that the evil I perceived in my leaders must also be inside myself to have been able to manifest in the environment around me. To change my environment, I had to change myself. This would be a lot easier than changing the leaders or the Soka Gakkai system of appointing leaders. I chanted to be like Sensei and fight for Kosen Rufu in my area.

When Sensei was prevented from taking a post in SG, he fought side by side with the members, home visiting them and working with individuals to support their developing their faith. I did the same. i visited everyone in my HQ, and formed great bonds with many people I didn’t see on a weekly basis. I increased my activities, working on several actions teams for the summer course, an awareness event and the Seeds of Change exhibition. This led to an incredible unity in my area, and we expanded our membership so much we became several districts.

I deeply regret causing doubt about the leaders in this area, which even now leaves a whisper of distrust behind. Whatever the state individuals are in, we each fuflfil a function within the mystic organisation of SGI, the organisation which is here to fulfil the Buddha’s decree. The essential functions we are acting out in this great drama of Kosen Rufu happens whoever the individuals may be. What I had to do was change myself into a person who creates unity and trust instead of disunity. In this way, I have defeated the Priesthood Issue inside myself, and now have a wonderful area of communication among members, a new youth division, many naitoku or new members, and feel I can go to my leaders for guidance. Several areas of my life which used to be blocked, where I could not break through and see benefit, have begun to open up.

[No.92, Page 761, col 2, paragraph 38, Background]

Irrespective of the behaviour, real or perceived, of other members or of leaders, it is our individual responsibility to act as a true disciple of Sensei, a clear and dedicated member of SGI, and to fully and whole heartedly hold others in the deepest and most total respect. It is not easy, but we have the Gohonzon to use to overcome our small and petty selves in this. To shatter the barriers that separate us from other human beings is the purpose of Buddhism, the correct way to practise, and the only way to develop and receive benefit both conspicuous and inconspicuous. The Priesthood Issue enables us to understand how necessary it is to respect SGI members.

[No.29, Page 217, col 1, paragraph 8, Content]
Respecting others doesn’t mean liking them, or trusting them, and doesn’t depend on what others are like or how they act. It is simply a determination inside ourselves. Boddhissatcva never Disparaging made the vow that he would respect others no matter what.

‘If he happened to see any of the four kinds of disbelievers far off in the distance, he would purposely go to them where they were, bow to them and speakwords of praise, saying “I would never dare to disparage you, because you are all certain to attain Buddhahood”.’ LS ch 20 Boddhissatva Never Disparaging, Burton Watson ed 1993 Columbia Press p267

Boddhissatva Never Disparaging did nothing except respect others, even when they defiled and attacked him.  He attained enlightenment through this practise only, and in a future life Buddha Shakyamuni, in the introduction to the Lotus Sutra, reveals, ‘He was none other than myself’ ibid p269. The Buddha’s teaching couldn’t be more clear. It is through the practise of respecting others no matter what that we will ourselves attain enlightenment. This is the truth of the Lotus Sutra, the fundemental practise of Soka Gakkai International, the direct path to enlightenment and the fulfilment of our mission for world peace, and the benefit of the Priesthood Issue.

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Tony parle

I am speechless.

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Blake Museum in Bridgwater Somerset is a great introduction to the town. Bridgwater is so renowned as a rebel town since the Monmouth Rebellion, that rumour has it the Queen still refuses to visit the town, and rolled the blinds on her carriage closed last time she passed through, which is a shame as the Council had spent a fortune doing up the station. But I digress……….

Strapped short of funds, Bridgwater has been and remains in danger of losing its museum. Lodged in the former childhood home of local legend Admiral Blake, whose statue points to the museum from Cornhill town centre, you can see the drawings of ships the naughty young Blake drew on his bedroom wall.

The museum gives you a real sense of Bridgwater’s historic role in the Civil War, archaeological displays from one of the oldest settlements in Britain, and explains the contemporary Bridgwater Carnival. The Town Council have come to the rescue with £40,000 to help the museum limp through the year, with the help of noble volunters for Fridays.

Bridgwater is a boom town and soon will flock with interest. WE just have to get through this net couple of years, make some good planning and traffic decisions, continue to invest in our town centre, and gradually raise funds to keep the museum updated. It is unfortunate that no-one can find the tourist office now, but the library will set you straight when you visit.

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Yes, dearest, but I have two queries.

First, the 10% tax rate was brought in by Gordon Brown, vaunted as a way of evening out inequalities between the rich and the poor. It was well-received and has been very popular. If it was so good then, why isn’t it good now? Is someone trying to discredit Gordon again? Get a hold of the bastards Gordon. Or has good Gordon suddenly become evil? Not according to those who know him. The trouble with gordon, they say, is tht he is shy of speaking out about his very good beliefs and intentions, although he continues to take actions which help the poor and which would be popular if people knew more about it. A man who doesn’t boast but quietly does good? Ithings aren’t so bad.f this is the worst that can be said about him,

Second, why is it so impossible to listen to popular opinion and change this unpopular change? People prefer to get more of their pay rather than apply for millions of benefits, which make them feel dependent. When you work, you like to feel you are doing well for society and contributing, not still remaining on benefit.

So Darling stop being a sod and support your voters.

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There have been two pieces of news about Africa in the British newspapers this week. The first is a story about 6 Masai warriors who came to run in the London marathon. We have a belief here that all Africans are fantastic runners as they have to run away from the lions and tigers. I kid you not. The ‘Masai marathon runners’ story is ideal for the English, who already believe that all Africans are naked and barefoot and run around in the jungle with highly decorated spears (apologies if you actually live like that, no offense intended).

Africans in America and the UK report that white people are always asking them stupid questions, like, ‘Do you have to sleep in the trees to get away from the lions and tigers?’ and ‘How did you get to America?’ Africans reply in a variety of ways, saying things like ‘The lions are ok but the tigers in Africa are a problem sometimes’ or ‘I came by bus and it took months to cross the ocean’. When I came back people asked me where I managed to find food - in one of Abuja’s many fine restaurants of course. Anyway, I digress.

The main spokesman for the Masai warriors, a 24 year old named Isaya, seems to be some kind of young Bill Bryson, and wrote a diary of his stay for the Guardian Manchester. Apparently the Chief told them to come over, saying they would easily run the marathon as they were accustomed to running with the cattle. The aim of this exercise is to raise money to build a well. Apparently they share some kind of dam with the local wildlife, and the children often get eaten when they go to collect water. The obvious brilliance of this chief is striking, but the intelligence of this young man even more so. His first comment was that it is hard to get enough red meat in Europe. I keep telling my friends this, but they can’t get over the idea that Africans eat bashed maize from the Aid packages. He is singularly unimpressed with our cows, which are small and puny, and partially explain the small quantities of meat we eat. They were warned about the showers in the hotels, he says, being either too cold or too hot, which he found to be true. It impressed me that he decided to test this out.

The sparkling intelligence of so many young Africans is the thing which struck me most about Africa. Africans have the quality of being able to see things non-judgementally, so that they can understand different aspects of a question. They seem to be in touch with the essence of things, and especially with human nature. It is something to do with the essential humanity about African life, respect for the value of life. So often I have seen that polite smile touch the mouths of people in Africa, as they note the relative obliviousness of Europeans, who often seem to misread and misunderstand everything, and whose arrogance can prevent real knowledge. It is not wise, white people, to assume you know more than an African - the opposite may well be true. One guy asked a Nigerian on a chat site if there are computers in Africa. He asked this on email! The Nigerian mailed back that ‘No, we have no computers, I am communicating by means of traditional African magic’. The guy believed him!

Strange, says Isaya, how you look out of the window here and it appears to be good weather, but when you step outside it’s freezing. The sun is cold so far north. They ran the marathon in more or less traditional clothes, which helped raise money, but their running shoes were fabricated out of old car tyres (Yes, we have cars in Africa). Isaya reports that they were very comfortable to run in, and I can see a trend coming on. I hope the chief has patented the design.

Years ago a friend of mine made the first ever documentary film of the Masai, when they had not been in contact with westerners before. The film won the Cannes film festival and hundreds of fans descended on the Masai people, who quickly recognised the potential for money making. While keeping their own way of life, they have managed to exploit western interest to raise funds when needed. Even though they tend to ‘play the African’ a bit, Isaya was quite annoyed when they went to see the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, and everyone photographed him. I’m here to run a marathon, he said, I’m not a show. This brilliant young man intends to go to study community development in America, and I am sure he will do well.

Unfortunately the other big story, involving a woman, typified the other English view of Africans. As soon as I read the headline, I knew it was a Nigerian. Peace Sandberg smuggled a baby into the UK so she could continue to qualify for housing here, after her own child had been taken back to live with her ex-husband. She paid an advance of £200 when she bought the baby from a hospital. The stay in Nigeria lasted three months. She told her local council that the baby was hers, but was reported when they suspected it would be difficult to have a baby in such a short space of time. They longed to prosecute her for child trafficking, which holds extremely heavy sentences in the UK, but there is a catch. Trafficking means bringing a child in for prostitution or employment rackets. Bringing a child just to have a child with you doesn’t count as trafficking, but is straightforward fraud, and is apparently quite common among Nigerians living in London. Buying, taking, borrowing or otherwise using a child is considered completely abhorrent in the UK, a crime akin to cannibalism. The law is probably going to be reworded. Meanwhile, whoever the baby belongs to will probably never see it again, as it has been taken into care. The natural parent would have difficulty getting the baby back, having already sold it once.

Jungle runners wearing car-tyre sandals and crazed baby snatchers, such is life in Africa as represented this week by the English press. All I can say is, can you speak a bit of African for me? How come you speak English so well? Do you ride elephants to school? And do you live in trees?

1087 words

© Jill Rees

15 April 2008

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