francene--blog. Year 2013
  • Home
  • Blog

Nov 1st

11/1/2013

 
PictureLuck
Around the world people are in desperate plight. The circumstances of their birthplace and luck play a big part. I often wonder how I would cope if I hadn't been born in 'The Lucky Country' of Australia.

More than two million refugees have now fled Syria resulting in a humanitarian crisis. However, the Jordanian authorities maintain that they have kept their borders open for Syrian refugees.

Amnesty International reports that hundreds of people fleeing the civil war in Syria are being turned back at the border with Jordan and neighboring countries. Those being denied entry include Palestinian and Iraqi refugees who have been living in Syria, and those without identity documents. Many of them have already lost everything. Of those who have found refuge, it is estimated that there are 716,000 in Lebanon, 515,000 in Jordan, 460,000 in Turkey, 169,000 in Iraq, 111,000 in Egypt, and 4.25 million others displaced inside Syria.


Picturehappiness
The family who run our local paper shop left Syria 10 years ago. They must fear for their family and friends who are not so lucky to have reached the safety of a free country.

In other news today, the decomposed bodies of 92 migrants, consisting of 52 children, 33 women and 7 men, who had died of thirst were found in the Sahara. Most of them were women and children. It was most likely that the people were from Niger, judging by their dress and the way the women's hair was braided. Apparently, they would normally go to Algeria for begging on the streets.

Niger, one of the world's poorest countries and frequently suffers from drought and food crises, lies on a major migrant route between sub-Saharan Africa and Europe. But among those who make it across the desert, many end up working in North African countries. The director of the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that about 80,000 impoverished migrants make the hazardous journeys across the Sahara desert through Niger every year, searching for work.


Pictureancientpoint.com
These two examples I've cited of suffering in the modern world make me wonder about the most important aspect of life. Every morning, I sit in front of a Chinese scroll, brought back from Singapore by a friend 25 years ago. Four groups of symbols line the sheet from top to bottom. It's painted with bold strokes in bright modern colors, featuring flowers and symbols arranged in different ways.

This is not my scroll on the left. However, from what I can make out of the artistic impression, my scroll is a blessing on our house. The first symbol represents protection in the form of a dragon. Below that, luck is revealed in a horse's head. Down a bit comes companionship and then joy. It's taken me decades to decipher the meaning.

So the order makes protection of the foremost importance, followed by luck, companionship and lastly joy. Judging by the examples of the two news stories above, protection is definitely the most important. Once we're born, our fete is almost set in stone because of ties to family and tradition. But then, luck plays a part like the Syrian family who arrived in England before the trouble. Once the bright flame of love smolders, Companionship gives a sense of understanding and support. And, if everything else falls into place, we can experience joy.



Picture
Joy

Let there be love, and joy and understanding between all men.

Picture
thedailyquotes.com
Katherine Hetzel link
10/31/2013 09:16:25 pm

Amen to that, Francene.

Francene Stanley link
10/31/2013 11:34:02 pm

Glad you agree.

Amy link
10/31/2013 10:16:24 pm

I'm with you, Francene. What a sadly broken world we live in.

Francene Stanley link
10/31/2013 11:35:13 pm

If only we could help everyone in the world. But that's not possible.

Damien
11/1/2013 04:46:56 am

I think of that often; why am I so fortunate to have been born where I was? It's such a delicate world and we're tied together whether some believe that or not.

Excellent Post.

Francene Stanley link
11/1/2013 07:12:07 pm

I think if we can all bear in mind that we could have been in the same position of those less fortunate than us, we'll break through the barrier.

Bek Mugridge link
11/1/2013 06:39:24 am

Such a great and important piece.
I agree with you completely and it makes my heart ache when I sit here in Australia with so much saftey for my children and food and water. I cannot imagine how these mothers feel to not be able to protect your babies, to not be able to give them such simple things like water, food and somewhere safe to sleep and it breaks my heart when I hear on the heartless politicians talking about these refugees like they are pests. Like in Australia that we must Stop the Boats of desperate people and in the same breath talk about how great population growth would be for business.....and yet other country help in the thousands each year.
I always feel so lucky to have been born in Australia, yes sometimes life has been hard, our version of hard but nothing compared to what some of these families go through.

Francene Stanley link
11/1/2013 07:14:12 pm

Your words being to mind the desperate love a young mother feels for her baby. We are all human beings, experiencing the same life in differnet circumstances.

Alana link
11/1/2013 08:54:47 am

Many people in our area of upstate NY, and in our country, are experiencing hard times. But it is nothing like the suffering in Africa. We have refugees from Somalia and other African countries who have come to settle in small cities in Minnesota, Wisconsin and even upstate New York, and their stories are harrowing.

Francene Stanley link
11/1/2013 07:15:20 pm

How great to hear of your experiences in America.


Comments are closed.

    Author

    Francene Stanley, author of many published novels. If you like my writing, why not consider purchasing one of my books? You'll see them on the sidebar below.
    Born in Australia, I moved to Britain half way through my long life.

    Picture

    Archives

    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Catastrophe
    Creativity
    Family
    Life Experiences
    Mother
    News
    Novel Writing
    Novel-writing
    Retirement
    World

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.