The death of a child...

I was somewhat melancholic the other weekend.  So many people around me are ill.  Proper ill in that ‘I don't ever want to have what you have’ kinda ill.  

It comes with age you know. I talk of the entropy of our bodies which for me post reaching 60 is now quickly increasing as the atoms and molecules from which we are made start to disintegrate. I look closely in the mirror most mornings and reflect on the sight of my no longer youthful, perhaps now careworn face, looking back at me. Teeth that are just about hanging in there. Eyes nowadays that are made out of plastic. Skin wrinklier than the shedded coils off an old racing snake. The salt and pepper remains of my once youthful hairline, whats left of it, getting more salt like every day.  

For sure I am blessed to live in a nice house and have the strength and fitness (and lack of arthritis) to be able to do the things that I do. How right now in my sixty third year I am probably the fittest I've ever been.  Stupendously good blood pressure and pulse with just the one comorbidity which I manage through diet and exercise.  And to be able to ride my bike in stupendously beautiful countryside living a richly healthy lifestyle into my old age.  What a lucky boy you are, Wayne.

Whilst contemplating this good life I literally hear in my minds ear a record deck arm rip across an old vinyl disc as my eyes settle onto the following draft blogger entry which I wrote last year sometime.  It’s time to let this one go. 

This is what I wrote…

Of all the news stories, the story of the little Moroccan boy stuck 30 meters down a well, well, it got my attention.  I found myself regularly tuning in to the news in the hope and belief that there would be some good news especially on the Saturday as the rescuers were just about with him.

Based on the news updates I really thought that they would get to him on time and that I would see him being retrieved alive.  Never was there a moment where any camera shot down the well nor news report told us that he was a lost cause.  Yes, for sure, any moment now he's gonna be out, for sure critically ill and dehydrated but yes, almost there, almost there...

Watching this event, not unlike many of the other events projected across the media and supported by the plethora of charity adverts for food and water, made me think somewhat deeply.  About the the lives of folk in the Middle East, North Africa and the other places a long way away from here who have no choice but to live in bombed out shells and drill 30 meter plus deep holes into hillsides in the belief they will hit ground water just to survive. 

Such images, which are continually projected onto the back of my eyeballs by the world’s media, have forced me reflect on their plight and so the differences between the 2 halves of our planet.  One the one side we have high intensity, high income massively regulated but safe and prosperous societies that generally ensure that the fundamentals such as water, food, healthcare, power, heating, transport etc work and that everyone who needs help gets it.  

It's a world populated by many folk who might only flinch a little when they have to pay £700 to have a tooth repaired.  Folk who are safe and secure NIMBY types who only ever have to fret about wars and conflicts elsewhere in this world.  Living comfortably aren’t we?

Then there's the rest.  Folk who live at best in tin shacks or bombed out concrete ruins.  No running water.  Poor sanitation.  Food?  If you can get it great but a huge portion of them are only just surviving.  Living in the carnage of wars such as those in Yemen and the Sudan.  (Just how bad is the Gaza strip, even Ukraine right now?)

We live in a world of idealistic / politically driven wars supported by the first world power brokers and arms dealers because for sure you can only build a certain sized stockpile of munitions before you have to sell some to make a profit isn't it?  Selling munitions to the desperate few with the one hand and then selling emergency aid to the majority with the other.  That's a sure fire way to get rich quick isn't it?

We think we are the smart grown ups but in fact we've learnt nowt from our terrible histories.  We've become fat and rich on the plunder of the planet.  Giving rise to the segregation and control of the world by drawing artificial borders in an attempt to carve up the natural resources across this planet (gold, oil, lithium / rare earths).  Which, in conjunction with the ultra rich social media view of our western utopia drives the economic migratory desires of the others to have the same things in their lives.  

I'm sat in my house contemplating the differences between us.  I walk around my house and become aware of the amount of 'stuff' that I have.  So much of it is in good nick but no longer needed yet being Yorkshire-ish I find it difficult to throw it or give it away.  

But I think of the others even moreso. How many people unflinchingly offered their support to the rescue of this child?  The Moroccans were everywhere and no doubt other mine and cave rescue teams from around the world perhaps contributed too.  Everyone trying their absolute best to make for a successful outcome.  But no.  The news when it came was heart wrenching.  To a degree I felt a little played / influenced by our western social medias.  I’m sure Simon Cowell had his grubby mitts somewhere in this mix in his attempt to make a profit out of it.  But no  Cut through the world of noise and at the end of it was a little boy …

Sorry just had to reflect my thoughts on the death of a child today.  The story of that child in Morocco is not the only reason for me feeling melancholic today.  I think I've got it hard do I?  Nah, Wayne, you haven't.  In comparison to those living in smashed and broken concrete homes in poverty living so close to death each day that for them the light of hope shines so bright yet when reality settles in the loss of hope only brings us all back down to earth with a huge bump.  Ive worked twice in India over the years and seen what true poverty looks like.  A country with over one billion people where 250 million of them live in dire need.  You gotta go there to appreciate what you've got.   Yep you’ve gotta go.

An infinitesimally small speck of hopeful light has been extinguished this week with his death and let me tell you it has not only affected today's hard pushed smashed concrete and bunker inhabiting peoples of the world.  It has affected me too...

But take hope. The world is full of good folk. It’s not just about making a profit as it might seem to be.  To know the true face of the world, especially both halves of it; perhaps one side a little care worn but loving, the other frightened and gaunt, may help you to consider the true totality of this planet as it seemingly slips as sure as I do into greater entropy. 

And on reflection perhaps like the flapping of a butterfly’s wings we each may set in motion some changes to make this world a better place. 

It is sad that this little un didnt survive the ravages of his life. But we perhaps can all help a little bit more should the opportunity arise. 

For all the children of this world.  

Ciao for now..