h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

insult or compliment
at last June's Hull meet, a receptionist told ST that your father has booked you both init were me

I love to tell my son about how I worked down the mines and under the looms when I was six,and then grt home to dried bread & water.

Poor? We weren't well off enough to afford poor!

Had to get by with destitute.

lucky youWE were that detitute we couldn't spell it

WE were that destitute we couldn't spell 'it'.

And you try tellin....

WE were that destitute we couldn't...

Never heard of that word before, but was it anything like grinding poverty?

I've always been fascinated by the stories that elderly people have to tell. Things that seem like ancient history to us were actual things that happened to them. My mother has always insisted that the Great Depression (the 1930s) could come back. But she wasn't worried, because she had learned how to do without things that my generation takes for granted. And let's not get into the things that my nephews and *their* children take for granted.

Yeah...not quite so funny in that context, Paul.

Jab

Without wanting to get *heavy*, we are rich beyond the imagination of some. In the '90s I worked in a rural community in Peruvian Andes where the people were all refugees from the 'sendero luminoso' terrorists. They had arrived with what they stood up in and to visit their homes was a sobering experience. They had absolutely nothing. Quite literally!

Since then I've been involved in similar situations in Zimbabwe and the slums of Metro-Manila. It gives you a whole new perspective on life.

Yes,me too re Manilla. There during Marcos era. Brought real meaning to the phrase "Life is cheap". Crime rate that was palpable, shanty houses built on the side of streets and mud would wash in them when it rained & cars went past. Felt so guilty , I went round giving people what money I had, which by their standards was a lot. I noticed that all us visitors could not look each other in the eye. Guilt, I'm sure. Despite all that I absolutely fell in love with the place, and its inhabitants.

In the Philippines we were researching children in prison so we had to talk our way into prisons, detention centres, rehab units and so on. Kids as young as 7 behind bars, they can be there for months or even years before they even come before a court.

You might like to look at our website: http://www.kidsgofree.org

Yes,thanks El D, I'll have a look, by the way glad you enjoyed the EBay video Vi

This sounds Dickensian.

Yes, you could say that.
Have you read the stuff on our site?


(There was a server problem on Monday but it's fixed now)

The question is, how badly do I want to get upset about misery that won't yield to any actions I might take? But I don't want to sound like Ebeneezer Scrooge, who went on about how the state took his tax dollars and used them to support orphanages and poorhouses, etc. This is the time of year when I usually write checks to charities, but the catch is that my free time is pretty much nonexistent. I paid some bills (some of them late) this morning. The charitable checks have to wait.

Hi. The last thing I want to do is to make you, or anyone else, feel bad. The purpose of our website and our work as a whole is to inform on a subject which is largely hidden and to inspire and encourage any who do feel that this is their thing. Most of us do our bit in one way or another and, thankfully, not everyone can or will get involved in everything.

As it happens, the one thing we don't mention on the website is money! We're not after anyone's dollar, pound, yen, euro or whatever. We largely finance ourselves with the addition of occasional gifts from friends who know what we're doing and feel they want to be involved in some way but can't do the practical stuff. We never ask for donations. As to the projects we work alongside, they clearly have to have funding and if we are able to point them in the right direction then we will but we don't appeal or collect on their behalf.