Alnwickdote No 11 On unsung heroes and charity shops

 

This blog is a thank you to the Northumberland Gazette for publishing my letter, and of course for helping me to make a few points.

Saturday 17 January 2015 

Better late than never! Christmas gifts from Alnwick.

Unsung heroes – we have a few to thank. The check-in lady at Newcastle Airport who kindly overlooked our excess weight, so various toys, chocolates, shortbread, smoked salmon and even a Christmas pudding found their way to Cambodia.

Print and be Dammed or “Haad your Gob?”

Foreword to this blog added September 2017. 

Very sadly things in Cambodia have taken a dramatic downturn for the worst in Press and Media Freedom. By far the worst development is the closure of the Cambodia Daily - precipitated by the hostile government - whose journalists have been a vital element in our human rights work for all of my 20 years in Cambodia. Numerous references and extracts appear in this blog. Many stories and eulogies appear, many from the many journalists all around the world whose career started there.  See for example: Richard Paddock. Also last edition after almost 25 years here and visit the Daily's Facebook.  See also CCIM's report on media generally in 2017.

The UK is 36, Cambodia 147, out of 197 countries for Freedom of the Press 2014 according to Freedom House.  We need Foreign Media to help Cambodian Media.

(For the 2016 report go to its website, here or this report) for 2017 here 2018 here.
For 2019, and a further erosion: go here.)

Print and Be Dammed

Freedom of expression is a most important human right.  Yet it is still routinely challenged in many countries, whenever criticism upsets powerful people.  I don’t intend to argue against that here.  Instead I want to ask about self-censorship and highly selective writing and editing, especially when editors decide that a story or issue “would not interest our readers!”  I wonder why certain kinds of stories always make it. Often they are ones most lacking informed comment.

You will see from my blogging supporting Cambodian child rights, that we are opposed to sex tourism; orphanage tourism; and things like “gap year” stays that can be harmful and counter-productive.

A little light relief! An anecdote from Saint Helena Island - and weddings

A Little Light Relief

This is really a Saint Helena blog, but in the same vein as my “Alnwickdote” blogs, as some of the lighter moments of my travels around the world.

Radio St Helena gave me more pleasure than many things. Tony Leo, station manager, was a maestro and most under-appreciated. What a shame the station closed. (Full story here.)

Tony and I for many years, were the “Batman and Robin” of St Helena wedding video and photography.  Probably neither of us wanted the roles, but on St Helena “needs must” and there was no-one else.  So we tried our best.  For me it ran from 1985 until 1998, off and on, but mostly 1987-1994. 

My oh My, though how times have changed with digital photography. Gone is the fear and by golly there was fear. Is the photographic film OK? Have I got it in properly without exposing it? Is it inserted properly and winding on OK after every frame? Have I set the ISO speed, etc? Then there was worry of composing each and every scene to make every one of the 36 pictures per roll count (or more, always trying to squeezing in an extra one or two). Did the bride blink there?  Have I got enough film left to do a re-take?  Then when it was all over, it was too late to do anything about it. The films were packed ready for the ship to take them for processing to the UK, taking as long as two months. Would they come back OK? Would the couple like them? All I can say is fate was kind. I never had any big failures but nerves were always frayed. It's nice to think that some of those pictures are still much-loved adorning frames and albums.

I am grateful to the internet archives for one of my pictures from the pre-digital age above.  The vivacious Natasha (where are you now?); lovely Vanessa (now in the Police Office?); and irrepressible Lucille (I see you on Facebook). Plus lucky lad Ralph – well what can you say about one of nature's gentlemen (or a good actor!)

Cutting the head to fit the hat

 This picture from the internet is of a lady from Nkhata Bay, Malawi, just as ebullient as the ones we talk about below.*

My story here connects my favourite meal, fish at its very best to be found in Northumberland; Saint Helena and Malawi.  Craster Kippers are world-famous as is Lake Malawi’s endangered “Chambo” although I think Usipa, cooked and eaten whole can be better than whitebait.  Saint Helena has an abundance of great fish, for now, with the best fish-cakes in the world. 
I explain the title of the blog at the end taken from Cambodia's PM Hun Sen.

In a previous blog I posed the question would Mark Constantine of Saint Helena remember when as a 12 year-old he told us of his heartfelt worry?  It brought us great amusement, especially on the part of the Head-teacher Stedson George. 

Alnwickdotes: No 2 - A lot of things happen when I take a beer!

 The Old Ship Inn

theoldeship@seahouses.co.uk
http://www.seahouses.co.uk 

I have been known to take the occasional beer, with my favourite worldwide hostelry in Seahouses, in of course, Northumberland.  So far, despite valiant efforts to search one out, I have not found its equal anywhere in my travels. (Please see write-up in "Canny Bevvy" below.)

This is an old anecdote from the last century of beer-related events in Malawi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Cambodia followed by a twist in London.  Four times in my life, my relaxing quiet cool beers have been violently interrupted. 

Alnwickdotes: No 3: “Right over Might?” When the little person prevails?

http://bayouwingchun.com/blog-page/

 When the little person overcomes the odds, against stronger and formidable foes, it is a clear sign that justice can be done.  Seldom does this happen in Cambodia.

Alnwickdotes: No 4 - 19th Century Solutions to 21st problems!

Alnwick - Support your pants!

Back in the 1950s, most children around Alnwick would have visited St Michael’s pant.  We certainly drank the water, and with reluctance we would throw a copper coin in, wishing we could take back one of the silver ones already there.
 
Alnwick’s pants tell a story of how the town learned a lesson the hard way.  Even today in 2015 that lesson is still being learned around the world.  As a quick read about the pants reveals, it was a major cholera outbreak in 1849 that led to clean piped water.

 I had recall to this story just a few weeks ago, in relation to a tiny remote village called Srae Thom in Mondulkiri, Cambodia.  The community wanted just US$500 (UK£340) to repair a dam and their gravity-fed piped water system to their village.  It would give families clean water; irrigate their home gardens, and save fetching and carrying of heavy buckets over the five kilometer distance.