Bridging The Gap

Life Matters News Digest No.070 February 2024

A couple of times a week Microsoft Windows downloads a new image on my computer as it starts up. Usually, it is some tropical beach scene with white sand and turquoise water, or mountains, or a desert somewhere in a US national park.

But the one in the photograph above intrigued me as I had not seen anything like it before. I like its contemporary art feel, the shapes in it and all those bricks!

After a bit of research, turns out it is the Ouse Valley Viaduct at Balcombe in West Sussex, UK. Constructed from 1839 - 1842, it started service in 1841 before it was even finished, carrying trains from London to Brighton and back.

Made from 11 million bricks, some of which it is claimed were made in the Netherlands, the viaduct is 96 feet (29 metres) high and each of its 37 semi-circular arches is 30 feet (9.1 metres), surmounted by balustrades. The total length of the viaduct is 1,480 feet (450 metres).

The viaduct was designed by the railway's chief engineer, John Rastrick in association with the architect of the London to Brighton railway, David Mocatta. They must have been very proud of their creation. The original contract was for £38,500 (just over £5 million in today's money or $6,327,860).

Renovation in 1996 cost £6.5 million alone, but it is a beautiful structure well worth preserving. Fortunately, it is now Grade ll listed i.e. a protected structure and still in use at more than 180 years old. Up to 100 trains cross it a day, that's 17 million passenger journeys a year plus freight!

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Will You Come and Get Me?

“The tank is next to me. It’s moving.” “Is it very close?” “Very, very,” the small voice replied. “Will you come and get me? I am so scared.”

This is the conversation between 6-year-old Hind Rajab and Rana, an operator in the emergency call centre of the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Hind had started the day in a car evacuating from her home in Gaza City with her uncle & five cousins. The Israeli army had issued an order to clear the west of the city.

As the car approached the university they came face to face with Israeli tanks and pulled into a petrol station to get out of the way. It is believed the tanks opened fire.

The occupants of the car called relatives for help and they in turn called the Palestinian Red Crescent. After several calls and explosions, the only person left to speak on the phone, surrounded by bloody dead bodies, was Hind.

After three hours an ambulance was dispatched to go and get her. The paramedics were reported negotiating with the Israeli army to go into the danger zone.

The paramedics saw the car and Hind in it - but gunfire ensued shortly after and all of them were wiped out.

This story broke my heart when I first read it. I cannot understand why soldiers open fire on paramedics, having been told there is a 6-year-old to be rescued.

At the time of writing at least 30,000 Palestinians have died in this conflict, more than 21,000 of them women and children. Another 10,000 people are reported “missing”, most likely buried under piles of uncleared rubble.

I am not anti-Semitic. I have lived and worked with Jews in Israel. But how can anyone support a state that does this? The more Israel continues this slaughter, the more it invalidates the ferocious killing of 1,200 of its own citizens that started all this.

No wonder hundreds of thousands around the world are demonstrating for a Palestinian state. It is the only way forward whether Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, likes it or not.

​You can read more on the short life of Hind Rajab HERE and HERE:​

I have also been wondering, on the 2nd anniversary of Russia’s war on Ukraine, what the legacy of that fight will be. On current estimates, both countries will together have lost already 500,000 combatants dead and wounded.

Whatever the final outcome of the war, tens of thousands of families will have lost loved ones and tens of thousands will be left alive, but with burns, mental and emotional scars as well as physical ones, and missing limbs.

Together with all the other conflicts in the world, it seems to me the human race has some collective form of insanity that it is compelled to constantly fight and kill its own kind. Crazy, crazy at a time when for planetary survival we have to cooperate more than ever before.

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Taking a Nap

Following on from the photographs in last month’s newsletter, this stunning shot of a Polar Bear has deservedly just won the People’s Choice Award in the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

The photographer, Nima Sarikhani, spent three days in thick fog searching for polar bears in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago.

I am sure, like me, you find starling murmurations fascinating. I was once in Israel at hot springs near the border with Jordan and 2 million starlings flew in on cold winter nights from all over the Middle East, turning trees into a mass of squawking feathers - a sight to see but I never saw anything as good as this.

One of the other finalists, Daniel Dencescu, spent hours following a murmuration of starlings around Rome. At last, on a winter’s day without clouds, they swirled into a giant bird.

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A Friend Indeed

I liked this story of two Cape Penguins called “Squid” and “Penguin,” both housed at Birdworld at Farnham, Surrey in the UK. Squid developed cataracts as a chick and is partially sighted.

Penguin was so ill at birth that he was not expected to live, so he was not named. He did survive but was hand-reared and did not really learn to be a penguin until much later, having trouble fitting in with his peers.

However, the two disadvantaged penguins have become firm friends and Penguin steers Squid around the enclosure, helping her when she gets disorientated at feeding times.

These two birds are not mature, but penguins mate for life and everyone hopes that they will turn their friendship into something more. Let’s hope so, it would be a lovely ending to a sweet story.

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“Warriors” Joined Together

Taking of couples, meet Marieme and Ndeye, conjoined twins who were not expected to survive more than a few days when they were born in Senegal in 2016.

Ibrahima, their determined and caring father, decided otherwise and began to search for a hospital where they could be separated, ending up at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Great Ormond Street has done more of these operations than any other hospital in the world.

Tests showed that Marieme’s heart would not survive a complex operation, so it was decided to keep them together. Ibrahima said, “I can’t allow myself to choose who will live and who will die.”

The twins, now 7 years old, share one pair of legs and one pelvis but each has their own spinal cord and heart. Despite separate

spinal cords, they don’t have to tell each other how to move an arm or a leg, they just completely coordinate.

They also have different characters, Marieme being quiet and introverted and Ndeye very independent. They now live in Cardiff with their dad and attend mainstream primary school where they have become integrated into the community.

Currently, they are learning to stand and walk using a frame, though everything is done really slowly so as to not put strain on their conjoined systems.

Their mum had to return to Africa to look after their other children but Ibrahima, who used to be the managing director of a Travel organisation in Senegal, says they bring him much joy. “It is a huge blessing to be their dad.”

“They are my warriors. They have proved they will never surrender without fighting. It is not yet over.”

Clearly, we could do with a few more men like Ibrahima and his “warriors” in the world, rather than all the others that want to kill each other.

​You can read the full story of the conjoined twins, Marieme and Ndeye HERE and HERE:

Photo Credits: Windows Spotlight Images/Microsoft, James Kilfiger (Zeimusu)/Wikimedia Commons, Rajab Family/BBC x 2, Nima Sarikhani/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/BBC, Daniel Dencescu/Wildlife Photographer of the Year/BBC, Ibrahima Ndiaye/BBC and Great Ormond Street Hospital x 3.

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END PIECE

This is my 70th newsletter! Hard to believe I have written that many - but I have! It is not always easy to find the right material to share, but with the help of friends who know my tastes, the job gets done.

Obviously, what I write about is a reflection of what interests me and what I find amazing and of value in the world. I am sure not all of you agree with the things I write but feel free to let me know if you don’t - or if there is something you want me to write about or questions you want to ask.

I also write daily on Twitter/X about Ukraine (@peterclifford1), keeping that conflict in front of people as much as possible so that it is not forgotten. It’s a tough challenge as inevitably the news cycle moves on and things like Ukraine and Gaza are quickly forgotten.

They should not be of course. If Ukraine is not properly supported and loses to imperialist Russia, then I suspect the rest of Europe is in danger and a conflict with NATO will ensue that will involve us all.

Keeping Gaza in people’s minds is important too. 30,000 dead should be a wake-up call to humanity that something is clearly out of balance here and it should not be happening in the 21st century. At times it feels like we have not progressed much since the early Middle Ages when such mindless slaughter was all too common.

Grim times it seems. At least we have elections to look forward to in both the USA and the UK this year (I hope!), though how that will change anything I am not quite sure as yet.

In the meantime, I hope your individual personal life is going well in prosperity, health and happiness.

Take good care of yourself and until the next newsletter be kind, generous and patient with those less fortunate than we are.

With all good wishes,