Thoughts of a minibus traveller

A man on Facebook shared this nice picture. Last night the Pandit referred a bit to the issues of depression and suicide, talking about the feelings of dissatisfaction and also saying that replacing those feelings with love will go towards dealing with some of the issues. I just emailed and asked if I could postpone some work because I have slowed down a bit and have had to reschedule some things. Accepting who you are  Yep.. this is nice and accepting people for who they are is also a nice thing to do. Depression is often about feelings of inadequacy and anger at that inadequacy. You could think though about chicken and egg.. which comes first.. and then spend a lot of time unravelling it out with expensive counsellors or frustrated friends. One of the things about accepting who you are with mental health, is acknowledging it, and working with it and not being ashamed or angry about it. Thinking of it like a cold. And recognise the limitations that the mental healt...

You're a True Friend So many simple harmonies Have made our moments blend, So many subtle sounds of truth have softly shouted friend So many routine treasures Of good will have tuned our trust So man kind and caring notes Have helped our lives adjust So many friendly acts of faith Have flattered, calmed the soul So many heartfelt hopes have pushed me  Gently toward my goal. So many deeds of understanding, Gestures truly kind, Have left your gentle melodies Of friendship on my mind Bruce B. Wilmer (Wallet Stuffers) A few years ago, a guy who had kind of scared me with his nuff tattoos, plenty piercings and fierce face had asked me for some advice. I tried to get him to sign up for some adult education classes and so on. He never did.. but appreciated that I kept telling him to do it. We have been in contact since then.. always good. His face lights up now when he sees me. He gave me the Wallet Stuffer. I still carry it around.. a reminder of how friend...

This month, the book club is doing Latin American books. The club choose Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges, and House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. I tried getting past the third page of Ficciones, and gave up. Some kinds of literature are beyond me. I managed to read House on Mango Street; and two other "Latin American' books - Drown by Junot Díaz and The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño So here goes The House on Mango Street The House on Mango Street is a collection of stories, poems, short pieces told by Esperanza - girl who lives 'temporarily' in Mango Street. She lives in a 'Hispanic' neighbourhood The stories are told from the eyes of a child growing up. Bits and pieces about family, toys, school, neighbours, relatives, love, loving. There are short narratives, very pointed, about violence.. with some pieces which even though seemingly told through the eyes of a child are full of the kind of irony that childish points of view sometime...

This year's World Mental Health Day is being commemorated around Depression. According to the World Federation for Mental Health , " Depression can affect anyone and it is one of the most widespread illnesses, often co-existing with other serious illnesses. According to the World Health Organization, unipolar depressive disorders were ranked as the third leading cause of the global burden of disease in 2004 and will move into the first place by 2030." There is a certain irony in the headlines for the statement from the Ministry of Health in Guyana.. under President Ramotar's plans to modernise Guyana. These modernisation plans do not seem to be reflected in any mental health policy which is sincere at addressing the needs of the population. The Ministry of Health in cutting and pasting the statement have not bothered to pretend to any platitudes of what the Guyanese who have depression could celebrate in Guyana. A couple of us met last Sunday and we talked...

The Consultancy Group in Guyana embarked on series of IDEAS Forums in 2012 as one of the human resource development initiatives for their staff and associates. An informal discussion with Rene Edwards and Esther McKintosh on the protests against the former Commissioner of Police Henry Greene, led us to agreeing that I should do a presentation on 'Protests, activism, right to free speech and and so on' (This presentation was first done on 27 September 2012) My experience with many of the social justice activities in Guyana, is that many people would like to speak out about abuses like what the late Henry Greene committed, but are scared or locked into silences This preparation of this presentation is timely for me as I seek to consolidate my interests and knowledge with my technical skills, and try t o market these i n an environment which is not always welcoming of my views. Rights Article 40 of, our Constitution guarantees us various fundamental rights,...

  Outpourings of love "Vidya, I wanted to ask you something. Do you think that preaching against homosexuality is homophobic? What is that term homophobic? Where does it come from?" asked a Christian woman who is active in the Ministry in Guyana against homosexuality. "I love you", - from a Christian man whose actions said otherwise. "4. We also believe that all human beings are created with love and for love; that we are called to embrace and reflect God’s love and compassion for humanity as outlined in the Bible which demands that we reject the acts of violence and hostility meted out to some homosexuals and other attitudes or actions that devalue and diminish our humanity as God intended. 5.  It is in the context of the above that we express our love for our fellow citizens who practise homosexuality and those who are challenged with same-sex attractions while unequivocally stating that homosexuality is wrong and is a practice that is in cont...

I like audio slideshows. Something about being able to enjoy the moments of beautiful photographs while listening to the audio with subjects' voices and other related sounds. The audio slideshows on the Guardian UK website are some of my favourite. This one from the New York times also shows the power of audio slideshows as a tool of online journalism. So I have been wondering whether I could use  audio slideshows as part of the blogging experience. This requires a different kind of organising and skill set. The digital recorder will capture the sound, so you have to be organising the audio and thinking of what audio would be good. The pictures for an audio slideshow need to be composed. They say 4 seconds per image so, a 2 minutes would require about 25 to 30 images, with some time for inter titles. The thing is... composing images while thinking of how the blog and the ideas would be formed is a task. The first place I went on Saturday was GuyExpo. I was confused at fir...