018 august 2015 torrevieja outlook

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Number 018 August 2015

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15th national holiday - Elche - Los Alcazares - Fortuna - Weather station - Tomatina Pinosa - Bookshelf Mary’s Meals - Hiroshima survivor - helados - Ant Park - Garden of Eden - Diabetic special - Gingernuts - Not Alone - Stagestruck - Acequion - Fiestas of San Emigdio as well as SS Ana y Roque - Walk Across Borders - Opinion - Mike’s Jump

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Solidarity 2016 calendar is underway and those associations requiring copies please connect Andy Ormiston at a0rmi@icloud.com with numbers needed

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August is full of fiestas, events, fairs, concerts and so many other things going on around us. Sometimes it is difficult to know what's going on. Be sure that there's a fiesta near you. Most towns will have a cultural programme and tourist offices should now what fiestas are on. EuroTourGuide Spain is an excellent source for what's on in Valencia and Murcia regions and can be found on their marvelous website or FACEBOOK. No doubt but Elche takes first place with its annual August fiestas and all month there is something happening.

The Elche Mystery Play is part of the heritage of mankind with a UNESCO classification. Allied with this there are parades, exhibitions, competitions, international folklore parade, Moors & Christians, tremendous firework display of the Nit d'Alba. Elche has one of the best tourist offices I have encountered with helpful staff. There are over 400 fiestas and festivals in the Valencia Region this month.

Elche Mystery Play of the Assumption of the Virgen Mary includes a burial cortege.

Photos: Elche Tourist OďŹƒce

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Jewish Harmony One of the differences between the Elche play and other medieval plays is the part of the Jews.

In most plays there are two different groups - Jews and Christians or rather Jews versus Christians. The Elche play is a real medieval piece set in its day when Jews, Moors and Christians lived in harmony; the position of the Jews was accepted as an important part of the general community of the city of Elche. In some similar plays, however, it is the Jews who try to stop the burial to take place in the Valley of Josephat.

On the morning of the 15th August there is a procession of people representing the apostles and disciples of Jesus, carrying the body of Mary to the Elche Basilica prior to the actual presentation of the play. The play depicts the death, internment, assumption and final coronation in heaven of the Virgin Mary. Angels descend and ascend from the heavenly roof of the Basilica by means of special equipment. If you are unable to get seats for the actual play then this is a procession worthy of a few photographs. In addition to the mystery play there are magnificent Moors & Christian parades, plus a wonderful firework display on the Nit d’Alba.

On the 15th a solemn procession marks the death of the Virgin and her internment, which is interrupted by a group of Jews who want to debate over what happens to the body. The leading Jew is paralysed and there is a conversion among the Jews and other unbelievers who now witness the angels taking Maria’s body heavenwards. There is an interruption with a slight dissension when Doubting Thomas arrives late and demands to see the body. Traditionally this is when doubting Thomas supposedly recited what is now the second part of the ‘Hail Mary’ or ‘Ave Maria’ prayer. The ‘Trinitat’ representing the eternal God is another piece of equipment used in the coronation of Mary and the whole city rejoices with the pealing of church bells.

Although the basilica is a large church there is limited seating. However, it is possible to attend the dress rehearsals on the 11th, 12th, and 13th August. The actual performances take place on the 14th and 15th August. On even numbered years further performances are held at the end of October. Bookings for the August performance can be made in advance at the Casa de la Festa, Calle Major de la Vila 27, from around 22nd July. Tel. 96 545 6809. The number of tickets are strictly limited. aormi@icloud.com

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Los Alcazares by Dave Stewart Just south of Torrevieja is the old town of Los Alcรกzares. Like many towns in Spain the inhabitants are gradually becoming aware of the historical culture of their town as more and more foreigners come to live there and look for some local history. Town planners have avoided spoiling the sea front by building high buildings, opting to keep the already charming villas on the seaside. With the assistance of European money there is a delightfully long promenade used by pedestrians and bikers and ideal for those in wheelchairs or have mobility problems.

Each year, since 1972, a tradition has grown up whereby farmers, and those who work on the land around, have a get-together and this has developed aormi@icloud.com

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into a grand feria each year between 15th and 30th August. The Semana de la Huerta includes traditional representations, costumes and folklore music and dancing. A barraca is built in the fair area and traditional food from the region is served, which includes a lot of vegetable and fish dishes.

An alcรกzar is an arabic word for a castle or fortress or even just a keep; in nautical terms it means the quarter-deck. In Los Alcรกzares there are still some remains of the original alcรกzar built in the XII century when the town was known as Al Qasr or AlKazar. The Arabs built a small port to hold their fishing fleet.

Long before this period the Greeks and Phoenicians used the area, which was rich in fish. The shallow waters of the Mar Menor are ideal for breeding gambas and other delicacies in high demand by restauranteurs. When the Romans arrived they used the district as a resting zone for troops and many of the richer Romans built villas making use of the mineral rich warm waters of the Mar Menor for spas, often using a clay tube system of heating the water and running it into special baths. Using the same system, but running the pipes under the hearth of the fire, the Romans also had a central heating system that was in use in colder climes such as Germany and Britain. More modern spas still function in the town. Some statues from Los Alcรกzares can be seen in the Museo Arqueolรณgico de Murcia.

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FORTUNA'S ROMAN FIESTAS

by Dave Stewart

Fortuna is in the Murcia Region located 240 metres above sea level. It is an appropriate name as Lady Fortune does smile on this small town bathed in the sun in a dry climate. The thermal waters gushed out of the warm mineral springs in La Cueva Negra and the Baños de Fortuna and were sought after by the early Iberians and the Romans who used the area as a resting zone for weary soldiers. After the February Carnival and the processions of Semana Santa, the modern “Romans” have a parade to the Cueva Negra to re-enact some of the lascivious rites of the Romans as they splashed in the baths there.

This is a good example of the Christians taking over pagan rituals, in this instance the 15th August, the feast of the Assumption of the Virgen Mary into heaven. In Fortuna both ancient civilizations are recalled in the annual fiestas. In these “Fiestas de Sodales”, the parades are not only a tourist attraction, but an opportunity to know some of the history of Fortuna. A parade of Iberian warriors and files of Roman legionnaires march to the sound of music, several of them on horseback. The principal parade takes place on the 15th August at 19.00. Here fun is combined with culture in a revival of ancient Rome; a Rome that made good use of the curative powers of the thermal baths of Fortuna’s springs to bathe and cleanse the ills of both body and soul.

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At the end of the night a funeral pyre is lit followed by a fish festival of the Sardinala Popular.

Fiestas take place from 10th to 15th August beginning with a spectacular scene of the Iberians and the arrival of the Romans, attracted by the waters of life. During this the scantily clad, flower-bedecked “Water Nymphs� are crowned. These lovely ladies are escorted by fierce, gaudily painted Iberians or strutting, toga wearing, Romans. A modern spa is always popular all year round as the water comes from volcanic springs.

There is a Roman market in the town centre and at night there is a Roman dinner in the balneario Romano, where the group of Sodales recline on low benches, wearing typical Roman costumes. Roman orgies were held in the large caves in the area.

On another day the children and youngsters take pride of place in their own parade grouped round the various Roman standard bearers, with banners dedicated to diverse Roman gods. Among the fun it is possible to enjoy games of that era.

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It Ain't Half Hot Mum

by Dave Stewart

It is getting hotter Apart from gota frias, one of the main attractions for visitors to the Torrevieja area is its climate. However, the report of a group of Spanish scientists to the National Climate Council in early 2007 offered a gloomy prognosis for 2071 should you be planning your holidays that far ahead. In effect if warming continues Alicante province will be one of the worst places affected with a marked change in aridity and the prospects of more desertification as rainfall will occur less frequently and be more irregular. The worst-case scenario is that in Torrevieja area the summer temperatures could increase by 8ยบC during this 21st century. Initially this would be a 1ยบ to 3ยบ Centigrade average increase up to the year 2040. The expected 40% decrease in rainwater is equivalent to about 150 litres per square metre, that is what fell in 2005 the sixth driest year since records were initiated in 1856, but more alarmingly, the sixth driest year since 1994.

The weather "Proyecto Mastral " began in Torrevieja as baby of two amateur weather enthusiasts, Samper Pablo Hernandez and Ruben Soler Torregrosa. It takes its name

The month of May of this year was one of the hottest on record

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Pablo Samper and Rubén Torregrosa of Projecto Mastral donated 2,415 euros to the President of the Alzheimers Association, Matilde Sanchez; money raised from the sale of the solidarity calendar they have made and sold each year using photos from their web page correspondents.

of a well-known wind in the city - a dry wind from the northwest, with the typical pronunciation torrevejense because it derives from its original " Mistral" .

Torrevieja is a city that enjoys a semi-arid Mediterranean climate, with rainfall of around 260 liters per square meter per year and an average temperature of 18 ° C. With its strong seafaring and salt traditions weather has always played an important role as it is in the interest of the people to know what the weather will be, when there could be a storm that could disrupt fishing, or when rains may reduce the collection of salt.

The Mastral Project currently has four meteorological stations throughout the municipality that are responsible for collecting weather information of our city. The group has connections in other parts of Spain and often their photos are seen on evening television weather channels. Maria Imbernón Pardo, owner of the station at Torrevieja “Aguas Nuevas” provides a lot of information as does Frank Tangen who looks after the unit at Los Altos.

In addition the group also produce a lot of up-to-date information about astronomy, moon phases, shooting stars, etc. They attend national and regional meetings of other meteorological enthusiasts. The association organizes their own workshops, often with the assistance of an invited personality of the televisions weather presenters and have built up a good reputation with the media in general.

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They are always trying to improve the services they offer and at the same time promote the advantages of Torrevieja as a tourist city. Members and collaborators of Mastral Project recorded a video congratulating viewers on Christmas and New Year 2015 which was released on social networks. The video was recorded in different parts of the city such as Cala Ferris, the coves , Embarcadero Plaza de La Mata or the Natural Park of the Lagunas de La Mata and Torrevieja.

Proyecto Mastral print a popular annual calendar in aid of a local charity.

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La Tomatina Tomato Battle Festival - Last Wednesday in August - 26th Probably after the bull runs of Pamplona the most famous international fiestas is that of the Tomatin in Bu単ol. Each year 60,000 people crush into the small town of Bu単ol swelling its normal 10,000 inhabitants to participate in the annual battle of tomatoes.

This fiesta has now received worldwide publicity and each year attracts more and more visitors willing to brave the Trituran, a barrage of tomatoes thrown at everyone in sight for one hour. 120 tons of tomatoes, carried on seven open lorries manned by local men, proceed slowly through the designated narrow streets and those on board chuck the fruit at anyone they can see, so that, eventually, the streets resemble a giant tomato ketchup spread over all the buildings and anyone in the way. Although at street level the houses and shops are barricaded as sometimes people on the balconies above have tomatoes thrown at them, which can end up spattered against their salon walls.

This year authorities are limiting the number of people involved for security reasons.

So no ticket no entry. It would be wise to check out the availability online as now some tour operators sell places. Once the tomatoes are used up the hosepipes are turned on the battlefield to wash everything away and the battle of the T-shirts commences as men and women take off their red spattered shirts (and shoes) and throw them at each other, often causing bodily damage. Many other towns have imitated this in various countries, though most eat them rather fight. And don't confuse la Tomatina with Tomatin a lovely Scotch whisky.

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Pinosa twinned with Torrevieja

by Pat Hynd

Pinoso is a marble town located west of the province of Alicante about 600 meters above the sea level. It is located about 50 km from the main capitals of Murcia and Alicante and approximately 80kms to Torrevieja and 70 km from Benidorm.

The main economic activities are agriculture with vines, olive and almond trees, the shoemaker, movable and developing food industry and a strong mining activity based on limestone and rock salt. There are salt pools in the hills which are piped to Torrevieja lake intensifying the density of the waters. It also produces marble and there is a huge marble plinth in the park adjacent to the salt conveyor belt. There is a type of museum dedicated to the marble and wine industries, but you need to get permission from town hall to visit it. It is open from Wednesday to Sunday from 11:00-13:30 and also in the afternoons from Wednesday to Saturday from 18:00 to 21:00 casadelvino@pinoso.org Tfno: 966 96 60 43 During the first nine or ten days of August Torrevieja’s salt water link town, Pinoso, celebrates the patronal fiestas in honour of la Virgen del Remedio. This is an old fiesta, but, yet again, the original image of the Virgen was destroyed in the Civil War and the present statue is the work of sculptor Enrique Bellido. The statue has a crown with 12 stars and a dove with open wings. It is normally in the church of San Pedro Apóstol but is brought out into the light of day for Semana Santa, the May processions and during these patronal fiestas.

Among events is the annual Floral Offering when the women and young girls wear colourful traditional costumes; there is a fun parade of carriages and carts; a ‘suelto de vaquillas’ where citizens and visitors can dodge the young bulls if that is their thing; the barracas are where people eat, drink, dance and generally enjoy themselves on the evenings of the fiestas with

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live music supplied by traditional and modern groups and singers. Pinoso produces marble as one of its industries, but there is also an underground channel that pumps salt water to Torrevieja lagoon and helps in the local salt industry. It is a quiet town whose days are marked by the chimes of the clock in the tower. This clock has a rare mechanism constructed by Antonio Canseco inn 1889 and now maintained by local watchmaker Angel Jara. It is possible to climb to the top of the tower and view the surrounding town and countryside. Another interesting building is the San Pedro church where the image of the Virgen del Remedio is kept and used in the annual patronal fiestas from 1st to 8th August. There is also a sanctuary dedicated to the Virgen del Rosario which is the scene of an annual pilgrimage.

Another visit can be to the Casa del Vino, which offers information about the area’s wine production, and there are various bodegas where the wines can be sampled and bought.

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Pinoso is one of the driving forces behind the the Wine Route of Alicante, intended as a platform from which promotes the rich resources of the municipalities that have a long winemaking tradition in the province. The Wine Route Alicante is integrated into the project " Wine Routes of Spain ", that belongs to ACEVIN, the Spanish Association of Wine Producing Towns.

The Wine Route Alicante currently make up the municipalities of Pinoso, Villena, Perter, Mon贸var, Algue帽a, Hond贸n de los Frailes, Novelda, Salinas and Mancomunidad Vall de Pop. This route offers visitors the opportunity to learn the culture, tradition and customs of the range of Alicante wines, visiting wineries, understand their various processes involved, stroll through the vineyards, and of course, know and taste their wines. All this combined with the experience of learning about the historical, cultural and tourist heritage of the province.

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La Bodega de Pinoso cooperative was formed in 1932, although the traditions of the village dates back to centuries, particularly in the era of Roman rule in the Iberian Peninsula.

Among the bodega’s achievements and international wine awards include prizes at the Universal Exhibition in Paris. The main goal of its foundation was to centralize the efforts of the different winemakers of the area, as many of the traditional family wineries were disappearing, leaving the marketing in the hands of other professionals.

At the beginning of XX century La Bodega de Pinoso vowed to start selling wine bottled under the name of the cooperative and bet heavily on organic farming, starting a new era. The time of change began with the construction and upgrading of facilities, the creation of new brands and the development of a sales network.

Since 1932, La Bodega de Pinoso selects and processes the fruit of the best vineyards in order to create quality wines. They offer an unmatched combination of hundreds of years of tradition and experience with modern technology.

A young team, which combines both technical experts in viticulture and enology and marketing, linked to want to leave the past behind production of bulk wine.

Today La Bodega de Pinoso is among the most important wineries in the region and is the largest producer of wines of organic farming in Valencia, thus demonstrating the great interest of all the links that make up the winery (vintners, technical equipment and attention to customers) to develop sustainable agriculture to the environment that is competitive and profitable for the grower.

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Bookshelf by Pat Hynd

Mary's Meals The Shed That Fed a Million Children by Magnus MacFarlane-Barow (W. Collins 12.99 pounds) www.marysmeals.org It’s often small things can make an impact on us, and even change our lives. This was certainly what happened to the author of this book. 13 years ago he was in his shed at the bottom of the garden in Scotland when he had a bright idea. A simple idea, but often those are the ones that work best.

He had been in Africa a few weeks earlier in 20092 when he went to Malawi to assess the needs of people there. He was already involved in several charities including in Bosnia-Herzegovina where he became deeply influenced by his visit to the shrine of the Virgin Mary there. While in Africa he stayed with an Italian missionary who took him on a tour around his large parish. They visited a desperately ill mother of six children who was dying of AIDS. Trying to be nice and make conversation he asked the oldest boy, Edward, what he most hoped for from his life. The boy took a moment to think and said, “I would like to have enough food to eat and I would like to be able to go to school.”

In his shed weeks later the boy’s words crystallized for Magnus as he had been thinking just what he could do to help people in Africa. Millions of kids in Africa do not have enough to eat and cannot go to school. What if a meal was provided in each school?

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He reasoned that if hungry children realized that they could be fed in school, they would be more likely to attend classes. Once they were full they would be more likely to concentrate and learn. So the idea gelled the boy’s words came back to him and he now knew what would could make a difference.

That’s how Mary’s Meals was born, a charity that supplies dinners to over 1,300 schools across the world and approximately the same number of British schools support the project. The schoolchildren have raised over three-quarters of a million pounds in three years and the charity itself has a turnover of about fifteen million pounds. Mary’s Meals feeds well over a million children across four continents using a vitamin enriched maize (phala).

As the idea has spread and meals are being provided, enrollment has gone up in the schools in the scheme. Attendance has improved and it is notable that academic performance increases as well. The simple idea works – a meal and education.

British schoolchildren not only raise funds, but organize other things, such as the Backpack Project - getting their parents to buy a school bag or haversack and fill it with basic school materials. These children learn how well they are off in comparison to others and, in many instances, “adopt” another school abroad and support the children there. It is not merely a handout system, but one that shows immediate results and in future years should improve the development and life style of those countries without filling the pockets of those in power who tend to skim the top off other aid efforts.

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Mary's

Meals

is

a

registered charity in its own right, but is an offshoot of the Scottish International (SIR) during

Relief

begun in 1992 the

Balkan

conflict, when Magnus and Fergus MacFarlane Barrow organized a local appeal for blankets and food. They filled a jeep with aid and delivered their cargo to Medjugorje in Bosnia. The brothers, aged 25 and 27, returned to Scotland expecting to resume work as fish farmers, but in their absence their parents’ shed had been filled with more donations.

The costs are low; in Malawi it costs seven pounds to feed a child in one of these countries for a whole year as farmers help out and mothers become involved as volunteers. Mary's Meals provides the kitchen, cooking equipment, training, ongoing support and of course, regular supplies of nutritious maize.

There is an advert on Spanish television where someone does a good turn for another unknown person, who in turn is inspired to do something for someone else and so it continues, emphasizing how often one good act can spawn others.

In 2011, some primary school children from Argyll started a club called Charity Children and raised ÂŁ70 for Mary's Meals.

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One of them, Martha Payne, went on to create a JustGiving page on 1 June 2012 linked to her blog, NeverSeconds, about school meals. Her aim was to raise enough to buy a kitchen for Mary's Meals (£7000), and she put in £50 that a magazine had paid for use of her pictures.

After Argyll and Bute Council tried to stop Martha taking pictures of her school food, worldwide media coverage brought millions of new visitors to her blog, and contributions of more than £108,000 in less than a month. The resulting kitchen in Blantyre, Malawi paid for by these donations is called 'Friends of NeverSeconds' at Martha's request.

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Martha Payne and Dad of NeverSeconds

It is worth looking at the main charity SIR as they continue to run a number of other projects for the community in general.

In the meantime I recommend having a good read of an inspiring story of how it all began with the trip to Bosnia and a shed.

To Make a donation to Mary’s Meals Spain: BANCO SABADELL Fundacion Mary's Meals Spain BIC/SWIFT: BSABESBBXXX IBAN: ES9200815029160002381643

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Hiroshima Survivor

by Andy ormiston

I was around six when the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan and our little boys’ reaction was that “how could they get a bomb so big on an airplane” as we were told it destroyed a whole city which took hundreds of normal bombs. So, in a way, all my life I have lived in the shadow of atomic warfare with, at times, an almost certainty that we would be at the receiving end sometime. We had no television in those days, so it was in the cinema during the newsreels that we saw the mushroom formations and much later before we actually witnessed some the devastation caused. Here I am not going to discuss the rights or wrong of nuclear deterrent weapons.

I have met two people who knew at first-hand the effects of nuclear weapons. One I wrote about briefly last year in September, Norman Smith an RAF pilot who was flying throughout the Second World War from Dunkirk, then afterwards flying scientists in helicopters at Woomera in Australia to see the effects of their nuclear tests there.

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The other one was actually a survivor, a Spanish priest, who because of his horrific experiences was forever set against nuclear weapons. I would like to talk about him in this article as this month we remember the 70th anniversary of the Fat Man being dropped over city of Nagasaki by the United States on 9th August 1945.

I met Pedro Arrupe a few times in London and in Rome when I was helping in organizing his talks. He was in Hiroshima at the time of the atomic bomb attack on 9th August 1945. He was a young Jesuit priest who had studied medicine along with Dr. Negrin (later President of 2nd Republic) and able to provide some primary aid to the Hiroshima victims.

At the time of the bombing he was in charge of the Jesuit novitiate in Japan. This experience affected the rest of his life as he and his staff sheltered hundreds of victims of the blast and attended to their injuries as best they could in the remains of the chapel.

Pedro de Arrupe y Gondra was born in 1907 in Bilbao, northern Spain, so just like the founder of his order, Ignatius of Loyola, he was a Basque.

The family was a happy one; he had four sisters, older than himself. A bright student, he loved aormi@icloud.com

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theatre, music, opera and decided to study medicine and a brilliant career opened up for him. Pedro Arrupe attended school at the Santiago Apostol High School in Bilbao. Later he moved to Madrid to attend the Medical School of the Universidad Complutense. There he met Severo Ochoa, who later won the Nobel Prize in Medicine. One of his teachers was Juan Negrín, a pioneer in physiology, who would become Prime Minister of the Spanish Republic during the Civil War (1936–1939). He was earmarked by his professors as a brilliant student and they were disappointed by his sudden decision to leave his medical studies and become a priest and tried to persuade him to continue with medicine.

What made him change his career?

He decided to make a three-month trip one summer to Lourdes to see what was happening there; he was attached to a group of mostly atheist medical investigators and during his time saw three cures that medically were impossible.

In August 1926, Pedro Arrupe, then 19 years old, was a brilliant student of Medicine, winning the first Prizes in anatomical studies and therapeutics at the University of Madrid. With his medical experience he checked out the Lourdes cures and was baffled. The first was of a nun with spinal tuberculosis, lying paralyzed in a plaster cast; she had difficulty in speaking. During the blessing of the sick she rose from her stretcher, aormi@icloud.com

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calling, ‘I’m cured!’ The second miracle was of an elderly woman with stomach cancer. Her doctors told her that her only cure would be a miracle. After the baths, she said she felt hungry and knew she was cured. The third was of a paralyzed young man, who, during the blessing of the sick, cried, ‘I’m cured!’ and jumped out of his wheelchair. All three cases were investigated thoroughly by the medical team at Lourdes.

Arrupe’s comment was, ‘I sensed God very close and tugging at me’, and in 1927 he joined the Jesuits in Loyola. He later said, "There is no need to tell you of what I felt and my state of mind at that moment. I had come from the Faculty of Medicine in Madrid, where I had had so many professors (some truly renowned) and so many companions who had no faith and who always ridiculed miracles. But I had been an eyewitness of a true miracle worked by Jesus Christ in the Eucharist… I seemed to be standing by the side of Jesus; and as I sensed His almighty power, the world that stood around me began to appear extremely small.”

"I returned to Madrid; the books kept falling from my hands. My fellow medical students asked me, ‘What’s happening to you? You seem dazed!’ Yes, I was dazed by the memory which upset me more each day; only the image of the Sacred Host raised in blessing and the paralyzed boy jumping up from his chair

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remained fixed in my heart."

He studied in Belgium, Holland and the United States of America and he was ordained at St. Mary’s Seminary in Kansas in 1936. In 1938 he went to Japan, where he took his final vows as a Jesuit in 1943.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbour in December 1941 he was arrested as a spy (because of his American studies) and put in solitary confinement for 33 days. This was a time, rather like the Spiritual Exercises undertaken by Jesuits, that profoundly affected his spiritual thinking and one can’t help but compare it to St. Ignatius’s own experience of being stuck in a bed with a broken leg with nothing to do but read the only book around - being a Lives of the Saints. Fr. Arrupe was celebrating the Eucharist for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (patron saint of Torrevieja) on 8th December when he was arrested and imprisoned, being suspected of espionage. On Christmas Eve, Fr. Arrupe heard people gathering outside his cell door and presumed that the time for him to be executed had arrived. However, to his utter surprise, he discovered that some fellow Catholics, ignoring all danger, had come to sing him Christmas carols.

Upon this realization, Arrupe recalled that he burst into tears. The Jesuit order had been expelled from Spain in 1932, which is why his priestly studies of philosophy and theology were abroad. It was his Spanish nationality that eventually secured his release. He was Master of Novices in the house and chapel at Hiroshima.

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The lone plane droned over the war torn city, but as it was not seen as a threat no sirens wailed out their warning protest.

On the outskirts of the city a small group of Japanese students listened to their Spanish master. Then there was a tremendous flash of light, followed by the awful sound of a blast, and the students were battered by it, but their small building withstood the blast, sheltered partially by the hill in between the city and their building built by a European Jesuit brother was stronger than most Japanese buildings. 8:15 was the time of the explosion that was also a spiritual explosion in the life of Arrupe. After about fifteen minutes the ascending smoke from the burning city was clearly visible. It was 6th August 1945, the city was Hiroshima and Little Boy had left his scarred mark on Japan and the world - he was a uranium gun-type atomic bomb.

Soon the files of civilians, the majority women and children as the men were on the battle fronts, passed over the hill fleeing the hell that had fallen from the heavens. Most were injured, with gaping open wounds, burnt flesh dripping off their bodies. Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the acute effects killed 90,000–166,000 people in Hiroshima. During the following months, large numbers died from the effect of burns, radiation sickness, and other injuries, compounded by illness.

The Jesuit novitiate was converted into a makeshift hospital where between 150 and 200 people received care. Arrupe recalled, “The chapel, half destroyed, was overflowing with the wounded, who were lying on the floor very near to one another, suffering terribly, twisted with pain.�

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Torrevieja sunset over salt workings

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After the war he continued to work in Japan and in 1958, Fr. Arrupe was appointed the first Jesuit provincial for Japan, a position he held until being elected Father General of the whole order in 1965, which was when I first met him. Prior to being elected Father General, Arrupe made a visit to Latin America and, on one occasion, was celebrating the Eucharist in a suburban slum. He was deeply moved at the devotion and respect the people had for Christ in the midst of their abject poverty.

After the service, a man invited Fr. Arrupe to his hovel, where he told him that he was so grateful for his visit and that he wanted to share the only gift he had, that of watching the setting sun together. Fr. Arrupe reflected, “He gave me his hand. As I was leaving, I thought: ‘I have met very few hearts that are so kind.’ This is rather reminiscent of the present Pope Francis is it not?

It was an experience that led him to bring many changes into the apostolate of the Jesuits as more attention was given towards social justice work.

The defining moment of Fr. Arrupe's leadership of the Jesuits was probably the thirty-second General Congregation, which convened in 1975. Part of the 4th Decree states: “Our faith in Jesus Christ and our mission to proclaim the Gospel demand of us a commitment to promote justice and enter into solidarity with the voiceless and the powerless”.

Fr. Arrupe was keenly aware that, in the political climate of the 1970s, the Jesuits’ commitment to working for social justice would bring great hardship and suffering, opposition from the powerful rich, or even death. Prophetic words. Particularly in those Latin American countries which were not only fascist, but supported by the United States as a means of holding back the perceived threat of Communism and which actually resulted in a number of them being murdered, at

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Salvadorian murders of six priests and the one female domestic staff and her daughter on November 16, 1989.

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the behest of the CIA, the best known being those working in San Salvador.

Partly because of his work in Japan and the visible plight of the Vietnam boat people refugees, he instituted the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) an international Catholic organization with a mission to accompany, serve and advocate on behalf of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons.

The JRS in England were to the fore helping the boat people and I remember a lot of them being sheltered at Osterley House in Isleworth a former late vocations centre for student priests.

Founded in November 1980, JRS was officially registered on 19 March 2000 at the Vatican State as a foundation, working in 50 countries, providing assistance to: refugees in camps and cities, individuals displaced within their own countries, asylum seekers in cities, and to those held in detention centres. The main areas of work are in the field of education, emergency assistance, healthcare, livelihood activities and social services. At the end of 2011, more than 600,000 individuals were direct beneficiaries of JRS projects. Today JRS work with refugees in Syria, Libya, Iraq and Lebanon among many other places and were the first to help out in Haiti at the time of the disastrous earthquake.

A few have been victims of the fanatic IS extremists, either kidnapped or killed and others killed for their stand for the poor and the improvement of their lives.

Michael Campbell-Johnston, SJ is an English Jesuit whom I also knew.

He approached Father Arrupe about the boat people with suggestions and was given the directive to get on and do something about it. Having first joined the order in 1949, Campbell-Johnston has helped shape the modern Jesuits, especially in its social initiatives. Campbell-Johnston, who worked

Vietnam Boat People

Dutch Jesuit Father Frans van der Lugt murdered in Syria by IS; he practiced yoga, ran a farm and welcomed people of all faiths on mountain hikes. No one was surprised by his refusal to leave the besieged city of Homs.

He had spent almost 50 years in Syria and had been in Homs since the siege began more than two years ago. aormi@icloud.com

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with Jesuit Superior General Pedro Arrupe, SJ, has also served as provincial of the British Province and founded the Jesuit Refugee Service.

CampbellJohnston did his graduate work at the London School of Economics. Almost all Jesuit priests have a specialized degree, apart from those in philosophy and theology. He spent nine years with Fr. Pedro Arrupe in the Jesuit Curia. He is another interesting character in every sense of the word.

Pedro Arrupe spoke five languages and wrote five books in Japanese. I knew Arrupe’s private secretary, who was also a Spaniard from Andalucía, a lovely priest who liked me and on one of his visits to London, when preparing a meeting in Piccadilly Hotel, brought me some wine from his family’s winery - a much appreciated gesture.

Pedro Arrupe, SJ, was the 28th Superior General of the Society of Jesus, leading the Society in the realities of serving the Church and people in the post-Vatican II world. Arrupe was a man of great spiritual depth who was committed to justice. He was an inspirational leader and was widely respected as a ‘refounder’ of the Society of Jesus in the light of Vatican II. He became a vocal advocate of peace and justice being an integral part of the preaching of the Good News in the modern world.

In 1981 Arrupe suffered a debilitating stroke that meant he could no longer speak different

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“First of all, we’ve got to get serious about social justice.

“Helping the poor” or “charity” just aren’t good enough any more – these are important, but they alleviate the symptoms of a much deeper pathology.

Now that we have the knowledge to change systems of economics, politics, and culture, we have incurred the duty to change them, and radically.”

Michael Campbell-Johnston During his recent visit to Bolivia Pope Francis was given a sculpture f a Cross with a hammer and sickle.

Most were outraged, but in effect this was based on a work of another Spanish Jesuit priest who had been tortured and murdered for his work with the social justice issues of the country.Father Luis Espinal was returning from a movie in March 1980 when he was intercepted, tortured and killed. His remains were found in a landfill. Paramilitaries were blamed for his death. Outrage ensued, with an estimated 70,000 Bolivians attending his burial in La Paz. He was born into a religious family in Spain in 1932, during the Spanish Civil War. He studied communications and went to work for Spanish television, producing a Catholic programme on current affairs. He resigned after a story on internal migrations and slums was canceled without his superiors even seeing it.

He moved to Bolivia in 1968 and "was reborn," Father Albo said. "He fell in love with the country" and became a citizen in two years, renouncing his Spanish citizenship in the process. aormi@icloud.com

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languages, although understanding them, but had a type of Spanish he used to communicate.

An appointee named by Pope John Paul II served as interim superior until 1983, when Arrupe was able to resign.

There had been tension between Arrupe’s vision of the mission of the Jesuits as serving the poor with love and justice against Jesuits who wanted to retain the traditional education mission as they saw it, mostly among Spanish Jesuits. But there was also opposition to his thinking from the diehard Vatican apparatchik who had whispered in the ears of two popes speaking against him.

He was wheeled in to the opening session of the Jesuit’s 33rd General Congregation, and Arrupe’s final prayer was read to the community.

“More than ever I find myself in the hands of God. This is what I have wanted all my life from my youth. But now there is a difference; the initiative is entirely with God. It is indeed a profound spiritual experience to know and feel myself so totally in God’s hands”.

Fr. Pedro Arrupe died February 5, 1991 after ten years of severe illness.

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Pope Francis prays at the tomb of Father Pedro Arrupe, superior general of the Jesuits from 1965 to 1983, in the Church of the Gesu in Rome

World War II did not end with signed peace agreements, but continued with British troops fighting in Burma, Malaysia, Palestine, Vietnam then on to Korea, Aden, Kenya, Algeria, Suez, Congo, Rhodesia, Cyprus. Then modern ones such as Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries. Most of these were excused by Britain defending the rights of British enterprise notably oil.

Since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 70 years ago, nuclear weapons have been detonated on over two thousand occasions for the purposes of testing and demonstration.

The Federation of American Scientists estimated there were more than 17,000 nuclear warheads worldwide as of 2012, with around 4,300 of them considered "operational" (ready for immediate use).

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Spanish Cookery

by Pat Hynd

H is for Helado -­‐‑ Ice Wells and Ice Cream One of the pleasures of living in a coastal resort such as Torrevieja is being able to sit on the promenade, eating a gorgeous looking ice cream cornucopia of fruit an ice cream, topped with a bit of whipped cream. Personally it is one of my treats,c ha>ing and watching all the world go by and talking about them.

Sirvent is one of the companies that manufactures ice cream and has a few cafeterias in Torrevieja and numerous sca>ered in other towns. Another ice cream producer is the local Torres family of Torrevieja who produce several cold treats and noted for their granizados or slush puppies.

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Alicante province has a fine tradition of manufacturing ice creams in dozens of different flavours. In the mountainous area around Jijona, people were employed in the manufacture of the Christmas sweetmeat, turron, during the festive season of Christmas and the Kings. The problem arose with how to provide all-­‐‑year round employment. One scheme that arose naturally was to make use of the ice wells that were in the hilly area and had been used to store meat and other perishables. By adding turron to the ice the first ice creams were made and gradually over the years ice cream manufacturing has become one of the biggest and most important industries in the Alicante province. These ice wells can still be seen in both the Valencia and Murcia regions. One place to see these is in the Sierra Espuña Mountains where, near the town of Alhama de Murcia, there is a centre that is a veritable mine of useful information. From here it is a good hike to the Pozos de Hielo, which are igloo-­‐‑ shaped edifices with a deep cavern underneath used to store the winter ice. Torrevieja is supposed to have been one of the destinations for the mules that carried the ice down the mountain to help preserve the fish catches.

The first ice creams were reputed to be the invention of ancient Chinese several centuries before the Christian era. This was a mixture of ice or snow, with honey, chopped fruit, rosewater and violets. Marco Polo is reputed to be the one who brought the idea to Italy and supposedly the Spanish ice on a stick, the polo, is named after him. From Italy the fabrication of ice creams gradually spread throughout Europe. The Arabs, Turks and Romans also had similar refreshing

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In Alicante and Murcia areas caverns were made to store ice in the winter that was used, for example, to provide lumps of ice in summer for the fishing industry in Benidorm and Torrevieja.

Donkeys carried the ice overnight ready for the morning fish market.

delicacies. The caliphs of Bagdad put their seal on ‘sharbets’ with a mixture of fruit juice and snow, from this we get the word sorbet. But it wasn’t until 1864 when Nancy Johnson invented the first automatic ice making machine in USA that ice cream manufacturing became an industry.

Today ice cream making is one of the principal industries in the Valencian Region.

Jijona has a thriving industry and an interesting history. For example the descendants of Sebastian Linares Siva have a factory and a chain of parlours (Sirvent) throughout the province. He started in Cordoba in 1930 with the family producing ice creams in the morning and flogging them around the streets in the a f t e r n o o n s . T h e f a m i l y moved because of the Civil W a r a n d i n S e g o r b e continued to produce their ice cream. This was sold in the streets and at the railway station and even on the trains where the nimble youngsters carrying their ‘garaffa’ had to be prepared to jump off the train whilst moving if they didn’t want to be caught out. aormi@icloud.com

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There are two basic forms of ice cream: the water based ones such as ice lollies, or those with milk, cream or egg in them. Ready packaged ice creams should come with details of their origin, composition and a sell by date. In Spain each person eats six litres of ice cream a year -­‐‑ however, this is beaten, strangely enough, by the Scandinavians who consume fifteen litres a year.

When I visited an ice cream cafe/factory in Barcelona, I was amazed at how much fruit they had in stock as every iced product had fresh fruit used in the production of a wide variety of flavors. Modern ice creams are praised by many as a healthy food containing all the vitamins, calcium, proteins, vitamin B2, but it does lack iron.

Normally ice cream flavors are based on fruit, but chefs are playing with ideas and we have flavors such as ham, chicken or even prawn ice creams as well as

gazpacho sorbets. Whether these savoury flavors will catch on remains to be seen. Anyone for a jamon or gamba helado?

A walk along the promenade is enhanced with enjoying a large ice cream concoction in one of the many ice cream parlours.

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Known locally as hormiguero park, this small area is dedicated on the tree trunk of the olive tree to poet Jose Manuel Caballero. It lies alongside the large Residencia of the Social Seguridad building and is a good example of the town hall’s taxing of 10% on constructors, in this case the Villas del Mar II Urbanization where the builder had to hand over this bit of land for the road and this garden. This meant that the previous building plans had to be altered squashing the houses closer together, The park is popular with children and pensioners - both age groups having playthings.

The logo is of an ant which is laid into the ground area. In summertime it has a kiosk supplying ice cream and soft drinks. It is close to the Friday market.

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In the Garden of Eden

by Andy Ormiston

For many gardeners their own little plot of land is either a paradise where one can lose oneself in the beauty of Mother Nature or a hell fighting against weeds, pests and the other face of Mother Nature. Here we have time for a little reflection on the first gardener Adam - and his other half, Eve.

Some scientists are now telling us that according to gene testing we all come from the one woman. Stanford University scientists are now saying that Adam never knew Eve, as the famous Y chromosome is 84,000 years younger than an important cell on our maternal side and both developed on their own before joining up. The first woman lived in Africa 143,000 years ago, so was likely to have had a dark skin.

Despite what the scientists say, God made man first as He didn’t want a woman looking over his shoulder.

However, the book of Genesis tells us in its own quaint way that God made Adam and Eve, giving them the responsibility of looking after the Garden of Eden and all the species therein. But God, as we all know, was not too happy with Man’s response. After creating heaven and earth, God created Adam and Eve. The first thing God said to them was: "Don't."

"Don't what?" Adam asked.

"Don't eat the forbidden fruit," said God. "Forbidden fruit? Really? Where is it?" Adam and Eve asked, jumping up and down excitedly.

"It's over there," said God, wondering why he hadn't stopped after making the elephants.

A few minutes later God saw the kids having an apple break and he was very angry. "Didn't I tell you not to eat that fruit?" the First Parent asked.

"Uh huh," Adam replied.

"Then why DID you do it?" God asked exasperatedly.

"I dunno," Adam answered, “she told me”.

God's punishment was that Adam and Eve should have children of their own. Thus the pattern was set and it has never changed.

There is a reassurance in this story. If you have persistently and lovingly tried to give your children wisdom and they haven't taken it, don't be so hard on yourself.

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If God had trouble handling his children, what makes you think it should be a piece of cake for you?

What did God say after creating man? “I must be able to do better than that.”

Adam was obviously the first gardener and knew a great deal about animal husbandry, but today people continue to argue about what is the oldest profession.

One surgeon claimed that his must be the oldest as God had to operate to take a rib from Adam to create Eve. An architect claimed that his must be the oldest profession as God had to create order from chaos.

“Mine must be the oldest profession,” claimed the civil servant, “for who created the chaos in the first place?”

Adam as the first Man was walking around the Garden of Eden feeling very lonely although he had plenty of animals as pets. Watching the antics of the rabbits made him feel even more lonely. God asked him what was wrong. Adam said he didn’t have anyone to talk to, so God decided he would give him a companion and it would be a womb-man.

God told Adam that the womb-man would cook for him, wash his clothes, and always agree with every decision he made. She would bear his children and never ask him to get up in the middle of the night to take care of them. She would not nag him and would always be the first to admit she was wrong during a disagreement. She would never have a headache and would freely give him love and compassion whenever needed.

Adam asked God what a womb-man would cost him. God told him, “An arm and a leg”. Adam replied, “What can I get for just a rib?”.............the rest is history and we have a blessed woman.

Adam decided to go for it and was put into a deep sleep by God and when he woke up he had a pain in his side - Eve, the first wo-man was born and has been a pain ever since.

God had almost finished his work creating humans, but He had two parts left over and was indecisive about what to do with them, so decided to consult the pair.

He told them that one of the gifts he had left was something that would allow the owner to pee while standing up. “It’s very handy thing and I was wondering if either of you had a preference for it”.

Adam was so excited he just started jumping up and down, “Oh please give it to me, I would love to be able to do that! It sounds just like the thing a man could use, oh please, please let me have it!”

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Eve smiled and told God that if Adam really wanted it so badly he might as well have it. So God gave Adam an attachment that permitted him to pee standing up.

Adam was delighted and jumped up and down going from the top of a rock to send a spout of water out, then down onto the ground to write his name in the sand and was absolutely delighted.

God and Eve looked on with a amusement and then God said, “Well that just leaves one more gift so I guess you are stuck with it Eve,” “what is it?” asked Eve. “Brains”, replied God. Adam asked God what he should do now. God told him to copy the birds and the bees, so Adam wandered hand in hand with Eve into the forest, but returned in a few minutes to ask another question of God. “God, God.” “Yes, what is it now Adam?” “Tell me God, just what is a headache?”

We know from the Bible that God first created the world and then He rested. He then created Man and rested. He next created woman and, ever since, neither God nor Man has rested.

Adam and Eve soon followed the examples of the birds and the bees and even the rabbits, as God told them to increase and multiply. It seems that when God made the Garden of Eden he had a word with Adam bestowing on him twenty years of normal sex life. The Man was horrified having tasted a bit of the forbidden fruit and wanted a bit more, but God was adamant, that was all man could get.

Then God called the monkey and gave him twenty years of normal sex life. “But I don’t need twenty years”, protested the monkey, “ten is plenty for me.” Man spoke up eagerly, “Can I have the other ten, then?” The monkey agreed.

Then God called the lion and gave him twenty years. “But I don’t need twenty years, only ten like the monkey.” Again Adam spoke up, “Can I have the other ten?” The lion said that of course he could.

Then came the donkey and he also was given twenty years, but like the others, ten was sufficient and again when Adam pleaded with him the donkey said that of course he could have the other ten years.

This explains why man has twenty years of normal sex life, plus ten years monkeying around, ten years of lion about it, and ten years making an ass of himself.

Of course, Eve couldn’t care a fig leaf about all that.

The devil in the guise of a serpent tempted them and when Adam succumbed to the temptation of knowing good from evil and Eve realised just what a snake in the grass he really was. This may sound rather a macho tale and although Eve didn’t

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wear the trousers in the house (who did then?) she was Abel to raise Cain with Adam whenever she felt the need.

Adam was walking in the Garden of Eden looking a bit downcast and God asked him what was the matter. Adam admitted he had some little communication problems with Eve. “Tell Me, Adam,” commanded God. “Well, she’s very beautiful and I love just looking at her,” replied Adam, “and I have to admit I enjoy her in bed. In fact I am crazily in love with her.”

“That’s good,” said God, “I made her like that so you would love her.”

“Oh I do, I do,” responded Adam. “She is so talented as well: does all the housework efficiently, cooks well, cares for my every need, and is so good in and around the garden and I love her for all that as well,” continued Adam.

“That’s why I made her like that,” said God, “so that you would love her.” “Yes, I do love her,” Adam went on, “but to be truthful, God, she is a bit thick and can’t hold a decent conversation. In fact, she is really a bit stupid.”

God said, “I know that as well, Adam, I had to make her like that so she could love you.”

However, the real truth is that Eve was first on the scene and felt very lonely in the Garden of Eden and she told God who said, “I tell you what I’ll create a man for you to satisfy your physical needs and hunt and gather for you. He will also be proud and arrogant so you’ll have to let him believe that I made him first. That’ll be our secret, just between us two girls.”

Like everyone else eventually Adam and Eve died and went to heaven. A long time later so did Sherlock Holmes, but on his arrival at the Pearly Gates St. Peter asked him who he was and what he had done. “I’m the world’s greatest detective,” he said modestly. Peter said he had never heard of him and decided that he must be put to the test so pointing to the millions of people in heaven Peter asked which were Adam and Eve. “Elementary, my dear Saint,” replied Holmes, “those two without any navels.” Think about it.

Whenever your kids are out of control, you can take comfort from the thought that even God's omnipotence did not extend to his kids.

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Discovery of Insulin

Diabetes is very common nowadays and in this edition we would like to look at it and this article, based on internet material, is about insulin and its discovery as it saved the lives of millions of people.

The discovery of insulin was a real breakthrough in the treatment of diabetes. Before the discovery of insulin, diabetes was a feared disease that most certainly led to death. Doctors knew that sugar worsened the condition of diabetic patients and that the most effective treatment was to put the patients on very strict diets where sugar intake was kept to a minimum. At best, this treatment could buy patients a few extra years, but it never saved them. Orange juice and honey are good examples of foods rich in glucose. In some cases, the harsh diets even caused patients to die of starvation.

Bertram Collip In 1869, a German medical student, Paul Langerhans, found that within the pancreatic tissue that produces digestive juices there were clusters of cells whose function was unknown.

Some of these cells were eventually shown to be the insulin-producing beta cells. Later, in honor of the person who discovered them, the cell clusters were named the islets of Langerhans.

In October 1920 in Toronto, Canada, Dr. Frederick Banting, an unknown surgeon with a bachelor's degree in medicine, had the idea that the pancreatic digestive juices could be harmful to the secretion of the pancreas produced by the islets of Langerhans.

He therefore wanted to ligate the pancreatic ducts in order to stop the flow of nourishment to the pancreas. This would cause the pancreas to degenerate, making it shrink and lose its ability to secrete the digestive juices. The cells

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thought to produce an anti-diabetic secretion could then be extracted from the pancreas Charles Best without being harmed.

Early in 1921, Banting took his idea to Professor John Macleod at the University of Toronto, who was a leading figure in the study of diabetes in Canada. Macleod didn't think much of Banting's theories. Despite this, Banting managed to convince him that his idea was worth trying.

Macleod gave Banting a laboratory with a minimum of equipment and ten dogs. Banting also got an assistant, a medical student by the name of Charles Best. The experiment was set to start in the summer of 1921 and was so successful that they were given more money and better laboratory facilities. In late 1921, a third person, biochemist Bertram Collip, joined the team. Collip was given the task of trying to purify the insulin so that it would be clean enough for testing on humans. But on whom should they test? Banting and Best began by injecting themselves with the extract. They felt weak and dizzy, but they were not harmed.

Collip continued his work to purify the insulin. He also experimented with trying to find the correct dosage. He learned how to diminish the effect of an insulin overdose with glucose in different forms. He discovered that the glucose should be as pure as possible.

In January 1922 in Toronto, Canada, a 14-yearold boy, Leonard Thompson, was chosen as the first person with diabetes to receive insulin.

The test was a success. Leonard, who before the insulin shots was near death, rapidly regained his strength and appetite. The team now expanded their testing to other volunteer diabetics, who reacted just as positively as Leonard to the insulin extract.

The news of the successful treatment of diabetes with insulin rapidly spread outside of Toronto, and a year later in 1923 the Nobel Committee decided to award Banting and Macleod the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The decision of the Nobel Committee made Banting furious. He felt that the prize should have been shared between him and Best, and not between him and Macleod. To give credit to Best, Banting decided to share his cash award with him. Macleod, in turn, shared his cash award with Collip.

This Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for insulin has been much debated. It has been questioned why Macleod received the prize instead of

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Best and Collip. However, Macleod played a central role in the discovery of insulin. It was he who supported the project from the beginning. He supervised the work and it is also most likely that Macleod's contacts in the scientific world helped the team in getting a speedy recognition of their discovery.

The first time that insulin was used in Spain was actually the first instance in Europe. Barcelona Dr. R. Carrasco-Formiguera, who had previously studied in Harvard, happened to be present when Banting made his first presentation in New Haven in 1921/22. He contacted MacLeod asking for details so he could try it on a very ill patient in Barcelona whom he had been desperately trying to keep alive hoping for a breakthrough such as insulin. In the September he and a colleague, Dr. Pere Gonzalez, made up a brown fluid that had insulin, but not very pure.

He acted as a guinea pig by trying each batch on himself and discarded each one if it caused pain. On October 3rd 1922 he gave some of his extract to patient Frances Pons and the results were promising, but the patient later died when supplies temporarily ran out of insulin. Never daunted he tried it out on other patients and later managed the production of insulin in Spain. It seems that nobody else in Europe appears to have used insulin clinically until 1923.

In Britain the first attempt was a Canadian, Jonathon Meakes, working at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary who wrote to MacLeod on 17 June 1922 for information so he could treat a diabetic colleague. He followed the directions, but did not use the insulin until January 1923. British medical profession had cast doubts on the idea that a small hospital in a colony could produce such a breakthrough when MacLeod wrote to the Medical Research Council offering them the British patent to the product. Two Edinburgh Royal Infirmary specialists Dr Dale and Dr Dudley were despatched to Toronto to check out the new discovery and were immediately enthusiastic about their findings. Dale wrote back to the MRC “and

the progress reflects credit on all concerned with getting things to their present stage, with the very poor equipment they have had hitherto. Banting and Best are fine fellows and the whole story at this end, is perfectly straight and there is no sign of anything, but unselfish enthusiasm.�

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www.torreviejaoutlook.com Wasim Akram - Cricketer Yuri Andropov - Soviet Union Leader Piers Anthony – Author Arthur Ashe - Tennis Player Syd Barret - Pink Floyd Menachem Begin - PM of Israel Jack Benny - Comedian Halle Berry - Actress Sarah Bina - Championship clogger Samuel Block - Civil Rights Activist Anthony J. Brown - Actor Danny Joe Brown - Singer James Brown - Singer Ralph Bunche - Nobel Peace Winner Delta Burke - Actress, Miss USA James Cagney - Actor Douglas Cairns - Pilot Nell Carter - Singer, actress Johnny Cash – Musician James "Buster" Dougls - Boxer Kenny Duckette - NFL N Orleans Chris Dudley - NBA NY Knicks Rick Dudley - Hockey Scott Dunton - Surfer Mike Echols - NFL Tennessee Titans Thomas Edison - Scientist Mama Cass Elliott - Singer Ella Fitzgerald - Singer Mick Fleetwood - Musician Aretha Franklin - Singer Curt Frasier - NHL Chicago Black Hawks "Smokin' Joe" Frazier - Boxer Ernest Hemingway - Author Jay Hewitt - Iron Man triathlete Mike Huckabee - Politician Mahalia Jackson - Gospel Singer Nicole Johnson - Miss America, 1999 Kellie Keuhne - Golfer B.B. King - Blues singer Tom Hanks – film star Billy Jean King - Tennis Player Larry King - Talk Show Host Nikita Kruschev - USSR Premier Fiorello LaGuardia - Mayor of NY City Peggy Lee - Jazz singer Mary Tyler Moore - Actress Adam Morrison - Basketball Elvis Presley - Singer Mario Puzo - Author Sir Steven Redgrave - Olympic Della Reese - Actress, singer Dan Reichert - MLB Kansas City aormi@icloud.com

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ONLY SOME PROMINENT DIABETICS WHO LIVE(D) QUITE A STRENUOUS LIFESTYLE.

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A Case History

by Andy Ormiston

In this month’s Edition we focus on diabetes, which is nowadays very common and actually increasing as it is often linked to our modern day diet, which has so much sugar added into ingredients of products. If you just found out you have diabetes, you probably have a lot of questions and you may feel a little uncertain.

This hot weather can aggravate a diabetic’s condition as extremes of hot and cold can affect nerve endings, which I am suffering as I write this.

Being diagnosed as being a diabetic can be a bit of a shock as it did to me many years ago as the first thing I thought was “no more sugar in my tea” as I was used to three spoonfuls in my favourite cuppa. It is amazing how quickly our bodies can adjust and now I never take sugar directly in anything, even coffee, but it is difficult to avoid it, as it is in so many foodstuffs that we buy.

Two types of diabetes So what is it exactly? Diabetes is a disease in which your blood glucose, or blood sugar, levels are too high.

Glucose comes from the foods we eat. Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas that helps the glucose get into your cells to give them energy and helps control the sugar.

There are basically two types of diabetes; one is managing with diet/exercise or perhaps with diet and medication as one of my sister-in-laws did successfully.

The other is when things are that bad you are controlling glucose levels using insulin that your pancreas cannot produce. With type 1 diabetes, your body does not make insulin at all. With type 2 diabetes, the more common type, your body does not make (or use) insulin well and efficiently. Without enough insulin, the glucose stays in your blood and affects other parts of the body.

There is an exception to this in very are cases where a patient who is not a diabetic really needs to be fed sweet things.

You can also have pre-diabetes. This means that your blood sugar is higher than normal, but not high enough to be called diabetes. Having pre-diabetes puts you at a higher risk of getting type-2 diabetes. This is fairly common in pregnancy, called gestational diabetes.

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Hormones There are several hormones that control the glucose level in the blood. Hormones are chemicals in the body that send messages from cells to other cells.

Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas. When you eat, the pancreas makes insulin to send a message to other cells in the body. This insulin tells the cells to take up glucose from the blood to supply energy. Extra glucose that is not needed right away is stored in some cells as glycogen. When you are not eating, cells break down glycogen into glucose to use as energy.

So you’re thinking “maybe I’m a diabetic”.

In a way this is article is a look at one case – my own.

When I was in my early 30’s I was sure I had diabetes, it was hereditary visible in all my immediate family, my father, three brothers and three sisters. My doc did a urine test, which showed clear. I was not satisfied and went back again. Another urine test was negative. At the time I was in the process of buying my first house and had to have insurance, the building society demanding a medical report from a Harley Street physician, who was great, and after a blood test told me I was diabetic, which taught me that it is really necessary to have a blood test for a definitive result and not rely on the urine one.

The urine test has been around for centuries as Egyptian physicians used to taste a patient’s urine to see if it was too sweet.

Ugh! The highly paid doctor also told me of another problem and to see my GP who laughed at the idea, but had the sense to check it out and within a few days I was in hospital for an operation where, they confirmed that I was diabetic and had to wait a couple of days to bring my sugar levels down before operating. Afterwards a surgeon told me that most likely within a couple of years I would be on the needle. He was wrong it took a couple of decades because I was careful, although now I inject three times a day before meals. It also taught me to go for a second opinion if you are not satisfied with the first one.

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My English GP first of all told me I had probably caught something from a recent trip to USA. Two other cases spring to mind; those of a niece and the son of a good friend. Both were in different parts of Scotland and both were in the changing puberty years and in both cases their GP told parents it was nothing to worry about as it was just “growing pains”.

Two cases, two different doctors, same diagnosis. The end result was at one stage, independently, both children had to be rushed to hospital (again different ones) where the parents were scolded by the doctors for not doing something sooner as the children were almost in a coma condition. I am glad to say that both those children have been happily married for many years and control their glucose very well, lead normal lives, have had children, and even grandchildren. The niece has now recently opened her own business and the other lad, rather man, is a keen golfer and a highly qualified nurse.

There are 3.3 million people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK and an estimated 590,000 people who have the condition, but don’t know it. The same is occurring in Spain as more people turn away from traditional meals and using Fast food sources and 7.7 million are supposed to be affected (many don't know it) according to the Spanish Diabetic association.

So what are the symptoms?

The main symptoms of undiagnosed diabetes include: ¥ passing urine more often than usual, especially at night ¥ increased thirst ¥ extreme tiredness ¥ unexplained weight loss ¥ genital itching or regular episodes of thrush ¥ slow healing of cuts and wounds - blurred vision This last - the blurred vision - is a good guide when you are diagnosed as it can happen if you have too much or too little insulin and at times is a reminder to take medication or eat.

It is paramount to control glucose levels and have a balance as over time, having too much glucose in your blood can cause serious problems. It can damage your eyes, kidneys, and nerves. Diabetes can also cause heart disease, stroke and even the need to remove a limb, which happened to my elder sister. The opposite

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also stands - if you have too little glucose; so this balance must be maintained to have a fairly healthy lifestyle, which can be achieved by being sensible.

A bad side-effect symptom of sugar rising can be an uncontrollable irritation with others, causing arguments. My two children were always quick to spot this condition and were able to ask, “Dad, have you taken your medication?” Usually they were right and I had not taken my metaformin tablet, which I took for many years. Too many years, as I will explain later. Diabetics specialists pooh-pooh this idea but I know from other diabetics (and their spouses) that irritableness is very common, as is sleeping with feet outside the bed.

Control means exercise of some kind, even just walking a couple of kilometres several times a week, a sensibly controlled diet, regular checkups of blood for control purposes and controlling weight, either yourself or at a diabetic clinic.

Although being diagnosed as having diabetes will affect your lifestyle, it will not stop you enjoying life. There are plenty of professional sports and other personalities who lead intensive lives, but as they control their medication and glucose they can be successful at their chosen activity. In summer access to a pool is a good investment. While living in England I asked about moving to Spain and was emphatically told, “go for it, Spain has some of the best diabetic doctors in the world.”

Many studies have shown that physical inactivity is associated with insulin resistance, often leading to type 2-diabetes. In the body, more glucose is used by muscle than other tissues. Normally, active muscles burn their stored glucose for energy and refill their reserves with glucose taken from the bloodstream, keeping blood glucose levels in balance. So stop being a couch potato and get out and about. Being in Spain means drinking plenty of water, so don’t wait until you feel thirsty carry a bottle with you.

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Medication Many guidelines recommend metformin as first-line therapy for patients with type 2diabetes. This recommendation is primarily based on the results of the Ukpds trial published in 1998. However, the methodology of this trial has been criticised and a review of this was done in 2014 involving about 1700 overweight diabetic patients. Doctors have since questioned the continuous use of metformin as I know from personal experience.

Metformin rarely causes hypoglycaemia and has no effect on body weight. It does not increase cancer-related mortality. It sometimes causes vitamin B12 deficiency leading to macrocytic anaemia or peripheral neuropathy.

In this regard the first doctor I had in Spain in 1987 told me to take Vitamin B12 supplements in two courses per year and I have always found that it gives me a lift; but never overdo it as there are side effects.

Metformin mainly carries a risk of interactions with drugs that impair renal function, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and hypoglycaemia symptoms iodinated contrast media. Renal failure can lead to metformin accumulation and an increased risk of lactic acidosis. Taken together, the available data suggest that metformin monotherapy tends to reduce mortality and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Its adverse effects have been extensively studied and are acceptable provided renal function is monitored, especially in situations in which patients are at risk of kidney failure. The harm-benefit balance of metformin monotherapy remains favourable in most patients with type 2 diabetes when dietary measures alone are not sufficient.

Back to my own experience, as I used metformin for decades. I had a Spanish doctor who after my repeated complaints about a pain in my foot said I had “gota”. I asked what it was and the idiot’s first response, “look it up in a dictionary”. Again I asked and was told the same stupid reply from a smirking doctor. By this time I knew that he was talking about gout and said, “is this related to rich foods like gambas and kings get it, the aormi@icloud.com

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A graphic display of the sugar you may unknowingly be drinking in your favorite drink, so many healthy drinks are diabolical.

rich people?”. “Exactly”, he beamed, “you’re eating too much seafood”. I never really eat molluscs or other seafoods, so I was sure his premise was wrong and went for a second opinion. A private doctor asked to see the list of medication and tapped the metaformin and said that this can produce the same effects as gout, so to cut it out. I immediately changed my GP, but before I was able to advise the new doctor I had to rush to the funeral of my sister for a four-day visit that turned into three months.

Over those four days, unknown to me my body was reacting against the metaformin and toxics (such as lactic acidosis) building up that affected my sugar levels lowering them dramatically. My daughter did frequent blood tests and my other sister phoned the emergency service – why do emergencies always seem to happen at weekends? The upshot was I was rushed into hospital singing, “and so we’re off to sunny Spain, Viva España,” and the ambulance men decided to take me to a larger hospital, as it was obvious to them I was not drunk, but that something serious was going on.

The seriousness was that my kidney function collapsed, leading to heart failure for several minutes and its only thanks to the determination of those doctors and

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nurses that pulled me through, putting me on a dialysis machine and battering my chest with the paddles for seven minutes. After seven days in A&E I was sent to the renal ward where I continued to improve without the need for more dialysis. The first thing they did was take me off the metaformin and asked why I was using it at all after so many years. All the time, via my family, the doctors in Spain were informed and my records emailed to the Dunfermline hospital.

One of those bugs swept through the ward and I was a suspect of bringing some foreign body from Spain with me. So it was decided that I would be better off out of the hospital and went to stay with my sister (not the one who had died). Before I was discharged a bearded doctor came and sat by my bedside looking at me with an intensive stare. He said that he was the one who had received me into the emergency and when my name came up on his computer that I was being discharged he had to see if it was the same patient as he had thought I would die. I thanked him and also the staff in the A&E and found that one of the male ones I knew, who had spoken to me in Spanish, was leaving and having a party, so I was able to leave an envelope with money for a drink for the staff, which they all appreciated. It is nice to be thanked, even if you are only doing your job. So after that I was an outpatient until my strength and condition improved, but always with the threat of dialysis hanging over me, which I did not want having seen my dead sister having it for almost three years and losing her leg in the process, again because of her diabetes.

When I returned to Spain and saw my new GP she gave me a double look and later, once she got to know my eccentric ways, told me she had never expected to see me back alive again after the reports from Scotland.

Since then I have had regular checks at Torrevieja Hospital renal section located at the far end of the hospital with its own specialised unit, that includes a programme for those on holiday. Touch wood, I have avoided the need for the dialysis so far and commend the lovely staff in this unit.

I have had a bad experience with another Spanish endocrine specialist who changed my insulin to the pen system using another type of insulin. This didn’t work and I was in the Urgencias four times with high blood sugar levels of up to 600 and close to another heart failure. My own doctor took me off it and put me back on the former mixed human insulin with its easy deliver cartridge and she has monitored me ever since. The mixtard is a combination of a slow acting and fast acting insulin, so one has to eat soon after

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injecting. I also found the pen difficult to read the numbers and had to listen for the clicks of each unit; whereas the mixtard has large numbers on a clock face and easy for the elderly to inject with 8mm needles. Blindness can be one of the shortcomings of diabetes.

If injecting oneself, then it is important to avoid veins and use a muscular area, altering the position each time. You can end up with bruises if you use the same area and also if the insulin is too cold coming directly from the fridge where it has to be kept normally. If travelling, chemists have small insulated bags and freezer packs that can hold your insulin and keep it cool – but never frozen. Also avoid injecting close to your belly button, keep roughly one inch away from it and do not use alcohol wipes, as they can have a reaction with the insulin in a few cases.

Diet: Diet is also an important issue, as there has to be a balance. Food is to be enjoyed. Obesity is one of the things that can induce diabetes and with our modern diet it is now an epidemic. I am naturally well endowed..with fat. I tried a sensible diet with a dietician for almost six months and lost over four kilos, but unfortunately it had the effect of several low blood figures during the night and I had to take something sweet counteracting the good already down as far as weight was concerned. So I am back to my normal lifestyle and the results for the past eight months have been remarkably level and my doctor is surprised. I put it down to having porridge fairly regularly in the evening as it slowly releases energy. But I also avoid fats, cream, butter and fried foods, so goodbye fish and chips.

The golden rule is take-five – vegetables and fruit a day with lots of fish and some chicken and meat. I do not recommend gambas or shellfish as they can also produce high glucose readings.

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In Torrevieja we have two Diabetic associations. One is based in the Torrevieja Casino with regular talks and events in Spanish and attached to the Spanish Diabetic Association. The other is a selfhelp project for the English speaking diabetics as a branch of the HELP association and they also have regular monthly meetings with talks and discussions about latest treatments. http://www.helpvegabaja.com/pdf/hvbleaflet.pdf

I know people who swear by taking some powdered cinnamon in some of their meals, even porridge. It is supposed to help lower sugar levels, but I have never tried it and always you should consult your doctor before trying anything herbal like this.

But every diabetic is a world to him/herself. Each person reacts differently to various foods and I find that an occasional whisky also seems to give me a lower reading. Well that’s my story and I am sticking to it. No doubt others would have higher levels as alcohol affects your blood. A healthy approach to diet is necessary. In general, people should lose weight by choosing healthy foods, controlling portions, eating less fat, and increasing physical activity. People are better able to lose weight and

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keep it off when they learn how to adapt their favourite foods to a healthy eating plan.

There are two aspects to monitoring your diabetes – the monitoring you do yourself at home, and the monitoring that your diabetes team will do for you.

If you have Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, or are caring for someone who does, and you own an Apple or Android smartphone – you can download a free Diabetes UK Tracker app.

The app is designed to be quick and simple to use, taking the daily chore out of logging levels such as blood glucose, carbohydrates and calories. Download the app for free today: search for 'Diabetes UK' in the App Store on your device. You can download the Apple version of Diabetes UK Tracker app from the iTunes App Store, or download the Android version of the app from the Google Play store.

If you are under a GP in Torrevieja there is also a connection through the Florence computer system that connects you with your GP. It can be used by you monitoring your own condition, glucose and blood pressure, and through internet send the data to your own GP, who has an alert come up should anything be out of kilt. The Florence system has been developed in Torrevieja Hospital and won many awards and is sold to other hospitals throughout the world. New technologies are being developed all the time and the latest by Spanish technicians is a patch that will read glucose levels and apply insulin as necessary, but that is still a few years away for production. There are pumps that can be fitted around the body that do similar readings and inject insulin, but they can bruise you easily as a friend of mine found out when she was a volunteer guinea pig for the first pumps.

Listen to the advice of your doctor but If you are a diabetic, you are your own doctor, its your body - your decision look after yourself

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Eat a healthy diet and use the slogan - FIVE A DAY - for fruit and vegetables and small meals. Spain uses a percentage blood glucose reading system and if it is under 80 and above 120 you are in danger. Best average readings should be between 80 and 120.

Brief summary guide: Short-term complications include hypoglycaemia diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), and hyperosmolar hyperglycaemic state (HHS).

Long-term complications include how diabetes affects your eyes (retinopathy), heart (cardiovascular disease), kidneys (nephropathy), and nerves and feet (neuropathy).

* Get your blood glucose levels measured at least once a year, preferably twice. Use your birthday, for example, as a date to ask your doctor for a check up. A clinical blood test will measure your overall blood glucose control for the past three months. This will measure cholesterol, and if a male then a PSA at the same time for your prostate.

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Enjoy a balanced lifestyle, eat five small portions a day, especially fruit and veg,avoid fats, exercise even if it is only a short walk, YOU DONT WANT TO END UP HERE.

* Blood testing numbers are different in various countries including UK and Spain as different systems are used. The difference is that mg/dL is a measure of weight while mmol is a measure of volume.

This should be allied with a urine test so that your kidney functions can be measured. Torrevieja Hospital has an excellent renal facility. *You can do your own blood tests, preferably in the morning before eating.

Occasionally it is a good idea to have a Profile where a day is set aside and regular blood tests taken before every meal and two hours after every meal. Generally blood tests are taken before eating as a meal will normally push your glucose levels up.

You can get free needles for blood testing from the Spanish clinic and usually they will supply a glucose meter and show you how to use it. Your doctor can prescribe the test tabs, which you get free from the chemist. If you have a health insurance then you may have to pay for these services. *Have your blood pressure measured and recorded at least once a year if you don’t do it regularly yourself. This can be done whenever you like in the chemists for a couple of euros. They can also do a quick glucose blood test. *Have your eyes screened for signs of retinopathy every year. Once you are in the system the Torrevieja Hospital will arrange to see you on a regular basis and quickly pick up on any abnormalities. Your sight is precious and needs looking after well. aormi@icloud.com

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*Have your feet checked. The skin, circulation and nerve supply of your feet should be examined annually. Should you have a cut that is not curing then go immediately to the emergency clinic and insist that you are a diabetic as at first sight they may ask why you’re there for a trivial matter. It is not trivial - a small cut can quickly become gangrenous and you end up losing a limb as Arthur Askey did - twice..

DONT SMOKE - IT ONLY AGGRAVATES YOUR CONDITION * Look for information and specialist care if you are planning to have a baby as your diabetes control has to be a lot tighter and monitored very closely. You should expect care and support from specialist healthcare professionals at every stage from preconception to post-natal care. Often there are diabetic signs during pregnancy that will disappear once your body has resumed its normal condition. *Receive care planning to meet your individual needs. You live with diabetes every day so you should have a say in every aspect of your care and s¡discuss it with your doctor. Your yearly care plan should be agreed as a result of a discussion between you and your doctor/diabetes healthcare team, where you talk about your individual needs and set targets.

Torrevieja hospital has currently two diabetic specialists. * DON’T FORGET YOUR PET - yes, animals too can have diabetes, especially dogs. Your vet can advise you.

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SOME VERY WELL KNOWN REDHEADS

CAN YOU NAME THEM?

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Gingernuts

by Dave Stewart Our new town council members in Torrevieja are giving plenty of space to minority groups to demonstrate. So here is a suggestion for another fiesta – gingernuts.

My favourite redhead has always been green-eyed Maureen O’Hara who partnered John Wayne in so many films, notably “The Quiet Man”. We tend to think of redheads as having fiery tempers, but the ones I know, may be opinionated about many things, but not particularly angry people.

Today as part of a social quirk redheaded kids seem to be set apart for bullying, but frankly it’s not something I remember from my schooldays as one of my best friends was redheaded and freckled. We are looking at over sixty years ago and I asked a couple of other old school-friends if they remember ever taking the micky out Mary Magdalen of Tommy. And it took them some bit of thinking to realise he did have red hair as did his older brother. In 2003, a 20year-old was stabbed in the back for "being ginger”. In May 2009, a schoolboy committed suicide after being bullied for having red hair. I guess we have all called them by another name - gingernut, Carrot top, Ginger, or in Aussieland Blue or Bluey, or nowadays rangas (from orangutang) but that makes them more individual and not set apart to be ridiculed.

In 2005 a two-day festival was set aside in Holland as Roodharigendag or Redhead Day. It’s the name of a Dutch summer festival that now takes place each first weekend of September in the city of Breda, so you still have time to make a reservation. It is a festival of people with natural red hair, but is also focused on art related to the colour red. Activities during the festival are lectures, workshops and demonstrations aimed specifically at redhaired people. The festival attracts people from 50 countries and is free due to sponsorship from the local government. To be classified a 'Redhead', each participant must not have altered their original hair color in anyway. aormi@icloud.com

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It was started unintentionally by the Dutch painter, Bart Rouwenhorst, in the small Dutch city Asten. As a painter, he was inspired by artists like Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Gustav Klimt. The hair color "Titian" takes its name from the artist Titian, who often painted women with red hair. Queen Elizabeth I of England was a redhead, and during the Elizabethan era in England, red hair was fashionable for women.

Red hair varies from a deep burgundy through burnt orange to bright copper. It is characterized by high levels of the reddish pigment pheomelanin and relatively low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The Dutch artist Rouwenhorst planned an exhibition of 15 new paintings of redheads. Finding models was problematic, since redheads are rare in the Netherlands, only 2% of the population had natural red hair.

To find models, an advertisement was placed in a local newspaper. However, instead of 15, over 150 models volunteered. Not wanting to turn down so many potential beauties, Rouwenhorst decided to choose 14 models, organise a group photo shoot for all the remaining redheads, and have a lottery to decide by chance who would be the 15th and final model. This happening turned out to be the first Redhead-day.

That year, the focus was on red-haired women only, since they were asked to volunteer to pose for the paintings. At the events in later years, the aim was to attract redheaded men as well as women, but still the sexes are not equally distributed. The first meeting attracted 150 natural redheads. Most attendees wore green clothing by request.

The Dutch national press made the event headline news. The mayor of Asten said later that the event led to the first ever front-page publicity about the city of Asten in the national press.

The second event was organised in 2007, in and around the main church of Breda. On September 2nd, about 800 redheads turned up wearing white as requested. On 7th September 2008, about 1,500 to 2,000 redheads from 15 countries went to Breda to celebrate the third redhead-day.

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Now the idea is spreading and this year Chicago hosted a similar day after the organizer had visited Ireland and experienced their version of Redhead Day in the Emerald Isle.

The 6th redhead gathering will take place in Crosshaven, County Cork from 21 – 23 August 2015. This event is open to Irish and international redhead visitors and admirers. The Irish Redhead Convention is a whacky, ginger loving celebration of everything to do with red hair. Each August, for the past six years, the small seaside village of Crosshaven, in County Cork turns into a glorious sea of ginger, as hundreds of redheads gather from across the globe for this unique Irish festival of flame hair, freckles and frolics. Carrot tossing, ginger speed dating, freckle counting, group photoshoots, certificates of genuine foxiness and the crowning of the Redhead King and Queen are just some of the events that take place.

The convention, which started as a friendly joke between proud redhead siblings, Joleen and Denis Cronin, is also a fundraiser for the Irish Cancer Society.

People with red hair have shown their true colours in a march through Edinburgh on August 2013. It had been billed as the UK's first Ginger Pride Walk and was part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Redhead Day UK is a gingertastic all-day event taking place in Angel, London, on Saturday 12th September 2015. The mission is simple: celebrating red hair and everything that makes gingers unique.

Red hair is the rarest of hair colours and accounts for only 0.6% of the global population.

Ireland has the second highest per capita population of redheads at 10%, second only to Scotland. The United States is believed to have less than 2% of redheads. The Berber populations of Morocco and northern Algeria have occasional redheads. Red hair is also found amongst the Ashkenazi Jewish populations and Mary Magdalen is frequently painted as a redhead. Red hair is fairly common in Andalusia and one redheaded Spanish lady I knew said it came from the time of the Vikings. In European culture, prior to the 20th century, red hair was often seen as a stereotypically Jewish trait: during the Spanish Inquisition, all those with red hair were identified as Jewish In Italy, red hair was associated with Italian Jews, and Judas was traditionally depicted as red-haired in Italian and Spanish art.

So there you have it from art to fiesta Mr. Mayor, how about supporting another minority group? Any redheads around? aormi@icloud.com

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Not Alone When You’re a Mum

by Pat Hynd

One of the greatest experiences a woman can have is having a baby. It is always a bit traumatic, but with the support of a partner, husband and/or family, it is an exciting event. When I lived in London I knew quite a few young single ladies who became pregnant and it threw up a host of problems. Several girls were Spanish or Latin Americans; when you are far from home it is easy to fall in love as you are separated from the anchor that a home should be with the support of mum and dad and the family.

It’s just as easy to get pregnant in the heat of the moment and some girls with a sudden unexpected pregnancy have to face several options. Do I love the father? Do I even know who the father is? Is the father interested at all? Will I have an abortion and get rid of the problem? Should I go the whole time and have the baby and keep it.. or let someone else adopt him or her?

None of these questions are easily answered if you are single. I knew girls who did not want to know the father, it was just the result of a party and too much drink or other substance. Having a good time when you are feeling very lonely and isolated. I know some who had abortions and remember an Irish girl, Mary, crying in the staff room and when I asked why, she said, “I was thinking if I had had my baby she would be one year old today.” I have known others for whom one abortion after the other was as easy as taking a contraceptive pill, which they should have done. On another occasion a Polish girl had a beautiful baby girl, but she daren’t let her parents in

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Poland know, or her landlady or she would be out on her ear, or her boss at the cleaning job she did. So she bought baby clothes from Mothercare in Oxford Street and wrapped the baby up and left her by a pillar in a central Catholic church where she was found and taken care of by the local social services. A different case was a Sri Lankan refugee girl with a domestic job in an Irish doctor’s house, but he raped her and she became pregnant with the result that she was thrown out by the wife as a “filthy bitch”. She had the baby as her brother adopted her, but the girl had a minefield of psychological problems. The other side of the coin is what's best for the baby? I know several aged men who were adopted as children and no matter how well they have been treated t their continual question is: "Why? Did my mother abandon me?" They feel unloved.

Wherever we have a large floating population made up of foreigners there is always a tendency to need companionship. Becoming pregnant is a marvellous experience for the majority of women (and most men) as a baby is the fruit of their love, as well as a sharing in the wonder of creation. It is a difficult period with the usual flushes, morning sickness etc. It can be helped by having a supportive partner, or friendly person around. But of there is no one, what happens?

Torrevieja is very much like London with a shifting population that is largely not native to the city. It also has similar problems and girls becoming pregnant is not at all uncommon, even though we have so many types of protective medication and aids available.

I like the present Pope’s remark that “there is no single mother, they are all just mothers.” Mothers are so important in the early life of a child and I was delighted to hear that the Reach Out association has gone that step further by opening a refuge for single mothers.

The volunteers already do a great job with their day centre for the homeless and families in danger of social exclusion, feeding, washing, clothing and helping the poorest of the poor. The organisation provides a service for any nationality and are careful to ensure that there is no discrimination. Of the 36 families currently catered for around one third are Spanish, one third are African and one third are Eastern European.

‘We have to limit the number of families we engage with to 36,’ says Karolina.

‘Otherwise we are spreading ourselves too thinly. You’ve got to keep it personal and get to know the family. We do home visits, presents at Christmas, we help them buy school books.’

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Karolina Leonard is the dynamic President of Reach Out and has seen the need for some sort of place for mothers coping alone with looking after a child. “It is a sanctuary for young single mothers without any family support and we’ve called it ‘El Arca de Nóe’ or Noah’s Ark. Potentially we can house six single mums, and a warden who will be on hand to help sort out any problems. There will also be a social worker coming in once a week plus activities like cooking, house keeping, sewing and crafts.”

Noah’s Ark is a step forward in a country that is not used to a strong welfare net that Brits have in U.K. Unfortunately in today’s world all too often it is the girl who is left holding the baby and she needs help. For me, any young woman who decides to keep her child is very brave and deserves all the support available, but it is a very personal decision and depends on so many factors. It is also a brave decision not to keep your baby. Noah had two of every species in his ship and this new Ark also has two – a mother and her child who need shelter from the storms of life so that they do not drown in the daily fight to keep one’s head above the waters.

Any donation will be gladly accepted by Reach Out volunteers.

The Reach Out centre in Calle Bella Antonia, Nueva Torrevieja, is only open in the morning, but in that short time a lot is done to help the ninety homeless people registered with them, but there are many more on the streets.

Karolina appreciates the support that has been given to Reach Out; ‘I have to say that when we first started out four years ago with a couple of garages and a shower, it was the British community who helped. Then some Swedish started to contribute and now the Spanish too, but we are really very grateful to all our sponsors.’

Reach Out (Extiendo La Mano) website: http://www.reachouttorrevieja.com Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/reachouttorrevieja aormi@icloud.com

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Stagestruck in Torrevieja

by Jenny Dexter

We have so much talent here on the Costa Blanca with musicians, singers, dancers, thespians, painters, sculptors et alia. Retired people can bring a host of talents learned over their lifetimes to make retirement a very fruitful experience for themselves and others and have a lot of fun at the same time.

Stagestruck - an amateur theatre group - was set up a few years ago by Stella Readon, and since then has gone from strength to strength. The small band of budding actors perform twice yearly at the Cardenal Beluga Theatre in San Fulgencio, with all monies raised going to charity. Their major charity is Alzheimers Association (AFA), but they also support the Cardenal Beluga theatre and small charities in the San Fulgencio area. Last year they were able to give their main charity 2,000€ and also buy school books for children who needed them as well as equipment for the local school.

Stagestruck provide the Cardenal Beluga Theatre with much needed funds as they are allowed to perform there for free. Most of the shows are comedy, originally written and directed by Stella Readon. She seems to have a talent for turning a basic story into something quite different. Stella has put a slant on fairy

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stories such as “Jack and the Beanstalk & Cinderella”, and a crazy mixed up show called, "The Panto Pensioners save Christmas”, which saw every imaginable character from panto coming out of retirement one more time just to save Christmas.

Her best attended show has got to be “Ancient Grease”. Based on the original musical Grease, but 40 years onwards. All the songs we know and love but set in an old folks home in sunny Benidorm !!!

Fate dealt a cruel blow to the group as Stella Readon had to return to the UK last year because of family problems. The group looked like it would fold with no one to step into the breach; that was until Leigh Humphries decided to step into Stella directing shoes. Leigh had only joined the group in 2014, but unbeknown to the group had an impeccable history just right to carry them forward. She began dancing at three years of age and five years later and joined the famous Peggy O'Farrel stage school. She has trodden the boards with some very famous faces including Jimmy Tarbuck, Ronnie Corbett & Clive Dunn..she has also appeared as an extra in films such as “The Star” with Julie Andrews and also “The Charge of the Light Brigade” with David Hemmings.

But her most amazing claim to fame was as Mick the Marmaliser - one of Ken Dodd’s diddymen !!! Didn’t we say there is a lot of talent around. Leigh had seen Stagestruck performing before and thought she would like to join as they seemed to be having a lot of fun on the stage. She auditioned for a part in “Ancient Grease” and that was it. Although she was concerned she would encounter some problems taking over the helm from someone like Stella who had become the life line of the group, she had nothing but support from the group, who's main intention was to carry on.

Stagestruck has a unique talent for finding the right parts for the right people and their Christmas 2015 show will once again prove that to be right. Written again by Stella Readon, who has been working on this for months whilst in the UK, the script will be based on “Sleeping Beauty”. But knowing Stella as the group do it won't be a straightforward story. There's bound to be a lot of comedy,

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pathos and, of course, some great songs. The cast list has just been released and rehearsals will begin in earnest September 1st, with the show being performed at the end of November.

The group are always looking for new members:- Backstage, front of house, lighting, costumes, sound assistants or even those that fancy a go at singing and dancing. The group’s focus is about raising funds for charities, but having loads of fun at the same time. During the summer months they are keeping their hand in by performing murder mysteries, with tickets at some venues selling out well before the performances. They The group begin also have a Facebook page which informs it's many again on 1st followers of what they are doing and when.

All in all things are looking good for the group, very different from a few months ago when it looked like they would disband. Keep your eyes open for more information about the Christmas show and their various donations to local charities.

aormi@icloud.com

September at Casa Ventura and meet every Tuesday from 11:00 - 13:00 then again on Thursday’s from 18:30 to 21:00 and everyone is invited to join the group in some capacity.

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Acequion is an area that takes its name from the canal that links the sea with the Torrevieja inland salt lake. The bridge over the canal is the oldest construction in Torrevieja. There are several urbanization here with their own shops, bars, church with August fiestas, parks, clinic, even Social Security office. It also has a beach that is one of the most popular in the area. But it is never classified as a beach as it falls within the parameters of the harbour ranked at one end by the canal and the other end by the salt conveyor belt. It is fortunate to have many restaurants that edge directly onto the sand, although when there is the occasional tide there is not much sand in between. This photo-report gives an idea of what to expect.

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San Emigdio comes to town and has a party

by Dave Stewart

In 1802 an earthquake hit Torrelamata, which was a small village where people labored in the nearby inland salt lake and worked some agricultural land. But the earthquake destroyed the village and it was decided to move the salt workings a bit further away to the other salt lake and so Torrevieja was born. A popular devotion that was carried over was that of praying to San Emigdio, for protection against earthquakes. He became Torrevieja’s co-patron saint along with la Inmaculada. He was born in TrÊveris, c. 279 Ascoli Piceno, and martyred on 6th August in 303 or 309. During his lifetime he was considered a saint as there are several miracles and cures attributed to him, such as paralytic son of his hosts in Rome or when he drew water from a mountain. He has been venerated from early days, but his connection with earthquakes seems to be in 1703 when an earthquake destroyed everywhere apart from Ascoli Piceno which was considered to be because of his intervention.

Most certainly Spanish missionaries had a devotion to him which resulted in several places being named after him including the San Emigdio Mountains that are a part of the Transverse Ranges in Southern California, extending from Interstate 5 at Lebec and Gorman on the east to Highway 33–166 on the west. They link the Tehachapis and Temblor Range and form the southern wall of the San Joaquin Valley.

Several Vega Baja towns have a place for him in the hearts of the population.

In 1990 a group of residents round the Plaza del Calvario decided to hold a procession around the square with a small image that was normally housed in aormi@icloud.com

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a glass shrine, a niche made by Jose Fernandez Andreu "Zorro", who had bough the statue. Four years an association was formed - the Plaza del Calvario Association and the following year 1995, the first standard was woven, by Escudero of Orihuela on a design by the association.

In 1998 it was decided to replace the image with a larger size one, now carried by men as up to then it was the women who carried the float.

The main change came in February 8, 2004 with the transfer of the devotion to the Park of Nations and the image was ensconced in the small hermitage there, which was the former private chapel of the estate of the Casciaro family (see May 2014 magazine http://issuu.com/andyor‌/‌/003_torrevieja_outlook_may_2014/1). A new standard was produced in 2008 by Jose Rubio Pastor Embroidery Ntra. Sra- of the Kings of Murcia.

Now these small beginnings have become a classic party in the park by the residents of the Calvary district and anyone else who wants to take part. These start in the first weekend of August and the kids can enjoy bouncy castles, clowns ... and even a sandwich with soft drink for a snack. There are fund raising events such as a raffle, the traditional caliche championships, and dancing until fairly late with a shared communal meal.

I presume that this format will be followed this year, but as we now have a secular council..who knows?

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In Acequion district of Torrevieja the annual fiesta of the patron saints, SS Ana and Roque, are held around the 15th August. There is a procession round the streets bearing the image sof the two saints. But there are also many events in the streets for all ages, fireworks and all the rest that makes for a party in Spain.

San Roque is always associated with a dog as the tale is that his life was saved by a sheepdog. In recent years the parish of San Roque in Torrevieja has celebrated their saint’s feast with their own fiestas. This takes place for a few days with a variety of events, including a verbena and a procession. In 2006 a throne was built to carry the statue of San Roque on the shoulders of the men through the streets of the district.

Each year it has become larger and louder with lots of street entertainment in the evening and games during the day.

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Walking Across Borders to show his love for his daughter

Almost ready to set off on his long walk across borders is Steve MonkDalton who has been getting in a lot of training for his journey by foot starting on 23rd August. We initially wrote about this event in our May issue but had the opportunity to talk to Steve again for an update on his progress. He is almost geared up expecting to walk about 26 miles (42 kilometres) per day on average and will be accompanied by a variety of people during various different stages as he goes through Spain, into France and across into England aiming for London’s Royal Court of Justice on October. He has calculated that it will take 44 days, but is allowing 60 days in case of any unforeseen incidents. His company is supporting him all the way as is the Reunite International Charity that provides support for child abduction cases.

He works with software, a job that means he has to travel worldwide, so borders are no stranger to him. He has also traveled widely supporting the charity of his heart Reunite International.

Despite his personal problems Steve is involved in many things, loves watching and engaging in football and sports in general, is enamored with music and not a bad singing voice as well. He moved to Spain when his daughter was eight weeks old and they lived here for four and a half years until his wife abducted the little girl. The courts decided his daughter was to be returned to her home in Spain. But again she was taken back to UK and hidden for a year so that her residency in Spain would diminish, resulting in the British justice system taking over and smart lawyers building a sympathy case for her mother’s side of the story. Unfortunately, his is an all too familiar story and often the father is pictured as the bad guy in many of these cases.

His walk starts off in Orihuela and he told us about his objectives:

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1) To raise awareness of the issues surrounding parental child abduction and the impact on families and children.

2) To raise awareness of parental alienation abuse and the impact on families and children 3) To raise awareness of the failures in family court and with authorities (social services, police, Cafcass) that facilitate abduction, alienation and false allegations which are used as a heinous alienation tactic to remove target families completely from a childs life.

4) To help the Reunite International UK charity who NEED the additional resources to effectively support families who are trying to cope with parental child abduction issues. Over 17,000 calls went through their advice line in 2014.

And at a personal level5) To show that I would do whatever it takes to reunite my little girl with her paternal family. We miss her so much and have been doing everything we can to see her since she was taken from her home for the second time (the first time returned home via Hague Convention B2R... This time deceiving the system to achieve that objective, which have had no deterrent or accountability for these continued actions).

I hope that my little girl is even a fraction as proud of me as I am of her... I will NEVER give up!

Please help me and other families to raise awareness of these issues which might in some small way help to fix the system so that others do not have to go through such a heartbreaking "living bereavement". It affects the whole target family INCLUDING the target child that the alienating parent claims to love. “I would welcome ANYBODY to walk any of the 44 days with me. Just add your name to the events that are linked to this page‌" www.facebook.com/walkacrossborders

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Steve is a very positive character and has a tattoo on his back, a constant reminder that one day he will be reunited with his daughter.

Steve will keep a blog of his journey, writing and with photos hoping that you will be with him every step of the way. Many people have made generous offers of accommodation, walking part of the way including the first part by Michele of Villamartin charity shop One Day Closer that support the Reunite organization.

Physiotherapists will be on hand every step of the way if required to ease the muscles and any slight injuries.

A Buffet meal has been organized prior to setting off on his walk of over 1000 miles between Orihuela, Spain and London, UK. It is on 21st August at 20:00 in Fairways Chill Out Lounge & Restaurant at Villmartin.

Steve says, “We would like to introduce you to some of the Reunite International Child Abduction Centre team who will be starting the walk with me and explain a little about the charity and my reasons for taking on this journey. PLEASE give us your support. Tickets available from the One Day Closer Shop in Official Villamartin Plaza.�

www.facebook.com/walkacrossborders aormi@icloud.com

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Opinion by Andy Ormiston

This month we have no cultural programme for you, as many of the programmed events, such as the Reina de la Sal parade, have been cancelled by the new five-party council members for, as yet, undisclosed reasons. It is a pity as this was a showpiece to the thousands of visitors to Torrevieja of not only Torrevieja fiestas, but several of those in nearby towns such as Orihuela or Crevillente with their splendid Moors & Christians parades participating. This provided the participants with lots of fun and also a taste of things to come for those who would want to visit the Vega Baja area at other times of the

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year. Torrevieja particularly depends heavily on tourism and anything that will attract visitors to the town should be encouraged.

For several years the leftist IU party have held a rally on the seafront in memory of the people of Torrevieja who were killed in an attack by Italian aircraft during the Spanish Civil War on 25th August 1938. Torrevieja was in the Republic and although not a highly rated target was still attacked and there were eight different bombing raids in Torrevieja over the period of the war. There were no anti-aircraft batteries, so the oncoming aircraft were unopposed. Fishing boats were being unloaded after a night spent at sea and the wharf full of waiting women hoping for some fish. The attack only lasted seconds, but as can be imagined, caused a great amount of casualties and damage. During this raid 19 people were killed, 45 wounded, various houses were destroyed and a local ship ‘Francisco Vera García’ was sunk. Six militia in plaza Oriente were killed, but most of the casualties were civilians, including eight children, the youngest being Francisco Desamparado Sánchez only two month old. Two families lost three members each.

I would expect that the new council will place more consideration to this event this year on the anniversary of the bombing raid of 25th August 1938. aormi@icloud.com

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Coy’s Cars manager Mike Haynes and Diana Blacknall jumped with Skydive Costa Calida for fun and also to raise funds for the Pink Ladies cancer association. This was Mike’s second jump in tandem and he wants to do two more so he can go solo. An excited group of family and friends watched as they boarded the small plane and jumped. Diane was able to photo everything as she jumped. Great experience.

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