Horizons - Stories and More

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to make sincere acknowledgement of the help and cooperation of all the good people I have met through my life, some of them still living, some of them gone, but always present in my mind and in my heart.

Their lives, experience, advice, knowledge, wisdom and example have encouraged me to develop this program that I now offer to all those who wish to deepen, understand, learn, improve, share and why not? enjoy the beauty of this language, which is the key of business, science, future and success.

I want to thank all the kind people who have, in many different ways, contributed with their patience, work, time, caring and understanding in the making of this book.

To my beloved Mother, AMALIA NOHLE, dear brothers, friends, students, teachers, fellow man and of course , GOD, for the uncountable blessings bestowed upon me, all my gratitude.

Here, be sure you will find lots of interesting topics regarding science, history, medicine, breakthroughs, and so forth. You will spend a wonderful time by reading, comprehending and sharing “HORIZONS” .

So, welcome once again and enjoy the trip as much as I have enjoyed making this book for you! Thank you all for making this book possible.

DR. ROBERT RODRIGUEZ NOHLE

THE VOICE WITHIN THE SPIRIT

SOMETIMES THE GUNFIRE, UNJUSTICE, WAR, HATRED, INTOLERANCE AND IGNORANCE AROUNDS US MAKES IT HARD TO BE HEARD, BUT THE HUMAN VOICE IS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER SOUNDS.

IT CAN BE HEARD OVER NOISES THAT BURY UNMERCIFULLY AND INEXORABLY EVERYTHING ELSE, EVEN WHEN IT IS NOT SHOUTING… BUT YET STRONG AND CLEAR TO BE HEARD.

EVEN IF IT IS JUST A CHILD’S CRY WITHIN THE WIND…. EVEN THE LOWEST WHISPER OF HOPE CAN BE HEARD OVER ARMIES, EVIL AND OPRESSION.

OUR VOICE, MIND AND SPIRIT, EMPOWERED BY EVERLASTING FREEDOM, CAN NOT BE DEFEATED WHEN THEY ARE TELLING THE TRUTH!

DR. ROBERT RODRIGUEZ NOHLE.

OUR WONDERFUL WORLD

Let’s talk about some of the strange and unusual forms of life that exist in the world. There are millions of different forms of life in this wonderful world. They live in the air, in water, on the earth and even in the earth. Every part of our planet is full of life. Some forms of life are so small that we cannot see them. Other forms are very large - and very dangerous. Some life forms live for thousands of years, like some sorts of trees. But other forms of life survive for only a few hours - such as small insects.

There are huge snakes, Anacondas that grow to over ten metres long. They can eat an animal the size of a small cow. Most spiders are about the same size as insects, and all have eight legs. But the smallest is less than half a millimetre across, and the largest is more than twenty-five [25] centimetres across. That giant spider has an unusual diet. It is able to eat birds, rats and even fish

Yes, my friends, it is truly amazing, and yet horrifying! There are fish that can jump two metres in the air to catch their food. Another kind of fish eats fruit. It has teeth like a sheep. Humming birds can fly backwards and sideways. No other bird can do this. These humming birds can also remain in one place in the air. They manage this by moving their wings extremely fast. Some kinds of plants catch flies and eat them. There are surprises in every part of the natural world.

People have been studying the natural world for thousands of years. However, no one has learned everything about it. Scientists are still discovering new forms of life. They are also discovering more about birds, fish, animals, insects and plants - and how they live their lives.

Each piece of new information they discover increases our knowledge and understanding about this wonderful world. And with the aid of television many people can now share in that knowledge. They can see things that they may never have the chance to see in real life. They can watch the wonderful and strange world of nature.

But deciding on what is strange or unusual depends a lot on where you live. Some of our listeners may think that a fish that flies through the air is very strange. But people who go out in boats in the warm seas of the world see them all the time. These fish have extra large fins on the sides of their bodies. When they are swimming, these fins are closed. They work like the fins of any other fish. So how does a flying fish fly? Well, it points its nose up towards the surface of the water. It moves its tail very fast from side to side. When it reaches the surface, it shoots out into the air.

Then it spreads out the extra-large fins. They become like small wings. These fish can fly for a distance of about four hundred metres. They can travel at speeds more than fifty kilometres an hour. Studying any kind of life form takes a great amount of time and care. Botanists are experts in studying plants and trees. But even they have to study for years sometimes to understand how a particular kind of plant grows.

The Titan Arum plant grows in very hot, wet climates. The plant is huge. But it produces only one flower at a time. This single flower grows three metres high. Inside the flower, are many smaller flowers. These small flowers develop into fruits with seeds. During this time, the plant has a very unpleasant smell. Some people say that it smells like an old dead body … like something rotten- or like animal waste! People do not like this smell at all. However, some insects love it.

These insects fly in and out of different flowers. And they spread the yellow, dusty pollen between flowers. But the Titan Arum plants grow far away from each other. So how do the insects find them?

Botanists think that the insects follow the strong smells from the flowers. But even after years of study, botanists are still not really sure. And this is the case with much of the world's wild life. There is always something new to discover, something new to understand, something awesome about God’s creation!

Marine biologists spend years studying life in the sea. They are finding ways to dive deeper under the water. This is helping them to discover new life under the sea. Marine biologists used to believe that there was no life in the deepest parts of the ocean. These parts are too far down for light to reach them (abyssal zone). And for many years, the biologists believed that life could not exist without light. But the biologists have discovered that they were wrong.

They have found many very strange life forms in the deepest parts of the sea. (Abyssal creatures). These creatures have never seen daylight. Some of them have bodies that you can see through. You can see all the organs in their bodies.

Some of the creatures are blind. They have no need to see in the deep black darkness under the sea. But there are some creatures that make their own light! They use chemicals in their bodies to make this light. The process is called bioluminescence. They can also turn their light off if they do not wish other creatures to see them.

The many different life forms in the world cause wonder in the minds of people who learn about them. It seems that there is always more to learn about this wonderful world. But will people ever know about every life form that exists in the world?' Probably not. No one will ever be completely sure that there is nothing more to discover.

But what about all the creatures we do know about? Will people ever understand everything about how all the different creatures live? Again, probably not. There are so many secrets - so many mysteries. The only person who can know every detail about the creatures in the world is the person who designed them. But some people believe that all these wonderful life forms just happened. People say this is possible over a very long time. For them, there is no creator. Doctor David Wilkinson is a scientist and a believer in a creatorGod. He says:

'In terms of modern science, you cannot prove God through the argument of design, because there are always other theories.' And yet for him, that lack of proof is not important.

He says, 'My science has helped my faith ... and my faith has helped my science. Albert Einstein said that "... science is thinking God's thoughts after him." Science has expanded my mind at just how good and beautiful creation is.'

CPR … CARDIO - PULMONARY RESUSCITATION.

I’ve been wondering about ways of helping our fellow man. About things we can learn achieve to help people, hence the question, have you ever learned CPR?

CPR is short for Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation. It is the method/procedure of saving someone's life when they have stopped breathing. Simply, you blow air into their lungs and you push down on their chest repeatedly to get their heart moving. When a person’s heart stops beating, they are in cardiac arrest.

During cardiac arrest, the heart cannot pump blood to the rest of the body, including the brain and lungs. Death can happen in minutes without treatment. CPR uses chest compressions to mimic how the heart pumps. These compressions help keep blood flowing throughout the body.

Cardiac arrest is not the same as a heart attack. A heart attack happens when blood flow to the heart is blocked. A person having a heart attack is still talking and breathing. This person does not need CPR but they do need to get to the hospital right away. It is a known fact that a heart attack increases the risk for going into cardiac arrest.

Lex Parker is from England. He is a member of a rescue team. He has had the experiences of both receiving and giving CPR. He says that both were important in forming his ideas about life.

What happened, Lex? - Well, CPR saved my life. Twenty years ago, we lived in a city in the Middle East. I was at home. It was about eight o'clock at night. The children were already sleeping. My wife, Anne, had gone out to see some friends. I was repairing our electric clothes iron.

I took the back off the iron and made the repair. Then I needed to test it! I connected the iron to the electricity supply on the wall. But I did not turn it on. However, I did not know that there was a problem with the supply socket. Although it was turned off, the electric supply was still on, which was something I did not notice in that moment. I received a severe electric shock. I fell to the ground. My body lay lifeless on the floor. I was alone and I was dying. Some people say that they see visions when they have a near death experience. They see pictures - like powerful dreams. I do not remember anything like that. I did not sense anything until I heard voices…. They said, 'I think he is waking. Yes, he is breathing.' I remember that when I opened my eyes the light in the room seemed very bright. I started to move. 'Just lie still', said a man's voice. 'Is he okay?' Anne's voice replied 'Thank God!'.

Oh yes. Many friends told me God saved me. You see, that day, Anne went to our friends' house. But they were busy doing something, so she could not stay. She came back home in just a few minutes. She found me lying there. She ran to the next house for help.

The man who lived there knew CPR. The British navy had trained him in first-aid. People say it was by God's grace that Anne came back so quickly - God's grace that a man who knew CPR was so close by.

And did you think that? Yes, but I have often wondered why God did not just prevent the accident in the first place. I do not have an answer to that - except that there must be hundreds of other accidents I could have had but have not. Every breath I take is through God's love and wisdom. And God rescues us all the time, in so many ways. I also learned that not much separates life from death.

What about the other experience - when you gave CPR? Well, that was many years later but in the same town. I went to a tailor's store to have some clothes made. It was a small store, managed by some men from Bangladesh.

They worked hard, making clothes on machines in the back of the store. It was a hot day and a store like that always has people waiting. There were several men waiting that day.

They wore the 'salwar chemise' - the clothes worn by many men in South Asia. One of these men was sitting, talking with the others. Suddenly he just stopped talking. He looked as if he had gone to sleep, eyes closed, face gentle.

Then he just slowly fell to the side. He fell off his seat, onto the floor. It was strange, like slow motion. Everyone just stood there. No-one seemed to know what to do. I got down on the floor and examined the man. He was not breathing. And I could not feel a heartbeat. I was sure he had had a heart attack.

I had been trained in CPR. So, I began to work on him. I laid him flat on his back and moved his head back. I made sure his air-way was clear. I breathed air into his mouth a few times, and I also pumped his chest a few times. I did this for some minutes. At one point I thought I was winning, because I heard him breathe out. But then I understood that this was just the air I had blown in, coming back out. After a while a group of men lifted him up and hurried him to the hospital. But he was dead.

How did you feel? ‘I felt terrible’. I kept asking myself again and again, had I done the CPR right? Could I have done any more to save this man's life?

Should I have lifted his head back more? Should I have kept the CPR going for longer? So many questions, so few answers. I could not sleep, thinking about it. Then Anne said to me, 'Never mind Lex

This man's time had come. There is an end to it'. But I remember that feeling of having failed to save someone. It was horrible. But God taught me something through that too. Oh, what was that?

I believe in life after death - life in a new heaven and a new earth - a good life with God. I believe that what one does in life, echoes into eternity. It is called ‘causality’

But I believe that the wrong things in my life would have stopped me from having this new life. Not just me, but everybody. The only way anyone gets this new life is because of living a righteous existence and loving God. It is part of the Enlightenment we should all be looking for.

Sometimes, even the tiniest among us has enough power to serve protect and serve a fellowman. We should not stop doing so. If you have the knowledge, power, skills or any other sort of means to help, don’t refrain…You have to use it and share it… So, go on my dear friend…You could save someone's life.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

"To the world you may be one person. But to one person, you may be the world!"

What do these words mean? They speak of having a good effect in the life of another person. This story is about how just one person can have a good effect in the world. Often, a good change needs the ideas of only one person. First, here is Christy Van Arragon with a short story.

One day a young man walked along by the sea. He was thinking of all of the problems in the world. He believed that he was very wise. He believed that he knew all the answers to life's problems.

As he was walking, he saw many starfish on the sand. The starfish were dying. They could not live out of the water. This made him sad. But, there were so many starfish. He knew that he could not help them all. So, he did nothing to try and save them. The man carried on walking. Then, he saw an old man. The old man was walking slowly. Every so often he bent down. He took a dying starfish in his hands. And he swiftly threw it back into the sea.

The young man laughed at the old man. He thought, "That old man is wasting his time! What a fool!" Suddenly, the young man walked closer to the old man. He called out to him, "What are you doing old man?" The old man did not turn his head. He simply bent down to get another starfish. He looked happily down at the starfish. Then he threw it back into the sea. Finally, the old man said,

"I am saving the starfish from dying." The young man could not believe how foolish the old man was. He began to feel angry. He shouted at the old man "You old fool! Look at the thousands of starfish on the sand. What possible difference do you think you can make?"

The old man did not answer at first. Instead, he gathered another starfish into his hands. He threw the starfish back into the sea. Then, he turned to the young man and said, "I made a difference to that one." Then the old man bent down to save another starfish from the dry sand.

No one is really sure if the story of the starfish is true or not. But true or false it has the same meaning. And clearly it is not just about starfish. Teachers use this story to encourage young people. They encourage them to remember that the power of one person can be very effective. It is easy for people, young and old, to feel discouraged by the size of the problems in the world today. Stories like this show that the small actions of an individual do make a difference.

One person who knows this to be true is fifty-four [54] year old Andre Van Zijl. Crowds gather around Andre Van Zijl. He is in a restaurant in Johannesburg, South Africa. The restaurant is just like any other eating-place. But it is not the food that people have come for. No, their eyes are fixed on Andre. They watch him in wonder. He is eating ice cream. There is nothing unusual about eating this cold sweet. It is the amount that Andre eats that is unusual. Andre Van Zijl holds the current world record for eating ten litres of icecream - in less than four hours! When he had finished, he said that he felt all right - although he felt a little cold inside. Now, make no mistake friends, because despite the ‘coldness’ inside, he’s a warm person, too.

Andre says that he will not be eating any icecream for the rest of the year! Andre's aim was not simply to set the world record. He ate the ice-cream to raise money. He raised one hundred and fifty [150] dollars. The restaurant owners gave him fifteen [15] dollars for each litre of ice-cream that he ate.

Andre has done many other strange things to raise money. This includes drinking over two hundred [200] cups of coffee in four hours. Andre hopes to gain another world record. He plans to spend the longest number of hours on the Internet. So, what is Andre raising all this money for?

Andre raises money for children in South Africa with HIV/AIDS. Here, millions of people are infected with the HIV virus. In the end, they die of the disease AIDS. This leaves many children without parents. They are orphans. And, many of them have HIV or AIDS. Andre understands what it is like to have the HIV virus. Twenty years ago, he discovered that he is HIV positive. Four years after this, he set up a project.

The project raises money for South African communities affected by HIV and AIDS. He also works to inform people about the truth behind HIV and AIDS. There are many people working hard to break the lies and the shame around HIV and AIDS in South Africa. They do this specially to stop the extra suffering of the innocent victims - the children with HIV and AIDS.

There are millions of HIV/AIDS orphans in South Africa. Groups like UNICEF and the World Health Organisation are working to help these children. But the number of sufferers is far greater than the number of helpers. It is easy to look at a problem like this and fear. What can one person do when there are so many people with HIV? What can one person do when even the experts struggle?

Well, Andre Van Zijl surely does not share this way of thinking. He knows what a difference one person can make. People who suffer with the disease often understand this the most. And this is not only true for AIDS/HIV sufferers. It is true for any kind of sickness or disease. Raising money for others is a way of fighting back. It is a way to help one person at a time. Andre may not be able to cure his virus. But he can make a difference to the lives of other sufferers. No doubt about it, what he does and achieves can be considered empathy. His attitude towards his situation is optimistic and hopefully, Andre encourages people positively.

He can help, even if it means helping one person at a time. What is the secret of this way of thinking? It is looking at what you can do, not at what you cannot do. This way of thinking needs a little courage and a little effort. It needs people like the old man with the starfish. It needs people like Andre Van Zijl. And it needs people like me, and of course, like you.

It is high time that we realised that there is a generation out there which is exposed on multiple fronts to infection with HIV and is poorly positioned to protect itself since it lacks the required knowledge. This is not just ‘another STI’ that gay and promiscuous people ‘get’. It affects our whole society. Those who have conveniently forgotten that HIV exists need to be reminded and indeed re-educated about how things have changed -arguably not always for the better. Prejudice abounds - much as it did in the 80s - but now it exists within a cocktail of misinformation, misinterpretation, stigma, ignorance and complacency.

MIGRATING: THE ADVENTURE BEYOND

Have you ever looked up in the sky and seen a group of birds flying overhead? Have you ever wondered where those birds are going? It could be that they are migrating, moving from one place to another.

Some animals live in the same place all the time. They never move. For example, there is an animal called a woodmouse. It lives in a hole under the ground. A woodmouse will never go more than ninety [90] metres away from its home. But many animals have two homes. Often these animals will travel long distances to get from one home to the other. Salmon fishes have one of most impressive migratory power in animal kingdom (3800 Km). They traverse between freshwater and saltwater

Animals migrate for different reasons. One reason that animals migrate is to find sources of food. Most of the animals that migrate, migrate for this crucial reason. So, when winter comes, it may be hard for many animals to find food. This is especially true for birds. Winter can stop the birds' food supply of insects. These birds must fly to a warmer climate. They do it in order to survive. When the winter is over, they will return to their first home.

No doubt about it, there is no greater example of this than the arctic tern. The arctic tern is a bird that migrates during the winter months. In fact, the arctic tern migrates all the way from the North Pole to the South Pole. It flies from the top of the world to the bottom of the world! That is almost eighteen thousand [18,000] kilometres. It takes arctic terns several months to complete their long trip from the north to the south. Then, after only a few months, it is already time for them to return north. It is really awesome. Each year the arctic tern travels almost thirty-six thousand [36,000] kilometres.

Another reason that animals migrate is to reproduce. The Chinook salmon is a fish that lives on the Pacific coast of the United States. It is the largest and most valuable species of Pacific salmon in North America. The flesh of the salmon is also highly valued for its dietary nutritional content, which includes high levels of omega-3 fatty acids. Salmon are born in small rivers. They will only live there for a few weeks. Then they will swim downstream, with the flow of the water. They leave the river where they were born. They swim into larger and larger rivers until they reach the ocean. It is a very dangerous trip, which not all of them finish.

Many salmon die. But reaching the ocean is not the end of the salmon's migration. The fish will live in the ocean for two to five years. Then, they will return to the river where they were born. Sometimes salmon must travel over one thousand [1000] kilometres to reach the river of their birth. And this trip is even more difficult. The fish must swim upstream, that is, they must swim against the flow of the river. The fish swim very fast. They jump over rocks in their way. They even jump up waterfalls! Which marvellous biological mechanism make salmon perform this orientation? Well, we don’t know. Yes, at this point I’m quite sure you may be wondering why salmon make this difficult trip. Well, when the salmon reach the river where they were born, they will mate. They will lay eggs. And then they will finally die, thus, completing the circle of life. One final curious fact for you dear reader: the Chinook salmon is spiritually and culturally prized among certain First Nations peoples. It is pretty amazing, particularly when you get to realize the instinct, will-power and drive on these small, yet wonderful animals.

Animals must prepare their bodies before they migrate. Animals prepare in different ways. Birds use a lot of energy when they migrate. Sometimes they must fly for many kilometres without landing. So, birds prepare by increasing their body fat. The increased amount of fat provides energy for the bird. The golden plover must be very fat then! Why is that? Well, the golden plover is a bird that can travel over great distances, actually three thousand [3000] kilometres without ever landing on dry ground.

It travels over water, so there is no place to rest or to eat. While birds try to increase their fat, land animals try to reduce their fat. When land animals migrate, it can be very dangerous. Predator animals may hunt and kill them during migration. So, land animals do not want to carry extra body fat. Extra body fat makes them slow. Being without a lot of fat helps the animal escape from predators.

This is especially important for the African wildebeest. Why is that? The African wildebeest can walk up to sixteen thousand [16,000] kilometres while migrating. They must come face to face with many predators during their trip!

Scientists do not yet fully understand animal migration. They do not know how the animals know when to migrate. They do not know how the animals know where to go.

And they do not understand how some animals can return to a place they have not seen since they were born. But scientists do have their theories.

Most scientists believe that animals have internal signals inside of them. These signals make the animal feel that it is time to move. So, the animals start to prepare for their migration trips. Scientists believe that this feeling in birds comes with an increase of hormones, or chemicals, in their bodies. The hormones cause the bird to want to eat more. The hormones also appear in other animals.

The hormones tell them that it is time to mate. Animals can also sense external signs. For example, they can feel when the temperature becomes colder. They know when their food starts to disappear. Animals can follow the wind or the flow of water to help them migrate.

For example, the sparrow (not the witty captain from Pirates of the Caribbean) is a bird that migrates from North America to South America. What a journey it is. How do they do that? Well, sparrows ride a wind current. The wind current carries them all the way from North America to South America! Some animals follow special landmarks to help them reach their home.

Some animals follow mountain ranges. Other animals follow rivers. Some scientists believe that some animals follow the stars or the position of the sun in the sky. Salmon fish follow the smells of the rivers that will bring them back to where they were born.

Birds, fish and land animals are not the only creatures that migrate. Human beings can migrate too. People do not migrate in the same way as animals. But people do move from time to time. Or people can experience other big changes in their lives. Sometimes is due to economic issues, war, violence, religion or weather environment related. It can be frightening to move or to experience a big change. In the end, I believe that people have the right to find happiness and peace wherever it might be. They can feel peace no matter where they live or what they experience. That is because God takes care of people during every part of their lives.

So, whenever you feel down, depressed or sad, keep in mind these wise words that more than 2000 thousand years ago a great master and philosopher said " Do not worry about your life and what you will eat or drink. And do not worry about your body and what you will wear. Look at the birds of the air. They do not plant or gather crops. But your Father who is in heaven feeds them. Are you not worth more than they are?

SALT … AMAZING CHEMICAL COMPOUND

Most people probably think of salt as simply a white granular food seasoning. In fact, only 6% of all salt manufactured goes into food. Apparently, we use salt in more than 14,000 different ways from the making of products as varied as plastic, paper, glass, polyester, rubber and fertilisers to household bleach, soaps, detergents and dyes. The simple fact remains true, everyone uses salt, directly or indirectly.

In chemistry terms, salt is a term used to describe a compound made by joining a positively charged acid with a negatively charged base. Table salt is the compound sodium chloride (NaCl). It’s composed of a positively charged sodium atom and a negatively charged chloride atom. It forms in small square blocks. People find salt in many places. People mine salt from under the ground. Salt can be evaporated out of water in salt lakes. And, of course, the sea has a lot of salt in it too.

Salt is a naturally occurring mineral essential for animal life and one of the most widely used and oldest forms of food seasoning. Saltiness is one of the five basic human tastes in addition to sweetness, sourness, bitterness. We cannot live without it! It even runs through our bodies! People mostly know salt as the white crystals they use to make their food taste better. But salt has played a large part in the history of the world. The earliest known study on pharmacology published in China around 2700 BC mentions more than 40 types of salt and provides full descriptions of two methods of salt extraction similar to the processes used today.

People were using salt long before history was even recorded. Ancient Chinese, Roman, Greek and Egyptian stories all talk about salt. In many places, people used salt as money. It was valuable for trade. In fact, long ago Roman soldiers were paid in salt. The English word salary comes from this idea. Salary is the amount of money people are paid for a job. Because salt is very valuable, it has caused some conflict in the past.

In the sixteenth [16th] century, the Dutch revolted against Spain. They blocked the salt trade from Spain. Spain lost a lot of money without the salt. It helped the Dutch win the revolt. In the late 1600's, France put a high tax on salt. This was one of the causes of the French Revolution. High salt tax was also one of the reasons why Ghandi resisted British rule in India. About a hundred years ago, people discovered that salt was easy to find. There’s no need to fight wars over it. There is no need to use it for money. Anyone can get salt. The earth has lots of it!

But salt continues to be important in the world today. Many countries offer to give visitors tours through their salt mines. There are salt museums in many countries, such as England, Austria, and Poland. And in Bolivia there is a building made completely of salt that people can visit! Salt is valuable because people need it in their bodies. Salt plays a crucial role in maintaining human health. It is the main source of sodium and chloride ions in the human diet. Sodium is essential for nerve and muscle function and is involved in the regulation of fluids in the body. Sodium also plays a role in the body’s control of blood pressure and volume.

It helps blood travel through our bodies. It helps our food digest. And it helps our heart beat. Although sodium is essential, people who consume too much sodium may have hypertension or high blood pressure, a condition that can lead to serious illnesses such as heart disease, kidney disease, and stroke. The human body contains about one hundred and twenty millilitres of salt. But our bodies cannot produce salt on their own. We do not just do it because it tastes good! Salt does make food taste better.

But did you know that salt has over fourteen thousand [14,000] uses? Here are some that you may not have known about. Salt melts ice. Many countries use salt to melt ice on roads so people can walk and drive safely. Salt is good for cleaning. It can help remove stains from many different surfaces like brass and copper. It can also take stains out of cloth and rugs. Amazingly, a small amount of salt can keep milk fresh longer. And salt can help prevent mold or bacteria on delicate foods like cheese. You can use salt to clean your teeth and freshen your mouth.

Salt will also reduce swelling around your eyes. And resting your feet in salt water will help if they are tired. Salt helps lessen pain. You can put salt on skin rashes, or insect bites to make them feel better. Salt helps keep plants healthy too. Many people put a little salt in the water where they keep fresh flowers. People even use salt for art. Salt really is an important part of our lives. Salt is used in many ways to preserve things. That is, to protect life or keep things fresh longer.

Egyptians used salt to make dead bodies into mummies. They wrapped cloths around the bodies. And then they use salt to help dry out the bodies. The salt helps the mummies last longer. Many cultures believe that salt also protects life from harm. In Japanese theatre, people would throw salt on the stage. They believed that this protected the actors from evil spirits. Salt has religious meanings as well. The Bible talks about salt more than thirty [30] times. Early in the Bible, it talks about salt keeping things pure. God asked his people to put salt on all the offerings they gave to him. People still think of salt as a sign of purity today.

It also talks about God using salt to make a covenant with his people. God made promises to his people that he called covenants. In one covenant, God promised to give land to David. He preserved this covenant with salt. But the most important way that the Bible talks about salt comes from the mouth of God. He said, "You are the salt of the earth."

Once Buddha was talking to all people who follow him. “You see, just a little bit of salt can change the taste of a lot of food. Salt stands alone until you mix it with something else. Then the salt changes whatever it is mixed with. You can always tell when there is salt in the food that you eat. It is hard to hide the taste of salt.” Buddha wanted his followers to be like salt. Buddhists believe, that when people spread the love of God into the world, the world changes. Just like when you put salt into food, the food changes. God warns his people not to lose their “saltiness”. His children worldwide believe that it is important to always spread the love of God wherever they go. They must be like salt to the earth. God's love is like salt. And that kind of salt can make the world a better place.

Salt - Interesting Facts

- The history of salt traces back to as far as 6050 BC. Salt was used as part of religious offerings and to preserve mummies in Egypt. It was a valuable good traded between the Phoenicians and their Mediterranean empire.

- Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in salt - which is where the word 'salary' comes from. Difficult to spend it in restaurants today though… Don’t you think?

- Cells in the Human body contain salt – on average, an adult contains about 250 grams.

- In Japanese theatres, salt was sprinkled on to the stage before each performance to prevent evil spirits from casting a spell on the actors. Sprinkling salt around your home may have the same effect today.

- Salt is used to remove traces of water from aviation fuel after it is purified.

- At one time salt bars were the standard currency of Ethiopia.

- Salt was used to preserve Egyptian mummies (and in the pies eaten by Egyptian daddies).

- Salt removes red wine stains (though probably not from your best cream carpet).

- Sodium is key in the operation of all signals within, as well as to and from, the brain.

SEEING IS A MIRACLE

Seeing is the most complex of all of our senses. The eye has many parts. They all work together to help us see. Sit a friend or family member down in front of you. Look into her eyes. What are some of the first things that you see? You may see that the eye is very protected. Our eyes sit back in holes in our skulls, or heads. Over the eye there is an eyelid. The eyelid covers our eyes when we blink, or close our eyes. Also protecting the eye is a bony eyebrow.

On the eyebrow is hair. This hair stops things from falling into the eye like dust, sweat, and rain. As you look deeper into the eye, you may see other interesting parts. Think of the eye as a complete circle. The very outside of the circle is the cornea.

The cornea is clear and round. Inside it you see a coloured circle. This circle is called the iris. People have many different colour irises. The colour of people's irises may be the first thing you notice about them. Irises can be different colours of blue, brown, green, and hazel. The iris is made up of small muscles. These special muscles cause the pupil (the black circle in the very centre of the eye) to get bigger or smaller accordingly.

Light enters through the pupil. The size of the pupil changes depending on how much light there is. The more light, the smaller the pupil. Try this. Stand in front of a mirror so that you can see yourself in it. Close your eyes for a minute and then open them. Watch what happens to the pupils in your eyes. They should quickly become smaller. Behind the pupil is the eye's lens. The lens is inside the circle of the eye. We cannot see it just by looking into someone's eye.

The lens has a very important job. It bends the light that enters the eye through the pupil. Bending the light helps the eye to focus. In turn, focusing lets us interpret (see) things clearly. It is kind of wonderful, don’t you think?

When light from an object enters the eye, automatically the lens changes its shape. When we look at an object that is close to us, the lens is thick. When the object we are looking at is far away, the lens becomes thinner. The light from the lens travels to the very back of the eye - to the very back of the circle.

First, it must travel through a clear, thick fluid. This fluid is called the vitreous humour. The vitreous humour makes up most of the eye. It helps the eye to hold its round shape. Finally, the light reaches the back of the eye, the retina. The retina is about the size of the top of your thumb. And it is filled will 130 million (130 000 000) light sensitive cells. The highly specialized cells found in the retina are either rods or cones.

Rod cells recognize shapes. These cells react to low levels of light. Cone cells recognize colours. These cells work best when there is a lot of light. This is why it is hard to tell what colour something is when it is dark. Our cone cells cannot see the colour! You may be wondering how our eyes can understand what they are seeing. Well, understanding, of course, involves the brain. The information entering the eyes goes from the retina to the brain. The information is carried by optic nerves. Optic nerves connect the retina to the brain.

The rod and cone cells of the retina send their information to the optic nerve. The light from an object enters the eye through the pupil. The lens bends the light and focuses the image of the object on the retina. But information travels very fast from the eye to the brain. As a matter of fact, the image that is first focused on the retina is upside down! When we first see an object the bottom of the object is at the top, and the top is at the bottom! But it is the brain, not the eye, which turns the image right side up.

So, this fact shows us just how fast the information can travel from the eye to the brain! Being able to see can be a huge responsibility! So, what kind of information do you let in through your eyes? What kind of things do you get to see? Indeed, some things that we see in this world can harm us. Yes, for example, watching violence between people on television could be harmful. When we watch a lot of violence, we become used to the violence. And soon, violence does not seem so bad.

We start to accept violence as being normal. We may even begin to act out in violence. But, violence between people should never be normal. We should always be working towards peace between all people. Also, seeing many sexual images can be harmful. These images only value physical beauty. They change the way we look at people. Physical beauty becomes more important than who a person actually is. Sexual images tell us that if we do not have a beautiful body then we are not beautiful at all!

This, of course, is not the truth. Beauty comes from within a person. The information that we see through our eyes reaches our brains very quickly. And our brains must process all the information that enters our eyes. While directly experiencing violent events in person is traumatic, simply witnessing them virtually can be disturbing enough to lead to distressing thoughts, feelings, and even physical symptoms, including headaches and stomach-aches.

The hopeful news is that we humans are incredibly resilient and have the capacity to work through the stress elicited by these experiences. And we are not helpless. Though there are many variables that are out of our individual control, there are steps we can take, both individually and collectively, to cope. Watching traumatic events unfold directly or indirectly (on TV) gets processed by the brain in the same way. It's important to note that sometimes the signs of distress occur immediately, and sometimes they can be delayed even by years. Signs of response to trauma include sustained sadness, anxiety, depressed moods, impaired function in daily life, poor appetite, weight loss or gain, and sustained feelings of hopelessness or helplessness. Is there anything we can do to deal with all this?

I often say we are all in the same storm, but we're not in the same boat. Different people have different lived experiences, different vantage points, and different needs. There is no one right way to cope, and no one way to work through the anger, stress, and trauma. Use your usual coping skills: Meditate, pray, exercise, connect with and spend time with a loved one, or take extra “me time”. The point is to see things with a different perspective.

Are we choosing to look at things that may harm us? What do we do with the information that we are seeing? We must always be making decisions between what is good and what is bad. We always have a chance to change what we see. We can choose to see the beautiful things of this world. And we should choose to look at those things. Today, choose to fill your eyes with the good and beautiful things of this world. Look to the mountains. Look to the sky. Look at someone you love. Gaze at beauty of nature. See the beauty of the world and the people around you and then dear friend, you will understand the miracle of being able to truly see.

SILBO GOMERO … AN EXOTIC, BEAUTIFUL LANGUAGE

Communication! There are many different ways to send messages to people. Most of these methods depend on one thing - language! And there are many different languages in the world. Each language is beautiful in its own way. But over the years many languages have died out. That is, they have disappeared, or have become extinct.

This is especially true of languages spoken by only one people group. Sometimes a group will start to speak another language that is more widely used. Or, the tribe or group starts to die out - and so does its language. For example, Apalachee is an extinct Native American language. It only survived until the eighteenth century.

Assan is a native Siberian language from northeast Europe. It too became extinct in the eighteenth century. Nam is an ancient language of Central Asia. It is very similar to the Tibetan language. It only lasted from the eighth century until the tenth century. Zemgalian was a language of Latvia and Lithuania in Eastern Europe. The people who study languages (Linguistics) do not know when this language became extinct. But they do know that it no longer exists. So, today my dear reader, we will look at one very unusual language that was in danger of becoming extinct. However, the people of the island of La Gomera are saving this language.

The language is Silbo Gomero. Silbo Gomero is a very special language. It is found only on the Canary Island of La Gomera, near Morocco in Africa. It does not involve words - but whistles. Silbo Gomero has eight whistling sounds. When these sounds combine, they create about four thousand words. When people speak Silbo Gomero it sounds like birds talking. This seems like a good language for the Canary Islands, since a canary is a kind of bird! Not much is known about the origins of the Silbo Gomero language.

But people like Francisco Rivero would like to know more. He is a researcher at a university in the Canary Islands. He studies the language and its mysterious history. Francisco believes that the Silbo language dates before the Spanish victory of the island in the fifteenth century. Experts believe that Silbo may have started with the early African settlers on the island, called Guanches, over two and a half thousand years ago.

When the Spanish came to the island, they gave this whistling language its name. You see, "silbar" is the Spanish word for whistle. Silbo Gomero is a very useful language. That is because it can be heard from a great distance… more than three kilometres away! So, people can communicate with each other over long distances. In the past, this was very important. The island of La Gomera is very hilly. Normally, people had to travel many kilometres to send messages. But, using a strong whistle meant that they did not have to travel so far. The tradition developed so that if one person heard a whistle, they passed it on.

People became very skilled at doing this. Soon, they were successfully passing messages from one end of the island to the other. Moises Plasencia is the director of the Canary government's historical heritage department. He wants to keep the tradition of Silbo alive. He said, 'Silbo is the most important pre-hispanic cultural heritage we have.' Plasencia wants UNESCO to give money to support their efforts. Then they can create more programs to save the Silbo language. Even educators are working hard to keep the language alive. Part of their effort is in schools. Since 1999, teachers have taught Silbo in elementary and high schools. Eugenio Darias is a teacher on the island. He is also the director of the island's Silbo program. He said that lots of students are now learning the language. Many of them are able to understand it - and the teachers are pleased with the results. Around three thousand children study the language every week. The people of La Gomera hope that Silbo will be an everlasting language

They hope that Silbo can be a language of the future as well as the past. In this way, they can hold onto an important part of their history and culture. Juan Cabello lives on the island of La Gomera. Juan is a "Silbador", that is, he speaks the language of Silbo Gomero. He is one of the few Silbadores left on the island.

Juan wants to save this language. It is the language of his father and of his grandfather. Juan Cabello says he uses Silbo Gomero for many things. He says, 'I use it for everything. I use it to call to my wife, to tell my children something, to find a friend if we get lost in a crowd.' Communication is important. It brings people together. You may live far away from your family.

Or, maybe you live far away from a good friend. You could use the telephone to talk to them. Then, for a short time, they would seem close to you. Communication depends on people listening to each other. In a busy world, with lots of voices, it can be difficult to just stop and listen the world around. We can agree with people simply to make them be quiet. Sometimes, we do not even hear what they say. And that is not being a good listener. This is not so easy with Silbo Gomero. The language only works when people listen carefully. It travels across many kilometres to listening ears. The children of La Gomera are learning important skills. Not only are they learning the Silbo language, but they are also learning the skill of listening. This skill is extremely important.

As for the Guanches, many legends surround the native people of the Canary Islands. Some believed the Guanches (as they were known) were descendants from the mythical island-nation of Atlantis. Others speculated they came from or formed other advanced civilizations such as the ancient Egyptians or Mayans of Central America.

Unfortunately, history had another fate for the Guanches. They became the first casualty of the era best known as the Age of Discovery. During the 15th and 16th century, Spain and Portugal began colonizing the Americas and Africa. The island and its people stood in the way. Discoveries at archaeological sites on the island of Lanzarote revealed that one of the aboriginal people of the Canary Islands once traded with the Romans. In addition, literary evidence from Greek Historian Plutarch (46-120 A.D.) gave some hints that contact and trade had been established with these people. Yet, after the fall of Rome, the Guanches lost their last contact with outside world. They lived on the island of Tenerife in relative isolation. With the exception of several possible contacts with Genoan and Castilian sailors as well as traders in the 8th century, they were forgotten by the outside world. As a result, the Guanches’ technology and society became very primitive, resembling Neolithic culture.

Today, Guanches are considered a lost culture. Spanish colonization and the slave trade had all but wiped out these natives of the island chain. If they didn’t die fighting against the invaders, they were decimated by diseases introduced by the European conquerors. And, of those that survived, they became assimilated culturally and genetically through interbreeding with the Spanish rulers or Sub-Saharan African slaves. It’s a sad demise and cruel fate for a culture that not only first colonized the archipelagos off the coast of Northwest Africa, but had established trade with the Roman Empire. Also, it’s an unfortunate loss considering that there is definitive evidence that a rich civilization once existed there.

STREET CHILDREN: Our future in need

In many parts of the world, there are children who live on the streets. They do not have homes. The children are on the streets for different reasons. But on the streets, they all share a similar way of life. They are often involved in crime. They are the poorest of the poor. They are unprotected. They are in danger from evil. It seems that no one cares about them.

But in this story, I will talk about people who do care. Such people bring hope to the hopeless. Help to the helpless. Above all, they show the children that they are important to God. Peter Kariuki is fourteen [14] years old. He lives in Nairobi, Kenya. Peter used to live on the streets.

He was the leader of a group of boys who also lived on the streets. Life was hard for all of them. They used to steal money. They took drugs frequently. Peter has been beaten bloody. He has seen many friends die. He has been in prison.

Now life has changed for our dear Peter. He is still quite poor indeed, but for the first time he has a home. His sister and his grandmother live with him. They have a small tin house. Peter has only a few clothes, but a shirt hangs on the wall of the house. Peter wears this shirt for a special reason. It is the best thing he owns. There is a badge on the shirt. It says 'Kenya Scout Association'.

The Scouting Association is an organisation that helps young people to develop into good citizens. There are Scouts in almost every country in the world. In Kenya, Scouts learn to work to feed themselves and to keep healthy. They learn to work and play together. Peter wears the shirt because he is a Scout leader. All the children he leads are from the streets, like he was. So, he knows them all well. Peter explains to them the rules of the Scouts. 'Do not ever steal. Help the person next to you. Obey the law and be a good citizen.'

To help them understand, he tells traditional African stories. And the young people are learning. Also, some of them have learned to grow vegetables, or to look after farm animals. Some have a well from which they can get water. Now they do not need to ask people for money or food. And they are members of an international club. They are happy. Peter says, 'I was on the streets. I could have died. But now I am a Scout and with God's help my life has changed. In the future I will lead my people. I will show them that they can choose. You do not have to stay on the streets. There is more to life We just have to find a way.'

From Kenya we travel to the far away country of Mongolia. Winters in Mongolia are very cold - down to minus fifty [-50] degrees. In the capital city Ulaanbatar (The Red Warrior), many homeless children live under the streets. The city has underground hot water pipes and there is some warmth near these pipes. But most of the times it is not safe. When a pipe breaks, children are sometimes killed. There are sad stories here, like Biumba, a boy who had no shoes in temperatures below minus thirty [-30 C].

Or Enkhtuya, a girl who lives in a dirty hole under the ground with a group of boys. Unfortunately, she now has a sex related disease. And she is just twelve [12] years old. But there are stories of hope here, too. Otgo was a street child. He was nine [9]years old, and he had never been to school. He found his way to a help centre. The centre's workers began to teach him. The workers are Mongolians and others who care about these children and want to help them. This centre began with the work of just one woman - Diana Ribbs.

Diana is an American citizen, but of Chinese and Russian origin. She helps Mongolian people to help the street children. And together, they started the centre. It has a church and a school.

It doesn’t just take good care of children in need, but also helps adults with alcohol problems. Like the street children, Diana has no home. She sleeps on a simple bed on the floor of the centre. She wants to live like the people she is helping. She says: 'Indeed, these years I have spent in Mongolia and among its people have been the best years of my life.'

There is truly something ‘magical’ in sharing with children, loving and helping them to achieve their real potential through love & care.

Children across the world are left homeless and forced onto the streets to fend for themselves due to numerous reasons, primarily poverty, war, previous violence and abuse, exploitation, and desperation. Children can become further trapped in new and repeated cycles of poverty, crime, maltreatment, and neglect. Not only are they more exposed to potential health risks while living on the streets, but homeless children are often targeted by criminal gangs due to their vulnerable and unprotected status. There are several challenges and human rights violations that street-connected and homeless children are particularly vulnerable to including: child trafficking, violence and exploitation, recruitment for war and conflict, discrimination, and a lack of basic rights in accessing health, education, adequate living conditions and food

We travel to Europe, to the country of Romania. Fana is a Romanian orphan. She does not have a mother or a father. Her father died when she was eight [8]. Her mother's new husband did not want Fana. He sent her on to the streets to live. Fana is seventeen [17] years old. Now she has three [3] children of her own. There are many children like Fana. Does anyone care for them? Well, someone does. Someone helped Fana and her children with food, shelter and love. The helpers were Ron and Sue Bates. They are a husband and wife living in Romania. They try to help the street children there. They do provide protection, education and food.

But more than this, they communicate love. This is something new for many of the children. Ron and Sue Bates have also built a home for these children. Some people have criticised Ron and Sue Bates. These people suggest that if the children were left alone, they would go back to their own homes. But Ron says,

'Most of the children come from homes where the parents drink a lot of alcohol and fight a lot. How can the children go back home? ... These children need help.' All over the world there are children who cannot live at home. These children run away and live on the streets, in bad conditions. But there are people who care, people who give up everything so that they can look after the street children.

People like the Scouts in Kenya, Diana Ribbs in Mongolia and Ron and Sue Bates in Romania bring hope and happiness to many street children. Why do they do this? Well, for many, it is a matter of love that comes from a deep connection with Gods, beyond any religion or faith. Ron Bates says, remember: "What you do one of these children, you are doing it for the future." This is the reason why people like Sue and Ron want to continue to help the street children.' You can do it, too. It is just a matter of finding a suitable way. So come on, children count on us. Even the smallest act of love and caring to them can make the difference.