Spirit of volunteerism

The following letter was sent to Kalmar Richards, principal of CedarBridge Academy, and copied to The Royal Gazette.

April 18, 2005

Dear Mrs. Richards

On behalf of Summerhaven, the independent living apartment complex for the physically disabled, I express our sincere appreciation for the community service work of the CedarBridge Academy Student Government this past Saturday. Also we thank Conyers Dill & Pearman, their corporate sponsor, for providing hats, tee shirts, food and work supplies.

Armed with gloves, hats, tee shirts, cleaning supplies, food and music, these high school students and two teachers worked timelessly for nine hours. The atmosphere was lively with music, singing, dancing, laughter, but most importantly a spirit of cooperation and teamwork. Apartments were "summer cleaned". It was like "Christmas" with smell of fresh paint. Our aquarium was transformed and so were the planters with fresh flowers. The students mopped, swept, dusted, cleaned gardened and painted.

Hopefully this spirit of volunteerism will continue throughout their adult lives. Bermuda benefit by volunteerism but more importantly the volunteers' lives are enriched by the experience. The required community service segment in school curricula is a very valuable part of the education for our young people ... giving back.

Summerhaven certainly considers it a privilege and a pleasure to have been selected for community service by the Student Government. Thank you. With young people such as these being the future leaders and "caregivers" of Bermuda ... all of us will be in good hands.

IANTHIA SIMMONS WADE

Administrator, Summerhaven

Let's all do our part

April 13, 2005

Dear Sir,

On March 13 and April 9, students of the In Motion School of Dance held their eighth annual KBB -assisted Trash-a-thon, collecting trash and recyclables from Boaz Island in Dockyard.

By far, this area was the worst we have seen in eight years, with hundreds of bags overflowing with glass bottles. It was alarming to see so many bottles being thrown in the bushes only a few feet away from large trash cans. Even more disturbing were the groups of youths scattered through the area watching us clean up but not willing to lend a hand. The trash-a-thon is about more than collecting little, it is about community and civic responsibility. By providing positive experiences like these we hope that our students realise the importance of not littering and leave with a sense of pride in themselves and their Island home. We hope that this lesson sticks with the children who participate and effects others who see these children working hard to keep Bermuda clean.

Despite the efforts of small groups such as ours, the litter problem is a large one, and will continue to escalate unless we all show a bit more respect for our Island and its beauty. The number of glass bottles and cans being thrown into the bushes is alarming and further brought to light when participating in a clean-up. Keeping Bermuda clean is everyone's responsibility and we all need to work a little harder to help.

In Motion would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those students who participate for a fantastic job, and especially thank those parents, teachers and friends who took time out to assist in the event. A special thank you to Woody's for their kind donation. Thanks also goes to KBB fort their support, and to those persons who kindly donated toward keeping our Island beautiful and supporting our youth in the arts.

Congratulations on another successful Trash-a-thon and let's all do our part to Keep Bermuda Beautiful all year long.

LIZZ PIMENTEL

Founder, Director

In Motion School of Dance

We can learn so much...

April 17, 2005

Dear Sir,

My attention was drawn to an article on page 11 of The Royal Gazette on April 15, on the mission to Botswana.

While I applaud any humanitarian effort to assist any fellow human in need, I was puzzled at the choice of Botswana.

Botswana is Africa's oldest democracy and is the only country in Africa to have an S&P rating of "A", with the highest growth rate in Africa and in many parts of the developing world.

In 1966 the per capita income was $80. Today it is an astounding $4,000, which has a greater purchasing power also.

All this may sound great and a tribute to fiscal responsibility and seeming political and social stability.

Regrettably all this comes at a heavy price to the indigenous population.

The "San" or bushmen of South Africa's Kalihari are the oldest culture on the planet dating back to at least 70,000 years ago. Hunter gatherers with a culture based around healing they do not make war, they promote gender equality as part of their life. They have no words for murder, rape or theft in their vocabulary. Basically they observe the ten commandments without knowledge of them.

Yet in recent years these gentle people who in my opinion may be the most moral human beings on our planet have been hounded almost out of existence by cattle ranching, diamond mining and cultural genocide. Today the little bushman stands on the edge of extinction, less than 10,000 traditional San Bushmen remain across the six countries of the Kalihari, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Angola. They exist as serfs on the other peoples' farms and are treated appallingly or as dispossessed slum dwellers on the edges of Kalihari's few towns. They desperately need funds to raise their case for repatriation back to their ancestral homelands and have a group of educated bushmen touring the US presently to get back their land by seeking and from human rights organisations there.

Personally that is where my sympathy lies with the human rights of the little bushman, from whom we can learn so much.

Maybe he could be asked how he existed for 70,000 years without tin roofed concrete houses.

The Zulu's and the Masai seemed to have housing that worked well without our poking our noses in.

With an unemployment rate of 47 percent in Botswana, it would possibly make more sense to give them the money, employ them and solve two problems.

We have grave housing shortages right here so perhaps we could arouse the same passion and start building some houses right here in Bermuda?

WILLIAM P. COOK

Paget

Our priorities are wrong

April 15, 2005

Dear Sir,

I agree 110 percent with the letter written in today's Royal Gazette by Nakita Ebbin. I understand her anger and frustration. Even though I haven't personally been a victim of crime or tragedy like she has, I do watch the news every day. I just can't understand what the problem is, but I have come to a very disturbing conclusion about this country of ours. It seems like Bermuda and the powers that be care more about money than they do about human beings. Everything in this country seems to be measured in dollars and cents. You get more time in prison for stealing than you do for mugging, raping or attacking someone.

This country has seriously got its priorities wrong. I know that Bermuda relies on money to survive, but our greed is making us seriously lose our way. We talk about our youth, but what kind of example are we setting for them? Everybody has a 'what's-in-it-for-me' mentality and no one wants to help their fellow man. The rich keep getting richer, the poor keep getting poorer and as long as it doesn't affect you, it's like 'who cares'?

A little girl was run over and killed and because of a loophole in law, a woman walked away from it totally scot-free. Has the Government passed any kind of legislation to make sure this doesn't happen again? No. Your or my child, heaven forbid, could be run over and killed on a pedestrian crossing today and the perpetrator could walk away scot-free again, because the law hasn't been changed. But, I'll bet that if some kind of loophole was found in the law that said "oh, you don't have to pay taxes" the Government would have it amended in a heartbeat!

The Police are out there stopping speeders as well they should be. But are they doing it to keep our roads safer or as a handy money maker? We've just brought in bigger cars, and the powers that be know these things have bigger engines and that it's almost impossible to stick to the speed limit in those machines. But they were allowed in anyway ? one has to wonder why! Bigger engines ... more speed ... more speeding tickets ... more money in the Government coffers! If the Police spot a vehicle parked illegally obstructing traffic what do they do? They write a ticket! What does that accomplish ? the vehicle is still there causing danger. What does writing a ticket do to remove the immediate hazard? Absolutely nothing! Anywhere else, they would have the vehicle towed away, but not here! That's too much trouble and responsibility on the Government's part ? no, they'll just take the ticket money instead!

The UBP is pointing fingers at the PLP. The PLP is pointing fingers at the UBP. As far as I'm concerned, they both failed this Island. The UBP seemed to care more about more than people and the PLP just seems to be following in its footsteps. The rich people are holed up behind their gated homes saying "out of sight, out of mind". Until something happens to them, it doesn't matter. Why not put our money where your mouth is and contribute something to try and help out the community.

I'm sure the youth centres, etc. would really appreciate it. But, no ? philanthropy is dead in this Island. Selfishness and greed are destroying Bermuda slowly but surely. We're a ticking time bomb that could explode any minute. And, please, nobody respond to this saying 'we're in the last days' or 'we need Jesus' so that's why this is happening. As far as I'm concerned, there's only one Almighty that counts in Bermuda, and that's the 'Almighty dollar".

DELIVER US FROM EVIL

Hamilton Parish

Giving so freely

April 20, 2005

Dear Sir,

I am writing to thank the community of Bermuda for the wonderful generosity shown to the SPCA recently. Our Tag Days held in early April, in Hamilton and throughout the Island, were successful and netted our organisation $11,500.

We so appreciate people showing their concern for the animals by reaching into their pockets and giving so freely to a cause that they believe in. It was a pleasure to talk with members of the public on their concerns and also to hear about their special, loved animals at home. It is evident that our community is one that cares about its animals.

Thank you to the various organisations that supported our Tag Day efforts and, thanks, also to our wonderful gang of supporters who stood out on the street corners on our behalf. Each of you has helped make a difference in the lives of Bermuda's animals.

Currently the SPCA is working on a number of animal welfare issues and as and when we can share information on progress with the community, we will. Some of these issues may require public support in the near future.

Please know that the work for the animals never stops.

HEATHER KROMER

President SPCA