Ethiopian children, especially the girls, soon became skilful with Frisbees.
Ethiopian children, especially the girls, soon became skilful with Frisbees.
Pay it forward
A lovely thing happened on the way to Ethiopia. I stopped by the Warehouse in Whanganui to buy a Frisbee as a gift. The lady on the checkout chattily inquired if I was going out to play with the grandchildren.
No , I explained, it was to be a gift for some children in Ethiopia. Intrigued, she asked, "Was I sending it or taking it?" I said that I was taking it. "Have you got room for one more? I have that exact sum of money in my pocket for another one."
Well, it would be rude to refuse such a kind offer, so I headed back to the Frisbee aisle and selected another one.
Thank you, dear checkout lady. Your Frisbee has been safely delivered into the hands of children in the remote village of Waka, in the Dawro zone of Ethiopia.
Ethiopian kids have fun with Frisbees from Whanganui. PHOTO SUPPLIED
The Frisbee delighted both boys and girls. The girls were particularly adept at picking up the skills needed. What's more, they could compete with the boys – something that they struggled with if they wanted to kick around rag footballs in the dust.
I hope you read this and know your random act of kindness brought delight.
Your correspondent Nick Pyle seems to be in panic mode about a number of issues. So, in the hope of calming his panic, I would like to clear up a couple of his misconceptions.
The whole "Mexican mothers left thousands of starving children at the US border, hoping the border guards would take pity on them" narrative is wildly inaccurate. Just the fact that so many of the "children" being sent into the US illegally are young men between 15 and 17 years helps clarify that picture.
And that "Trump now wants to send them back" is quite funny. US President Donald Trump put a stop to the previous system because it was both a failure and of doubtful legality.
He put the onus on Congress to make a proper law with regard to children who had entered the US illegally, and he has made clear that he wants them to be allowed to stay in the US and to have a path to citizenship. He has also attached conditions, like changing the current practice where illegal immigrants, once legalised, are able to bring any member of their extended family into the US, wanting it to include only immediate family members.
Perhaps Nick's greatest fears are to do with what he terms "climate destruction". Nick says the climate "has been steady for thousands of years", not changing until now when we "are changing the climate".
I am not sure where Nick got this strange idea from, but the climate is always changing — I have not heard a single scientist from either side of the "climate change divide" suggest it is not always changing.
K A BENFELL Gonville
Red bridges
Two letters on February 2 had me asking similar questions — "Bridge lights" from Carol Webb and "Tree tragedies" from Rosemary Baragwanath.
These subjects should have the same consideration this town gives to heritage buildings, which are old and require money — ratepayers' money in some cases.
Dublin St Bridge lights? Forget it. Piddly lights on one span since 2016, and only visible to a few night owls.
This bridge is due for a $33 million replacement in about 10 years. It is 103 years old — doesn't that make it a "heritage" structure? Why not celebrate its uniqueness, history, engineering and its architecture and use the $33m to maintain it.
The oldest steel bridge in the world is in England and is still lovingly maintained and celebrated. Instead of a few silly lights, paint it industrial red, like the Makatote Viaduct in National Park. Our bridge would then be a perfect complement to our river.
Secondly, the plane trees. They used to be at the top of the Avenue and Wilson St as well, but — as we found out in 2014 — we had a council who could not sort out the tree problem until the Chronicle got involved.
I understand that if plane trees are pruned in a regular and correct way they will not become a problem.
