14 May 2022
Reading the Solomon Islands published daily news stories or those circulated Online, as I try to do as often as I can, I have witnessed over time more content of what I call the “hard stuff,” but putting it simply stories with a concentration on politics, health concerns, environmental concerns and climate change, and less content on the lives of ordinary citizens, their contributions to the country, their families and the good things they do in their daily lives
The exception has been stories about ordinary people written by Jeremy Gwao , Georgina Keke and Jeremy Nolan, writing in the past for the Solomon Times Online. It has been some time since such stories were published.
Of course several diplomatic partners are known have contributed with vaccines, supplies and equipment to aid the fight against Covid-19, but as much as that aid has been welcomed and acknowledged, I feel the contributions of ordinary citizens to good deeds as gone unheard.
Naturally, one does not expect a paper to write solely of “good news” but a little lightening of the “hard stuff” could go a long way to illustrating the real nature of Solomon Islanders, there values, culture, traditional ways and, yes, their Christian roots.
I would like to encourage the three Freelance journalists I have mentioned to try and bring us a little more good news stories, whenever possible, bearing in mind that whether we call it random acts of kindness, or good deeds, they are very powerful. That is why almost every religion and culture values and rewards the performance of good deeds. There are many benefits to doing good deeds, including promoting national unity. Some of these benefits may be very obvious to us, while some may not have considered them at all.
I list some of the kind of good deeds that one should hear more about in proper perspective in our Solomon islands news and to balance out the often written “hard stuff’ which to me, at least, is tending to give a false impression of life and events at home.
· To help someone
· To improve society
· To show values
· To teach by example
· To make the SI a better place.
To illustrate what I have listed as good deeds to be aimed for, let end with just two stories that I read in the international press this morning.
Chinese brothers use hand cart to pull their sick mother from the hospital 22 miles to their home
By Bryan Ke
Liu Bo and Liu Guang showcased their unconditional love for their mother, Xu Guizhi, by traveling 36 kilometers (22.37 miles) with a cart to bring her home from the hospital, according to the South China Morning Post.
Xu, 86, was recently discharged after undergoing surgery for an unknown illness in April. Since she suffers from severe motion sickness, her sons needed to think of the best way to transport her to their home in Shandong Province, China.
The brothers customized a hand-pull steel cart by adding sponge so their mother would not slip. They also added a rain cloth and a curtain to protect her from precipitation and sunlight.
The trip was initially expected to last for 10 hours, but thanks to the help of family members and friends, the brothers’ journey lasted just over seven hours.
“It’s the right thing to do to look after our parents when they’re old because that is how they raised us,” Guang declared.
Source South China Morning Post.
Duke of Cambridge presents Deborah James with damehood at family home
By Catherine Wylie
The Duke of Cambridge has presented podcast host Deborah James with a damehood at her family home.
The 40-year-old, known online as Bowel Babe, was honoured for her “tireless campaigning” to raise awareness of bowel cancer.
Dame Deborah posted pictures of William with herself and her family on Instagram and said it was “such a special day”.
She wrote: “Prince William actually came to our family house today!!
“I am utterly honoured that he joined us for afternoon tea and champagne, where he not only spent a generous amount of time talking to my whole family but also honoured me with my Damehood.
“It’s quite surreal having a royal pop in at home, and yes you can imagine the cleaning antics and preparation went off the scale – but it was all irrelevant because William was so kind and he put us all at ease.
“He is clearly passionate about improving oncology outcomes as the President of the Royal Marsden.
“It was such a special day for my whole family, making memories to last a life time. He’s welcome back any time!”
Dame Deborah has raised more than £5.2 million for Cancer Research UK through her Bowelbabe fund on Just Giving.
Having set her original target at £250,000, she has now raised more than 20 times her goal.
Dame Deborah reached the £5 million milestone on Friday after donations from more than 240,000 supporters, including William and his wife Kate.
Her Just Giving page said it is “raising money to fund clinical trials and research into personalised medicine for cancer patients and supporting campaigns to raise awareness of bowel cancer”.
Dame Deborah, a former headteacher, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016 and has kept her more than 500,000 Instagram followers up to date with her treatments.
“Deborah has been an inspiration and her honesty, warmth and courage has been a source of strength to so many people.
“Through her tireless campaigning and by so openly sharing her experience she has not only helped in our fight against this terrible disease, she has ensured countless others with the Big C have not felt alone.
“I hope this recognition from Her Majesty – backed I’m sure by the whole country – will provide some comfort to Deborah and her family at this difficult time.
Sources . AP and Yahoo News
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
