Recalibrating in Dangerous Days

I sit and breathe deep. I think of all those we have loved and lost these days. Has not all thought become strangely recalibrated? It feels like one of those seismic moments when the atomic bomb exploded, ‘Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds’. 

The poor have suffered disproportionately. Refugee numbers have swelled as the fear of fleeing is outweighed by the danger of staying in areas afflicted by conflict, famine, or drought. In response, the wealthier nations have pulled up the skirts of their borders to avoid being besmirched by the hordes. Old racial, religious, national, and sexual prejudices have harmonized with the selfish preoccupation finding vogue. Fashions fly in and fly out, but who would’ve thought that while we face a global pandemic these old poisonous siren calls would lure us onto familiar rocks once again. 

We’ve lost 3,9 million citizens, so far, to this new virus and yet there is little soul-searching as to the lessons learned.   Older problems causing even greater numbers of deaths each year are usually largely ignored. 

• Globally, at least 2 billion people use a drinking water source contaminated with faeces. We shouldn’t be surprised then that 850,000 of them die each year because they have no clean water.

• Nine million die each year in this world from hunger. 

• Seven million die each year from smoking. 

• Three million die every year from the consumption of alcohol. 

• At least 2.8 million people die each year as a result of being overweight or obese. 

• 4.6 million die each year just from air pollution. 

We have money-making industries that thrive despite causing millions of these deaths each year and I fear it is viewed as merely collateral damage. 

Nations have shown a perverse greed to protect only their own during this pandemic, allowing others to die from a simple lack of oxygen or access to a vaccine. There are lessons needing to be learned about how corruption plagues society. Of how even personal protection equipment can become a moneymaking endeavour for those with the wrong perspective but the right connections. How much money marshalled to face this pandemic threat has been swiftly side-tracked into the coffers of those whose greed exceeds their integrity. I fear we are suffering from a moral decay that has been eating into the vitals of human society for some time. It has lowered humanity’s immune response and as a result, opportunistic cancerous elements have been given free rein. 

Yet, I have a hope that the younger generation has a clarity the older population may have lost. They are not afraid to make the changes that we, who have been moulded for decades by this system, cannot. Whether it is admitting climate change, addressing injustice, or simply wanting transformative decisions on gun control, I find myself respecting this younger generation more and more. Astonished at how much they understand and how clear their thought processes are. Not tied into toxic habits that have twisted our own mindset. They are more united and more in touch with each other. They question these false gods of consumerism, materialism, and all the other ‘..isms’ that have dictated so many of the poor choices we have made. 

The world is tired of words it wants actions. It requires deeds that show we have found a way to live moral, responsible lives that contribute to the health of both this world community and our precious planet Earth

The piece of bread that transformed two lives - an unsung Maltese hero

Small deeds can lead to big results. Victor Mizzi ran a scout group in Malta in the 1950s. He went on to run his own very successful business, but even when he was helping out with the scouts he showed signs of enterprise and determination. He once contacted Lord Mountbatten, then Admiral of the British Fleet, and arranged for a group of 300 scouts from Malta to travel to the UK by warship. No mean feat to achieve!

He went to school at Jesuit Saint Aloysius College in Birkirkara.  He later started his own charter company Belleair holidays in 1974 and was highly successful. In fact, he was so successful that he made enough money to retire before the age of 50. Something I have heard so many dream of doing but never quite manage.

When the Chernobyl disaster happened Victor became aware of the shortages of supplies afflicting hospitals and orphanages in Belarus. 70% of the radiation fallout landed in Belarus and it impacted 2.5 million people with health consequences in an area that was already very depressed economically and suffering from crippling poverty. The result of the radiation was a huge increase in thyroid cancers and many children were born with malformed limbs or even multiple congenital deformities.  It is thought that 250,000 children were exposed to varying degrees of radiation in Belarus. 

Showing his usual terrier type tenacity Victor Mizzi continued to offer medicine and supplies to as many hospitals and orphanages in Belarus as he could. It was while he was visiting one of the orphanages that an incident happened which changed the course of his life. While in the orphanage a small three-year-old boy called Igor Pavlovetts, who had been born badly deformed, toddled over and offered the Maltese businessman a piece of bread. 

It was an unexpected act of kindness that led to a transformation. Victor was so touched by the small child that he arranged for him to be flown to the UK to receive medical treatment. While Igor was in the UK, Victor arranged for him to stay in a foster home. Following extensive physiotherapy and support, Igor grew in confidence and ability. 

Mind you, some of the artificial limbs and aids used for the disabled were pretty crude in those days and nothing like the state-of-the-art technology available today.  An old film of Igor's life shows his devastation when his "new legs" turned out to be just huge black crude boots with six-inch soles on them. The small child had obviously been expecting more natural-looking and more comfortable legs. But Igor's natural optimism and resilience shine through as he smiles at everyone around him despite his disappointment. Igor went on to have an independent life in the UK and has since married and had three children of his own.

Such an injection of generosity from Victor Mizzi could have ended with this one life being transformed. However, Victor was only getting started. Realising that so many children in Belarus were suffering ill-health as a result of the radiation, he started a scheme to allow Belarus children to travel abroad for 3 to 4 weeks so that their systems could recover in healthier climes. In time he would arrange for 56,000 children to have holidays outside Belarus and their immune systems benefited enormously from these breaks.  Such were his powers of persuasion that he even convinced British Airways, Belavia and Ukraine International Airlines to give all the children involved free travel to these destinations.  The charity he started so many years ago still runs today and has touched so many young lives.

So often in life, we miss these tiny but significant acts of kindness. Surrounded by the corruption and competition we might not even see the outstretched hand of a small child offering us bread. Even if we noticed it and felt a wave of sympathy for this tiny disabled child how many of us would have just moved on.  It took just one man, Victor Mizzi to see the boy, feel compassion and then arise to act, to make all the difference. That one act triggered an avalanche of endeavours that continue to influence children’s health in Belarus to this day.

 

Victor and Igor in the early years

Victor Mizzi passed away aged 84 in the UK in March 2019 and in the week before his death was visited by a journalist who recalled Victor saying to them “Always help others, when you have a chance.”

"Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity."

Baha’u’llah

Flight to the Light

Transmutation calls not for a cloak to hide distress nor an icy barrier to protect. 

Not even splendid hermit-like isolation to guard against all blows verbal, physical or emotional.  

But that alchemy of the spirit that burns the dross off and polishes the mirror of the heart. 

Creating that cleansed pure channel to allow the divine confirmations to flow through. 

Cleaning this poor backwater of all regrets, expectations or disappointment. Focusing all one’s rays of hope on the spirit of Faith. No defence of the heart but open to love allowing that magical transmutation into a worthier me. 

Fingernails gripping each painful centimetre upwards. Aware of the ego drop but clenching the rope of security in my fist. 

Closeness requires sacrifice and my eyes must be on this journey of discovery and my heart filled with kindness for all I meet on the way. 

Understanding that like the butterfly, a rotten cocoon must be broken free to enable flight to the light.