Return to China
Driving home with tears in my eyes. Somewhat tired, but also moved by Kati's account of meeting her birth parents on the Broken Bridge in a Chinese town. A beautifully balanced story. A white American couple adopt a Chinese baby girl at the height of the 'one child policy'. Kati, the girl in question, is angry with her parents for not telling her that they have always known, that the birth parents, after leaving their baby in the doorway of the Chinese social care services, also left a note attached to her asking her future parents to keep in touch. Why didn't they tell her? They spoke about how they were trying to protect her, and that she hadn't seemed interested. I recall that this was also at a time when transracial adoption was not greatly understood. Nor was there much wish to understand it, (much like our present time.) My thought is that the adoptive parents were probably subconsciously terrified that they would lose their daughter. This is a realistic fear. I recall Marion's friends whose adopted daughter found her birth mother, aged 19, and moved to America to live with her. The piece ends with the simple reflection by Kati's adoptive father, that they had made a mistake. I'm not sure he was aware if this was motivated by fear.
Daphne and the two Maltas
Daphne, known to everyone in Malta as 'that meddling reporter', fearlessly exposes corrunption at the heart of Government. 'Buy a European passport from Malta, have access the whole of the EU (600000 euros).' But I thought all governments did that? The rich normally get what ever they want don't they?
Yes, but it is still wrong, and the Azerbajani energy deals... Daphne was blown up in a car bomb. This exposes the two Maltas. One- "what do you expect if you stand in the middle of the road?" The other -"Malta has a long way to go before the rule of law has any foothold in the political system."
Being a reporter has always been one of the bravest professions about, when it is done well.
The CIA in Laos
A son recalls his father, just before he dies, saying 'what we did in Laos was the proudest thing in my life, apart from you two boys.' Profound words. Was his dad proud of what he did in Laos? Was he proud of his boys, particularly this one, who turned down joining the CIA like his dad, to become a reporter? The son interviews a compatriot of his dad's who was in Laos, organising the Mong guerrillas fighting the North Vietnesse on the Ho Chi Minh trail. Son discovers they were recruiting and training child soldiers. His fathers compatriot breaks down in tears and asks for his tears not to be included in the interview. He is shocked at himself. Later he says 'do what ever you feel is best.' Son knows that all one can do in these situations is cry. It's the only right and proper thing.
Sarah Marquis, Explorer
Sarah, you are amazing. She walked for three days along a river in the Kimberleys, north west Australia, to keep her promise to her grandmother in Switzerland, not to risk swimming in crocodile infested waters. Sarah does survive for three months in the outback, as she points out, just like thousands of other people over many thousands of years. No sweat. Hungry, she sees a tree laden with fruit. It looks good. She presses a ripe fruit to her wrist to see if the thin skin at this point in the body will indicate danger. It looks good, she dives in. The fruit is very bitter. She sits down, and finds she is loosing her sight. Ah, mistake, but luckily it soon comes back.
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