I agree, Mr Turnbull

I agree, Mr Turnbull, respect is fundamental to getting rid of domestic violence in our society. Thank you for saying we need a change in culture. We do. The spate of murders of women and children in our society (in Australia) over the past week is truly shocking. To me, it indicates a society in crisis.

Respect is fundamental to any good relationship. That means within our families, in our schools and work places, in the community at large. Respect is not just about other people, either. Showing respect tells about who we are as people. It is a positive value that makes our own lives better.

I’m no angel and I’ve certainly made many mistakes and done plenty of things I shouldn’t have, but life does teach you things after a while. One of these is that good actions are much more likely to produce good results than bad actions.

We can see this in our families: treat people well and fairly and you’ll achieve good results. It happens on the international scene too. I’m amazed at how often national leaders think that bad actions will produce good results. Despite clear evidence to the contrary. The situation between Israel and the Palestinian states is a notable example of this. But that’s politics.

In our own families, I’m sure that showing respect, love and care is what gives us good families and allows our children to grow up as happy and well-balanced individuals.

Bad behaviour teaches people too, but mainly it teaches that bad behaviour is the way to go; and that can result in violence, crime and – as we see – death. Bad behaviour brings bad results.

So let’s reach for the best in ourselves; let’s be our best selves, our kind, loving, respectful selves. We’ll feel better about ourselves. And we will live in much happier families and in a less troubled society. Amen to that.

 

A Generous World

There has been an outpouring of generosity in our world and it’s wonderful to see. I applaud the courage of leaders such as Angela Merkel in Germany who have taken the steps to do what we all know in our hearts is good.

Around the world, human hearts have a balance of fear versus goodness; a worry that if ‘I’ give or do too much, ‘I’ will suffer for it, balanced against our compassion and fellow-feeling for others. That’s the paradox of the human heart.

Years ago, I lived in Thailand and a Thai friend said to me, ‘People are just people’. It’s true; we are brothers, sisters and cousins in the one human family, with the same needs, wishes and fears.

I’m sure all of us have felt moved in the past few of weeks by the plight of refugees fleeing to Europe by sea. Only the desperate would make these perilous journeys. They have put authorities and residents in Greece and Italy under severe stress because of their numbers; and we have all seen the determined would-be asylum seekers in Europe walking stoically along roads and railway tracks to reach their goal of acceptance and a new, safe life. Many I saw have called out, ‘I’m human! I’m a human being!’

We all are human beings and I believe we feel better for acknowledging that. My heart warmed when I heard German citizens clapping their hands, applauding the first refuge-seekers to walk into Germany after their long trek.

The way ahead for our world is clearly not going to be easy and I have no crystal ball about how matters will turn out. But I do truly believe that if you do your best, things will work out much better than if you do your worst.

Of course, as a Christian, I hold dear the teaching of Jesus: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’. Amen to that. 

The strawberry decision

Now, here’s my question: what is the yummiest way to serve fresh, delicious strawberries?

Is it strawberries with cream, or strawberries with vanilla ice-cream? With the Southern Hemisphere spring making our days beautiful, it’s time to enjoy a classic dessert. And what’s better than strawberries with cream or ice-cream? Unless, of course, you add a little rosewater or a splash of kirsch.

Strawberries and cream, I read on Wikipedia, were introduced to the court of English King Henry VIII by his advisor Thomas Wolsey. Henry VIII became king in 1509 and Wolsey soon gained an influential position in his court, and was the king’s Lord Chancellor from 1515 to 1529. It’s not certain which English summer it was when Wolsey’s chefs brought in the first bowls of strawberries and cream to tempt the royal palate. But for hundreds of years now, the English and their visitors have loved summer-time strawberries served with dairy-fresh, clotted cream.  

They might also have loved it with ice-cream – as we have it today. I’m sure Henry VIII, a man with a hearty taste for life, would have enjoyed it with his strawberries. But ice-cream was still developing. Chilled dessert treats were not new. The Chinese had chilled treats (of ice and rice) about 200 BC. People in the ancient Persian Empire poured concentrated grape juice over snow; and the Arabs had milk ices, sweetened with sugar and flavoured with rosewater, dried fruits and nuts. Not bad.

In Europe, the Roman Emperor Nero (54 to 68 AD) had ice brought from the mountains and combined with fruit toppings to create chilled delicacies. And records say that Catherine de’ Medici brought Italian chefs into France in 1533, when she came to marry the Duc d’Orlέ᷂ans (who became King Henry II). These Italian chefs are said to have had recipes for sorbets and ices.

Today, we are the lucky inheritors of this smart thinking and have a wonderful range of ice-creams. For my photograph, I’ve used strawberries with Gippsland Dairy pure double cream, on the left; and strawberries with Kohu Road ice cream vanilla flavour, made with Heilala vanilla, top and right. I can vouch that both variants were delicious, though I did have to go a bit easy on the double cream.

A short history of strawberries

I went back to Wikipedia to learn that the first strawberries our ancestors enjoyed were the woodland strawberries growing wild in the countryside. Such strawberries are mentioned in Roman literature for their medicinal purposes. The wild strawberry was seen in illuminated manuscripts and in Italian, Flemish and German art and in English miniatures. The woodland strawberry, Fragaria vesca, began to be cultivated in Europe in the early 1600s.

A great breakthrough came about when French explorer Amέ᷂dέe-Franꞔois Frέzier introduced a new strawberry variety, Fragaria chiloensis, from Chile into France in 1714. There it was crossed with the North American strawberry, Fragaria virginiana, sometime in the 1750s to produce the garden strawberry. The place was Brittany in France.  Our modern, cultivated strawberries, Fragaria x ananassa, grown around the world, come originally from this French cross-breeding.

Of course, the strawberry is not really a berry. Botanically, it is an aggregate accessory fruit. Each apparent ‘seed’ on the outside of the fruit is in fact one of the ovaries of the flower (which preceded the fruit), with a seed inside it.

Health benefits

Strawberries are rich sources of vitamin C, phyto-nutrients and minerals. They help fight infections and colds, are powerful anti-oxidants, contain folates, and are low in carbohydrates. So strawberries are good for you – although unfortunately, some people are allergic to them.

In Australia, we are lucky that strawberries are grown all year round to supply our fresh fruit needs; in our winter months, in Western Australia and Queensland, and at other times in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales.

The world’s biggest strawberry producer is the United States of America, followed by Turkey, Spain, Egypt and Mexico.  

Thank you, Dr Abuelaish

It’s humbling … I have just finished reading Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish’s book ‘I Shall Not Hate’ and I am dazzled by the spirit, courage and humanity of this distinguished Palestinian doctor shining through every page.

This book is a plea to our humanity - our common heritage as human beings - and the call we can all feel to be forces for good in our society. 

In Australia, as I write, we are facing ourselves in the mirror with the question ‘Are we a racist society?’ I certainly hope not. However, in all our societies there are people who see our shared humanity write large, and those who are disturbed by difference. There are even a few who fall into hatred. However, I believe that the great majority of human beings can learn to see beyond difference and grow in friendship and understanding.  

This is the prime call behind, ‘I Shall Not Hate’. It is a call to establish peace between Palestinians and Israelis through understanding, mutual respect and building goodwill instead of bad. In Dr Abuelaish’s case he sees medicine as having a prime role in this.

The book reveals in a very personal way the experience of deprivation, poverty and lack of opportunity. The doctor tells us how and with what determination – and help from his mother and certain teachers – he survived his childhood and rose to become a medical doctor and a specialist.

As a doctor, he worked in an Israeli hospital and made firm friends of Israeli colleagues. He worked hard to bring about understanding and peace between Israelis and Palestinians. He calls the Israeli people brothers and sisters and notes how similar they are to Palestinians.

That is a remarkable achievement in the face of the provocations he faced: the destruction of his childhood home to make room for Israeli tanks to pass down the street; the continual humiliation and aggravation at border crossings; the rockets and the shelling; and, finally, the death of three of his innocent children and a niece. A lot of lesser people would have descended to hatred.

But hatred is an ignoble human emotion and we, all of us, are capable of rising above it. If we are to have good societies, we must do so. Being our best selves, as individuals, is crucial to building good societies. It is the pathway to peace – in families and communities, within countries, and globally. Hatred only breeds more hatred; and that is a lesson I hope we can all learn.

I was lent this copy of ‘I Shall Not Hate’ by my local minister – I’m a Christian and an Anglican, living in Sydney – which tells us that goodwill and sincere faith are able to rise above faith divisions.

Our world needs goodwill and people with the courage to give of their very best.

‘I Shall Not Hate’ by Izzeldin Abuelaish is published by Bloomsbury.

 

 

 

Hail the Imperial mandarin!

Imperial mandarins are an Australian citrus. I was surprised to discover this when I started reading about Imperial mandarins online the other day. It’s winter in the Southern Hemisphere, and I’ve been tucking into Imperials lately because they are a winter joy: sweet, juicy, easy to peel, and rich in vitamin C and antioxidants. Finding out that they first appeared here in Sydney, in about 1890, was the icing on the cake.

My online research said that the Imperial mandarin appeared as a chance hybrid of the Mediterranean or the Willowleaf mandarin with another, possibly Emperor. Plainly it was a hit in 1890, and has been popular ever since. Imperial is an early maturing fruit, the first mandarin in my local fruit shop just when I’m trying to avoid winter colds.

These days Imperials are widely grown, many in central Queensland, where orchardist Bindi Pressler and her husband Craig have their 2PH farms. Like farmers everywhere, Bindi and Craig have had difficulties to face – I take my hat off to farmers around the world for their courage and resilience. Craig and Bindi had to replant 1600 acres of citrus trees in 2007, after citrus canker devastated their farm in 2005. Then in 2011, the central Queensland floods arrived to set them back again. Good luck for the future, Bindi and Craig.

Further south in the Sunraysia district, near the Murray River, is Seven Fields, a 100% Australian family owned company that grows, packs and markets excellent citrus fruit. David Stephens of Seven Fields is a major grower of the Afourer mandarin. Also called the Nadorcott or W. Murcott, the Afourer is said to have come from Morocco.

The origin of mandarins is interesting. They are considered to be native to South-East Asia and the Philippines and grown abundantly in Japan, southern China and India. I read that dried mandarin peel is known in traditional Chinese medicine and in ayurvedic or traditional Indian medicines. According to molecular studies, the mandarin, the citron, pomelo and papeda were the ancestors of the commercial citrus varieties we know today. And, I’m told, the mandarin is the only truly sweet fruit among them.

I read that two varieties of mandarin were taken from Canton to England in 1805, and later adopted for cultivation around the Mediterranean. Somewhere between 1840 and 1850, the Willowleaf or China Mandarin was imported by an Italian consul to the consulate in New Orleans, and carried from there to Florida and California.

My mandarin photo, above, also shows a few cumquats from our garden. They grow abundantly and every year I make some cumquat marmalade using a recipe from the Burke’s Backyard (former) TV show. There is a twist, though. I add a little more lemon juice to reduce the sweetness and, just after it has jelled, a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar.

Hasty Pasta Sauce for Busy People

 

Yes, I was running short of time again, and hungry. So I raided the fridge to create a quick and easy pasta dish. Has this happened to you? These days, I meet lots of busy people who understand hunger and haste, so I am sharing the results of my fridge-raid with you. I enjoyed my meal. I hope you like it, too.

Warning: this recipe is for one person. Double the quantities for two; or increase as desired.

Spiralli or other short pasta, for one or as desired

6 cup mushrooms

¼ red capsicum

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ tablespoon butter

10 baby Roma or cherry tomatoes

3 heaped teaspoons tomato pesto

Basil to garnish, if desired 

Cook pasta following packet directions until al dente. Peel, trim and slice mushrooms. Finely slice capsicum.

In a small pan, heat oil and butter; add mushrooms and capsicum. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 4 or 5 minutes until mushrooms are just soft. Add whole tomatoes and tomato pesto; cook, stirring, for 2 or 3 minutes. Check taste; remove from heat. Presto, sauce is done.

Serve mixed through hot, cooked pasta, garnished with fresh basil leaves, if desired.

A Blue Dragon of happiness

Lindy Walsh’s face lights up when she talks about her involvement with Blue Dragon, a charity helping to change the lives of at-risk and under-privileged children in Vietnam. Blue Dragon was founded in 2003 by Lindy’s friend Michael Brosowski, AM, and because of this friendship, which began at university, she has long been a supporter of Blue Dragon.

In December last year, Lindy took on a much larger role with Blue Dragon as Strategic Partnerships Manager, liaising with sponsors and donors. It’s a role she is clearly enjoying and she is particularly happy about her recent trip to Vietnam where she met people she describes as ‘incredibly welcoming and friendly’. At right, we see Lindy with a Vietnamese woman who offered her hospitality and friendship.

Lindy is one of only a handful of Australians working for the Blue Dragon charity organisation and the only one based in Australia. Of the 68 staff members in Vietnam, nearly all are Vietnamese, and this gives Blue Dragon an enormous advantage in its ability to tailor and target its resources to match local conditions.

Take, for example, their Step Ahead program to care for street children in Hanoi. Members of Step Ahead’s Outreach Team led by Vi, a bright young man who was himself once a street child, go out nightly to talk to children on the street and see that they have somewhere to stay. They come to know children individually and are able to network to find out about new arrivals in the city. Lindy says, ‘They say they have about 48 hours to find (newly-arrived) children before gangs or pimps pick them up’. Vi is seen below with one of the children he is assisting. 

When contact is made with a with a newly arrived street child, the first aim of Step Ahead is to try to reunite the child with their family at home – usually in the country – and seek to overcome any problems there. Many children are running away from more than poverty, also from complex family situations like violence, family breakdown, disability and drug use.

In cases where going home is not possible, Blue Dragon looks for a way to provide short-term accommodation. Each child is assigned a social worker who will look after their interests, help them back into school – if they are of school age – or, if they are older, help them to acquire skills and a job. Solutions are tailored to the individual needs of the child, but many street children find jobs as motor bike mechanics, fixing mobile phones or in the hospitality industry. 

Some find jobs at Blue Dragon, where eight former Blue Dragon children work. Ten children are currently undertaking an introduction to social work course with the idea of pursuing it as a career in the future.

Another effective Blue Dragon initiative is the Safe and Sound anti-trafficking program, which began five or six years ago. Blue Dragon workers became aware that traffickers were targetting village people and farming families in rural Vietnam. These traffickers said that they could offer the children job training and skills in the city. To the county people it sounded like a good offer. But it was too good to be true.

Once in the city, these children were taken to work in slave-like conditions in factories where they were locked in, made to work 16 or 17 hours a day, with no down time, and forced to sleep in rough conditions, often on the floor. Thanks to the concerted efforts of charities, including Blue Dragon, these appalling work practices are, Lindy says, ‘almost eradicated’ and Vietnamese labour laws have been changed.

Blue Dragon has also worked to ‘fireproof’ rural villages and people at risk from traffickers. Lindy explains, ‘We took children back to the villages and people were very distressed that this had happened. And we took a local policeman to see conditions in these factories and he became a strong advocate’ for change. Word of the problem spread effectively because the Blue Dragon representatives co-operated with the village and district committees who knew people in the area and were able to spread the information. It was another case of local knowledge helping solve local problems.

Lindy says that Blue Dragon also works to assist girls and young women who are trafficked over the border into China, where they may be forced to choose between marriage to a Chinese man they don’t know or to work in a tea house. Once in China, these girls can’t speak the local dialect, often don’t know where they are, and have little chance of escape. 

Lindy explains that sometimes, however, they can gain access to a mobile phone. ‘Normally, they phone their mother,’ she says, ‘and the mother can get in touch with the Blue Dragon rescue team.’

The Stay in School program supports 1,000 children in rural areas. It provides rice for families, pays school fees and supplies a backpack and school uniforms. After a student graduates, sponsors and new initiatives can help them with further study or work opportunities.

Founder Michael Brosowski has now handed over his CEO duties to Julienne Carey who, like Michael, lives in Vietnam and so is closely involved with the day-to-day work there.

Lindy, who holds an academic position at Macquarie University in Sydney, remains here as the Australian face of Blue Dragon, keeping contact with a network of supporters and sponsors. She loved her recent trip to Vietnam, calling it ‘a very moving experience’ and devotes a substantial amount of time to Blue Dragon because she says, ‘It gives me a real sense of purpose’.

The Blue Dragon website: www.bluedragon.org, provides statistics, details and information about Blue Dragon, including how to become a sponsor.