Columns

These two little words “Choices Count”, can have such scope and meaning that I invite you to ponder with me today how the simple concept of allowing our young people to make choices about their lives may be more desirable than trying to turn them into us.

This is an article with a difference. I was at the Webster Park on 16th November 2004 when the Anguilla United Front launched its 2005 elections campaign. One of the speakers was the Honourable Kenneth Harrigan, Minister of Infrastructure, who contested the Island Harbour seat against Joshua Hodge, a Baptist preacher, and others.

It is not often that I respond with silence to social issues that burn in my breast and in spite of the loud reactions to the recent incidence of violence among young people in school I am not convinced that we are listening purposefully.

Chronic pelvic pain is a common gynaecological cause for women to see their doctor. In many cases there is no clear cause for the chronic pain, making it difficult to cure or manage. It is estimated that approximately 15 to 20% of women aged 18-50 years have chronic pelvic pain of greater than one year’s duration.

Fellow Anguillians let me preface this article with the following statements

“In general you – judges – should understand that you have been entrusted with the great responsibility of protecting the rights of the people and must therefore endeavour to serve with a spirit of selflessness and integrity so as to free yourselves from guity consciences. We urge you to serve with integrity today so as to set a good precedent for posterity. Endeavour to serve with integrity…” HIM Haile Selassie, August 24, 1961.

Bronchial asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases of children and is the most common causes of school absenteeism. Although there is no cure for asthma at this time it can be successfully controlled in many cases. The diagnosis of asthma should not be a cause of shame. Many Olympic athletes, famous leaders and others live successful lives with asthma.

These days the hot weather is most overbearing. I usually tell my friends, jokingly of course, that if hell is so hot, we will have to go in the sea everyday – we will have to live in the sea. Talking about sea, I am reminded about a picnic at Sandy Hill, many years ago, when one of the girls refused to go in the sea when she discovered that her bathing suit had a hole in the knee. Times have really changed. Today, if a woman’s bathing suit is not all holes, she ain’t wearing it.

If you are reading this early on Thursday afternoon, you can still be in time for the Valley Youth meeting at Triple Crown Culture Yard at 5.00 p.m. but then you would have to be a Valley Youth to be at that meeting. If you are an adult who lives or has business interests in The Valley (and I mean the Wider Valley), then it’s your turn to meet on Thursday 22nd September 2005 at the Yard at 6.00 p.m.

Many Anguillians have two normally functioning kidneys that last them for their entire lives, but some Anguillians do suffer from one or more types of kidney disease. This is not surprising as the two most common causes of kidney disease - diabetes and high blood pressure - occur in a large number of Anguillians.

For the last week and a half I have grappled with a mix of emotions evoked by footage from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina in the USA. For the first couple of days I listened to the news on the radio and began to look only when the disaster was exacerbated by the burst levees. It was only then that the disaster took on a colour and that colour was Black.

It is estimated that at least 35% of all cancers have a nutritional connection and, theoretically, can be prevented. Cancer is very common in many Caribbean countries including Anguilla. In Anguilla the common parts of the body most affected are the cervix (mouth of the uterus), prostate and the breast.

Traditionally, the main way for persons to resolve a dispute is to go to court. This is often a very expensive and time-consuming process. The fact that Anguilla did not have a resident judge until recently, added to the difficulty.

It is primarily through a knowledge of its history that a society gets a wider and deeper understanding of itself – of the circumstances which created it. For this reason, every now and then, I provide a glimpse of our past. “Knowledge of history is like a second life extended . . . backward.”

Simon Bolivar is not among the familiar names of the history I was taught in school and I have to confess, though not with pride, then when I first encountered the name somewhere during my school days, I read it with the English pronunciation and somehow managed to think of a poem that my mother used to recite about a Young Lochinvar who came out of the west on a steed that was the best.

Ankle injuries occur commonly and the most common type is ankle sprain which can vary in severity from being relatively benign to the very serious. If not managed appropriately ankle sprains can result in long term complications for the individual.

August 23rd is a day designated by the United Nations for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. According to UNESCO’s Director General, Koichiro Matsuura, the observation is intended to make the slave trade “part of the world’s collective memory”, providing an opportunity for “common reflection” on the horrific historical phenomenon that continues to impact on Europe, the Americas, the Caribbean and the world.

The dangers of childhood obesity in Anguilla are real and they are beginning to take their toll. The increasing number of obese children in Anguilla is a cause for much concern and demands urgent attention if we are to prevent the many health and social consequences that are likely to occur.

Life in Anguilla is idyllic and slow-paced, something that is envied by our visitors. An important aspect of the Anguilla lifestyle is the fact that we are blessed by many splendid beaches. Beach picnics, swimming, snorkeling, or just strolling on the beach – imagine what life would be like if we could not enjoy these simple pleasures.

By: Montague Kobbe

Just over one year ago, US $80.000 – short, but not too short, of a quarter of a million EC dollars - seemed a figure disproportionate enough to entice a number of Anguillians (with the auspice of Government) to trade for it an acre of their (largely bush) land.