Walking is a test of
perseverance and faith

A group of 56 people, representing a full range of ages, walked for 12 days in the middle of July from Chengdu to Chongqing, in the Sichuan area of southwestern China, covering a total distance of 360 kilometres.

This is the fifth summer pilgrim walk the group has undertaken.

Crossing oceans to China

People have been travelling to China for more years than we may know, but we do know that a lot of missionary priests and sisters have been crossing by land and sea from Europe to China for hundreds of years, the earliest recorded journey would be around 1293, undertaken by Franciscan Father John Montecorvino (1246-1328), who was called the founder of the Catholic mission in China.

This is the oft-quoted saying of Mao Zedong, but I like to point out that the sky is vast and we are still learning about its dimensions, whereas we know the dimensions of our planet Earth, and women stand firmly on its soil.

I would like to add to Mao’s quote by saying holding up half the sky may not be possible for anyone, but we know that women can hold down their place on earth. 

Once every 12 years, we welcome the most honoured of the animals of the Chinese horoscope…the dragon! 

The Chinese New Year of 4710 is our 2012 and the dragon celebrated is the Water Dragon. There are other dragons such as the Wood Dragon, the Fire Dragon, the Earth Dragon and the Metal Dragon. 

One hundred and forty six countries are signatories of the United Nations (UN) Palermo Protocol, which was adopted in December 2000 and came into force in September 2003.

Over the past decade, they passed laws banning human trafficking. Most nations no longer deny that this crime still exists and have, instead, adopted a wide range of policies and partnerships. 

Exams are a major focus of schooling, yet they can be overdone. Scoring 100 per cent in the next test becomes the sole purpose of a student’s life. 

Chinese parents worry about their child becoming an exam-taking robot. In addition to memorising names, dates and statistics, what else should a balanced education include?

Education is many sided

 On May 31, the world celebrated World No Tobacco Day. The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the first treaty under the organisation’s constitution, was adopted on 21 May 2003 and came into force on 27 February 2005. It has become one of the most rapidly and widely embraced treaties in United Nations history. 
The FCTC was developed in response to the globalisation of the tobacco trade consumption and is an evidence-based treaty that reaffirms the right of all people to the highest standard of health.