"WORLD UNDERSTANDING"

The seemingly never ending war in Iraq, the perprtual problems in Isreal and Kashmir, and the wanton and senseless destruction of human lives in so many other parts of the world must evoke in every sane person feelings of anger and dismay. What does fate hold for mankind, we must seriously ask, if the current trend continues.

Before Desert Storm, and even though there was sporadic fighting across the globe, hardly any of us would have expected that in our lifetime, there would have been a war like those we only saw in the movies. Unhappily, however, such wars have not only become a reality once again, but more disturbing is the fact that they have become almost a part of everyday life.

How does one explain the expenditure of sums of money which exceed several times the budgets of average nations, on nuclear weapons, when there are millions of people in the world starving. How could intelligent, civilized human beings justify ngeglecting the medical needs of innocent children around the world in order to wage war against other human beings? How can intelligent people on the one hand advocate human rights and concern for life and liberty of all humanity and yet be resonsible for or be party to destruction of human lives ?

Shouldn't the nations of the world by now move way past the days of Columbus and the various conquerors whose mission then was to acquire more and more territories for their respective rulers ? When would enough be enough, whether it be land, oil or other wealth ?

It cannot be disputed that the direction in which the world is heading generally is not thedirection that we feel happy about. All the leaders and all the peoples of the world know the things that we would like to do without abd those that we all want. While we may not possess the intelligence of the super human race that the available evidence tells us there once was, there is in todays's world than what is required to make this world the place we all would like it to be.

Are we prepared as leaders, of nations, of businesses, or organisations, to play our respectives parts, To Lend a Hand, to help make this world what we know it could be ?

Understanding the world is perhaps a prerequisite to World Understanding. The old addage, knowledge is power bears upon this topic quite aptly.

We cannot begin to understand what we do not know and we cannot acquire knowledge if we do not seek that knowledge or allow ourselves the opportunity to acquire same.

Let us take for example our next dooe neighbour, is it really possible to understand that neighbour if we did not know at least some basic things about him ? I think not, you see, apart from language which is but only a minor impediment in human realtions, there is much more to knowing a person.

People are basically the same the world over. Their needs, their hopes, their fears are very much the same. Nations are not abstract things, they are made up of individuals. In simple terms, nations are large groups of people each sharing a common destiny.

In the same way that individuals must seek to know some basic things about each other in order to understand and appreciate wach other, so too must nations.

Do nations really make the effort to learn about each other so as to gain the level of understanding which leads, not only to better friendship, but to a genuine interest in the well being og each other.

President Hendy.

On 5th February our second Club assemble was held at President Hendy's home. Many topics were discussed including the improvement of fellowship amongst members, as well as, the retention of members. Also, events for the next six months were discussed.