Lame duck teaches disabled Plymouth boy to walkBy This is Cornwall  |  Posted: February 09, 2010A BOY with cerebral palsy has learned to walk – after getting some quack medicine from a disabled duckling.The duckling, a Plymouth woman and her disabled son, were brought together by a twist of fate – with life changing consequences.

Becci Lomax rescued the duckling when it was just a day-and-a-half old, as it was going to be put down after being born with a splay leg."Basically when it laid down or sat down, its leg was right up near its head and it was unable to walk," says Becci.

After nursing Ming-Ming – named after a character from the Nickelodeon TV show Wonder Pets – the duckling is now able to walk. But it's not just the cute duckling who is now getting around. Amazingly Becci's four-year-old son, Finlay, who suffers from cerebral palsy, has copied his progress by taking his first three steps."I was told to put the duckling down first of all. I was trying all over Plymouth to find a vet that knew about ducks.

"At first I didn't think he would make it – I felt sick. But I found this lovely lady at Plymouth Veterinary Hospital," says Becci, aged 29, of North Prospect."This is the most amazing thing because in doing physio on the duckling, the same as I do for my son, Finlay took his first three steps after watching me doing the physio with the duckling.

"I was brimming with pride."Finlay uses a frame at home but even that's increased. He said 'I walk like the duck Mummy'," says Becci.

Thanks to her dedication, nursing and perseverance, which included 20 minute feeds through the day and night, Ming-Ming, although unstable, is now able to walk and looks to be on the waddle to a full recovery."I must admit I have been keeping him in my cleavage to keep him warm and my sister does the same to help me out.

"I've even set up a heater at my mum and dad's who babysit if I need to go out."Because of his leg, he's a bit unstable so he can't be left on his own," added Becci, who used a three quarter inch plaster cut in half as a splint.

Becci is looking for another duckling of around the same age to keep Ming-Ming company and to learn how to be a duck as he looks to her as his mother.She is also looking for advice to ensure that she is caring for him properly as Becci says she is a "real novice".

Read more: http://www.westbriton.co.uk/Adopted-duckling-learns-walk/story-11461426-detail/story.html#ixzz3KZILXG6y

Pope Francis wants to build showers for homeless in St Peter's Square Pope Francis orders showers to be built for homeless in the heart of St Peter's Square

A group of homeless people in St Peter's Square Photo: Nick Squires By Nick Squires, Vatican City 6:39PM GMT 13 Nov 2014 Pope Francis has taken the axiom of cleanliness being next to Godliness to a literal extreme, ordering showers to be built for the homeless in the heart of St Peter's Square. The Pope wants three showers to be installed in an existing public lavatory block used by tourists, located just behind the Renaissance colonnade of stone pillars that sweeps up to the entrance to St Peter's Basilica. The facilities are built into the base of a centuries-old wall and squeezed between a Vatican post office and the main entrance to the Apostolic Palace, a key part of the Vatican, which is protected by Swiss Guards in their traditional knickerbocker-style uniforms. The initiative, which will be paid for from Vatican charitable funds, was inspired by the experience of the Pope's chief almsgiver, a Polish archbishop called Konrad Krajewski.

Known officially as the Vatican almoner, a job that dates back to the 13th century and which involves handing out money to the poor, he recently met a 50-year-old homeless man from Sardinia on the streets of Rome and offered to buy him dinner. But the man, identified only as Franco, regretfully declined, explaining apologetically: "I can't, because I stink." "I took him to dinner anyway," Archbishop Krajewski told La Stampa newspaper. "We went to a Chinese restaurant. While we were eating, he explained that for the homeless in Rome it was not difficult to find something to eat, but what they really lacked was a place to wash." While showers were provided by Catholic charities such as Caritas and Sant'Egidio in the capital, they were often overcrowded, Franco, who has been living on the streets for 10 years, told the archbishop. Asked whether the sight of homeless people queuing for showers might put off tourists strolling through the colonnade, which was designed by the Renaissance architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the Polish prelate said: "Throughout the history of Rome, the poor have always gathered around churches."

Father Ciro Benedettini, a Vatican spokesman, told The Telegraph: "Work will start on installing the showers later this month. It's a joint initiative between the Holy Father and Archbishop Krajewski. Towels and soap will be provided." There was a mixed response to the papal initiative from a group of homeless people camping out in St Peter's Square, who at night bed down on flattened pieces of cardboard directly opposite the great basilica. "I think it's a great thing. At the moment we have to go a long way out of Rome to take a shower twice a week. We go by train but can't afford tickets so we're often thrown off," said Zbislaw, a 60-year-old Polish man living rough in Rome, who declined to give his surname. But his friend, Grzegorz Bialas, 50, also from Poland, said: "It's a nice idea but I reckon after a couple of months you'll have 500 homeless queuing to use the showers. This is a holy place – the showers should be put somewhere else." The South American Pope, who was elected last year, has frequently urged for more attention to be paid to the marginalised and the poor. In his native Argentina he was known as the "slum bishop" because of his frequent visits to the poorest neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires. The charity Sant' Egidio, which runs soup kitchens and provides services for refugees and immigrants, estimates that there are about 8,000 homeless people in Rome.

DARE TO BECOME THE SPARKhttp://www.tenthousandvillages.ca/story/1276-dare-to-become-the-sparkInspiration takes many forms. It may appear as a bold idea, or it may reveal itself quietly, as a conviction lived with grace, a gentle light that transforms the lives of those it touches through love and compassion.

The sisters of the St Mary’s convent in India operate a maternity hospital and a women’s health clinic that provide service and sanctuary to the troubled city of Ahmedabad. It is another of their projects, however, an embroidery and tailoring workshop that is creating the truly lasting change by offering employment and skills training opportunities to women in need.One of these women, Supeir Khinchi, shares a house with her daughter and mother-in-law. The walls of the tiny building are painted blue, the plaster crumbling. Bundles of firewood line the roof and colourful clothes hang on a makeshift clothesline. It is tiny by Western standards, yet it is from this humble one-room home that Supeir earns her income, one stitch at a time.Supeir’s road has been a difficult one. An arranged marriage meant saying goodbye to her family and her home state of Rajasthan as a young woman. She moved to Ahmedabad, the region’s largest city, where she gave birth to two daughters before both she and her husband contracted tuberculosis. Her husband has since passed away from the disease and one of her daughters also died during the period of illness. Supeir continues to suffer from tuberculosis, but will be cured so long as she is able to afford the ongoing treatment. St. Mary’s has helped pay for her medications throughout the ordeal.Supeir has worked with St. Mary’s for over a year now, during which time she has received a government-recognized embroidery certificate through the organization’s training program. Laughing, she tells me, “In Rajasthan, I didn’t even know how to hold a needle!” But now, she lives to embroider. “We are restless if we do not have work,” she says. “It is a consolation, it gives us great joy. If there were no

pain, we would love to do this day and night – but the body does not cooperate.”Her earnings are essential. They are the family’s only source of income. She has little prospect for re-marriage – very few Hindu widows do – and the medications for her tuberculosis are prohibitively expensive.When asked if she has dreams for the future, Supeir answers humbly, “I have no great vision, only that my daughter have a good life.” Her daughter Reena is eight years old, in third grade at school. She is very clever and if she continues her education, her future prospects are hopeful.The St. Mary’s embroidery workshop unites Hindu, Muslim, and Christian women in a common purpose: the skilful creation of traditional needlework. A remarkable thing, given that the state of Gujarat has long been prone to cultural and religious tensions. The most significant fruits of their labour are the confidence and dignity that come with earning an income. Women who contribute economically to their families are empowered by greater respect and recognition in both home and community.Supeir’s story is one among many in Ahmedabad. While the details of each vary, the message remains the same: St. Mary’s is creating a spark of hope where before there was none, for over four hundred women.

Pope Francis in Turkey Calls ISIS Violence a 'Grave Sin Against God'ISTANBUL — Pope Francis said Islamic militants were carrying out a "profoundly grave sin against God" in Syria and Iraq, calling on Sunday for inter-religious dialogue and action against poverty to help end conflicts there. The pope spoke on the last day of his weekend trip to Turkey, which is sheltering nearly 2 million refugees from Syria, thousands of Christians among them.At a joint service with Patriarch Bartholomew I, spiritual head of the world's 300 million Orthodox Christians, Francis said people of all faiths could not remain indifferent to the cries of the victims of the "inhumane and brutal" war next door. "Taking away the peace of a people, committing every act of violence — or consenting to such acts — especially when directed against the weakest and defenseless, is a profoundly grave sin against God," he said during the service.It was the third time in as many days that the pope referred to ISIS militants, who have killed or driven Shi'ite Muslims, Christians and others who do not share their ultra-radical brand of Sunni Islam out of swathes of Syria and Iraq.

In a separate joint statement issued during the service at the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the official seat of the Orthodox Christian patriarch, Francis and Bartholomew said: "Muslims and Christians are called to work together for the sake of justice, peace and respect for the dignity and rights of every person, especially in those regions where they once lived for centuries in peaceful coexistence and now tragically suffer together the horrors of war."

After 70 years, Holocaust survivor reunites with childhood friend who hid her family from the Nazishttp://news.nationalpost.com/author/natpostblogstelegraphblog/Philip Sherwell, The Telegraph | November 28, 2014 10:50 AM ETMira Wexler was just six when she and her mother escaped a Jewish ghetto and sought refuge from the Nazi Holocaust in a Polish forest during the Second World War.There, for two years they were brought food and often given shelter by the family of Helena Weglowski, a 13-year-old Roman Catholic, who lived on a nearby farm.Risking their own lives, the Weglowskis helped Mira and her mother Chana survive the war. But they had not seen each other for 70 years until they were reunited in New York at a meeting arranged by the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, which celebrates the heroism of Gentiles who saved Jews from the Nazis.The war destroyed everything, but now we can be together againThe two women, both now grandmothers, wept and kissed as they embraced in front of their families at the city’s JFK airport. “The war destroyed everything, but now we can be together again,”Ms. Weglowski, 85, told Ms. Wexler, who is 78. “I’m extremely overwhelmed.”Ms. Wexler said that she never dreamt they would meet again because her family moved to Brazil after the war while the Weglowskis remained in Poland. “It is very touching for me to be here and see Helena again,” she said. “It’s something I couldn’t imagine … and it’s happening.”The two women shared memories of those dark days as children and grandchildren listened.Their families had known each other before the war when the Wexlers operated a mill on the Weglowskis’ farm in the village of Stara Huta. But after the Nazi invasion, the Wexlers were forced into a ghetto in 1941 and Mira’s father Jacob was killed the next year as the Germans began to “liquidate” the Jewish inhabitants.Ms. Wexler managed to escape with her young daughter and they made their way back to the Weglowski farm. They spent nearly two years hiding there, sometimes in the home of their friends, but often sleeping in the forest when it became too dangerous to stay in the house.At those times, the 13-year-old Helena would bring food – sharing her family’s supplies of potatoes, cabbage and meat when they had it – and extra clothing.“Everything they had, they gave to us,” Ms. Wexler told The New York Daily News. “We slept in the same woods but never in the same place. It was very, very cold, snow covering us. We slept outside, with animals and all the risks.”“In the night, when we could, we went to Helena’s house to have warmth and food. Their home was well known because it was a big house. If the [Nazis] knew Jewish people were there, they would murder them.”Ms. Weglowski said her parents never wavered in helping their Jewish friends. “They had huge hearts and they felt like they should rescue everybody it was possible to,” she recalled.

Pope Francis promises to baptise unmarried woman's child in latest phone call In a surprise phone call to a pregnant, unmarried Italian woman, Pope Francis has promised to baptise her child if she cannot find a priest to do it. By Tom Kington in Rome 9:50AM BST 06 Sep 2013 In the latest of a series of candid phone calls to Catholics who have written to him, the Pope took pity on Anna Romano, 35, who wrote explaining she had discovered the man she was pregnant by was married.

Answering the call on her mobile phone on Tuesday, Romano said she was "speechless" when the pope greeted her. "At the beginning I thought it was a joke, but then he referred to the letter, which only my best friend and my parents knew about," she told Italy's Corriere della Sera. In her letter, which she had addressed to "His Holiness Francis, Vatican City", Romano wrote that her boyfriend had revealed he was married when she told him she was pregnant. "He left me, telling me he had no intention of taking care of the baby," she said. The man also told her to have an abortion, advice she was determined to ignore. Forgetting about the letter, she departed for a holiday with her family, only to receive the call. Explaining to the Pope that she feared no priest would baptise her illegitimate child, the Pope told her that if she had any trouble he would personally hold the baptism. "The Pope told me I was very brave and strong to decide to keep my baby," she said. The Pope has bolstered his popular appeal by picking up the phone at his residence in the Vatican and calling people out of the blue. Immediately after his election in March he rang his newsagent in Buenos Aries to cancel his newspaper subscription and also called his dentist to cancel an appointment. Last month he reportedly rang an Italian man, Michele Ferri, who had written to him after his brother was murdered. "Ciao Michele, it's Pope Francis," the pope said when Ferri picked up.

"He told me he had cried when he read the letter I had written him," Ferri said. He has also rung to chat to an Italian teenager who wrote to him about his hopes of finding a job after graduating, and telephoned Alejandra Pereyra, 44, an Argentinian women, to back her denouncing of a police officer she says raped her at gunpoint. "I started crying," she said. "With an angelic voice, he told me to be calm and that he was calling because he had read my letter and my story struck him."