October 22

Page Two

What War Does to Children 3-11

Why are children used as soldiers? How have they been devastated by war? Yet, why can we be confident of a bright future for today’s children?

A Lesson From a Pot of Fat 20

The faith-strengthening story of Kurt Hahn highlights a valuable lesson we can draw from a pot of fat.

Why Does My Brother Get All the Attention? 25

What should you do if your parents seem to favor one of your siblings?

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Nanzer/Sipa Press

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Pages 1, 3, 4, and 7: U.S. Navy photo

War Reaps a Young Harvest

CHILDHOOD is supposed to be a happy time. A time of being cherished, sheltered. A time of innocence. The young are expected to play, to learn, and to develop qualities that will help them become responsible adults. Children are not supposed to be killed, and they are certainly not supposed to become killers. In times of war, however, many things happen that are not supposed to happen.

Sadly, warfare abounds on a global scale, and it reaps a young harvest, laying waste both to children and to childhoods. In 1993, major conflicts raged in 42 countries while political violence blazed in 37 others. Living in every one of these 79 countries were children.

Many young people today have never known peace. By the end of 1995, there had been fighting in Angola for over 30 years, in Afghanistan for 17 years, in Sri Lanka for 11 years, and in Somalia for 7 years. In one place after another, politicians confidently spoke of “the peace process,” but the relentless process of war continued to ruin human lives.

Warfare has always hurt children, but the changing nature of war in recent times has resulted in spiraling civilian casualties, including children. During the conflicts of the 18th and 19th centuries and during the early part of this century, about half the victims of war were civilians. In World War II, which lasted from 1939 to 1945, civilian deaths increased to two thirds of the war dead, partly because of the intensive bombing of cities.

By the end of the 1980’s, civilian casualties in war had soared to almost 90 percent! One reason for this is that wars have become more complex. No longer do armies face off only on a battlefield. Most conflicts today are, not between countries, but within them. Moreover, fighting takes place in villages or cities, and there, amid savagery and suspicion, killers make little distinction between the enemy and innocent bystanders.

The toll on children has been heavy. It is estimated that during the past ten years alone, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund, wars have slain two million children and disabled four million to five million others. War has orphaned more than one million children and left 12 million without a home. Because of war, some ten million children are psychologically traumatized.

Libraries are packed with books about warfare. These discuss how and why battles were fought; they describe the weapons and strategies used; they memorialize the generals who directed the carnage. Films maximize the excitement and minimize the suffering of war. Such books and films say little about the innocent victims. The following articles look at how children have been exploited as warriors, how they have been the most vulnerable of all victims, and why we say that children today can enjoy a truly bright future.

Why Children Make Good Warriors

DID YOU KILL? “No.”

DID YOU HAVE A GUN? “Yes.”

DID YOU AIM THE GUN? “Yes.”

DID YOU FIRE IT? “Yes.”

WHAT HAPPENED? “They just fell down.”—World Press Review, January 1996.

THIS chilling conversation between a social worker and a child soldier in Africa reveals the confusion in a young mind struggling to come to terms with the past.

In recent years, in 25 countries, children under the age of 16 have joined in the fighting. During 1988 alone, some 200,000 children were taking an active part in wars. Because they have been manipulated by adults, child fighters are also victims.

Their Value as Soldiers

In the past, when armies fought with spears and swords, a child had little chance of standing in battle against an adult wielding a similar weapon. But this is an era of lightweight weapons. Today, a child equipped with an assault rifle—a Soviet-made AK-47 or an American-made M16—is a match for an adult.

These weapons are not only light but also easy to use and maintain. An AK-47 can be stripped and reassembled by a ten-year-old. These rifles are plentiful too. Some 55 million AK-47s have been sold. In one African country, they sell for as little as $6 (U.S.). M16 rifles are also abundant and cheap.

Apart from being able to wield assault rifles, children are valued soldiers for other reasons. They do not demand salaries, and they rarely run away. Moreover, children have a deep yearning to please their elders. Their sense of right and wrong is overshadowed by the desire to be accepted by whatever liberation group or guerrilla army has become their “family.”

Many of them also tend to be fearless. Explained a military observer in West Africa: “Since [children] don’t seem to share the same understanding of death as older soldiers, they are less likely to surrender in hopeless situations.” Boasted a Liberian boy, who bore the name Captain Killing Machine: “When the big men turned and ran, we small boys stayed to fight.”

Ironically, though boys make good soldiers, they are usually viewed as the most expendable. During one war in the Middle East, companies of child soldiers were ordered to lead the way through minefields.

Recruitment and Conditioning

Some children join armies or rebel movements because they seek adventure. Also, when danger threatens and families are in disarray, a military unit offers a sense of security and becomes a substitute family. Says the United Nations Children’s Fund: “Children who have grown up surrounded by violence see this as a permanent way of life. Alone, orphaned, frightened, bored and frustrated, they will often finally choose to fight.”

Other children join armies because there may appear to be no better option. Sometimes, when food is scarce and danger threatens, joining an army may seem to be the only way to survive.

Children may sometimes see themselves as fighters for social justice, religious beliefs, or cultural identities. In Peru, for example, children who have been forced to join guerrilla bands undergo long periods of political indoctrination. Frequently, however, that is not needed. Said Brian Milne, a social anthropologist who studied child soldiers in Southeast Asia: “Kids don’t have a doctrine or ideology. They are merely sucked up by one side or another and put to work.”

Still other children are forced to join. In some African wars, factions raid villages to capture children, who are then made to witness or take part in the torture and execution of their own families. Sometimes they are forced to shoot their parents or to slit their throats. Once terrorized, the boys are led to terrorize others. These brutalized youngsters often commit acts of cruelty that even seasoned adult soldiers would balk at.

The Return to a Normal Life

It is not easy for such children to adapt to a life without violence. Said the director of a children’s center in a West African country: “The kids we’ve dealt with are all traumatised to various degrees. They’ve raped, killed and tortured. Most of them were given alcohol or drugs, mostly marijuana, but sometimes heroin. . . . You can imagine the terrible effect such things have on the minds of children, some of them as young as eight or nine.”

The situation is the same in neighboring Liberia, where tens of thousands of children have spent their childhood terrorizing the countryside. It is not easy for teenage majors and generals to give up the status and power afforded them by an AK-47. A resident of Somalia said: “If you have a gun, you have life. No gun, no life.”

Frequently, child fighters cannot return home because of reprisals or rejection by their family. Said a child counselor in Liberia: “Mothers will say to us, ‘Keep him. We don’t want this monster in our house.’”

Though many children have adjusted to living peaceful lives, doing so requires a great deal of love, support, and understanding from those around them. It is not easy for either the children or their families. A social worker in Mozambique explains: “Compare a life of being able to take whatever you want, to tell others what to do, to your life when you come back to the village. Especially if you are 17 years old and can’t read and have no skills. You are banished to a life of boredom. It is pretty hard to have to go back to having other people tell you what to do and start the first grade again.”

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Thirteen-year-old Anwar lives in Afghanistan. A veteran of six battles, he killed for the first time during the seventh. He shot two soldiers at close range and then prodded the bodies with his rifle butt to make sure they were dead. When asked how he felt about the incident, Anwar seemed puzzled at the question. “I was happy because I killed them,” he said.

During the same battle, Anwar’s fellow soldiers captured four enemy troops. The captives were then bound, blindfolded, and shot. How did Anwar feel about that? The young fighter cocked an eyebrow and answered slowly and deliberately, as though addressing a simpleton. “I was happy.”

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A soon-to-be-released prisoner in West Africa was handcuffed, but the military commander had lost the keys. The commander solved the problem by ordering a boy soldier to cut off the hands of the prisoner. “In my dreams I still hear that man’s screams,” says the boy. “Every time I think about him, I regret it.”

How War Devastates Children

THE battle, one of many in Sierra Leone’s civil war, took place in early 1995. As the guns fell silent, four-year-old Tenneh, whose parents had already died in the war, lay wounded. A bullet had lodged in her head, behind her right eye, and there was danger that the bullet would trigger infection that would spread to her brain and kill her.

Sixteen months later, a British couple managed to have Tenneh flown to England for surgery. A team of surgeons removed the bullet, and people rejoiced that the operation was successful, that a young life had been saved. Yet, the rejoicing was muted by the knowledge that Tenneh remained an orphan who should not have been shot at all.

Weapons, Hunger, and Disease

Although Tenneh was hit by a stray bullet, increasingly children are not accidental victims but are targets. When ethnic strife breaks out, killing adults is not enough; the children of the enemy are viewed as future enemies. A political commentator in Rwanda said in a 1994 radio broadcast: “To kill the big rats, you have to kill the little rats.”

Most children who die in wars, however, are not victims of bombs or bullets but rather of starvation and sickness. In African wars, for example, lack of food and medical services has killed about 20 times more people than actual fighting has. The cutting off of essential supplies is a tactic of war ruthlessly applied in modern times. Armies have sown large areas of food-producing land with land mines, destroyed grain stores and water systems, and seized relief supplies. They have also demolished health centers, scattering medical personnel.

Such tactics hit children the hardest. Between 1980 and 1988, for example, children lost to war-related causes numbered 330,000 in Angola and 490,000 in Mozambique.

No Home, No Family

War creates orphans by killing parents, but it also does so by splintering families. Worldwide, about 53 million people have fled their homes under threat of violence. That is about 1 in every 115 people on earth! At least half are children. In the panic of flight, children are often separated from their parents.

As a result of the conflict in Rwanda, 114,000 children had been separated from their parents by the end of 1994. According to a 1995 survey, 1 child in 5 in Angola had a similar experience. For many children, especially the very young, the trauma of not being with parents is more distressing than the turmoil of war itself.

Killed by Land Mines

Throughout the world hundreds of thousands of children have gone out to play, to herd animals, to collect firewood, or to plant crops, only to be blown apart by land mines. Land mines kill 800 people every month. In 64 countries there is a combined total of about 110 million land mines sown in the ground. Cambodia alone is seeded with about seven million such mines, two for every child.

Over 40 countries manufacture about 340 types of mines in a wide variety of shapes and colors. Some look like stones, others like pineapples, still others like small green butterflies that gently float to the ground from helicopters, without exploding. Reports suggest that some land mines, designed to look like toys, have been put near schools and playgrounds where women and children will find them.

It costs only about $3 to produce an antipersonnel mine, but to locate and remove a mine from the ground costs between $300 and $1,000. In 1993 about 100,000 land mines were removed, but two million new ones were laid. All are patient killers that never sleep, do not distinguish a soldier from a child, recognize no peace treaty, and remain active for up to 50 years.

In May 1996, after two years of talks in Geneva, Switzerland, international negotiators failed to secure a global ban on land mines. Though they did outlaw some types of mines and put restrictions on the use of others, a total ban on land mines will not be reconsidered until the next review conference, scheduled for the year 2001. Between now and then, land mines will kill another 50,000 people and maim 80,000. Many will be children.

Torture and Rape

In recent wars children have been tortured, either to punish their parents or to extract information about their parents. Sometimes, in the savage world of conflict, no reason is needed and torture of children takes place merely for entertainment.

Sexual violence, including rape, is common in war. In the fighting in the Balkans, it was a policy to rape teenage girls and force them to bear the enemy’s child. Similarly, in Rwanda soldiers used rape as a weapon to destroy family ties. In some raids nearly every teenage girl who survived a militia attack was raped. Many girls who became pregnant were rejected by their families and community. Some girls abandoned their babies; others killed themselves.

Emotional Distress

Children in war often endure experiences more terrible than the worst nightmares of many adults. In Sarajevo, for example, a survey of 1,505 children showed that virtually all had experienced artillery shelling. Over half had been shot at, and two thirds had been in situations where they expected to be killed.

A survey of 3,000 Rwandan children found that 95 percent had witnessed violence and killings during the genocide and that nearly 80 percent had lost family members. Almost one third had witnessed rape or sexual assault and more than one third had seen other children taking part in killings or beatings. Such experiences devastate young minds and hearts. A report on traumatized children from the former Yugoslavia stated: “Memories of the event remain with them . . . causing extreme nightmares, daily intrusive flashbacks of the traumatic events, fear, insecurity and bitterness.” Following the genocide in Rwanda, a psychologist at the National Trauma Recovery Centre reported: “Among the symptoms manifested by children are nightmares, difficulty in concentrating, depression and a sense of hopelessness about the future.”

How Can Children Be Helped?

Many researchers believe that trauma does not go away when children bottle up their feelings and memories. Healing often begins when a child confronts bad memories by talking to a sympathetic and informed adult about what happened. “Half the battle is getting really troubled kids to open up and talk freely,” said a social worker in West Africa.

Another important aid in healing emotional pain is strong unity and support of family and community. Like all children, war victims need love, understanding, and empathy. Yet, is there really reason to believe that there is hope for all children to enjoy a bright future?

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It Looked Like a Ball

In Laos a girl and her brother were on their way to graze buffalo. The girl saw an object in a ditch that looked like a ball. She picked it up and tossed it to her brother. It fell to the ground and exploded, killing him instantly.

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Only One Among Thousands

When fighting began in her area of Angola, Maria, a 12-year-old orphan, was raped and became pregnant. When fighting intensified, Maria fled, walking 200 miles [300 km] to a safe area, where she entered a center for displaced children. Because she was so young, she went into labor early, giving birth with great difficulty to a premature baby. The baby lived only two weeks. Maria died a week later. Maria is only one among thousands of children who have been tortured and raped in recent wars.

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Devastated Minds and Hearts

How children are often affected by violence is well illustrated by eight-year-old Shabana, of India. She saw a mob beat her father to death and then behead her mother. Her mind and heart remain numb, masking the horror and loss. “I do not miss my parents,” she says in a flat, emotionless voice. “I do not think of them.”

A Bright Future for Our Children

SINCE the end of World War II, the world’s governments have drafted and signed an array of treaties to protect civilians in war. Among them are treaties that allow clothing along with medical and food supplies to reach children. International agreements promise to shield children from sexual exploitation, torture, and violence. Agreements also ban the enlistment of anyone under the age of 15 into the armed forces.

The State of the World’s Children 1996, a report by the United Nations Children’s Fund, hails these laws as “genuine landmarks” and adds: “Politicians who know that there are standards against which they can subsequently be judged are more likely to consider those standards in their calculations.”

Of course, politicians also calculate that the international community often lacks both the ability and the will to enforce laws. The report thus admits that “given the extent to which these principles have been flouted, it is easy to deride the existing body of international law.”

Then there is the matter of money. In 1993, conflicts raged in 79 nations. Sixty-five of them were poor nations. Where did these poor nations get the weapons with which to fight? Mostly from rich nations. And who are the top five exporters of arms to the developing world? The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council!

Those Who Care

There are, of course, those who care deeply about the plight of children in war. Both individuals and organizations lovingly assist young victims of war. For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses, who do not engage in war, have done so. But to eliminate the victimization of children in war really means to eliminate war itself, a prospect that may seem unlikely. Because of humanity’s long record of strife and conflict, many conclude that humans will never bring earth-wide peace. In this view, they are correct.

People also conclude that God will never intervene in the affairs of the nations or bring lasting peace to the planet. In this view, they are not correct.

Our Creator, Jehovah God, cares deeply about the things that are taking place on earth. In his Word, the Bible, Jehovah asks: “Do I take any delight at all in the death of someone wicked . . . and not in that he should turn back from his ways and actually keep living?” God emphatically replies: “I do not take any delight in the death of someone dying.”—Ezekiel 18:23, 32.

Think about it: If our compassionate Creator desires even wicked adults to repent and enjoy life, surely he wants children to live and enjoy life also! Yet, our loving God will not put up with the wicked indefinitely. “Evildoers themselves will be cut off,” God’s Word promises. “Just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more.”—Psalm 37:9, 10.

Jesus Christ, who reflected perfectly the personality of his heavenly Father, loved children and said that “the kingdom of the heavens belongs to suchlike ones.” (Matthew 19:14) The sacrifice of children to the gods of war is detestable both to Jehovah God and to his Son, Jesus Christ.—Compare Deuteronomy 18:10, 12.

God’s Promise of a Bright Future

God has permitted wars and suffering over the centuries in order that the truth stated by the prophet Jeremiah may be established for all eternity to come: “I well know, O Jehovah, that to earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.” (Jeremiah 10:23) Soon, the Bible promises, Jehovah will vindicate his universal sovereignty by “making wars to cease to the extremity of the earth.” (Psalm 46:9) Also foretold in the Bible is the time when “[people] will have to beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning shears. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war anymore.”—Isaiah 2:4.

What will happen to those whose lives have been snuffed out by war? Is there any hope for them? Jesus promised a resurrection of the dead to an earth free from war, saying: “The hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will . . . come out.” (John 5:28, 29) Similarly, the apostle Paul confidently stated: “There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.”—Acts 24:15.

God’s promises will definitely come true. He has both the power and the determination to carry out all that he has purposed. (Isaiah 55:11) When Jehovah says he will do away with war, he means it. When he promises to resurrect to life those who have died, he will do it. As the angel Gabriel said, “with God no declaration will be an impossibility.”—Luke 1:37.

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When war is no more, all children will enjoy a wholesome life

The Catholic Church and Evolution

By Awake! correspondent in Italy

ON April 26, 1882, the funeral of Charles Darwin was held in Westminster Abbey, London. A church may seem to some to have been the most inappropriate place to bury the man accused of ‘dethroning God’ with his evolutionary theory of natural selection. Yet, Darwin’s tomb has been there for more than a century.

After Darwin’s Origin of Species was published in 1859, the attitude of theologians gradually changed toward evolution. Theologian Carlo Molari wrote of how a phase of “open warfare” gave way to a “cease-fire” early in this century. Then, he said, there was an “armistice” in the mid-1900’s and finally the present-day “peace.”

Prior to Darwin

The idea of evolution, of course, was not initiated by Darwin. Ancient philosophers had theorized about the transformation of one form of life into another. The first modern evolutionist theses are traceable to a number of 18th-century naturalists.

During the 18th and 19th centuries, many scholars advanced different evolutionary theories, even though the word “evolution” rarely appeared. Darwin’s grandfather, Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802), aired a number of evolutionary ideas in one of his works, and that work was listed in the Catholic Church’s index of prohibited books.

Why “Open Warfare” Developed

Some in the secular world saw in Darwin’s theory a useful instrument to weaken the power of the clergy. So a fierce battle exploded. In 1860 the German bishops affirmed: “Our predecessors were immediately created by God. We thus declare entirely contrary to Holy Scripture and Faith the judgment of those who dare assert that man, as far as his body is concerned, derives from an imperfect nature by spontaneous transformation.”

Similarly, in May 1877, Pope Pius IX praised the French physician Constantin James for a publication against evolution and in support of the Genesis account of creation. The first phase of the conflict reached a climax with a series of letters published by the Pontifical Biblical Commission between 1905 and 1909. In one of these, the commission declared that the first three chapters of Genesis are historical and should be understood as “actual history.”

“Cease-Fire” and “Armistice”

Yet, as the prestige of Darwin’s theory grew in academic circles, Catholic theologians, such as French Jesuit Teilhard de Chardin, began to convert to evolutionism. Though Teilhard’s ideas differed from those of orthodox evolutionists, from 1921 on he considered “biological evolution . . . more and more certain as to its reality.” The drift toward conciliation between the Catholic faith and evolutionism became increasingly pronounced.

In 1948 another Jesuit stated: “For more than 20 years, there has been a singular increase in the number of theologians, above all suspicion when it comes to orthodoxy, who declare conciliation [between evolution and the Catholic faith] possible if confined within certain limits.” About the same time, the Pontifical Biblical Commission retracted much of what it had written in 1909 in support of the Genesis account of creation.

Then, in 1950, Pius XII’s encyclical letter, Humani generis, said that Catholic scholars could consider the theory of evolution to be a plausible hypothesis. Yet, the pope said: “Catholic faith obliges us to hold that souls are immediately created by God.”

Why the So-Called Peace?

Carlo Molari notes that, with few exceptions, since the ecumenical council Vatican II, “reservations about evolutionary theories have been definitively surmounted.” Significantly, in October 1996, Pope John Paul II declared: “Today, almost half a century after the publication of [Pius XII’s] encyclical, new knowledge leads us to recognize that the theory of evolution is more than a hypothesis. It is indeed remarkable that this theory has been progressively accepted by researchers.”

Historian Lucio Villari called the pope’s statement a “decisive admission.” A headline in the conservative Italian newspaper Il Giornale read: “The Pope Says We May Descend From Monkeys.” And Time magazine concluded that the pope’s admission “reflects the church’s acceptance of evolution.”

What is the reason for what has been called “this more or less condescending orientation toward evolutionism” on the part of Catholic leaders? Why has the Roman Catholic Church made peace with the teaching of evolution?

It is clear that many Catholic theologians consider the Bible to be “the word of men,” not “the word of God.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16, 17) The Catholic Church gives more weight to the word of modern evolutionists than to that of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who confirmed the Genesis account of creation as accurate by saying: “Did you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female?” (Matthew 19:4) Whose opinion do you consider to be deserving of more weight?

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Jehovah’s Witnesses and Evolution

Jehovah’s Witnesses have consistently upheld Christ’s teaching that God directly created the first human couple and “made them male and female.” (Matthew 19:4; Genesis 1:27; 2:24) In 1886, Volume I of Millennial Dawn (later called Studies in the Scriptures) referred to Darwinism as “an untenable theory,” and in 1898, the booklet The Bible Versus the Evolution Theory upheld the Bible’s creation account. The Bible’s creation account was also championed in the books The New Creation (1904) and Creation (1927) as well as in early articles published in The Watch Tower and The Golden Age.

At the time Pope Pius XII promulgated his encyclical letter Humani generis, in 1950, Jehovah’s Witnesses were publishing Evolution Versus the New World. This booklet contains scientific and historical proof of the Bible’s account of creation and denounces attempts by some clergymen to make “an alliance between evolution and the Bible.” The book Did Man Get Here by Evolution or by Creation? (1967) also upholds the Bible’s creation account, as do the book Life—How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation?, published in 1985, and numerous articles published in The Watchtower and Awake!

Thus many have been helped by Jehovah’s Witnesses to become acquainted with the overwhelming evidence that it is God “that has made us, and not we ourselves.”—Psalm 100:3.

Crowned Cranes—Colorful Crested Dancers

BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN KENYA

THE crowned crane is one of the most beautiful birds in the world. It is a stately bird with subtle colors and an exquisite shape. Almost four feet [more than a meter] long, it has a huge wingspan and a delicate, long neck, also characteristic of other types of cranes.

Male and female crowned cranes look alike. The dark back feathers attractively frame the pure white wing feathers that run down both sides of the bird and turn golden near the tail. Other wing feathers are a rich chestnut brown.

The face of the crowned crane is a delight to see. Its cheeks are ivory and are surrounded by soft, ebony head feathers on the crown and throat. The eyes are a beautiful light-blue. From the black throat feathers hangs a long, bright-red wattle, which dangles like a scarlet pendant when the crane stretches its neck horizontally. Most conspicuous of all is the spectacular plume of slender, golden head feathers that form a magnificent symmetrical crown. These lustrous, thin feathers glow golden when lit by the rays of the sun. All these striking, contrasting colors are balanced atop two long, slender black legs.

The trumpeting call of the crowned crane is one of the unforgettable sounds of Africa: O-wahng! O-wahng! O-wahng! This loud cry can be heard for great distances. Often, a pair of cranes will call out together as they fly to or from their roosting trees. At certain times of the year, crowned cranes congregate and may number up to 30 birds, producing a cacophony of sound that is a delight to the ears.

Parental Care

Crowned cranes evidently mate for life. They are found in many parts of East Africa, especially in swamps and marshy areas, where they nest and raise their young. The nest is a large cone-shaped heap of grass and reeds that provides a platform on which the female lays two or three large, greenish-blue eggs. The male and female take turns sitting on the eggs, and within a month the chicks hatch. The parents work together to feed and care for their downy offspring, and they will protect their fledglings fearlessly.

The crowned cranes’ main diet consists of insects, frogs, small snakes, and seeds. Using their long, spindly legs and their large feet, they stamp the ground, making a quick meal of any small creature that is flushed out of the grass.

Bird Ballet

Crowned cranes are enthusiastic and entertaining dancers. Flapping their large colorful wings, they lift themselves into the air vertically and then float gently back to the earth as if attached to a parachute. Gracefully bounding about, they run and spring into the air, circling their mates and bobbing their heads with quick, clownish jerks. Holding their large wings open, they stand erect and display the beautiful colors of their wing feathers.

Sometimes a pair will contort their necks into elegant shapes and look each other in the eye. Beak-to-beak, they utter a series of low, booming notes as if serenading each other. Standing upright again, they resume their elaborate bird ballet.

The Fight to Survive

Crowned cranes are rather tolerant of humans and are easily tamed. Because of their delightful color and shape and their entertaining dancing displays, they are popular in zoos and are sought after to ornament private estates and gardens. With such a demand, it is not surprising that their numbers are dwindling. Further pressure on the crowned crane comes from the reclamation of wetlands and the use of poisons and insecticides, which pollute lakes and streams.

It would be sad if the day were to come when the sight and sound of the spectacular crowned crane disappeared. However, the Bible promises that soon the entire earth will be made new. (Compare 2 Peter 3:13.) Then, all of earth’s inhabitants will forever delight in the creative mastery of the Divine Maker, Jehovah God, and in his colorful crested dancers.

Power From the Snow

BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN AUSTRALIA

SOMETIMES called the roof of Australia, the Australian Alps straddle the states of New South Wales and Victoria. Within these alps lie the Snowy Mountains, the source of the Snowy River. Inspired by this rugged alpine terrain and its tough, pioneering horsemen, A. B. (Banjo) Paterson penned the poem, later made into a movie, “The Man From Snowy River.”

Nowadays, however, the treacherous slopes of the legendary horseman’s ride house the sluices of a technological wonder—the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme. In 1967 the American Society of Engineers rated this complex network of aqueducts, tunnels, dams, and power stations as “one of the seven engineering wonders of the modern world.” Would you like to visit this alpine “wonder”? First, though, let’s see why it was built and who built it.

A Thirsty Land

Surprisingly, hydropower never even entered the minds of the early settlers whose yearnings were the harbingers of the Scheme. Battered by droughts, those 19th-century farmers of the Murray-Darling basin, Australia’s most important farming area, simply wanted a more reliable water supply.

They knew where the water was—in the Snowy River. But the Snowy plunged down the other, lush side of the alps into the Tasman Sea. It seemed a prodigal waste. If, high in the alps, this cold, pure water could be redirected into the headwaters of the rather fickle Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers, farmers would have a billion-dollar buffer against drought. It was a tantalizing dream.

In 1908 the dream came a step closer to realization when the Federal Parliament chose the nearby district of Canberra as the site for Australia’s national capital. Would hydropower meet the needs of this yet-to-be-built city? Once again, eyes turned to the Snowy Mountains.

Various proposals—some for hydropower and others for irrigation—were presented and scrapped. Then, in 1944, the first hydroelectric-irrigation scheme was submitted, and it quickly won favor. In 1949 the federal government commissioned the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Authority with the responsibility of designing and building the dual scheme.

But how would a young, essentially agricultural nation without expertise or spare manpower tackle a project that was without precedent in magnitude and complexity?

From Ashes to Snow

The answer was immigration. Still reeling from World War II, Europe was a nightmare of ashes, unemployment, and homelessness. So in conjunction with the United Nations, Australia invited any Europeans with the required skills to apply to work on the Scheme.

In response, tens of thousands of workers from about 33 countries left the ashes of Europe and set sail for Australia. They would make up two thirds of the Scheme’s entire work force, and they would also change Australia’s human face forever. Says Brad Collis in his book Snowy: “A country founded on . . . British stock almost overnight became one of the world’s great pancultures.” Collis adds: “[The men] were sent into the mountains—enemy and ally, oppressor and victim—to work together.” Though they did not blend together as a team overnight, they did in time.

Life in the Alps

In the early days of the Scheme, the trip into the alps provided a dubious welcome. Icy, muddy, steeply inclined, and tortuous tracks made the trip a slow, spine-jarring experience. Indeed, in some parts the terrain was so precipitous and unforgiving that even kangaroos were a rare sight! Little wonder that the Snowy Authority, according to Collis, “is reputed to have been the first organisation in the world to introduce the compulsory wearing of seatbelts.”

The accommodations were hardly better than the roads—army-surplus tents with no flooring! Eventually, over 100 camps and tent cities sprang up like mushrooms high in the ranges. One of these, Cabramurra—no longer a tent city—boasts the distinction of being the highest township in Australia.

As you can imagine, working and sleeping in these austere, rugged conditions tested one’s mettle to the limit. Winter blizzards ate into the bones, summer’s sapping heat made every move an effort, and clouds of insufferable flies blackened sweating faces and backs. How the Europeans loathed the flies!

But most stuck it out. War-hardened and tough, they were determined to make a success of their new life. Many even became fond of the undisciplined Australian bush, with its strange creatures and snakes and its birds that screech and squawk rather than whistle and chirp. In time, modest wooden homes replaced tents, and wives and children arrived.

But what to do about the many languages? Imagine men operating heavy machines and drilling rigs or working with explosives who were unable to communicate clearly! It was a recipe for disaster, so the Authority instituted free, after-hours, English-language classes. Continued employment was contingent upon workers’ being able to meet a basic level of language skill, so it’s no surprise that classes were well attended!

In spite of so many obstacles, after 25 years—1949 to 1974 —the project ended on time and within budget. The $820-million cost, though modest by today’s standards, was anything but modest back then, especially to a nation of only eight million that was still struggling to get back on its feet after the war.

In celebration of the achievement, the Authority is now planning a 50-year anniversary for 1999. It will include a reunion of all who worked on the project—if they can be found. “These people helped to build one of the engineering wonders of the world and changed the course of Australia’s history,” says the current commissioner. “We want to thank them.”

The Scheme’s Size and Capacity

According to the brochure The Power of Water, “the Scheme operates over an area of 3 200 square kilometres [1,200 square miles] and includes 80 kms [50 miles] of aqueducts, 140 kms [87 miles] of tunnels and 16 large dams.” These dams store two thousand billion gallons [7,000 gigaliters] of water—13 times the capacity of Sydney Harbor, which holds about 140 billion gallons [530 gigaliters]—with Lake Eucumbene being the main reservoir. The seven power stations, which have produced up to 6,400 gigawatt-hours of electricity in a year, can contribute up to 17 percent of the power needs of mainland Southeast Australia, including Sydney, Melbourne, and Canberra.

The turbines do not normally run 24 hours a day, except during daily periods of high demand, when thermal power stations need assistance. Hydropower is especially suitable for peak-hour support because of its quick response to sudden increases in demand—two to three minutes, compared with several hours for a coal-fired system to come on-line.

How the Snowy Scheme Works

The Scheme, says the Snowy Authority, has the “distinction of being the most complex, multi-purpose, multi-reservoir hydro scheme in the world.” It consists of two integrated components—the Snowy-Murray development and the Snowy-Tumut development.

The Snowy-Murray development diverts the waters of the Snowy River from the Island Bend Dam through a transmountain tunnel to Geehi Dam, which also gets water from the Geehi River. From here the water plummets 2,700 feet [820 m] to the two Murray power stations. At the same time, Guthega Power Station taps the Snowy’s headwaters near Australia’s highest mountain, Mount Kosciusko. From Guthega, the water pours into the main tunnel system at Island Bend. Adding greatly to the Scheme’s flexibility, a number of tunnels, including the Island Bend-Lake Eucumbene tunnel, permit two-way flow.

At the Snowy-Tumut development, water from Lake Eucumbene, Tooma Dam, Happy Jack’s Dam, and Tumut Pond Dam rushes downhill through sluices and a series of four power stations before being released into the Tumut River, a tributary of the Murrumbidgee. This section boasts the largest power station, Tumut 3, whose six sluices could each house a double-deck bus!

During off-peak hours, the Scheme also pumps water uphill from Lake Jindabyne into Lake Eucumbene, and from below Tumut 3 Power Station, which doubles as a pumping station, to Talbingo Reservoir. But why waste electricity pumping water uphill? For profit, surprisingly. The pumps, you see, run on cheap, off-peak power purchased from the thermal stations. Then, during peak hours, the water is released again and the hydroelectricity created is sold back to the grid at a profit. Of course, the bulk of the water—over 500 billion gallons [2,000 gigaliters] annually—is released without charge into the western river systems.

Is It Clean Power?

Yes, for water is a nonpolluting, renewable resource with no waste products. No unsightly smokestacks and cooling towers spoil the alps. Thus, the thousands who ski this alpine playground in winter or hike its trails in summer are hardly aware of the arteries and power stations beneath them.

Furthermore, if the electricity generated by the Scheme were to come from thermal plants, an additional five million metric tons of carbon dioxide would pour into the atmosphere each year.

Still, the environment did not escape entirely unscathed, especially the Snowy River. With much of its water redirected, it is a mere trickle compared with its former days. Additionally, the Scheme’s big dams inundated some grasslands, and their new high-water lines meant that the towns of Adaminaby and Jindabyne had to be relocated.

On the other hand, the Snowy Scheme has been exceptionally reliable—testimony to the sage advice of the Authority’s first commissioner: “Goodwill and respect come from achievement, not propaganda.”

[Picture Credit Line on page 16]

All photos on pages 16-19: Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Authority

[Picture on page 16]

Aerial view of Tumut 3 Power Station, the largest station in the Snowy Scheme

[Picture on page 18]

Workers had to endure rugged living conditions

[Picture on page 18]

To blend together as a team, workers had to learn English

[Picture on page 19]

Construction of the Scheme included building tunnels through the mountains

A Lesson From a Pot of Fat

The horrors of war are some of my earliest memories, particularly those of fleeing for our lives toward the end of World War II, when I was only four. Our family of seven had been living in East Prussia, which was then part of Germany.

I STARED into the eerie darkness, listening to an approaching squadron of Russian bombers. Suddenly, blinding flashes and deafening explosions ignited fuel-storage tanks a few hundred yards away. The train we were on rocked on its rails, and people screamed. But soon the bombers left, and our journey continued.

On another occasion I awoke from a fitful sleep to see a screaming woman trying to get out of the cattle car in which we were riding. Father restrained her and threw her back inside. The woman had fallen asleep near the door, with her baby in her arms. Upon awakening, she discovered that the baby had frozen to death. Men then threw the corpse out into the snow, and overcome with grief, the mother was trying to open the door to jump out to die there with her child.

To combat the bitter cold, a potbellied stove had been placed in the middle of our cattle car. The small supply of wood at one end of the car was used sparingly to cook potatoes. Potatoes also served as our beds, since sleeping on them provided a little insulation from the frozen floorboards of the car.

Why were we fleeing for our lives? How did our family survive for months as fugitives? Let me tell you.

Jewish Heritage

I was born on December 22, 1940—the youngest of five children—in Lyck, East Prussia (now Elk, Poland). Religious persecution had forced my Jewish ancestors to leave Germany in the latter part of the 1700’s. They moved to Russia in one of the great mass migrations of history. Then, in 1917, to escape the anti-Semitic persecution in Russia at the time, my Jewish grandfather migrated to East Prussia from his village near the Volga River.

Grandfather acquired German citizenship, and East Prussia seemed like a safe haven. Those with Jewish first names adopted Aryan names. Thus, my father, Friedrich Salomon, became known as Fritz. Mother, on the other hand, was Prussian. She and Father, who was a musician, were married in 1929.

Life for my parents seemed full of happiness and promise. Grandma Fredericke and Great-grandma Wilhelmine (on Mother’s side) owned a sizable farm, which proved to be a second home for my parents and us children. Music played a large part in our family life. Mother played the drums in Father’s dance band.

Nazi Occupation

In 1939, ominous clouds began to appear on the political horizon. Adolf Hitler’s so-called final solution to the Jewish problem began to trouble my parents. We children were not aware of our Jewish heritage, and we did not learn about it until Mother’s death in 1978—nine years after Father died.

So that no one would suspect that he was Jewish, Father joined the German Army. To begin with, he served in the music corps. However, someone who apparently knew about his background said he was a Jew, and so our whole family was interrogated and photographed. The Nazi experts tried to determine whether or not we had Jewish features. We must have looked Aryan enough for them, so, fortunately, we were not arrested or imprisoned.

When Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, fear began to rule our once peaceful region. Mother wanted to move immediately to a safer area, but the family was forcibly restrained from doing so by Nazi officials. Then, as the Russian armies pushed toward East Prussia during the summer of 1944, the Germans determined to evacuate Lyck and the surrounding area. One day in July, we were given just six hours to leave our home.

Mass Exodus in Panic

Mother was in shock. What to take? Where to go? How to travel? Would we ever come back? Each family was strictly limited in what they could take. Mother wisely chose basic items—including a large earthenware jar of beef drippings with pieces of bacon—just enough for us to carry comfortably. Other families chose to take their precious material possessions.

On October 22, 1944, Russian troops entered East Prussia. A writer explained: “It was natural enough that Russian soldiers who had seen their own families slaughtered and their own homes and crops burned should have scores to settle.” The devastation sent shock waves through East Prussia, and the people fled in panic.

By then we were refugees, living farther west in East Prussia. The only escape route now seemed to be by the Baltic Sea, so people fled to the port city of Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland). There, vessels were commandeered for emergency rescue operations. Our family missed the train that was going to take us to board the German passenger liner Wilhelm Gustloff, which sailed from Gdynia, near Danzig, on January 30, 1945. We learned later that Russian torpedoes sank the ship and that some 8,000 passengers perished in the icy waters.

With the escape route by sea closed, we headed west. While on temporary leave from the army, Father joined us for part of the trip by train, as described in the introduction. Soon he had to return to military service, and we continued the long, dangerous trip by ourselves. Mother guarded the pot of fat, rationing out a little at a time. It supplemented whatever food scraps we gleaned along the way, keeping us alive during the long, cold winter. That pot of fat proved to be more valuable than any gold or silver!

Finally, we arrived at the town of Stargard, where German soldiers and the Red Cross had set up a soup kitchen near the railway station. To a very hungry child, that soup seemed heavenly. In time, we reached Hamburg, Germany, hungry and exhausted, but grateful to be alive. We were put on a farm next to the river Elbe, along with Russian and Polish prisoners of war. As the war in Europe came to its end on May 8, 1945, our situation was very precarious.

Life as Refugees

Father had been taken prisoner by the Americans, and he received good treatment from them, especially when they learned that he was a musician. They utilized his musical skills for putting on their Independence Day celebration. Shortly afterward, he managed to escape and make his way to Hamburg, where we had a happy reunion. We settled into a small cottage, and soon both our grandmothers arrived safely and were able to join us.

However, in time, local residents, including our own Lutheran Church, began to resent the many refugees. One evening the minister visited our family. It seemed that he deliberately caused offense by making an insulting remark about our status as refugees. Father, a powerfully built man, was enraged and attacked the preacher. Our mother and grandmothers restrained Father. But then he lifted the clergyman off his feet, carried him to the door, and pushed him outside. From then on he forbade any discussion of religion under his roof.

Soon after this episode, Father obtained work with the German railways and we moved to the outskirts of Hamburg, where we lived in an unused railway car. Later, Father built a modest home for us. But the hatred of refugees continued, and as a young child, I became the target of much physical and emotional abuse by the local children.

Our Family’s Choice of Religion

As a child, I slept in the room with my two grandmothers. Despite Father’s orders, when Father was not around, both of them often talked to me about God, sang hymns, and read their Bibles. My spiritual interest was awakened. So, when I was ten, I began walking about seven miles each way to attend church on Sundays. I must say, though, that I was disappointed when many of the questions I asked were not answered to my satisfaction.

Then, in the summer of 1951, a neatly dressed man knocked on our door and offered Mother a copy of the Watchtower magazine. “The Watchtower gives insight into God’s Kingdom,” he said. My heart leapt, for that is what I desired. Mother politely declined, no doubt because of Father’s opposition to religion. However, I pleaded with her so much that she relented and obtained a copy for me. Some time later, Ernest Hibbing returned and left the book “Let God Be True.”

About this time, Father had an accident at work and broke his leg. This meant he was confined to the house, much to his annoyance. Even though his leg was in a plaster cast, he was able to hobble about. We were puzzled that he kept disappearing during the day, showing up only at mealtimes. This went on for a whole week. I noticed that whenever Father disappeared, my book disappeared also. Then, one mealtime Father said to me: “If that man comes again, I want to see him!”

When Brother Hibbing returned, to our surprise Father slammed the book onto the table and said: “This book is the truth!” Immediately a Bible study was started, and in time other family members joined the study. Brother Hibbing became a trusted mentor and a true friend to me. I was soon expelled from Sunday school for trying to share my newfound beliefs. So I resigned from the Lutheran Church.

In July 1952, I began to share with my dear friend in preaching the good news of God’s Kingdom from house to house. Each Sunday, Brother Hibbing would admonish me to listen carefully to how he presented the message to the householders. After a few weeks, he pointed to a large block of buildings and said: “They are all yours to work by yourself.” In time, I overcame my nervousness and had good success in talking with people and placing Bible literature with them.

Soon, I qualified for baptism in symbol of my dedication to Jehovah. Both Father and I were baptized on March 29, 1953, and later that year Mother was also baptized. Eventually, all our family members were, including my sister Erika; my brothers Heinz, Herbert, and Werner; and our very dear grandmothers, who by then were both well into their 80’s. Then, in January 1959, I became a pioneer, as full-time ministers are called.

Ministry in a New Land

Father had always urged me to leave Germany, and in retrospect I believe that this was due to his ongoing fears about anti-Semitism. I applied to emigrate to Australia, hoping that this would be a stepping-stone to serving as a missionary in Papua New Guinea or on some other Pacific island. My brother Werner and I arrived together in Melbourne, Australia, on July 21, 1959.

Within a few weeks, I met Melva Peters, who was serving as a full-time minister in the Footscray Congregation, and we were married in 1960. We were blessed with two daughters, who also came to love Jehovah God and to dedicate their lives to him. We have tried hard to keep our lives simple and uncluttered so that as a family we could more fully pursue spiritual goals. For many years, until health problems prevented her from continuing, Melva served as a pioneer. Presently I am an elder and a pioneer in the Belconnen Congregation, in the city of Canberra.

From my early childhood experiences, I have learned to be happy and content with Jehovah’s provisions. As illustrated by Mother’s pot of fat, I have come to appreciate that survival depends, not on gold or silver, but on basic material necessities and, more important, on study of God’s Word, the Bible, and application of what it teaches.—Matthew 4:4.

The profound words of Jesus’ mother, Mary, are indeed true: “[Jehovah] has fully satisfied hungry ones with good things and he has sent away empty those who had wealth.” (Luke 1:53) Happily, I can count 47 of my family members who are walking in the way of Bible truth, including seven grandchildren. (3 John 4) With all these, as well as with our many spiritual children and grandchildren, Melva and I look forward to a wonderful future in security under Jehovah’s gentle care and a grand reunion with our other dear loved ones when they are resurrected.—As told by Kurt Hahn.

[Picture on page 21]

Russian troops advancing in East Prussia, in 1944

[Credit Line]

Sovfoto

[Picture on page 23]

My brother Heinz, sister Erika, Mother, brothers Herbert and Werner, and me in front

[Picture on page 24]

With my wife, Melva

[Picture on page 24]

A pot like this, filled with fat, sustained us

Young People Ask . . .

Why Does My Brother Get All the Attention?

“What bothers me is that when my brothers and sisters misbehave, they get a lot of attention—positive and negative. But since I tend to be obedient, I’m taken for granted.”—18-year-old Kay.a

“My brothers and sisters are given more attention and are treated better. Whatever attention I get is mostly in the form of counsel. I’d feel better if I knew they got counseled too.”—15-year-old Ruth.

“It seems to me that my older brothers and sisters get more privileges and attention.”—13-year-old Bill.

FROM the day we are born, all of us need attention from our parents. And if you feel that you are not getting your fair share of it, you may understandably feel hurt and angry. Especially so if it seems that your sibling—the oldest, the youngest, the best-behaved, or even the most disobedient—is in the spotlight all the time. You may even feel as David did when he wrote: “Like someone dead and not in the heart, I have been forgotten; I have become like a damaged vessel.”−Psalm 31:12.

Watching a sibling get attention that you’d like to have yourself can be painful. But does it necessarily mean that you are unloved? Not at all. Sometimes youths get extra attention because they have exceptional abilities or outgoing personalities. Says 11-year-old Kenneth: “Even though my younger brother, Arthur, is only in the third grade, he is playing in the fifth-grade band. He’s also good at sports and math. In fact, he gets A’s in all his classes at school. Sometimes I think people like him better than me, but I’m not jealous of him. Well, maybe a little.”

Then there are youths who seem to get the lion’s share of their parents’ time simply because they are the oldest—or the youngest. The Bible says of the young man Joseph: “Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons, because he was the son of his old age.”(Genesis 37:3, 4) On the other hand, 18-year-old Todd felt that his brother was favored for being the oldest. He recalls: “Once we were asked to bring in a favorite baby picture for a school project. I could only find a few pictures of myself and noticed many more pictures of my older brother. It made me wonder why.”

Often, though, extra attention is being doled out because a sibling is having problems—perhaps problems of which you are unaware. “When I was about 16, my older brother went through a difficult time,” explains Cassandra, now 22. “He wasn’t sure if he really wanted to serve Jehovah, and my parents focused almost all their attention on him. At the time, I couldn’t understand why. I felt that they didn’t care about me at all. It made me feel sad and left out—kind of mad too.”

Why They Show Favoritism

Sometimes, however, parents are guilty of outright favoritism. One mother admitted: “I know my son, Paul, is painfully aware of the great pride we take in our daughter. He’s told us point blank, ‘You and Daddy always look at each other when Liz says something.’ At first we didn’t know what he was talking about. Then we realized that we constantly exchange these ‘isn’t-she-terrific’ looks. Since he’s alerted us, we’ve made a real effort not to do it anymore.”

But why do parents show favoritism in the first place? Their own upbringing may be a factor. For example, if your mother grew up as the youngest child, she may identify more closely with her youngest. Without being aware of it, she may tend to take that one’s side. Or a parent may have an affinity for a child with whom he shares a similar disposition or common interest. Consider what the Bible says of Isaac and Rebekah regarding their twin sons, Jacob and Esau: “The boys got bigger, and Esau became a man knowing how to hunt, a man of the field, but Jacob a blameless man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac had love for Esau, because it meant game in his mouth, whereas Rebekah was a lover of Jacob.”−Genesis 25:27, 28.

What should you do if your parents seem to favor one of your siblings?b You might try talking to your parents about it in a calm, nonaccusing way. (Proverbs 15:22) By listening respectfully to them, you may be able to see things from their point of view. This may help to defuse your frustration. (Proverbs 19:11) Says one teenager: “It really bothered me that my Mom was more drawn to my brother than to me. When I asked her about it, she explained that since he is a lot like Dad, she is drawn to him. And since I am a lot like her, Dad is drawn to me. Likewise, because she and I are a lot alike, we get on each other’s nerves. And because my father and brother are a lot alike, they drive each other crazy. Once she explained it that way—even though I wasn’t overjoyed about it—I could accept it.”

Unequal Treatment—An Injustice?

Why, though, can’t parents simply treat everyone exactly the same? Beth, now 18, says: “When I was about 13, I felt that my brother and I ought to be treated equally—exactly the same. But I was the one who was always getting yelled at, while he got away with everything. And he got to spend more time with Dad working on the car. It seemed so unfair.”

But unequal treatment is not necessarily injustice. Consider how Jesus Christ treated his apostles. Unquestionably he loved all 12, yet he invited only 3 of them to witness certain special events, including the resurrection of Jairus’ daughter and the transfiguration. (Matthew 17:1; Mark 5:37) Furthermore, Jesus had an especially close friendship with the apostle John. (John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20) Was this unequal? Definitely. Was it unfair? Not at all. For while Jesus may have been particularly drawn to certain ones, he did not ignore the needs of his other apostles.—Mark 6:31-34.

In a similar way, it may be that one of your siblings gets special attention because of talents, personality, or needs. Naturally, this can be painful to observe. But the question is, Are your needs really being neglected? When you need your parents’ advice, help, or support, are they there for you? If so, can you really say you are the victim of injustice? The Bible encourages us to deal with others “according to their needs.” (Romans 12:13) Since you and your siblings are individuals with various needs, it just isn’t possible for your parents to treat you the same all the time.

Beth, quoted earlier, thus came to realize that equal treatment is not always fair and that fair treatment is not always equal. She says: “I came to appreciate that my brother and I are two different people and need to be treated differently. Looking back, I can’t believe I couldn’t see that when I was younger. I guess it’s just something about the way you look at things at that age.”

Learning to Be Discerning

Yes, “the way you look at things” has a lot to do with how you react to your situation. Like tinted lenses, your emotions can color the way things appear to you. And the emotional need for parental attention and approval is strong. Researchers Stephen Bank and Michael Kahn observe: “Even if parents were able to achieve the impossible dream of treating their very different children even-handedly, each child would perceive the parents as favoring one of the other children.”

For example, take another look at what was said by the three youths quoted at the outset. Their situation would seem to be bleak but for one fact: They are siblings! Yes, each one imagines that the others are getting more attention and that he or she is the one being ignored! Often, then, our view of things is a little distorted. “A man of discernment is cool of spirit,” says Proverbs 17:27. To be discerning is to view things realistically and objectively, not emotionally. Discernment may help you to realize that although your parents may not treat you all the same, they do have the best interests of all of you at heart! Realizing this can help you avoid being angry and bitter.

What, though, if it legitimately seems that you are not getting your rightful share of attention? What can you do? This will be considered in a future issue of Awake!

[Footnotes]

[Picture on page 26]

Unequal treatment can seem unfair

Watching the World

No Medical “Fountain of Youth”

According to geriatrician Andréa Prates, taking fad medicines to preserve youth, such as certain hormones, may “bring one benefit or another but may also do much damage to your health.” In the battle against aging, “new habits are more efficient than new medicine,” advises Dr. Prates. Good habits that may increase longevity, notes Brazil’s Superinteressante magazine, include getting adequate sleep, maintaining a calm disposition, stretching and doing moderate exercise, exerting oneself mentally, and avoiding fats. It is also important to take in vitamins and minerals, which are found in fruits and vegetables. Aging involves all the cells in the body, and a single substance cannot simultaneously benefit all the body’s diverse organs.

First Clone of an Adult Mammal

Researchers in Scotland startled the world in late February with the announcement that they had produced a cloned lamb from the DNA of an adult sheep. Though the cloning of embryonic cells has been done for years, until now the producing of a genetic twin of an adult mammal was thought by many scientists to be impossible. The researchers said that, in theory, the same technique could be applied to humans also—that the DNA of a cell taken from an adult could be used to produce a genetically identical, though younger, twin. However, according to the International Herald Tribune, Ian Wilmut, the scientist who led the project, considers the idea ethically unacceptable. The World Health Organization concurs, opposing human cloning as being an ‘extreme form of experimentation,’ reports The Journal of the American Medical Association.

Watch That Stress!

“Millions of Brazilians spend their days fighting with stress,” reports Veja magazine. Many of these may believe that working for long periods at peak performance is a measure of their efficiency, but this attitude can be unhealthy. “A worker performs well when he is subjected to reasonable stress, but he achieves his maximum productivity when he, without knowing it, has already passed the limit,” explains Dr. Marilda Lipp of the Pontifical Catholic University. “Under heavy tension, the human being performs wonderfully for a while. Then, he just collapses.” Those who find it difficult to delegate responsibility suffer greater strain, says the report. The greatest stress falls upon those who, in Dr. Lipp’s words, “have difficulty in expressing their feelings, who tend to explode in moments of tension and then make an effort to be gentle and well mannered.”

Electronic Chicks

Electronic chicks became a national fad in Japan, reported Asahi Evening News earlier this year. The egg-shaped toy has a screen that displays images of a chick at various stages of growth. Push a button, and after five minutes a baby chick breaks out of its shell. The “chick” then beeps to get the owner to “feed” it and care for its other needs by pressing various buttons. It may beep at any time, even during the night. Failure to respond can lead to the chick’s early “death.” In any case, after a week or so, the chick dies. The toy can then be reprogrammed so that a new chick, with a different personality, is “born.” Some reportedly feel as attached to their digital chick as they would to a child. One doctor even said about his chick: “I was sadder when it died than when one of my patients died.”

Child Exploitation

“About two million children world-wide are believed to be victims of the sex trade,” says the ENI Bulletin. Such organized child abuse, already widespread in parts of Asia, is now on the increase in the Americas. Rodrigo Quintana, a specialist with the Inter-American Institute of the Child, stated that the past decade has seen this problem grow phenomenally in Latin America. Statistics cited by Quintana indicate that tens of thousands of minors in countries throughout Latin America are now employed as prostitutes.

Plume of Antimatter Discovered

Astrophysicists recently discovered what appears to be a 3,500-light-year-long plume of antimatter streaming out of the core of our galaxy, the Milky Way, reports The New York Times. Antimatter consists of atomic particles that are exactly like normal matter except that they have opposite electrical charges. Contact with particles of ordinary matter results in mutual annihilation and releases powerful gamma rays having a specific energy. Scientists identified the plume as antimatter by tuning the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory satellite to that energy level. As for the effect of the plume, “the astrophysicists said it did not threaten Earth, just their image of the galaxy.”

Elephant Repellent

“In Asia, elephants destroy thousands of dollars’ worth of crops each year,” says Cambridge University zoologist Loki Osborn. As reported in New Scientist magazine, elephants in Africa are also increasingly drawn to this source of food. Traditionally, farmers have tried to scare the animals away by beating drums or throwing stones. Many invading elephants have also been shot, says Osborn, “but this does little to reduce crop damage.” Osborn and an inventor believe that they have found a better tool: a spray can containing about two pounds [1 kg] of chili pepper and oil that can be shot into the area near the elephant by a compressed-air launcher. He notes that an elephant’s long nose is one of the most sensitive in the animal kingdom. During tests in Zimbabwe, “the elephants would first freeze, then blow their noses before leaving quickly.” The chili causes no permanent harm, the report says.

Secondhand Smoke Is Deadly

“More than 50,000 deaths per year from heart and artery disease are brought on by exposure to secondhand smoke,” the smoke from other people’s tobacco use, says a report in the U.S. magazine Good Housekeeping. In addition, nonsmokers who regularly spend time in a smoking environment run a particularly high risk of developing bronchitis and pneumonia and run an increased risk of various types of cancer. The unpleasant smell that lingers in a room for days after someone has smoked there is not considered dangerous. However, “smoke-filled rooms can have up to six times more air pollution than a busy highway,” the article stated. It also said that “one of every eight deaths caused by smoking tobacco is a result of exposure to secondhand smoke.”

The Plant of the Future?

Bamboo was bountiful all around the equator before colonizers cut it down to make way for farmland, says The UNESCO Courier. In Africa alone, there are 1,500 varieties of bamboo. The plant has many and varied uses. Possessing a higher tensile strength than steel, it is an excellent construction material. Some three-story bamboo buildings in Colombia are over a hundred years old and are still in use. Bamboo is also useful for piping, for fuel, and for many other applications. Bamboo shoots even find their way into Chinese and Japanese cooking. Bamboo’s remarkable virtues may have been underestimated in the past. But its useful qualities and rapid growth—it reaches maturity in only five years—are moving some to view it in a new light, as “the renewable plant of the future.”

Roaches Linked to Childhood Asthma

A five-year study for the U.S. National Institutes of Health is blaming cockroaches for the soaring incidence of asthma among inner-city children, reports the New York Daily News. Of 1,528 asthmatic children who were studied in seven cities, 37 percent were strongly allergic to the roaches. Those who had the allergy and were exposed to high roach levels in their bedrooms were three times as likely to need hospitalization as other asthmatic children. Dr. David Rosenstreich, head of the study, encouraged fighting the roaches with roach traps, insecticides, boric acid, and thorough cleaning. Vacuuming the entire home helps to eliminate roach droppings contained in dust, he said. “You have to remove any sources of food and water,” adds Dr. Rosenstreich, “especially water leaks or drips. Roaches must drink to survive.”

From Our Readers

Tolerance I am 22 years old, and I want to thank you for the series “Tolerance—Has the World Gone Too Far?” (January 22, 1997) Young Christians have to face many challenges. These articles encouraged me not to go to extremes and strengthened my determination to serve Jehovah despite the world’s pressures.

M. B., Italy

The Raven I simply loved the informative article “The Raven—What Makes It Different?” (January 8, 1997) I am 18 years old and was just hired as a part-time naturalist at a local nature center. Among the animals we house are two beautiful ravens. I have found them to be exactly as your article described—very intelligent. I plan to share the article with my coworkers.

J. C., United States

The information you provided was very factual and interesting. That birds of the crow family are notorious thieves is well-known here on the campus of the university that I attend in Ghana. It is on record that the crows here will steal anything—from fish to soap. It has even been reported that crows have opened some students’ saucepans and eaten their food!

F. A. A., Ghana

Kitchen Fun Thank you for the article “The Kitchen Can Be Fun.” (January 8, 1997) I too have benefited from conversations held in the kitchen. While peeling onions and potatoes, my mother would teach me to love Jehovah and encourage me to serve him fully. These kitchen conversations proved especially valuable during a difficult period in which my father opposed us religiously. Now my mother and I have had the joy of seeing my father become a servant of Jehovah. Also, I’ve learned how to cook several tasty dishes!

A. M. M., Italy

I work as a residential cook for an employer who is in the entertainment industry. I have thus had many opportunities to share spiritual food with visitors—including some celebrities—while working in the kitchen. I keep some Bible literature in a kitchen drawer. On one occasion I got into a Bible discussion with a visitor. He later came back into the kitchen for further discussion. While I was busy frying a chicken, he read out loud from my copy of the book Revelation—Its Grand Climax At Hand! Yes, you are right. The kitchen can be fun!

A. R., United States

Confessing Sins I serve as a congregation elder, and I want to express my appreciation for the article “Young People Ask . . . Should I Confess My Sin?” (January 22, 1997) This article moved a number of youngsters to confess serious transgressions committed some time ago. It was a joy to see that after receiving loving help, these young people reestablished their relationship with Jehovah. They are determined to keep themselves clean.

O. B., Italy

The article helped me to realize that keeping silent can be very harmful. Confessing may cause shame and embarrassment, but when you confess your sin to Jehovah and to your parents, you experience a stronger, closer relationship with them.

B. K., Guyana

The article came exactly when I needed it. It helped me to see that I had to tell my parents and the congregation elders what I had done. I felt as if the article were written for me. When I finally told them about my problems, I felt so much better!

A. A., United States

What Makes People Happy?

For two decades a group of researchers worldwide have been pursuing a systematic study of happiness. Their findings? “Happiness does not appear to depend significantly on external circumstances,” reports the magazine Scientific American.

This scientific journal also stated: “Wealth is also a poor predictor of happiness. People have not become happier over time as their cultures have become more affluent. . . . In most nations the correlation between income and happiness is negligible.”

The studies indicate four traits that characterize happy people: They like themselves and have high self-respect, they feel that they have control over their personal lives, they are optimistic, and they are extroverts. In addition, good marriages and close personal relationships are factors in happy lives, and these tend to increase health and longevity.

It is of interest that Scientific American reported: “Religiously active people also report greater happiness. One Gallup survey found that highly religious people were twice as likely as those lowest in spiritual commitment to declare themselves very happy. Other surveys, including a 16-nation collaborative study of 166,000 people in 14 nations, have found that reported happiness and life satisfaction rise with strength of religious affiliation and frequency of attendance at worship services.”

Long ago the psalmist David revealed that personal happiness is closely connected with united worship of Jehovah God, writing: “I rejoiced when they were saying to me: ‘To the house of Jehovah let us go.’”—Psalm 122:1.

No wonder the apostle Paul urged fellow Christians: “Let us consider one another to incite to love and fine works, not forsaking the gathering of ourselves together”! (Hebrews 10:24, 25) Indeed, assembling to worship God with those of like precious faith is a joyful event for lovers of Bible truth. Millions of Jehovah’s Witnesses have found this to be true and invite you to experience this for yourself by joining them in worship at a Kingdom Hall near you.

He Really Values The Watchtower

“Although I am a Roman Catholic,” wrote a sixth-grade student from Toledo, Ohio, U.S.A., “I would like a subscription to your fine magazine. What got me into The Watchtower was Trevor. He sits next to me in class. We have been friends for about a year now, and he has taught me many things about Jesus, Jehovah, and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

“Trevor is my age, my height, and is very dedicated to his religion. He has a subscription to The Watchtower and let me borrow one of his magazines. I liked the sensible articles that you write. I hope you will overlook the fact that I am not a Jehovah’s Witness and let me get a subscription to your magazine.”

The Watchtower and its companion magazine, Awake!, are read with enjoyment by people of many nationalities and religions around the world. Last year alone more than 900 million copies of these two magazines were printed in over 120 languages!

You too will benefit from reading The Watchtower and Awake! regularly. If you would like to have a copy or a free home Bible study, please write to Watchtower, 25 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, NY 11201-2483, or to the appropriate address listed on page 5.