The end of another day in which the face of human misery has been flashed across TV screens. Graphic footage of children's exercise books lying amidst the rubble of school buildings and the rubble of dreams. Books that will no longer be keepers of the thoughts of their oh so young owners.The familiar handwriting of a child spells out a girls name, along with the date. So few pages carry her words, too many empty pages never will. A natural disaster combined with man-made greed snuffed out her life and the lives of scores of her friends.
I think back to a day in Wales, nearly 40 years ago. October 21 1966 to be precise.
News filtered through to our school that a school in a nearby valley had been swallowed by a landslide. That day in Aberfan, 144 people died - 116 of them children. A generation wiped out in five minutes when a coal tip slid down the mountain and snuffed out the lives of those who were there to teach and to learn.
Years later I dated a nurse who was involved in the rescue effort. Ten years had passed and still she would scream in the night.
I think of the mother who insisted her son go to school that day, not believing the excuse so many of us used ourselves as children.
The Bible says something about "suffer little children". Whoever is in charge of that task seems to have formed a joint venture with those who are prepared to cut corners in the name of profit or cost cutting, to ensure that they do.
Till tomorrow, wherever you may be - be safe.
Photo: Sydney skyline from the Botanical Gardens
