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IMPRISONED PANDA REFUSES TO MATE
The panda has long become the symbol of animals running the risk of extinction. It's placid, soft, lazy yet elegant "look" was key in making it an international "testimonial"; a snake in the same situation would not have been as popular! Thanks to their appeal and the tenderness they inspire pandas have become a great attraction for zoos and since buying them is almost impossible they are often leased and their presence immediately increases the number of
visitors. Unfortunately, when held in captivity pandas have a hard time mating. Different solutions are currently being studied among which the possibility of treating pandas with Viagra or showing them videotapes to teach them all about sexual intercourse. Deprived of it's natural habitat and of it's freedom the male panda becomes increasingly aggressive whereas the female turns into a terrible mother; apparently even instinct suffers from the violation of the laws of nature… this should be a warning to those scientists who toy around with life and test tubes as though they were playing dice!
30 CHILDREN? LOTS OF HAPPINESS
If
one child brings happiness imagine 30! A couple in their fifties wanted to try
to "burst" of happiness having 5 of their own, adopting another 5 and
obtaining granted custody of 20 more. It's all happening in the province of
Mantova . In the Brizzolari family house 30 "kids" from age 3 to age
33 come and go under the perfect guidance of Mrs.Germana , an extremely
religious woman . She relies on a necessary number of "family rules":
attention of the elder children towards the younger ones, obligations during the
day, turns in preparing meals and a list of duties that each one has to perform
to run the house and make it pleasant to live in. A part from good intentions
having so many children requires an
extraordinary practical organization. Some numbers: an apartment with 13
bedrooms, 4 bathrooms a living-room converted into a kitchen, several freezers
where to put different kinds of food (meat, fish ..etc.) and a lot of money to
maintain so many people (clothes, shoes, books and all the stuff one need to be
like the others including vacations and pocket money). Fortunately the
"multi" dad works as a baker, essential in this case; however badly
things may go, with the help of the elder children they will never be short of
crispy "round loaf"!
DOCTOR-HERO OUT OF LOVE
The name Matthew Lukwiya may not mean much to you, but his story makes him ahero if not a martyr. He was the doctor who fought tirelessly for two months to cure the sick that suffered from Ebola in the crowded Italian hospital Lacor a Gulu in the north of Uganda. He died a few days ago infected by the same virus; 42 years old, he leaves behind him a wife and three children. Dr. Piero Conti the creator of a model hospital envied all over central of Africa, had placed all his hopes in Matthew Lukwiya. He was his pupil and his alter ego. Matthew prided himself on an impressive academic curriculum and like all African doctors knew how to do a bit of everything. In England after a course in tropical pediatrics he was invited to stay in order to lecture and to continue his studies to obtain a Ph.D. He declined because he wanted to return to his beloved country and to its abandoned people. Then again in London he followed a new course in hematology and later on he earned a Masters in “public medicine”. Again he returned to Uganda, just a few days before the new epidemic broke out. . He was the first one to suspect that it once again was Ebola and he called for the attention of the whole world. A task force of scientists had arrived in Gulu to refer to Matthew Lukwiya. When the epidemic seemed to become uncontrollable and the nurses paralyzed by fear refused to enter the hospital once again he was the one to convince them to return to their patients. He knew that his devotion could cost him his life; but in the end he could not do without it.
FROM ASHES TO RICHES, A CLANDESTINE BECOMES A MILLIONARE
The protagonist of this Y2K fairytale is Ababacar Diop, a 33 year old Senegalese who led the 1996 "sans papier" (clandestine without regular permit) protest in Paris against the difficulties of social integration in France. Following the protest Diop opened Vis@Vis a cybercafč where immigrants could speak with their families in Senegal, Mali, Cameron and the Magreb despite their low budgets. Diop's entrepreneurial spirit was rewarded a few months ago when the French super-portal Vivendi decided to enter the same business with Viz-zavi, a long-distance communication system via the Internet. The similarity between the two brand names did not go unnoticed and Vivendi offered Diop an indemnity of one million francs (approx. 300 million Lire), the latter however, succeeded in negotiating up to 8 million francs! Today the wealthy ex "sans papier" is floating his company expecting to raise 100 million francs. His hopes are more than just profit driven, "there is so much at stake", says Diop, "the internet economy is a unique opportunity to create wealth and to improve things in Africa, including my Senegal".
ON THE RUN
ROME- Q: "How many kilometers do you travel a month?" A: "About a thousand…".
You may not think of it as being much, most of us cover longer distances, but by
car! Giorgio Calcaterra, a Roman taxi driver, keeps fit by running them. "I live at approximately 31
km from the seashore, if I find someone to take me home from there fine, else I have to get back on my own two feet..." On the average he runs 11 thousand km. a year, he ran 28 marathons in the last 17 months reaching excellent results (his record is 42
km in 2 hours and 13 minutes) without special technicalities or peculiar diets. He dreams of wearing the national colors… and at this pace he has a good chance.
In the meantime, running has given him satisfaction in other fields: he met Carla, his wife, jogging in Villa Pamphili. It was love at first sight… apparently they raced their way to the altar.