Struggling to be legal


After working in a 3rd World nation it's difficult for missionaries to readjust to 1st World Health & Safety and PC-ness.

Calling someone a Blackie is a term of endearment in Colombia. In Scotland I even got warned about carrying a penknife.

Yesterday we had to get rid of 3 wheelie bin loads of bushes and branches: the obvious thing was to burn them. The fire took hold easily, the flames lept high and I felt like an Indian sending smoke signals to Ireland. Olwen shouted for the hose pipe and then we heard the sound of a helicopter circling us.

Was it legal? It's not easy to loose the 3rd World mentality that common sense is weightier than legality.

Photo: Cuzco, Peru, without UK Health & Safety standards


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