Excess and Excuses
Excess and Excuses It hurts me to write this story. But I must write it. I live in Canada, which is seen as a rich country. The country to the south of us, the United States, also falls into this category. As a writer, I’ve been blessed that my work has touched so many lives in so many corners of the world. I receive many letters. An enormous amount of them come from places where it isn’t as good as we have it here. Yet these letters are filled with hope and optimism. Terror and fear are daily occurrences in countries like Africa, India and Papua New Guinea [PNG] just to name a few. Yet when I read the letters from people living in these and many more places, their passion is overwhelming. You also have great respect for their rich, individual heritages. You look at Papua New Guinea and discover it has over 800 languages. Each province has more than 20 different languages. Not all of them have the same dialect. The only language that they all can speak and understand is called “Pidgin English.” 800 languages means that they also have a number of different customs and traditions. All just loaded with culture and character. North America is the richest of nations, yet, for the most part, our
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