Legally Blonde

From Anna Owen, Director of Tong Len.

I have just been speaking to the Foreign Office, and have been told that some of the information I passed on to you such as time of death has not been confirmed with them. I have only told you what the Indian police said to my daughter who has been their first point of contact there, and what we know was released to the Indian Press. However, I now have some concerns that there could be some inaccuracies. If you have passed this information on to anyone else, I would be grateful if you would also forward this.

Warning, clicking on any link or reading the rest of this makes horrible reading.

Many thanks to Wood, Emily, Sarah and Anna who kept me posted while I wasn’t on the email lists! I can’t say anything yet. I still don’t believe it’s real. I can only give you others’ words.

Wood linked to an Indian Newspaper article with more news.

and Richard’s tribute is here

This is from an email from Tong Len’s Director in Edinburgh:

It is with very great sadness that I have to confirm that Michael has been brutally murdered. His body was found on Tuesday morning in a gully close to the little church he regularly attended. The police believe that he died from injuries inflicted by stones. They have no leads as yet as to motive, but have indicated that they think more than one person was involved and that it is most probable that he was killed by persons unknown to him.

I have attached the brief statement I have made for the press regarding his work with Tong-Len. It is too soon to make definite plans but I am sure we will want to have a special memorial to him. Like you, we are finding it hard to grasp the reality that he is gone. I only returned from India myself just over a week ago, where I was working very closely with Michael for 3 weeks. I have also attached a photo I took of him with Suresh, a little boy in the settlement with polio. They were special mates. The whole community of Charan is stunned by the seemingly senseless killing of the lovely young man who has worked so tirelessly for them.

The statement she mentioned:

Michael had been working as a volunteer in Dharamsala for the last five months with Tong-Len, a charity working with destitute internally-displaced refugee families in North India.

As a graduate of the University of Wales Swansea with a first class honours degree in Development Studies, he was particularly involved in the research and development side of the charity's work, with a specific focus on education, health and community-based projects. It was his plan to return to the UK to spend Christmas with his family but return to India for a further six months prior to commencing his studies for a PhD in London.

Michael was instrumental in the establishment of Tong-Len Charitable Trust in India in December 2004 and was one of the founder members of the partner charity, Tong-Len UK, which raises the funds for the work in the field. He worked tirelessly for Tong-Len and was an inspiration to us all. He is irreplaceable in our organisation.

My thoughts and prayers, and those of all of us associated with the charity, are with Michael's family as they try to come to terms with this devastating loss, a loss that stretches beyond the personal. The world and India in particular has lost a dedicated and ardent campaigner for human rights, a wonderful young man who was prepared to devote his life to the service of others.

Malcolm adds his thoughts here

One of my best friends, and Benjamin’s Godfathers, has been killed.
He was involved in setting up, and was in India working for, Tong Len. Photographer, Musician and all round Great Bloke. He’s coming home for new year, he said. There are no details yet, and there aren’t any more words. I think we are all in shock. I don’t believe it yet.

thank you lots to all the offers! now we have three, two of which work. v grateful for the lending…

I’m not blogging tonight because I’m going Out

I haven’t been on skates for over 2 years and I’m not sure about my balance but I’m going with lovely people and looking forward to it.

Update: the Council website calls it an all weather rink but last night the council jobsworths decided the rain made the ice too slidy – Ice, too slidy! – the irony. So we didn’t skate, but had a nice relaxed evening out with D’s friends. (It was good to see them again after 2 months!)

oh, and by the way… is back on

I know Pants’ mum, but despite several clues I didn’t make the connection and know that I did, or that she was, rather, until today. A random comment about her granddaughter who’s a bit younger than B, and that she’d visited her “near Gloucester” a couple of weeks ago, and that her daughter had “net friends”, and finally their names. I couldn’t not notice any more. strange, but nice eek, that means another someone from church might read here, better be careful what I say…!

(and in case you are, mamgu, thank you)

Yes, I watched it. No, I don’t want to talk about it.

Hmmph.

(I’m allowed to be an optimist!)

Ickle is Little and cark it is die.

sorry for baby speak and slang!

and I need all you guys, friendly readers, to help me stay more on the up than down.

If I let it go for a couple of days all chaos ensues, and we don’t eat, and SS will take B away. (sorry, exaggerating, melodrama, and imagining worst case scenario is part of it on the down days!)

tonight I knew there was v little food in the house so B and i went to Spar on the way back from Nursery. we bought bread (cheese and pesto are among the few things in the fridge) with a view to having yummy cheesey toast for tea. The toaster’s blown a fuse. In my organised emergency cupboard under the stairs I have lots of spare 3 amps and 5 amps but not a 13 amp which apparently I need to mend the toaster. It’s okay, he ate, I used the grill, but it’s just another grr I don’t seem able to face on some days.

Ironically work was lots busier and better and went quickly and I had a lift as far as nursery so I didn’t have to get too drowned on the way back up the hill but for some reason since then the gloom has descended again.

sorry to be so negative. thank you lots for reading. help?

but in a good way (I know quite often I moan about not being able to be in church ’cause we go to creche instead, etc). Rach and I have written a possible outline for the Crib service after a plea for help from the Vicar. It would be good to see if it works in real life rather than just on paper, but neither of us is actually here for Christmas! If he goes for it, he’ll have to find other people as mad as us to pull it off, and we’ll have to make do with the reports later. Wish us luck…! (now, where did I put that pritt stick…?!)

on a similar subject, I asked the Vicar if he ever taped the services (for eg home visits, sick communions etc) and he said yes, and started taping them for me too! so even tho I’m in creche more often than not, I heard last week’s readings and sermon, and to be honest it rocked. Utterly inspiring stuff. If this is what the mums in Sunday School and creche are missing out on, perhaps my next suggest should be to have it piped through to the parish centre speakers!

this sunday is casting for the play. last week one of the (less than friendly and helpful) Sunday school teachers said (possibly joking, but I didn’t take it like that) did Benjamin want to be the donkey that carks it (sic)? One, no, but thanks all the same. If you’re going to involve the tinies, at least help them understand to an extent. Last year they were sheep. (did I ever blog those pics?!) non-speaking, not too choreographed roles, but involved, and appropriately. Two, we’re not actually here for Christmas. If we were, I still wouldn’t leap at the chance. Hmmm.

House group went well – but Windsor St is going to have to become even more elastic if it carries on growing. Growth not a bad thing at all, but it is becoming distinctly cosy – we were 10 last night, and it’s only a ickle room. C ompounded, this term at least, by the fact that it’s a DVD course – usually we put chairs from the playroom/dining room in the fireplace and in front o f the telly so there’s a circle round the room, but that doesn’t work if everyone has to see the screen! all good though, particularly when we have new people and answered prayer to thank for!