Day five - Where children sleep

Telling a story with photographs, I really love that concept. I loose track of time when I'm busy capturing something that I really enjoy working with and have often missed cooking supper (like tonight), because I become so involved with getting that perfect shot. Well, perfect for me anyway! 

My two favourite subjects are food and children. It is truly rewarding when a child warms up to you as a photographer - getting those unguarded moments when they laugh from their bellies or show deep emotion, is very special.

To have a child, who was initially very shy and withdrawn, open up to the camera and allow you in for a while is extremely rewarding.

I came across an article today that really made quite an impression on me. For a period of five years photographer James Mollison crossed the globe taking pictures of children and the rooms they live in.

The book that resulted from this project is titled 'Where Children Sleep'. His work is extremely powerful and I don't think one can look at the images without being touched in some way. The following link will take you to some of the pictures: http://www.life.com/image/ugc1126541/in-gallery/48361

I know I will be buying a copy.

On the topic of children - is it wrong to allow someone over a certain age to have access to IVF? If so, what should the age limit be? I need to do my homework, but I'm sure most countries have set certain age limits.

Not India though, it seems.

Two years ago an Indian woman who waited 40 years to fall pregnant, gave birth to her first child at age 70. In her country there are no laws regarding age restrictions when it comes to IVF and she sold two buffaloes and bartered whatever crops they had to pay for the procedure. Rajo Devi Lohan is now gravely ill and unable to feed her little girl, her illness apparently brought on by the fact that she gave birth at such a late stage in her life.

So, what future does this little girl have? Hopefully her extended family will be able to love, care and provide for her after both of her elderly parents are no longer around.

I said at the start of this blog that my journey to Spain and this epic pilgrimage is going to one of discovery. It certainly has become that in so many ways! It is as if another part of my brain has been switched on and I feel like there hardly is a topic that is not begging to be explored and debated!

I think I should post at least one fact or question about the Camino at the end of every post from now on.

That way I should have it all covered by the time I have to pack my bags!

So here goes then...

Direct quote from a handout from one of the Refugio's (Refugio means 'safe place' and refers to the pilgrims hostels along the route - the term Refugio is apparently being replaced by the word 'alburgue'):

'When, at the end of a day on the trail, the pilgrim looks back on the amount of land he or she has crossed, they can hardly believe that their fragile feet could have walked such a distance. It is at this moment when the pilgrim understands that the way is a symbol: a symbol of effort, of work, and of victory. And that is how it is conceived in the Bible.

But the way has another meaning. It's a liberation from the 'clamors of the world'. The pilgrim abandons all of life's daily preoccupations. It's a total 'letting go'.

The pilgrim finds him or herself in a situation similar to a 'desert'. To be in a desert doesn't only mean to be away from society, but also to live with God. It is a total giving of the self to God's love.

The spirituality of the pilgrimage at this phase enters into a mystical phase:

The pilgrim walk is not a mere physical experience but becomes a profound inner experience'

Food for thought indeed!