Thought for the Week

There’s a young woman in Mozambique who has just had her 17th birthday. Her name is Rosita Pedro. You probably don’t recognise her name, but if you were around at the beginning of March 2000 you almost certainly heard her story.

In those early months of the new millennium heavy rain fell on Mozambique and the country experienced its worst flooding in recent memory. Rosita’s mother Carolina’s home was destroyed, and she had taken refuge in a tree. After three days she gave birth to Rosita. When the news got out, helicopters came and took Rosita and Carolina to safety.

I remember that time well – I was living a village called Ricatla, not far from the worst of the flooding. I would hear the helicopters go out in the morning and come back in the evening, taking people from aid organisations, military personnel and journalists to the places where the need was greatest.

I know that some people were critical of the journalists who went. But without their dedication the people of Mozambique would have been left behind. Rosita’s birth was one of the biggest stories, and it brought home just how much the Mozambican people needed help.

Let this column be one place that says “happy birthday, Rosita”, because your story changed us and helped our understanding.

At a time when the work of journalists is sometimes accused of being fake, may we appreciate all that they do to help us be connected to the world around us.

And in this time when in the Christian Church we think of the way in which the story of Jesus trial and death is remembered, may we come to a deeper understand of what Jesus meant when he said “the truth shall set you free.” Leslie Milton, Minister, Cambuslang Parish Church