I read “Tuesdays with Morrie” some time ago about a former student visiting his professor who was dying from Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS).

For the last six months I’ve been visiting a friend in hospital dying from AIDS on Saturdays after lunch. It became a routine: bike ride, market, Rudy. There is little that is honourable, decent or dignifying about AIDS and watching the slow deterioration in this friend has been agonising.

Like in the story, I enjoyed immensely the time we had together, even though Rudy was no philosophiser on life. His face would light up when he saw me, he’d whinge and complain about family members to me in confidence and we’d go downstairs in his wheelchair so he could smoke away to his heart’s content. Yes I took him – why should he have been denied a few simple joys in his last months? A nip of Baileys and a good dose of chocolate were our other great shared joys. Read more

Yesterday was Mother’s Day and in the vein of celebrating mothers, here are some images from around the world that show us how important they are everywhere.

Bhutanese woman and child Near Bhumtang valley. This lady was with a group of women waiting out the rain near a monastery so their children would not get wet.

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This is one of three photographic essays that were submitted to Panos Pictures recently. It details some of the issues Garwhali women face in the rugged Himalayan region of India.

The Garwhal is a rugged mountain range at the foot hills of the Himalayas in India’s northern state of Uttarkhand. It is peppered with deep gorges, ravines and high mountains over 20,000 feet.

Garwhal landscape Uttarkhand

The hilly terrain and rough weather makes road connectivity a problem and even where there are roads they can be damaged or cut off by snow, landslides or monsoon rain throughout the year.

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I recently sent a submission to Panos Pictures to become part of their photographic agency. I have been interested in Panos for some time as their network incorporates documentary photographers who specialise in global social issues. That is primarily what Visited Planet is on about.

I contacted them a year or two ago and was told they were not taking new photographers at the time. But about a week ago I saw they had advertised inviting submissions from photographers who wished to join Panos.

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March 8 this year was the centenary of International Women’s Day. The annual event marks the economic, political and social achievements of women.

With a view to celebrating those achievements here’s a short gallery of some of the amazing women I’ve met during travels around the world. These women were working in the fields to put food on the table for their children, they were tending and milking buffalo, cooking meals, raising children, teaching their grandchildren and even representing the rights of those less fortunate in local politics.

The woman on the right was a social advocate for village people in India displaced by the creation of new national parks. Pic: Joanne Lane, www.visitedplanet.com

I think the key is for women not to set any limits.
~ Martina Navratilova Read more