Hospitality

Forget not to shew love unto strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. HEBREWS 13:2

In spring 2010 the climate change activist Adam Weymouth walked 3,500 miles from London to Istanbul. It took him eight months. (A plane takes four hours.) He went through twelve countries, three seasons and two pairs of walking boots.

One thing that struck him on his journey was the warm hospitality he encountered - particularly in Muslim communities. Most religions have a tradition of hospitality, but none more so than Islam, where the principle of hospitality is a duty not only to the stranger but also to God. This faith in and openness to strangers he found both heartening and moving. It's something that we suspect is disappearing in many countries and cultures, so it's wonderful to find this natural and human core of hospitality very much alive. I found it thus on the Caminos I've walked, and I'm delighted to find it experienced by Weymouth here.

Without delving too deeply into its linguistic derivation, the word 'hospitality' implies a relationship between a 'host' and a 'guest', a relationship which nowadays tends to be seen as one-way, ie the 'host' gives and the 'guest' receives. But at one time the two roles inherent in the word were synonyms rather than antonyms. After all, a 'host' needs a 'guest' in order to give (to fulfil his or her human duty and duty to God), and a 'guest' needs a 'host' in order to receive (and we all need to learn how to receive gracefully, which, strangely, we often find more difficult than giving). When you think about it, we are 'hosts' and 'guests' all the time, in some way. Giving and receiving are the basis of our daily interactions; both should be done with dignity, grace and a light touch.

Weymouth viewed his momentous walk as a chance to challenge the culture of fear, the distrust of strangers, that seems to be a given in a world where we are increasingly denied the opportunity to interact with the unknown. Perhaps opening up one's home and opening up oneself to strangers is a risk - but it's a risk that holds the promise of a deeply satisfying reciprocality. In others we recognise ourselves; and in ourselves we see others. I know of no better way than a pilgrimage, secular or not, to remind us that we are dependent on strangers, writes Weymouth.

Walking seems to me like one way of trying to recognise all parts of this world, in sickness and in health ... The people and places I saw stretch out from where I write this now, not as unconnected parts but as a continual thread. It is this that seems to show that both the good and the bad of my journey, the environmental destruction and the beautiful landscapes, the recent wars and the incredible hospitality, are all part of my world, and, as such, must be embraced.

For more on Adam Weymouth's journey read this. And my own blog post on the hospitality I met with on the Camino is here.

Dishonouring Pachamama: Climate Change In South America

More extracts from John Vidal's Guardian article about climate change in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador...

Ecuador has nearly lost one third of its ice.

Lake Titicaca had twice shrunk 85 per cent following temperatures only 2-3 degrees C higher than now.

The cost of climate change to Bolivia, South America's poorest country, could be over 7 per cent of its GDP by 2025 - almost as much as the country's combined spending on health and education.

In Huayhuasi, Peru, llama and alpaca farmers have been badly hit by recurring water shortages. 'The rains used to be from October to April. Now it rains for two to three months if we are lucky. This year we had deep frosts where the temperature dropped to -17 degrees C. Many people died in the province', says Elias Pacco.

'The sick Pachamama (Mother Nature) is losing her vital liquid - water,' says Marlon Santi, the president of the Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador, the 10-million strong group of indigenous peoples. 'Our brothers and sisters used to know when to sow and harvest. We have unusual droughts and floods and frosts and strange illnesses. We have pests, frosts, worms and new plagues.'

'In the old days there was snow on all the mountains, but for 10 years now there has been none. We do not know when to plant,' says farmer Julio Hermandez from Panta Leon, near Cusco, Peru. 'People are leaving to go to the cities because they can no longer grow crops or keep animals. Perhaps this is a punishment. In the past we used to honour Mother Earth more. It was a happier place then. The mountains looked like they had a white scarf around their necks. We are older now; we saw the snow-capped mountains. What will our children see?'

Warming Up

There's been a lot of talk recently in blogs and in the media about the weird weather we're having at the moment. But, whatever the immediate, complex reasons for this unpredictable pattern of  meteorological extremes, one thing is blindingly clear: the world is warming up. And it's warming up faster than we think.

John Vidal, the Guardian's environmental editor, travelled last month with Oxfam through the Andean mountains of Peru and Ecuador. He found retreating glaciers, shrinking rivers, expanding deserts and rampaging diseases. And, as usual, it's the poor who suffer first and worst.

He writes: Climate change has fallen off the political agenda in rich countries since the shambles of the Copenhagen summit last year, and the headlines have been dominated by global recession. But while politicians fail to act, the phenomenon continues unabated. In the past week, the three major institutes that calculate global warming have said 2010 will at least tie for the hottest year yet recorded, and it is widely expected that global carbon dioxide emissions will hit record levels.

This year summer temperatures in Russia and central Asia were 7.8 degrees C above average for a whole month, the Pakistan floods affected more than 20 million people, and temperature records were set in 17 countries from Finland to Iraq, Burma and Columbia. Again, there was a near-record melting of Arctic sea ice and the UN has recorded more than 700 extreme-weather related disasters.

Yet most of the world has never heard the phrase 'climate change' and does not understand the science behind man-induced climate change. Hundreds of millions of people are having to adapt without help to the major changes which they can see are taking place, and for which they are not responsible.

We're now in the middle of the latest round of climate change talks in Cancún, Mexico. 193 governments are taking part. Half-way through - and only 170 words out of a 1300 word key text remain undisputed. Will there be more progress than in Copenhagen last year? Don't hold your breath.