Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/361046
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 10 AUGUST 2014 37 THIS WEEK EMBODYING Selves is inviting people to participate in a series of creative expressive workshops, 'My Body, My Food and I', that will allow them to explore and give creative expression to the way they see their body in a movement towards embracing it. Embodying Selves is a practise-as-research arts project that aims to increase awareness of the intricate link between the way people view their bodies, self-concept, emotional well-being, and the way they eat. Dramatherapist Lou Ghirlando designed the project on inspiration from psychothera- pists and dramatherapists who speak about the connection between emotional well be- ing and eating patterns, as well as the way in which people play out their psychological patterns in the way they eat. She draws par- ticularly on Susie Orbach, Chair of the Dove self-esteem project and co-originator of the Dove real woman campaign. In her latest book Bodies (2009), Orbach writes about the way in which society capi- talises on bodies, and as a result of which people are de-sensitising from their own bod- ies which they experience as products to be worked upon rather than an integrate part of themselves. My Body, My Food and I will consist of three series of eight workshops that will be facili- tated by Lou Ghirlando between August and December at the Osborne Hotel in Valletta. In small groups, participants will engage with movement, story-work and images to grow in respect, acceptance and love for their body. This will allow further connection with their own individual body and understanding of what it needs to be well. Fees have been reduced in acknowledgement of the contribution to the therapist's research on the theme. More information will be pro- vided on application, which may be done by sending an email to loughirlando@gmail.com or calling 99999562. Embodying Selves will also include the contribution of UK based dramatherapist Catherine McCormack who has extensive experience in working with clients with eat- ing disorders. She will come to Malta to give a public lecture and facilitate a professional development workshop for related profession- als in November 2014. The culmination of the project will be a performance on the subject in April 2015. The project is being supported by the Malta Arts Fund and the Theatre Studies Depart- ment, School of Performing Arts, University of Malta. Gulls generally draw little attention, as they are so common. But there are gulls and gulls, even if to the untrained (sometimes even the trained) eye, they can look much the same. Some species are more precious to conservationists because of their rarity, and the Audouin's Gull is one of these uncommon birds, scarce right across its range. Its range is not too extensive either, as gulls go. It is virtually endemic to the Mediterranean, which endears the species that little bit more with naturalists of the region. The Audouin's Gull (M: Gawwija Munqarha Ahmar) looks rather like our own resident breeding Yellow-legged Gull but has subtle dierences that one can pick out with good binoculars, good views, good lighting, and knowing what to look for (granted, it's not recommended for beginners). Sightings of Audouin's Gulls in Malta are sparse and irregular – there was one or two some days ago – but the good news is that in recent years the Audouin's population has increased, especially in the Western Med. Yayy to that. 416. AUDOUIN'S GULL GREEN IDEA OF THE WEEK 317: BUY ONLY WHAT YOU NEED – Resist freebies if you can, buy stuff only because you need them, not because they are on sale. A damning report, released this week by Friends of Earth Europe, Amnesty International, Environmental Rights Action, Platform and the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD), exposes a shocking lack of action by Shell and the Nigerian Government to clean up the widespread pollution in Ogoniland, despite recommendations made by a major UN study three years ago. The UN Environment Programme published a scientific study on the Ogoniland region of the Niger Delta in 2011, exposing extensive oil pollution, severe health risks for the population – including previously unacknowledged pollution of drinking water – and fundamental failures in Shell's processes for cleaning up oil spills. The UN study, conducted at the request of the Nigerian government and paid for by Shell, exposed the serious failure of the Nigerian government to regulate and control companies like Shell. The report also revealed Shell's systemic failure to address oil spills going back many years. The UN described how sites that Shell claimed were cleaned up were found by UN experts to be still polluted. Since the 2011 UN study, Shell has defended, and continues to use, methods for cleaning oil spills declared ineffective by the UN report. The 'No progress' report also highlights Shell's manipulation of information to avoid accountability for old and leaking pipes – pipes so old the company will not disclose their age or condition. Three years after finding out that their operations have exposed almost every man, woman and child in Ogoniland – and almost certainly tens of thousands of people in others parts of the Niger Delta – to lifelong pollution, Shell is still more concerned with protecting itself. Governments of Nigeria and the home countries of Shell, Netherlands and the UK, should make sure that Shell starts a proper clean up and compensates the damage. The UN study also recommended, amongst other measures, the establishment of an Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority and the establishment of an Environmental Restoration Fund with an initial capital of USD $1 billion. Neither of these has been established. The Nigerian government, Shell, and its home governments – the UK and the Netherlands – have all benefitted from oil extraction in the Niger Delta and should now support a social and environmental rehabilitation process and the implementation in full of the UN study, according to the organisations. Shell: no progress in Niger Delta clean-up Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us www.foemalta.org. You can also support us by sending a blank SMS donation on 50618070 (€4.66) or 50619223 (€11.65). My Body, My Food and I Text Victor Falzon Photo Aron Tanti – INVITING PEOPLE TO GIVE CREATIVE EXPRESSION TO THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR BODIES AND WITH FOOD My Body, My Food and I will consist of three series of eight workshops