Incidently quite a number of folk have enquired of us as to how we came to have such a strange name as "Skillicorn". Well, there are few of us in the world but we all issue, originally, from the "Vikings",(shame on us ! ) who settled on the Isle of Man which you may like to visit to do some research about this Super-Clan. Of course we have to say all this very humbly !!
Ruth found the Secret to Life (incidently, "The Secret to Life" is the title of chapter seven of our book) through her early upbringing in a very caring family - the Morrall family (her sisters, Mirrie and Irma, live in Perth and Melbourne respectively ) - which has always been deeply involved in a variety of church ministries. I, too, with my brother, Noel, was privileged to spend the days of my youth in a family dedicated to thinking of others before self. It was to be expected, therefore, that both of us would end up in some sort of social activity for the benefit of those less fortunate than ourselves. To make a long story short, we ended up spending 31 years in India and Bangladesh, mainly involved in caring for leprosy sufferers, widows, orphans and other disabled and disadvantaged persons.
Our present activities are now exercised through "INTERNATIONAL BENEVOLENT SERVICES" and, at this, our MAIN WEB-SITE, you will find LINKS to all you want to know about our various interests, hobbies, concerns, campaigns etc.. Please go right to the very bottom of our Main Web-Site to see the INDEX of all our Web-Sites.
Concern for leprosy sufferers and those affected by the disease in any way at all, consumes most of our time, especially through our "FORUM ON LEPROSY" which we moderate, along with another Forum designed to bring together, in loving, friendly relationships, people from all ethnic and cultural backgrounds, irrespective of race, caste, creed and gender. Our "ETHNIC LINKS FORUM" and also our Forum on Leprosy are open to all who would like to join and they are FREE. Simply send us a email message to :- rkskilli@dove.mtx.net.au - to inform us of your willingness to join. You don't have to be a medico to join our Forum on Leprosy which is open to all who have a genuine concern for people affected by leprosy and a desire to eradicate this curable disease and one that is only mildly contagious, with deformities, ulcerations, blindness, stigma and other disabilities / disadvantages that are totally preventable.
The Environment is also on our hearts, especially in relation to the acute problems resulting from poor waste-water / sewerage management. Our son, Paul, who is President and C.E.O. of the GREENGOLD CORPORATION.is a specialist in the use of Lemnaceae ("Duckweed"), the wonder-working aquatic plant of the 21st. century , and there are several links to his web-sites at our main site above.
Having spent 31 years in India and Bangladesh, we look upon India, in particular, as home or second-home. We have an adopted family of five there so this gives us the capability of teaching India's national language Hindi, links to which you will find in our Main Web-Site, along with many links to India and all things Indian.
One cannot spend 31 years in most remote, rural, backward and jungle parts of India and Bangladesh without some Special Strength beyond our own. We found that Strength in JESUS. Now, please don't get us wrong; we are not religious, "churchy" people. In fact, we believe that Jesus came not to establish a "religion" but rather to show us how to live together in human relationships. His emphasis is not that the "Kingdom of God is WITHIN you as an individual" but rather that "The Kingdom of God is AMONG you as people in right , loving relationships - in fellowship ('Koinonia') -- ". THAT IS THE SECRET. If you want to know what "Koinonia" is all about, please access our E-book, "An Impossible Dream", especially chapter seven. The book also conveys a full account of our years spent in community development, famine relief, rural education, primary health care and leprosy / T.B. control.
By way of a little extra-curricular activity, we are Registered Agents for and Associates of one of the Internet's main Book Dealers - "AMAZON.COM. " We can provide you with books on just about every subject simply by engaging the powerful search machine and entering in the search box words covering - title, author, theme or subject, etc. and hitting the FIND button. We also can provide you with Music CD's. To avail of this facility, simply CLICK HERE ON OUR CYBERSPACIAL BOOKSHOP. Commission realised from the sale of Books / CD's is dedicated to our various charities, mainly in India. Whenever you buy through us, you are helping those less fortunate than yourself
To get an idea of what sort of a family we are, just access our "SKILLICORN FAMILY SAGA" newsletter that we send to special friends three or four times a year. This shows that our extended family reaches out into four continents - Australia, Britain, the U.S.A., and India. We started off with three sons, Robert, Paul and Bruce, all of whom studied at Woodstock School, in the Himalayas of India. Access Woodstock's site at our main Indian site.. Tragically, Robert died in Britain, after graduating from Hull University and attaining a leadership position with the National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) , through which he fought for better working conditions for exploited Welsh workers. Robert left behind his wife, Susan and four beautiful children - Thomas, Ashley, Deiniol and Rhiannon.
Paul, our second son, chose to pursue his higher education in the U.S., graduating with Masters Degrees and a Ph.D., from universities in Florida, Baltimore (Johns Hopkins) and Washington D.C., Paul's career, as an environmental engineer, has taken him into a specialist role in Sewerage and Waste-water management. His wife, Rebecca is a Fulbright scholar , near to completing her Ph.D.. They have two precious children - Alexa and Antonio.
Our youngest son, Bruce (his web-site), graduated from the University of Southern Queensland and has achieved considerable fame for his artistic skills. He has three extremely clever children, all of whom are doing exceptionally well in their studies. Presently, he is taking further university studies to equip him to be a professional counsellor.
Our adopted Indian daughter, Pamela, who is a well-qualified senior high-school teacher with M.A. and B.Ed. degrees, has four children - Jayshree, Rajshree, Paul and Prashant. Pamela, who is a neice of the late Miriam Das (we have dedicated our book to Miriam - "Moussiji"), perhaps known to some of you, is one of the key, courageous leaders of the church in strife-torn Bihar Province, Eastern India. Further details re. all our extended family members are to be found in our "Family Saga".
OUR MAIN TOPICS OF INTEREST
OUR FAVOURITE WEB-SITES
1. RUTH'S DRUG AWARENESS SITE
2. LEPROSY - LINKS TO ALL YOU'LL NEED TO KNOW
3. INDIA - THE LAND OF OUR ADOPTION
4. AUSTRALIA - THE LUCKY COUNTRY
5. LEARN INDIA'S NATIONAL LANGUAGE - HINDI
6. PROMOTING PROPER SEWERAGE AND WASTE-WATER MANAGEMENT
7. PROMOTING OUR BOOK -
8. OUR FORUM ON LEPROSY
9. BUY ALL YOUR BOOK / MUSIC CD'S FROM US AND HELP CHARITIES
10. PROMOTING MULTICULTURALISM - UNITY IN ETHNIC DIVERSITY.
11. OUR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN BANGLADESH
12. DEVELOPMENT PROJECT FOR FOR RURAL WOMEN IN INDIA
