Definition For Selah

Europe's Economic Problems Linked to Rise in Suicides

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

A study says more people are killing themselves in Greece and other countries affected by economic troubles in Europe. David Stuckler, a sociologist at Britain’s University of Cambridge, co-wrote the report.

DAVID STUCKLER: "For the most part, the countries that have been more severely affected have experienced greater rises in suicides -- Ireland, Spain, the Baltics -- reaching up to sixteen percent in some of the worst affected countries, like Greece.”

Suicide rates in Europe had been decreasing. But then the international banking crisis hit in two thousand eight.

The study looked at reports from ten European countries from two thousand seven and two thousand nine. Nine of the ten countries had a five percent increase in suicide rates between two thousand seven and two thousand nine. In Ireland the increase was thirteen percent.

The study found that suicide rates have not increased in countries where governments have helped get people back to work. Examples include Sweden and Finland.

DAVUD STUCKLER: “We found that just giving money to people who have lost jobs to replace their income did not appear to help. Instead, giving people a reason to get out of bed in the morning, a hope in terms of searching for a good, meaningful job seemed to be the most beneficial to helping people cope.”

The findings appeared last week in the Lancet medical journal.

Greece is suffering the costs of a huge public deficit. For over a year, the government has cut spending and increased taxes in an effort to improve its finances.

Pavlos Tsimas is a journalist based in Greece. He recently made a documentary about the increase in suicides.

PAVLOS TSIMAS: "We investigated the case of a small businessman from Herakleion in Crete, who took his car, loaded it with tins of petrol, and first shot himself and then put fire to the whole car."

Pavlos Tsimas says some people commit suicide in a public way, like the businessman in Crete.

PAVLOS TSIMAS: "We found out that people killed themselves in a very dramatic and sometimes a very violent way, which maybe means that they are trying to make their suicide a statement, want the whole world to understand how badly they feel, how hopeless they have felt."

He says Greeks who kill themselves are mostly men. And he says the number has gone up most on the island of Crete.

PAVLOS TSIMAS: " ... where social and family life is more traditional, more patriarchic. The father of the family has to be respected as a figure of great strength. And when the economic problems arise, when jobs are lost and businesses are closed down, it is this despair because of the loss of respect, the loss of self-esteem, and the fact that the person feels that his life no longer has meaning, that drives them to this kind of act.

SELAH: SELAH Enrichment

Children will explore different art techniques and styles with hands-on projects. Each week, we will explore a different master of American art. A brief biography of the artist, their style and examples of their work will be shown. The students will then create their own artworks using the technique or material that reflects the work of the great master. The most important aspects of the projects are exploration, discovery and individual creativity.  This is a two hour class.  Students will showcase their work in an Art Show to be held in tangent with the Junior Drama Class production. Fee is $40 which includes cost of supplies. During second semester SELAH will offer a civics study class to prepare students attending TeenPact Leadership School .  TeenPact is a week-long, hands-on government class held at the State Capitol, Springfield, Illinois on April 23-26, 2012. This class will take place during the rotating class schedule, dates TBA. Follow the link provided for more information about TeenPact and how to register for state classes. Although there are several interpretations of the Hebrew word Selah, the word Selah does not have one finite definition. Selah is often found in the book of Psalms as well as in other parts of the Judeo Christian Bible. In Psalms, Selah often serves as liturgical musical notation or literary notation for all to stop and listen or to pause and consider what is being said. Within the context of Psalms, Selah is also used as an affirmative exclamation similar to an Amen or Halleluiah to stress the importance of the preceding verse or as volume instruction for a musical interlude. To fulfill SELAH's goals, each participant (student, teacher, volunteer and parent) should read the Peacemakers Pledge and agree to adhere to its principles by signing their name in agreement of its statements. The Peacemakers Pledge was developed as a mission of Peacemaker Ministries to equip and assist Christians and their churches to respond to conflict biblically. A copy of the pledge will be provided for all participants upon enrollment.You can view the Peacemaker Pledge by following this link to their website. The Peacemakers Pledge

We believe…

1. That there is only one God, eternally existent in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

2. That the Bible in its entirety (all 66 books of the Old and New Testaments) is the inspired word of God, inerrant in its original autographs, and the only infallible and sufficient authority for faith and Christian living.

Psalms

Jewish spectator

Re-cognizing W.E.B. Du Bois in the twenty-first century, essays on W.E.B. Du Bois

Solomon and solomonic literature

The Open court