Traveling around the world, or let me call it living around the world...

When you don’t like your own country; in this and my case for many reasons, -Then it is always nice to think about living in other countries.

So many people don’t like their own country, and when it comes to Belgium and my reasons for it? So many racist, people who tell that they aren’t against colored people, but once it comes to reality, they even dare to tell you: ‘What the hell are you doing with a black girlfriend?!’.
Near that: So expensive, so many arrogant people, and as I told to many people during my many world travels and the many countries I lived in: ‘If the neighbor gonna buy a new car, then the other neighbor will buy a new car too, just a little bit more expensive. Not that he need a new car, but just to show that he can afford it’.
Here is even a movie from YouTube about Belgium:

 Belgium for Dummies

Thinking about it is one thing, doing it is another thing.
I’m talking about living in other countries.
I lived in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro (and a few other cities); Sri Lanka, near the capital of Colombo, USA, Fort Lauderdale, near Miami (state of Florida) and now in Portugal, in the city of Lisbon.

Me in Lisbon (Estoril Beach)

As an amputee (being legless and one arm), it is something more difficult to organize living in another country, because Belgium don’t give the permission to live in whatever country you want. A crazy law from the insurances who pay the money to people with a disability, and they make so many problems around this.

In my case, I have permission to live in Brazil, USA, Europe, the North of Africa (Magreb countries) and even the Philippines, but to live in countries as Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and some others I wouldn’t mind to live, they don’t give any permission.

If you live without legs and one arm, then for sure you can use some help at home. If you need to pay a maid over here in Portugal, it would cost you for sure around $1000 each month. That’s for the most people with a disability income of around $1200 to $1400, not to do.
Maybe I would love to call those insurances over there in Belgium ‘dumb’, -or ‘stubborn’, as many Belgians are with the way of thinking…

If there would exist a permission, to live in whatever country you want to, then you could live in a ‘poor’, let me call it ‘more normal’ country. Even in the middle of Africa. Where for sure you still would have money over to live from, even after paying a maid. Finally someone more over there would have a job, and even the costs for disability help would be much lower.
While no one helps you in the streets, when you life in cold Belgium, for sure there are people in the middle of Africa (and other countries), who comes to help you, with a big smile on your face, without the hope that you gonna pay them something. That I have even seen in Brazil.

But maybe, they get one day a little bit smarter, to give at least the permission to the people with a disability, to let them live wherever they want and they prefer.

When you are retired from Belgium out, then it isn’t any problem anymore to live wherever you want, in the country you want. That’s really a very silly law.
What’s the difference about being younger and not retired yet. Do we need to wait till n older are before we really can live in the countries we want? Or will they open their governmental eyes once?

But there are already changes; Brazil wasn’t on the permission list, till 2014. Then it changed.
I even remembered that when I wanted to live in the USA, I first needed to go there, only could change my address after 3 months, by insurance law in Belgium and then I needed to fly especially back to Belgium, only to see their doctor from the insurance for about 10 full minutes, to finally get the permission to live in the USA.
A really retarded trip it was, that we needed to make for this.
Now, by requesting information for Brazil and the Philippines recently, they answered me very clear on email that I even didn’t needed to go there anymore to their agency of the CM at Ostend in Belgium, that I just need to let them know by email, when I would love to live in one of those mentioned countries, and that it all will be immediately arranged. A fantastic evolution, let’s hope and pray that other countries on their list of permissions will be submitted soon.

Logo of the Belgian Insurance, mentioned above

Being disabled is one limitation, but their limitation of possibilities and the short list of countries they only allow to live in, is another ‘disability’.
Now, you always can decide to live in another country, without their permission, but then also the monthly disability help stops. Again, this is a real bad thing, since Europe is a Union, and knowing that there are even a lot of European countries, who do give the permission to live in whatever country you want too, when it comes to this subject of Disability.

My dream for many years was to live in an Africa, surrounded with poor children and babies, to help them, as I did when I lived in Brazil, but when there is no permission for that, then you only can forget that dream.

                                                        Alex Mensaert - April 26, 2017
                                                        www.alexmensaert.com
                                             

Where is God? While every second a child die from hungry - by Alex Mensaert

Isn't it 'funny' when we think about it? ... We are all children from God.... but every damn second on earth dies a child from hungry. So, my question is, 'where is God?', is he sleeping, or don't he take care for his children, ... or is it all bull shit and isn't there a God, and is it all just a fairytale? 
If I take a look at the picture below

.... then I am ashamed. Ashamed to be human, and to even think that there is a God that really see us; us all as his creations and his children.  Starving children, as example in Africa,... and knowing that every single second, one child die from being without food. Meanwhile churches makes themselves rich. Take an example on the Catholics... On Rome.. All what they have on treasures, gold, ornaments,... It would be all enough to safe the whole poor world from being poor and hungry. Near that, you may control every bible... but no any bible mention that God want money. So, brake down the churches, sell the ornaments, all the gold, and help all the 'children' of God. No?

It would be a solution for the whole poor world and no any child would die anymore from being hungry. I don't say that there isn't a God, that there isn't something or someone that created us or and our worlds, but it is a shame how religions take advantage of it.... People going to a church, and what they give in church? 'money'... only money.
Already years you don't see my ass anymore in any church. Singing and praying for the lord, my ass. It is all bullshit based on money and we may not forget that the bible is the best sold book in the world. The only book that really exist in every language. 
Believe it or not, years ago I was very religious, very catholic... but when I started to travel around the world, and when you see then children without parents, without food, sniffing glue, or in other cities and places crying asking and begging for food (not for money), then the question came in me up many times: 'Where are you God, if you really exist?'... 'Where the hell are you???'. 
So my believe in churches stopped for good.

It is a terrible feeling when you see a carton box with a young dead children body on it. No one looks, just walk in front, knowing the child died from hunger, and no parents with it. It is horrible and it gives you immediately a totally other feeling about this world. This blue planet, so beautiful from far, from the sky out, but so terrible bad in close up... standing near a dead child. There are no words for. Do you need to blame God, or do you need to blame yourself and all the other human beings that can be so selfish, bad and hard. 
Let us not forget that the human beings are the only one that kill for fun, the only ones that do crazy things, and mostly don't care about others. The real animal only kills to have food. 'we' people can kill for fun, for nothing, for a stupid fight, and basically we don't mind. So why should we mind about a 'few' dead children in the streets. Why. No. let us go to churches, believing all the crap what they are predicting every week or daily, giving our money there and leaving the temple or church with a good feeling, because we left some money... Hallelujah! 

Near that we have the thousands of organizations that collect money for poor people. If you really look it all well up on the internet, then you will find out that the presidents of those help-organizations are the big money makers. Some of them have an official income of more then $10.000 a month. Thinking then on the movie mother Teresa who left angry a meeting after seeing a bottle of Perrier water, asking the price of how much such a bottle cost, and answered that this was money enough to safe a live of a child.... then we need to ask ourselves questions by this kind of organizations... 'where is the money going too'? ...

A last point I want to discuss in all this...  Adoption. Isn't it a shame that adoption is so difficult? Such a bureaucratic thing... So many people, parents, sometimes people that can't have children from themselves.... want to adopt. Long waiting lists, not enough proofs to adopt a child, but meanwhile.... all those millions of children are waiting on a different life... on a family, on a future,... and most of them unfortunately will not get that. 

To end this... Again, or there is a God or not, isn't important. Important is that churches makes themselves rich, while a God never asked for money. Don't forget that even Jesus Christ went angry in front of a temple on sales man, and asked them to go away. Maybe,... just think on all this, think on those children, without parents, without food, .... make a travel to such a kind of country, and observe with your own eyes and heart.... how it feels when you see such a child dying.... on drugs.... having nothing... and then think what you will do.

This is unfortunately the real world where we live in, or you like it or not. 
If you can help a child, then do it, children are our future. We need to prepare them for our next generation. 

                                              Alex Mensaert - February 07 2013
                                              www.alexmensaert.com