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Feral child in Kyrgyzstan

From RIA Novosti, a news item about a feral child in Kyrgyzstan, headlined “Kyrgyz boy lives in sheep shed for 8 years”:

Bishkek, November 5 (RIA Novosti) – A 14-year-old boy has spent the last eight years living alone in a ramshackle sheep shed in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, the Vecherny Bishkek newspaper reported on Thursday.

According to the paper, the boy’s parents left the former Soviet state for Russia in early 2000, leaving their young son with his ill grandmother. For reasons which are not yet clear, the boy began living in the sheep shed almost immediately.

In the beginning, he tried to mix with children from a nearby village, but they bullied and teased him. He then became a hermit. His story came to light after his grandmother died and locals found her body, the paper said.

He has almost completely forgotten how to speak, the paper said. There is as yet no information on his parents. The paper said he would be taken into the care of the state.

URL: http://en.rian.ru/strange/20091105/156723657.html

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Lebanese hermit video

Lebanon hermit Fr. Escobar

Fr. Dario Escobar, Colombian-born hermit living in Lebanon’s Kaddisha Valley, is profiled in a 2-minute AFP  video titled “Hermit Finds Heaven in Lebanese Cave.” A related AFP article offers more detail, with several photos.

Video URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moKhKw5u25I
Article URL: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iytmu9cwPRxtpuK0L8T2D2HhYdDw

Still another article about Fr. Escobar, with more personal details, in the Lebanon website Tayyar, by visitors.
URL: http://www.tayyar.org/Tayyar/News/PoliticalNews/en-US/129005834282848748.htm

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A course on hermits

The Eleanor Roosevelt College of the University of California, San Diego, offers a course on hermits and eremitism taught by Matthew Herbst, professor of history. Here is the catalog description:

The Hermit: Solitude, Society, and the Search for Meaning
Herbst, Matthew
Location: ERC Conference Room 311
Thursdays, 4:00 p.m. to 4:50 p.m.
Seminar will meet January 8, 15, 22, 29: February 5, 12, 19, 26.

What is the connection between community and hermit? Hermits have appeared in societies across the globe from Taoist and Buddhist hermits in the mountains of East Asia to Christian anchorites in deserts and forests, Hindu ascetics in India, and transcendentalists in the American wilderness. The hermit has, at times, represented the highest moral or religious ideals of a society, attracting disciples and admirers alike, while at other times, the hermit has been marginalized and ignored. This class provides students with a general introduction to the eremitical (“hermit”) tradition from a global perspective. Students will be introduced to a variety of literary, artistic, and cinematic depictions by and about hermits.

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Noah John Rondeau, NY hermit

Item by the Post Star of Glen Falls, New YorkY, about a new book by William J. O’Hern titled Noah John Rondeau’s Adirondack Wilderness Days: A Year with the Hermit of Cold River Flow. Rondeau has been mentioned here before as a popular hermit figure of the Adirondack Mountains of New York. Among features of the book is discussion of Rondeau’s secret code in composing his journals. Includes an interesting photo of the code.

URL: http://www.poststar.com/articles/2009/10/03/ae/today/doc4ac6ab64ec9e0500120503.txt