This little being who consumes most of my time and energy has not only changed my priorities but has also unknowingly changed me as a person.

On these pages Mike Bucki from Atlanta, Georgia, looks at a small but encouraging drop in this ocean of misery – an international charity which is working with the poor to outlaw unacceptable housing and homelessness. In so doing, Habitat for Humanity is tapping into a gathering trend in development thinking that the most efficient way to answer housing problems is to empower people to build houses for themselves.

In one week, 20 houses had been built for low income families who could never have dreamed of owning a house were it not for Habitat.

Through no fault of its authors, Survival in our own land overran its publication deadline. But when it appeared last year it was a historic event in itself - and an immediate best-seller.

Namibia, Africa's last colony, is on the threshold of `wonderful things... after suffering for so many years', South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu said on a recent visit here. But the transition from colonial South West Africa to independent Namibia will not be easy.

Whether Gorbachev's policy of glasnost is having sufficient effect on Soviet economic life remains to be seen.

As one of the capitals of the theatre world, some may think that London already has enough theatres.