内容摘要：At this time, after almost two decades of treatment, Cauchi had no regular psychiatrist, was not on any medications to treat his schizophrenia and had no family living nearby.

At this time, after almost two decades of treatment, Cauchi had no regular psychiatrist, was not on any medications to treat his schizophrenia and had no family living nearby.

Achebe forwarded the manuscript to his publisher in the UK and the book, named Weep Not, Child, was released to critical acclaim in 1964. It was the first major English-language novel to be written by an East African.Ngũgĩ swiftly followed up with two more popular novels, A Grain of Wheat and The River Between. In 1972, the UK's Times newspaper said Ngũgĩ, then aged 33, was "accepted as one of Africa's outstanding contemporary writers".

Then came 1977 - a period that marked a huge change in Ngũgĩ's life and career. For starters, this was the year he became Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o and shed his birth name, James. Ngũgĩ made the change as he wanted a name free of colonial influence.He also dropped English as the primary language for his literature and vowed to only write in his mother tongue, Kikuyu.He published his last English language novel, Petals of Blood, in 1977.

Ngũgĩ's previous books had been critical of the colonial state, but Petals of Blood attacked the new leaders of independent Kenya, portraying them as an elite class who had betrayed ordinary Kenyans.Ngũgĩ didn't stop there. The same year, he co-wrote the play Ngaahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want), which was a searing look at Kenya's class struggle.

Its theatre run was shut down by the government of then President Jomo Kenyatta and Ngũgĩ was locked up in a maximum security jail for a year without trial.

It was a fruitful 12 months, however - as Ngũgĩ wrote his first Kikuyu novel, Devil on the Cross, while in prison. It is said he used toilet paper to write the entire book, as he did not have access to a notebook."I know their families and communities will rally to support them."

People who have been on an NHS waiting list for more than two years will now be able to pay for procedures in the Republic of Ireland and claim money back.The £10m cross-border plan, designed to tackle waiting lists, came into effect on Monday morning.

The Department of Health (DoH) said that, in future, patients would be able to claim back money for operations in the rest of the EU.But a date has yet to be set for when that extension will happen, and the number of patients able to avail of it will depend on how much money is left from the cross-border scheme.