Buddhists, like other religions believe in the possibility of resurrection. Their "Book of the Dead - the Great Liberation by Hearing" is the words spoken to the corpse to guide it through the country of death & resurrection to a higher incarnation.
Life after death isn't something I believe in. I think it is wo/man's inability to believe how completely inconsequential one is that leads to all the religious beliefs that we do not in fact die & return to dust. End of.
I do, however, believe in Karma. Karma is not punishment or retribution but the consequence of a person's acts. Karma means "deed" or "act". It is the universal principle of cause and effect, action and reaction, that governs all life. The effects can be mitigated by actions. We are not fated to some particular, pre-determined future experience or reaction. It isn't simple reward and punishment. Humans act with free will creating their own destiny. The theory is that if one sows goodness one will reap goodness & vice versa. Karma refers to the totality of our actions and their concomitant reactions in this and previous lives, all of which determines our future. The conquest of karma lies in intelligent action and dispassionate response.
The parallells with Christianity are obvious. "You reap what you sow" - "Do unto others" etc etc. I actually don't care if it's a religious truth. It seems to me the only way to live your life - It's a "no brainer". We can't exist as a society & conserve our species & the world we live in if we don't try to follow this tenet.
It sounds so easy, but it is in fact very hard to prioritise the needs of others. It is impossible, in my experience, to always be truthful in word & deed. It is difficult not to do something if it will benefit oneself, but have a detrimental effect on someone or something else. I don't think that matters. What matters is the good intention & putting mistakes or wrong choices right.
If every individual just tried to do that the world would be a much better place. The cumulative effect of millions of people trying to do that would be transformative. I wish we could.
Wednesday 28 November 2012
Sunday 25 November 2012
The End of the World is Nigh!
According to the Mayans this is the date & time the world will end - Friday, 21 December 2012, 11:11:11 (UTC time).
Countdown Timer
Countdown Timer
| 25 | days |
| 619 | hours |
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until Friday, 21 December 2012, 11:11:11 (UTC time)
It is 25 days, 19 hours, 34 minutes, 12 seconds
until Friday, 21 December 2012, 11:11:11 (UTC time)
Current time is Sunday, 25 November 2012, 15:36:59 UTC
Interestingly Hindus also believe we are in the time of Kali Yuga.
Kali Yuga (Devanāgarī: कलियुग [kəli juɡə], lit. "age of [the demon] Kali", or "age of vice") is the last of the four stages the world goes through as part of the cycle of yugas described in the Indian scriptures. The other ages are Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga.
Hindus believe that human civilization degenerates spiritually during the Kali Yuga,[5] which is referred to as the Dark Age because in it people are as far away as possible from God. Hinduism often symbolically represents morality (dharma) as a bull. In Satya Yuga, the first stage of development, the bull has four legs, but in each age morality is reduced by one quarter. By the age of Kali, morality is reduced to only a quarter of that of the golden age, so that the bull of Dharma has only one leg.[6][7]
Kali Yuga is associated with the apocalyptic demon Kali, not to be confused with the goddess Kālī (read as Kaalee) (these are unrelated words in the Sanskrit language). The "Kali" of Kali Yuga means "strife, discord, quarrel, or contention."
Well, I can't argue with that. We certainly have all four of those states in plenty in the world today. I doubt that the world will actually end, but we certainly seem to be doing our best to facilitate it.
If we look at the lessons of history each great civilisation goes through stages, from initial flowering, through a golden age, leading to the final decadent ending. That's where we seem to be to me. So in that sense I do believe in the Mayan & Hindu visions.
I differ in that I'm a glass half full person. So I don't think we've had it. I think we have the means to solve the worlds problems. We just need the will & politicians & leaders who are able to take the long term view.
Hope they do - Soon. If not the glass might empty faster than I thought.
Kali Yuga (Devanāgarī: कलियुग [kəli juɡə], lit. "age of [the demon] Kali", or "age of vice") is the last of the four stages the world goes through as part of the cycle of yugas described in the Indian scriptures. The other ages are Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga and Dvapara Yuga.
Hindus believe that human civilization degenerates spiritually during the Kali Yuga,[5] which is referred to as the Dark Age because in it people are as far away as possible from God. Hinduism often symbolically represents morality (dharma) as a bull. In Satya Yuga, the first stage of development, the bull has four legs, but in each age morality is reduced by one quarter. By the age of Kali, morality is reduced to only a quarter of that of the golden age, so that the bull of Dharma has only one leg.[6][7]
Kali Yuga is associated with the apocalyptic demon Kali, not to be confused with the goddess Kālī (read as Kaalee) (these are unrelated words in the Sanskrit language). The "Kali" of Kali Yuga means "strife, discord, quarrel, or contention."
Well, I can't argue with that. We certainly have all four of those states in plenty in the world today. I doubt that the world will actually end, but we certainly seem to be doing our best to facilitate it.
If we look at the lessons of history each great civilisation goes through stages, from initial flowering, through a golden age, leading to the final decadent ending. That's where we seem to be to me. So in that sense I do believe in the Mayan & Hindu visions.
I differ in that I'm a glass half full person. So I don't think we've had it. I think we have the means to solve the worlds problems. We just need the will & politicians & leaders who are able to take the long term view.
Hope they do - Soon. If not the glass might empty faster than I thought.
Thursday 22 November 2012
Need & Want & Russian Oligarchs.
What we humans want isn't necessarily what we need. I want a lap pool of my own so I can swim everyday without having to drive in my car. It isn't going to happen & there are all sorts of reasons why it probably shouldn't.
I need somewhere to live, enough to eat and drink & a bed to sleep in. Those are the basic needs everyone on the planet should have a right to expect. I would add to that access to healthcare, clean water & loving friends & family. Adding to the basic necessities, I would include a good education & access to work that fitted with my capabilities so I could develop my skills & contribute to society. I need a safe environment & freedom from fear.
It doesn't seem a lot to ask & it is achievable. There are actually enough resources in the world for the present population. The problem is the distribution of those resources & the obscene imbalance between the "haves" & the "have nots". The "accident of birth" which means that one child has no chances in life and another has every whim satisfied - immediately.
I simply cannot understand how a Russian oligarch can think it is acceptable to spend billions on a football club, when babies are dying needlessly, old people die in pain and alone, & young people are living on the streets. I do not understand the "developed" world with it's focus on instant gratification, risk taking & endemic waste.
We are intelligent human beings - why do we not mobilise our talents for the benefit of everyone? What has happened to out sense of fairness & humanity?
I need somewhere to live, enough to eat and drink & a bed to sleep in. Those are the basic needs everyone on the planet should have a right to expect. I would add to that access to healthcare, clean water & loving friends & family. Adding to the basic necessities, I would include a good education & access to work that fitted with my capabilities so I could develop my skills & contribute to society. I need a safe environment & freedom from fear.
It doesn't seem a lot to ask & it is achievable. There are actually enough resources in the world for the present population. The problem is the distribution of those resources & the obscene imbalance between the "haves" & the "have nots". The "accident of birth" which means that one child has no chances in life and another has every whim satisfied - immediately.
I simply cannot understand how a Russian oligarch can think it is acceptable to spend billions on a football club, when babies are dying needlessly, old people die in pain and alone, & young people are living on the streets. I do not understand the "developed" world with it's focus on instant gratification, risk taking & endemic waste.
We are intelligent human beings - why do we not mobilise our talents for the benefit of everyone? What has happened to out sense of fairness & humanity?
Tuesday 20 November 2012
Jeanette Wintersons - "Why be Happy when you could be Normal?"
I have just read wonderful book. In many ways, without the religion, it was like reading my own childhood. I found myself recognising themes all the way through, although my mother wasn't as extreme, thank God.
The themes of the book are important and all encompassing. They are written with great honesty & a remarkable lack of bias. The central theme is obviously the relationship between Jeanette, her step mother, her step father & their realtionship with eachother. The central role of a mother to a child is crucial to the adult that child becomes. Jeanette says she has "a sense of myself as a haunted house". The trouble with that, I have found, is that exorcism isn't easy. In Jeanettes case the picture is more blurred because she eventually does find her birth mother.
This particularly disfunctional family resulted in a woman who is obviously intelligent and talented making a real mark on the world through her writing. She doesn't shirk the difficult areas & doesn't make any attempt to play on the sympathy of the reader. That sympathy & admiration is, however, hers. In spades.
The theme of sex and sexuality is central to the book, as it is to Jeanette. The description of the exorcism, so Jeanette will be "normal", is harrowing. "Never let a boy touch you down there" was one of my mother's mantras. Being able to love & be loved, being happy with who you are seem fairly simple aspirations. "Most women can give - we're trained to it - but most women find it hard to receive".
Escaping from our demons can take many forms. The lifelong legacy of emotional turmoil left by a dominant mother is difficult to re-programme. "Living with life is very hard". Jeanette describes her anger & despair, her escape & attempted suicide, then her ultimate reconcilliation with her past. "Forgiveness redeems the past. Forgiveness unblocks the future". I think a lot of women need Dyno Rod to help them do this. Not everyone is as strong as Jeanette. She acknowledges this "I will always be recognisible by my scar".
We are the sum of our experience & how we deal with it. Pursuing happiness seems to be to be an admirable goal, yet so few really achieve it. Mothering is a very important skill. It can be taught & it should be.
The themes of the book are important and all encompassing. They are written with great honesty & a remarkable lack of bias. The central theme is obviously the relationship between Jeanette, her step mother, her step father & their realtionship with eachother. The central role of a mother to a child is crucial to the adult that child becomes. Jeanette says she has "a sense of myself as a haunted house". The trouble with that, I have found, is that exorcism isn't easy. In Jeanettes case the picture is more blurred because she eventually does find her birth mother.
This particularly disfunctional family resulted in a woman who is obviously intelligent and talented making a real mark on the world through her writing. She doesn't shirk the difficult areas & doesn't make any attempt to play on the sympathy of the reader. That sympathy & admiration is, however, hers. In spades.
The theme of sex and sexuality is central to the book, as it is to Jeanette. The description of the exorcism, so Jeanette will be "normal", is harrowing. "Never let a boy touch you down there" was one of my mother's mantras. Being able to love & be loved, being happy with who you are seem fairly simple aspirations. "Most women can give - we're trained to it - but most women find it hard to receive".
Escaping from our demons can take many forms. The lifelong legacy of emotional turmoil left by a dominant mother is difficult to re-programme. "Living with life is very hard". Jeanette describes her anger & despair, her escape & attempted suicide, then her ultimate reconcilliation with her past. "Forgiveness redeems the past. Forgiveness unblocks the future". I think a lot of women need Dyno Rod to help them do this. Not everyone is as strong as Jeanette. She acknowledges this "I will always be recognisible by my scar".
We are the sum of our experience & how we deal with it. Pursuing happiness seems to be to be an admirable goal, yet so few really achieve it. Mothering is a very important skill. It can be taught & it should be.
Saturday 17 November 2012
Police & Crime Commissioners Election
I didn't vote. I'm not indifferent or apathetic & it had nothing to do with the election being in November. What's more I'm quite cross that those excuses are being put forward by the politicians, press & media. What do they know? At best they guess. If I'd known how to spoil a ballot paper I'd have done that.
People fought & died for my right to vote so I don't take my freedom lightly.
Less than 15% or 1 in 7 voted. Between 2.5% & 4.5% of voters spoilt their papers. (Anything over 2% is accepted as deliberate action). The Electoral Commission is to hold an enquiry. This debacle cost £100million to set up & the inquiry will add substantially to that total.
41 Police & Crime Commissioners have now been elected - 16 Conservatives, 13 Labour & 12 Independents. So we now have a majority of commissioners who are Political. They will have a 3 year tenure before they have to go to the people again. So we have perpetuated our government model which mitigates against long term decision making in the greater interest of the country. If you want to be re-elected are you really going to make the best decision, or will you go for expediency? No contest. Just look at America.
The Police Authorities, which have now been replaced, were not elected & were largely anonymous, so I'm not necessarily arguing for their retention. What I'm very annoyed about, apart from the politicising of this important area, is that I had no idea who was standing or anything about them. I don't get a newspaper & I didn't realise that I was supposed to go to the Home Office website for the information. (What about all the people for whom that isn't appropriate anyway?) I didn't realise that no pamphlets were going to be delivered. (Considering all the junk mail I get through my letter box that is ironic). Apparently there was no information at polling stations either for obvious reasons.
I wish I thought that this government of "bright ideas" would take notice & actually really engage with people. Sadly I haven't seen any evidence of that at all.
People fought & died for my right to vote so I don't take my freedom lightly.
Less than 15% or 1 in 7 voted. Between 2.5% & 4.5% of voters spoilt their papers. (Anything over 2% is accepted as deliberate action). The Electoral Commission is to hold an enquiry. This debacle cost £100million to set up & the inquiry will add substantially to that total.
41 Police & Crime Commissioners have now been elected - 16 Conservatives, 13 Labour & 12 Independents. So we now have a majority of commissioners who are Political. They will have a 3 year tenure before they have to go to the people again. So we have perpetuated our government model which mitigates against long term decision making in the greater interest of the country. If you want to be re-elected are you really going to make the best decision, or will you go for expediency? No contest. Just look at America.
The Police Authorities, which have now been replaced, were not elected & were largely anonymous, so I'm not necessarily arguing for their retention. What I'm very annoyed about, apart from the politicising of this important area, is that I had no idea who was standing or anything about them. I don't get a newspaper & I didn't realise that I was supposed to go to the Home Office website for the information. (What about all the people for whom that isn't appropriate anyway?) I didn't realise that no pamphlets were going to be delivered. (Considering all the junk mail I get through my letter box that is ironic). Apparently there was no information at polling stations either for obvious reasons.
I wish I thought that this government of "bright ideas" would take notice & actually really engage with people. Sadly I haven't seen any evidence of that at all.
Thursday 15 November 2012
Nepal - a Country of fun & Festivals.
Nepal was the birthplace of Buddhism, but is largely a Hindu country. A Nepali's religion is broadly dependent on altitude. Buddhism in the high Himalayas, Hindu's on the plains. Hindu's have a pantheon of gods & godesses, with Vishnu, Shiva, Mahadevi & Ganesh being the main ones. Buddhism rejects the idea of a creator God but they have their own Bodhisattva's - enlightened intermediaries. There is also Islam & Christianity. So basically the opportunities for a festival are numerous, & the Nepali's take full advantage.
We arrived in KMD just in time for the Teej festival which lasts 3 days. Groups of women feast first in a big "girls night out" then fast all day. Then they queue to worship Shiva at Pashputinath on the Eastern outskirts of KMD just outside the ring road quite close to the airport. It is Nepal's holiest Hindu pilgrimage site & is where the dead are burnt in the open on the banks of the Bagmati river. As we approached hundreds of people were walking towards the site along the road. There were vehicles everywhere, but we did manage to park. The site was completely packed, mostly with women, who were all dressed in their best red sari's. Despite the very grey & drizzly day it was one of the most colourful sights I have ever seen. Once they were in the site they queued happily to go to the shrine / temple area to give offerings & pray. Women were dancing in marquees erected along the paths, the music was very jolly & added to the wonderful atmosphere.
We arrived in KMD just in time for the Teej festival which lasts 3 days. Groups of women feast first in a big "girls night out" then fast all day. Then they queue to worship Shiva at Pashputinath on the Eastern outskirts of KMD just outside the ring road quite close to the airport. It is Nepal's holiest Hindu pilgrimage site & is where the dead are burnt in the open on the banks of the Bagmati river. As we approached hundreds of people were walking towards the site along the road. There were vehicles everywhere, but we did manage to park. The site was completely packed, mostly with women, who were all dressed in their best red sari's. Despite the very grey & drizzly day it was one of the most colourful sights I have ever seen. Once they were in the site they queued happily to go to the shrine / temple area to give offerings & pray. Women were dancing in marquees erected along the paths, the music was very jolly & added to the wonderful atmosphere.
Another lovely day, another festival. We set off for Bhaktapur – the “city of devotees.” This is South East of KMD, beyond the airport, 45 minutes away. There was a street
festival, with yet more singing & dancing from all corners
of Nepal.
Bhaktapur is probably what KMD
looked like before the arrival of the “modern world”. Built of
lovely warm red brick it rises out of the fertile fields of the
valley as an elongated maze of streets, narrow alleys & squares.
The beautiful buildings are traditional Newari pavilion houses, with
exquisitely carved wooden doors & windows, and the streets are
herringbone paved. Men sit in sattal – covered platform areas,
women wash at public taps, people visit the shrines with offerings,
lots of stalls & shops sell everything you can think of. It is a
step back in time to a much better place. Traditional carved
wrestlers guard the temples & shrines. The hereditary title for a
prince, Malla, means wrestler. The entrance fee to the city pays for
the restoration that has taken place & the city is preserved
because it is largely pedestrianised.
It was a delight, even more so
with the vibrant festival taking place. Gatherings of women in
beautiful & colourful sari's were chatting in the shade under
sattals making wreaths & offerings for the temples. The
combination of bells, gongs & cymbals made a really moving
wonderful sound. Nepali's are very pragmatic & Buddhism &
Hindu seems to be almost interchangeable. Beggars run mortars round
brass “singing bowls” to attract your attention – as do street
vendors.
We watched boys dressed as
Hanuman the monkey god dancing in one of the squares. They were just
like Morris dancers, but very rhythmic. People were really friendly,
most were locals, there weren't many tourists at all, and they gave
us front row seats. Disconcertingly the Nepali's don't do clapping.
By 11.30. we were quite hot &
tired so we went up to the balcony of a restaurant which overlooked
the Dattatreya square & watched the bands marching up & down
the streets & had a drink. The bands were really entertaining, not only
different tunes, but simultaneous bands coming in and out of the
square & performing in the arena. There was also a dance
involving 3 monkeys who I think were bad spirits. Some sort of
protest march with banners & placards came through, but it was
all very good humoured.
The most fascinating festival we saw was the final day of the Indra Jaatra, which gives thanks for the monsoon rains. The Kumari Jaatra starts on the 3rdday. The Kumari, a living goddess, is always a pre-pubescent girl chosen from a Buddhist clan of goldsmiths, which is odd as she is supposed to be a re-incarnation of a Hindu goddess, Taleju. She is chosen between the ages of 3 & 5 & has to exhibit 32 auspicious signs. Her feet are never allowed to touch the ground & the goddess spirit leaves her if she bleeds. So she becomes an ordinary mortal at puberty. The present one was installed in 2008. Adjusting to “normal” life must be difficult for ex Kumari's & their families. She lives in the Kumari Chowk a “gilded cage” & isn't allowed out of her house at all, apart from a few occasions like the Indra Jaatra festival.
When we were walking towards Durbar Square to see her we met a procession with some men carrying what we thought was the Kumari. However it wasn't. It was another little girl with similar make up who will also be in the procession.
When we arrived there was
already a big crowd & an air of great excitement. People were
standing on every available space to get a good view. I managed to get on a
platform just to one side of a lion guarding the main door of the
Kumari Chowk. An American news crew were filming and doing a piece to
camera, so we were filmed too. While we were waiting there was
constant entertainment from the masked dancers & musicians
playing cymbals & drums entertaining the crowd. Especially Lakhe
with a red face & shaggy hair, a demon who keeps spirits at bay.
The crowd itself & all the soldiers, riot police & policemen
were entertaining too.
First the two girls
representing Ganesh & Bhairab came out & were put onto
chariots behind that of the Kumari. Then came the Kumari herself,
carried & fussed over by lots of minders, both men & women.
Once she was esconced on the leading chariot the men started the
difficult task of pulling the chariot round the square. This must be
a herculean task, the chariots are huge & made from very solid
wood with massive metal rimmed wheels. Men on the chariot threw
marigolds to the crowd. You are supposed to catch them with your right
hand to be blessed. I got one but dropped it, so it probably won't
work! A really amazing experience – I wouldn't have missed it for
the world.
The Nepali's certainly know how to enjoy themselves & their enjoyment is infectious. They seem a happy people despite the many problems which beset them & their country. Nepal does have a long way to go in terms of development, but I found myself wondering again whether we are any happier in the West for all our supposed sophistication & lifestyle. I somehow doubt it.
Wednesday 14 November 2012
Nepal - traffic nightmares & dream journeys.
Travelling from Kathmandu airport to the Malla Hotel
was less than half an hour through the
most amazing traffic I have seen anywhere. There are no rules of the
road in KMD & it seems as if the total population of
4,000,000 is on the road in every conceivable method of transport
known to man.
On the way to Samata school we pass through a road widening area where they are just slicing off the front of houses & shops - Seems a bit dodgy to me. The traffic is almost at gridlock on the bone shaking roads. The dust, rubbish & pollution is horrendous. It's all very hot & tiring & time wasting. One day we had a huge traffic jam with a faceless army of bikers in their helmets coming towards us from all directions & blocking our way. A policeman had to walk in front to get us through – not something to be done lightly I thought!
On the way to Samata school we pass through a road widening area where they are just slicing off the front of houses & shops - Seems a bit dodgy to me. The traffic is almost at gridlock on the bone shaking roads. The dust, rubbish & pollution is horrendous. It's all very hot & tiring & time wasting. One day we had a huge traffic jam with a faceless army of bikers in their helmets coming towards us from all directions & blocking our way. A policeman had to walk in front to get us through – not something to be done lightly I thought!
A journey to Bhaktapur took us along Nepal's only
motorway the Araniko Highway – 7.1 k built by the Chinese along the
main route to Tibet 115k away. Nepal is 17% mountains & 16%
hills, the rest is terai. There seem to
be hundreds of dogs, mainly sprawling asleep on the roadside, but I
hadn't seen a single cat. Just before Bhaktapur we suddenly went
from motorway to a rural tree lined road, from which we could see the
city to our left through the trees.
On another hot
and sunny day, when the monsoon had well and truly ended, we drove to Dhulikhel.
After Bhaktapur the road is much more rural & we started going up
into the foothills. There are lots of brickworks in the valley &
terraced paddy fields on the hillsides. The number of Tata trucks on
the roads is amazing, going in both directions. The roads here are
truly dreadful in places, with very deep potholes & ruts. It
isn't helped by the volume of very heavy vehicles. Climbing a hill we
can see a huge sandstone statue of Shiva on the top of a ridge.
Bizarrely it overlooks a new water park being built in the valley,
supposedly to attract tourism. It really does look incongruous.
People walking along the roads use umbrellas to shield them from the
hot sun. Kavre district is very lush & green – lots of
different shades. We passed through Banepa town which has a very wide
main street to make into a motorway later. There are problems in this
area because they remove the clay & then the buildings collapse.
Driving back from Pokhara all of life is on the roadside.
Water buffalo stand in the river. We are following the range of
mountains on our left. We reached Dulegaon, quite an
industrial area producing concrete & stone with a huge quarry in
the wide river valley. In contrast there are also rice paddies. So
you get both coolie hats & hard hats. Irrigation channels follow
the side of the road.
After an overnight stay at Bandipur we had a lovely drive
back down to the main road. It's very clear so the twisty &
precipitous road is even more hairy than it had been going up! The remnants of terracing are on
hillsides everywhere. Wild orchids grow on the roadside. Oddly there
is an Agricultural Research Station on the road with lovely flowering
trees. Children are walking uphill to school. We pass little
encampments of wooden huts with hay stooks & animals.
Almost all of the way from
Pokhara we followed the river Mar Yang Nadi on our left
which varies a lot in size & flow of water. Whole hillsides are
clothed in jungly woodland. In flatter places it had been cleared &
de-forested for farming. Charcoal makers use the plentiful wood.
Steep cliffs rise vertically up from the road on the right in places.
There are shanty dwellings all along the road where women are talking, squatting & going about their daily tasks.
Dry river wadi's come
down from the foothills. The drivers signals seem to be the reverse
from ours. A right flashing rear light seems to mean overtake. At Abu Khaireni the road forks left to Gorkha.
People routinely carry vast loads in Nepal in baskets on their backs
supported by material round their foreheads. Sometimes they look just
like walking bushes from the back. Goods are also transported by 3
wheeled bicycles pulling a wooden truck on the back.
We passed through Mugling where the road branches off to the right to go to Chitwan.
Mugling is quite a big, bustling town. We had a couple of very near
misses overtaking trucks or avoiding the potholes in the road. Quite
a few trucks are carrying water buffalo in the back who seem to be
roped in through their nostrils & tied by their tails. It seems
very cruel packed tight in the jolting trucks.
In this
area the steep river bank on the other side is dotted with sheer
waterfalls. There is a cable car the only one in Nepal, to Manakamana
Devi temple. You can toil up the mountain from the other side. The
temple is on a ridge high above the confluence of two rivers & if
you make the pilgrimage here you can expect your wish to be granted.
(Seat belts seemed like a good wish to me).
Red clay
tandoor ovens are in almost all the buildings at the side of the
road. There are a lot of very long thin deciduous
trees – I have no idea what they are. The river bed obviously
produces a lot of gravel for construction. On the hillsides the soils
are red clay. The roads in Nepal are almost universally bad – but
now the road is much worse & overtaking is very dangerous. There
is evidence of landslides from the steep rock face on one side &
stones & boulders litter the road as well as the potholes. Canna
lillies grow wild on the verges. I actually think that Basanta, the driver, is
driving faster than is safe & is overtaking where he shouldn't in
his efforts to get to KMD by lunchtime. He is hooting his horn almost
continuously & overtaking everything on the road including
convoys of lorries. He either has a death wish or a pressing
appointment with a woman!
We passed through some sort of
army checkpoint where a convoy of vehicles was waiting. We were
through quickly because we are a tourist vehicle & have precedence. There are a huge
number of vehicles coming from KMD as well as going there.
We started to climb higher & diverge away from the river for the first time. This is apparently an “accident blackspot” which makes you wonder what the previous road is supposed to be. As we climb higher above the river gorge the traffic becomes worse & worse & so does the road. There are more & more huge, overloaded Tata trucks & buses which can only go very slowly and which are very obviously ruining the road. The ruts everywhere are unbelievably deep & dangerous.
The road
became even more appalling as we went further into the foothills.
Everything is now covered with a thick layer of dust & sand. You
wouldn't know the vegetation is green. There is a choking pall over
everything. Everything is grey. We are literally dicing with death in
a vehicle with no seat belts. Vehicles drive on the wrong side of the
road to avoid deep potholes. Their suspension must be shot.
Motorbikes & scooters weave in & out of cars & lorries on
both sides of the road, overtaking & undertaking all the time.
We
are part of a very slow moving convoy uphill round hairpin bends with
precipitous drops on the left side of the road & no barriers. The
trucks belch out clouds of pitch black diesel smoke to add to the
general pollution & discomfort. We have to have the windows
closed despite the heat. There is a real danger of the heavily laden
lorries tipping over as they negotiate the potholes & ruts.
Unsurprisingly we passed a crash which had just happened between two
lorries going in opposite directions. No one was giving way &
there was lots of shouting. On our side of the road a truck had also
collided with the tangled mess of electricity cables which is
commonplace in Nepal. A huge amount of hawking & spitting was
going on as the drivers tried to sort the mess out.
Reaching KMD & the Malla after the drive back from Pokhara seemed like coming home! I was almost relieved to be back in the pollution & dire roads that I knew so well!
Friday 9 November 2012
Is the NHS fit for purpose for dementia & chronic conditions?
"Increasing sub specialism & the decline of generalism..... can create a lack of co-ordination & oversight of patients multiple needs".
"Co-morbid mental health problems are particularly common among people with long term conditions".
"Supporting the psychological & mental health needs of people with long term conditions ...can lead to improvements in both mental & physical health. Existing provision fails to realise these opportunities. A separation of mental & physical health is hard wired into institutional arrangements, payment systems & professional training curricula".
"Physical illness makes the detection of mental health problems more difficult. The majority of depression among (this group) goes undetected & untreated (because of a) focus on physical symptoms".
"There are currently significant practical barriers that impede the effectiveness of liaison teams (often because they are) employed by a mental health trust, but working in a hospital run by an acute trust. Communication & co-ordination can be compromised by IT systems that are not inter-operable & a high degree of caution with regard to information sharing."
"Several policy barriers will need to be addressed. Potential savings associated with integrated services (are) challenging to achieve as a result of separation of budgets...and the incentive created by the Payment by Results system to maintain or increase activity in secondary (hospital) care."
The Kings Fund - Long Term Conditions & Mental Health - February 2012.
What we need is a complete review of interventions for elderly people with any chronic conditions. I found it amazing & unacceptable when I was involved with the Expert Patient Programme that many GP surgeries do not seem to collect data systematically on the number of patients with chronic conditions, those with multiple chronic conditions, what the prevalence of each condition is & what medications / treatments were being prescribed.
I have 5 chronic conditions. All are dealt with separately, no one looks at the whole person. The patient is passed like a parcel from specialist to specialist. Each medic only unwraps one layer of paper & no one gets to the core. My surgery specifies that patients only bring one illness / symptom to a consultation. I can well understand the time constraints on busy GP's, but it isn't good for patients.
Some symptoms are common to many chronic conditions - pain, sleep disturbance, fatige, anxiety.....These symptoms can & should be managed by informed patients taking responsibility for themselves. But they need information & help from professionals or experienced lay people.
The NHS is too hierarchical with jealously guarded borders & fiefdoms. Until the whole patient & his / her needs are genuinely put at the centre of the NHS costs will escalate & waste will continue. Worse still the patients needs won't be met & they won't get the care they deserve.
"Co-morbid mental health problems are particularly common among people with long term conditions".
"Supporting the psychological & mental health needs of people with long term conditions ...can lead to improvements in both mental & physical health. Existing provision fails to realise these opportunities. A separation of mental & physical health is hard wired into institutional arrangements, payment systems & professional training curricula".
"Physical illness makes the detection of mental health problems more difficult. The majority of depression among (this group) goes undetected & untreated (because of a) focus on physical symptoms".
"There are currently significant practical barriers that impede the effectiveness of liaison teams (often because they are) employed by a mental health trust, but working in a hospital run by an acute trust. Communication & co-ordination can be compromised by IT systems that are not inter-operable & a high degree of caution with regard to information sharing."
"Several policy barriers will need to be addressed. Potential savings associated with integrated services (are) challenging to achieve as a result of separation of budgets...and the incentive created by the Payment by Results system to maintain or increase activity in secondary (hospital) care."
The Kings Fund - Long Term Conditions & Mental Health - February 2012.
What we need is a complete review of interventions for elderly people with any chronic conditions. I found it amazing & unacceptable when I was involved with the Expert Patient Programme that many GP surgeries do not seem to collect data systematically on the number of patients with chronic conditions, those with multiple chronic conditions, what the prevalence of each condition is & what medications / treatments were being prescribed.
I have 5 chronic conditions. All are dealt with separately, no one looks at the whole person. The patient is passed like a parcel from specialist to specialist. Each medic only unwraps one layer of paper & no one gets to the core. My surgery specifies that patients only bring one illness / symptom to a consultation. I can well understand the time constraints on busy GP's, but it isn't good for patients.
Some symptoms are common to many chronic conditions - pain, sleep disturbance, fatige, anxiety.....These symptoms can & should be managed by informed patients taking responsibility for themselves. But they need information & help from professionals or experienced lay people.
The NHS is too hierarchical with jealously guarded borders & fiefdoms. Until the whole patient & his / her needs are genuinely put at the centre of the NHS costs will escalate & waste will continue. Worse still the patients needs won't be met & they won't get the care they deserve.
Thursday 8 November 2012
Carers - a Ticking Timebomb.
Because of my personal experience & that of several close friends, I do think that any expectation that elderly people will silently bear the burden of caring for partners with dementia & chronic conditions is naive at best. This problem is a coming plague, which society has created for itself because of the development of interventions which prolong life. Women in particular did not sign up for lifelong caring for others, however needy & however much we love them. I wonder if the " me generation" who are used to instant gratification will consider it their role to be carers in the same way that my generation has.
The first thing that has to be recognised is that carers are not a homogenous group. Some children are carers, some carers are young people with demanding careers, some are from Ethnic minorities, some are single, some already have the huge demands of a family to care for, some have more than one elderly family member to care for on top of any of these. Sometimes many people share the burden of care, which brings it's own problems. Carers can be both men and women, with all the differences that involves. Deciding what we do & how we do it in terms of supporting carers & patients is very complex indeed & will need multiple options. Possibly something like a Menu in a restaurant.
Early diagnosis is an imperative so that the package of care can be implimented as soon as possible, before real problems arise. Similar services need to be available to everyone & expertise & good practice needs to be shared effectively & quickly. Effective communication is vital at all levels & involving everyone concerned. The Patient / Carer voice should be central to the process.The needs should be determined by the carers & patients. Patients, carers & service providers have to be actively involved in an ongoing process to constantly update & streamline available services.
Someone, at the very highest level, needs to be consulting & researching the development of strategies for carers & managing the care of elderly people with chronic conditions & dementia. There are charities with huge expertise in this area who should be closely involved.
This can't wait or it will be yet another poisoned chalice we leave for future generations. We need action. NOW.
The first thing that has to be recognised is that carers are not a homogenous group. Some children are carers, some carers are young people with demanding careers, some are from Ethnic minorities, some are single, some already have the huge demands of a family to care for, some have more than one elderly family member to care for on top of any of these. Sometimes many people share the burden of care, which brings it's own problems. Carers can be both men and women, with all the differences that involves. Deciding what we do & how we do it in terms of supporting carers & patients is very complex indeed & will need multiple options. Possibly something like a Menu in a restaurant.
Early diagnosis is an imperative so that the package of care can be implimented as soon as possible, before real problems arise. Similar services need to be available to everyone & expertise & good practice needs to be shared effectively & quickly. Effective communication is vital at all levels & involving everyone concerned. The Patient / Carer voice should be central to the process.The needs should be determined by the carers & patients. Patients, carers & service providers have to be actively involved in an ongoing process to constantly update & streamline available services.
Someone, at the very highest level, needs to be consulting & researching the development of strategies for carers & managing the care of elderly people with chronic conditions & dementia. There are charities with huge expertise in this area who should be closely involved.
This can't wait or it will be yet another poisoned chalice we leave for future generations. We need action. NOW.
Wednesday 7 November 2012
Caring Women & Dementia
In many ways I was fortunate to be born a "baby boomer" immediately post the 2nd world war. I expected to have a career after college, not just a job. I considered marriage an equal partnership - (not sure I got that quite right - husband never did clean the bathroom, cook a meal or do the ironing!) I couldn't wait to get back to my career when my daughter was old enough to go to nursery & because I was a teacher the authority was desperate to have me back. I juggled all the plates in the air for years, so "had it all".
That all meant job security, a comfortable middle class lifestyle, a home of our own & ultimately a good pension.
But in one important way I don't think I was fortunate. I almost single handedly looked after my home & immediate family. Then when I retired on health grounds I had to look after my widowed father who became very ill & suffered from mild dementia. He finally died aged 89. After he died I looked after my widowed mother in law who also suffered from mild dementia & died aged 92. It could have been worse, it could have been all 4 parents. Life expectancy has risen over my lifetime. Had he lived, I might well have had to look after my husband who was older than me. I am currently trying to move closer to my daughter so I can play a part in caring for my grandchildren.
Women are, and have always been, "carers". Mostly we do what comes naturally & put ourselves last in the pecking order. Now, seemingly we are part of government policy because they have realised that we save them money - a huge amount of money. There is a movement afoot to avoid putting patients with dementia in care homes or hospitals. So lip service is being paid to "carers" needs.
I wonder how much thought the present young, predominantly male, leading politicians have given to this. Caring for your loved one with dementia is bad enough. Caring for someone who is no longer the person you married & has double incontinence in later stage dementia must be a living nightmare. The carers themselves are mostly elderly & many will have health issues of their own. Even if they don't, they probably don't have the physical strength or resiliance to care for someone 24 / 7. I doubt there should even be an expectation that they can / should be doing it. But they probably will go on trying, because they loved the person their partner once was & would feel guilty if they didn't. The burden of guilt & unreasonable expectations can be intolerable & unsustainable for women in particular.
So, we have an ageing population living a lot longer. This saga isn't going to get better. Dementia is progressive & incurable. We do need to look seriously at this as a society, because one day, the chances are, it will be each one of us in this situation. We need to look at the needs of carers & the barriers to those needs being met.
Most of all we need to stop assuming that elderly women will do it for us on their own.
That all meant job security, a comfortable middle class lifestyle, a home of our own & ultimately a good pension.
But in one important way I don't think I was fortunate. I almost single handedly looked after my home & immediate family. Then when I retired on health grounds I had to look after my widowed father who became very ill & suffered from mild dementia. He finally died aged 89. After he died I looked after my widowed mother in law who also suffered from mild dementia & died aged 92. It could have been worse, it could have been all 4 parents. Life expectancy has risen over my lifetime. Had he lived, I might well have had to look after my husband who was older than me. I am currently trying to move closer to my daughter so I can play a part in caring for my grandchildren.
Women are, and have always been, "carers". Mostly we do what comes naturally & put ourselves last in the pecking order. Now, seemingly we are part of government policy because they have realised that we save them money - a huge amount of money. There is a movement afoot to avoid putting patients with dementia in care homes or hospitals. So lip service is being paid to "carers" needs.
I wonder how much thought the present young, predominantly male, leading politicians have given to this. Caring for your loved one with dementia is bad enough. Caring for someone who is no longer the person you married & has double incontinence in later stage dementia must be a living nightmare. The carers themselves are mostly elderly & many will have health issues of their own. Even if they don't, they probably don't have the physical strength or resiliance to care for someone 24 / 7. I doubt there should even be an expectation that they can / should be doing it. But they probably will go on trying, because they loved the person their partner once was & would feel guilty if they didn't. The burden of guilt & unreasonable expectations can be intolerable & unsustainable for women in particular.
So, we have an ageing population living a lot longer. This saga isn't going to get better. Dementia is progressive & incurable. We do need to look seriously at this as a society, because one day, the chances are, it will be each one of us in this situation. We need to look at the needs of carers & the barriers to those needs being met.
Most of all we need to stop assuming that elderly women will do it for us on their own.
Saturday 3 November 2012
Getting to know Samata "Bamboo" School
Samata1Bamboo
school is 6 years old & was founded by Uttam Sanjel. The original
Samata school was destroyed by parents & teachers because they
didn't understand what he was trying to achieve, which is education for very poor children. There are about 3,000
children here. A big rectangular courtyard / playground is surrounded by
bamboo huts roofed with corrugated iron. We didn't teach there as volunteers. We worked in the newer 2
year old school run by Laxmi the wife of the pricipal of Samata 1,Sushil. The layout is very
similar though – each hut is a fairly dark classroom, the only
lighting coming from unglazed windows covered with bamboo latticework
& a doorless doorway. Currently Uttam, the founder, has 14
schools in districts of Nepal. Women teach the younger children, men
teach the 14 – 16 year olds. Some older children teach younger
children.
When we arrived the children were doing the National Exams which they work
very hard to pass. It is common for children to get up very early in the morning to do
chores & homework, come to school & then do more homework
when they go home. A high percentage get good pass marks in the
exams. The family pays 100R a month for the school, which is very low. Some children
who come from villages away from KMD don't see their families for
months, which must be very hard for all of them. We talked to Uttam,
Sushil & some of the older children, who were a delight. Sushil
prides himself on being so strict that the children are frightened to
talk in front of him. Corporal punishment is commonplace, which was quite difficult for Western volunteers to see.
We visited the other Samata
school 5 minutes away & met the lovely Laxmi. Each classroom has
a wall painted with black paint as a blackboard, a dirt floor & old fashioned
metal & wood bench / desks which can seat 6 children. They are
all arranged in rows facing the blackboard, girls on one side, boys on the other. Unfortunately the timetables we had been sent were for Samata 1 and organisation of this
school is different to the older one. Contrary to what I had been told, I discovered that Samata 2
does actually have electricity, but it isn't connected up to the
classrooms so doesn't benefit the children.
Class Groups are quite mixed in age according to ability. Older students with poor English are kept down. They use the Oxford Reading Circle. Children provide their own paper, pencils etc, there are no central supplies. The school takes children from Nursery to Stage 7. There are 20 classrooms on each side, but only 21 are in use at the moment. Laxmi took us to look in some of the classrooms & introduced us to her deputy Binod who is 17 & has come through Samata school himself. It's all learning by rote by repeating what is written on the blackboard in the younger classes – (A – L / 1 – 10 / + 10 Nepali symbols. Also A is for apple etc). Bizzarely a teacher who can't speak English is teaching English in one class. Another teacher was really lovely with the children & did singing games with actions. The classrooms are completely bare with no charts, pictures or children's work displayed.
We overlapped with two of the previous volunteers Roger & Pauline which is very unusual, but very helpful. They obviously have great reservations about the whole scheme, including the money aspect, and gave us quite a bit of info. They suggested we should spend the £150 Saga money which comes out of what we pay for the trip while we are here. Pauline wanted us to let her know when / if the stuff they had “bought” actually arrived!
All would be revealed once we started teaching.
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