BootsnAll Travel Network



Articles Tagged ‘health’

More articles about ‘health’
« Home

meaningful

Friday, January 1st, 2010

Auckland, New Zealand

It was a meaningful conversation. It was with an older lady, who has been unable to work in paid employment for fifteen years. When she suffered her accident she was still only middle-aged, and expecting to work for a good many more years in a job she thoroughly enjoyed and had been doing since her youth. While she may not have drawn another pay cheque since that fateful day, and while she may not have returned to her regular place of employment – or any other for that matter – she has still had work to do. She has had the work of recovery, the work of bearing pain, the work of finding a new role in her community. And you know what? There are people who say to her, and others who insinuate it, that she does not contribute meaningfully to society. Hearing this reminded me of our situation. When we had our fifth child and made public the decision to educate the children at home (the eldest had just turned six and was now required by law to attend school), a dear friend remarked something along the lines of, “I’ll be watching with interest what you do with your life after the kids. You had such potential. You had so much to give.”

It would seem if you are not earning a wage and not in a recognised workplace, the work you do remains unrecognised and perhaps worthless. In our situation we were even accused of choosing the selfish option – refusing to put our children in school meant I would impact far fewer children in my lifetime, not being able to teach someone else’s kids all day if I was with my own. But is economies of scale the best or even *only* measure? In reality, I couldn’t do what I believe about education in a classroom, and I fear I am inadequate to the task of taking on the whole system singlehandedly. Is it really selfish to keep our children out of the cookie-cutter-moulds, to proactively create a rewarding family life, to spend time producing organic food, to practise hospitality, to provide a model of educating myself (I have learnt more in the last decade than any of my university certificates prove in spite of none of this knowledge being “accredited”)….disclaimer: we have plenty of friends who are completely happy sending their children to school and manage to create a fantastic family environment too, so I am not saying Thou Shalt Live Your Life As We Live Ours in order to be successful…..

Dare I generalise?
In richer places (and that obviously includes New Zealand) retirement for most means the end of work. This is generally accepted and remains unquestioned across the breadth of society. But I believe it is because we have such a narrow view of work. Work must equate to income. If we could recognise that providing friendship, taking a meal to the sick, picking flowers for a neighbour, reading aloud to a blind man, cleaning out gutters, raking up leaves and writing a letter was work, we might realise that pensioners DO contribute to their communities. And young mothers at home do and the disabled do, to name but a few more.

As for the lady who sparked my line of thought, she is available to meet people in need, to be a listening ear to those who are grieving and suffering in their own lives. She may not do it in an office, she certainly doesn’t get paid for it, but is it not a meaningful contribution to society? Just ask the people she has listened to.

PS For lunch on our Romanian potato bread we had a trip-inspired Jgirl15-cooked concoction: eggplant, onions, loads of garlic crushed in our brought-home-from-Romania-garlic press,  a bowlful of tomatoes and then some more, pepper and salt all cooked up into a spreadable mush. No pictures though coz we’re out of the travelling habit of constantly using the camera.

where are we?

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

Eceabat, Turkey (via Pergamum and Canakkale)

Immediately after breakfast severe cramps grip my stomach. Could it be the super-salty pickles we just ate with our eggs and tomatoes? Surely not that quickly! Is it perhaps the pide we ate for dinner last night? Quite possibly – we were charged 50% more than the verbally quoted price, and maybe it left more than just a stale taste in the mouth! There’s certainly no denying – as the day proceeds I look greener and greener and become decreasingly aware of my surroundings….where are we?

We start the day at Ancient Anywhere. Actually, it’s Pergamum, but when you don’t feel so crash hot, all crumbling stones look much the same.

then there really should be a picture of Rob, but he was behind the camera all day, so here’s one more cute girl he snapped….

We could be in Italy – the buildings sport Italian-looking stone work, outdoor ovens, and there’s an abundance of yellowish-green pine trees.

We could be in Greece – the countryside has that rocky (no, boulder-y) look.

I hallucinate back to yesterday (just kidding – I merely remember!) The countryside had taken on a kiwi flavour for a while – rolling scrub-covered hills, dark pines, sheep.

I’m brought back to the present as a dog runs out onto the road. This could be Cambodia.

After driving five hours over winding roads (on an empty stomach, which, in retrospect was a bad idea!), we reach the ferry terminal, and we could be anywhere in Asia. Extreme Asia. Here people don’t just stroke the children’s hair – they smother the little girls with kisses, taking the wee faces in their hands and plastering their shows of affection all over the slightly hesitant cherubs. Ah, that’s right – such intense displays have been reserved for Turkey – that’s where we must be.

As the boat docks, we see the lights from the hostel – thank goodness it’s easy to find! Without further ado, we all crawl into bed to face a bad night – it’s one of our squeeze-into-only-six-beds-due-to-cost-nights. To make matters worse, it’s one of our find-a-hostel-room-with-no-window nights too. This will not be a day to forget.

if you go up in the woods today….

Friday, November 20th, 2009
Brasov, Romania You might meet a bear and you could go by cable car. But true to our tradition, we walked. And when you’ve walked to the top, you don’t want to take the cable car down; you want to run, trip ... [Continue reading this entry]

when everything goes wrong in the kitchen…

Thursday, November 19th, 2009
Brasov, Romania …you end up with a lot of corn. A LOT! Perhaps it all started last night. Someone burnt the rice, but salvaged a fair portion of it. En route to the table he dropped it. Someone else put the oats on to ... [Continue reading this entry]

new

Monday, November 16th, 2009
Brasov, Romania New apartment. New neighbourhood. New market. New prices (surprisingly more like Germany than Poland) Leo and Lili organised an apartment for us to rent for our month here. We said we only needed a small one, but this was an impossibility. No-one ... [Continue reading this entry]

it’s surprising he came with us at all

Thursday, November 5th, 2009
Krakow, Poland “We should take a picture for Grandpa!” ”And one of the sticker too” ”I know! Why don’t you put it on your ear?!”

It all started in Mongolia. We stayed in gers, and gers are ... [Continue reading this entry]

boys need daddies

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009
Krakow, Poland Look how nippy it was this morning:

And last night it was –11*C in Brasov, where we are soon headed, so everyone is hoping the forecast snow will be a biggie! Anyway, I digress, ... [Continue reading this entry]

down nostalgia lane

Saturday, October 31st, 2009
Krakow, Poland From ulica Batorego we used to walk to the Stary Kleparz (the old market you’ve seen in previous posts). This time we are staying virtually at the market and we walked back to Batorego, home to the second ... [Continue reading this entry]

then and now; old and new

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
Krakow, Poland  Letterboxes. You wouldn’t think there’s much to say about a letterbox, would you? But they symbolise today’s observations. Down in the lobby of our inner-city hostel, just like in all the other old buildings and new apartments in Poland, ... [Continue reading this entry]

conversations

Saturday, August 1st, 2009
by Rachael Uzerche, France We’ve been away from home for 300 days today! Jboy13 is keeping count <wink> In Asia we had a standard conversation with everyone we came across. Are you one family? Yes. How many children are there? Eight. Ah you are so lucky. Thank you. Where ... [Continue reading this entry]