A crazy world ...

Back home in Lewis, concentrating on getting every thing sorted for Christmas. Finn had the flu like virus whilst in Denmark & I think I might be next. I have had an on going problem with my thumbs, you don’t realize how important they are until they are painful to use, so we have decided the pigs will have to go and we will get new weaners in the spring. I had become very attached to the pigs especially Charlotte but this is what crofting is all about, living off the land and making it work for us.

I did go down with the flu Saturday before Christmas, couldn’t move from my bed for 2 days, Francesca went down with it on Christmas day, luckily just after she had opened her presents, Ron followed on boxing day and Rory yesterday. We are a house full of sick people, thank goodness it ‘s the holidays.

Ron and I have been following the news in Gaza , we are meant to be working there in 2 weeks time. It is horrific what is happening there. Having been there and seen how closely every one lives together it is impossible for civilians not to be hit. The mental health of the people is deteriorating rapidly.

We are meant to be doing some recovery training and teaching some future planning skills, how to do that in a meaningful way? I know it can still work we have had some fabulous success in Bethlehem, the Palestinians certainly understand hope but the fear of not surviving must be huge at the moment.

How can one persecuted people do this to another. The walls that have been built around Bethlehem are such ugly concrete monstrosities. They tower over you, imprison you and try to suck the spirit out of you. But the spirit of the people is still so strong. They hold their heads high as they are forced to wait hours to get through he check points. To be a mother in Gaza at the moment must be a terrible burden, how to keep your children alive and safe. I have just watched on television as they pulled the bodies of 5 sisters out of their bombed bedroom. We sure do live in a crazy world.

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Ron Coleman and Karen Taylor have an international reputation as speakers and authors. They are the directors of ‘Working to Recovery Limited’ an innovative international consultancy, training and publishing company with a cutting edge approach to supporting and improving mental health provision.

Amazing light, late night gardening and Ron leaves for Palestine

The light here is amazing at this time of year, We turned the lights off to go to sleep last night at midnight and semi daylight streamed through the edges of the blinds, it truly doesn’t get dark.
What is strange is how it affects you physically. The kids aren’t able to go to sleep until after 11pm, I often don’t feel tired until gone midnight, the other night I found myself gardening at 11.00pm. Would this be described as slightly manic behaviour on the mainland? What is interesting is the kids aren’t acting as if they are over tired & I feel full of energy.

I presume that on the dark winter nights all of us will want to sleep from early evening and catch up on all the lost sleep.

The light is certainly good for Ron’s tomatos. Never thought I would be jealous of a plant but he nurtures and talks to them more than me.

Ron is off to Palestine tomorrow. He will be working in Bethlehem hospital and other health centres on the west bank; unfortunately Gaza is still out of bounds.

Ron is going to be doing more in depth voices training with the staff; next week Dirk Corstens a fantastic social psychiatrist from Holland will join him. They will be doing some training together with the psychiatrists on voice dialoguing.

People are much more open to our ideas there. I wonder if it is because they have very little money to spend on anti psychotic medication so are more open to other forms of treatment.
Last time we were there together and ran a 5-day recovery course making recovery champions with some of the staff from Bethlehem hospital and the surrounding CMHT’s. The staff invests a lot of their personal money and time in gaining good degrees and postgraduate training.

What was truly amazing though was because of the crisis with receiving no eec funding the staff had not been paid for 6 months but still carried on going in to care for their patients, some how I cannot imagine that happening in the UK.