I
am in my final week of work at Sambhavna and it is raining. Not that I think
the two are related but it has been something like the wettest winter ever and
the coldest.
I
remember when I went to live in Greece that it was in the wettest winter for
something like 80 years and the following year was the coldest for about 50.
On
19 Feb, I wrote in my diary that it seemed as if my final two weeks were going
to be a series of ‘Indian’ days as I had another one today! In the end that
day, I did 9 sessions but the first two didn’t come, though Sunil, who should
have come at 08:35 and had missed a couple of sessions, came at about 11:30 but
had to wait until 13:00 as Anwar and Saligram were on time. Amzad also came at
the same time – he had missed two sessions also so I had put someone else in
his old slot and had to reschedule him for tomorrow. I rather suspect that he
had been pain free but the pain has returned, as I could expect if we haven’t
had enough sessions to complete fully. So he came along again saying he felt a
burning sensation down the right side of his neck. His symptoms go back a year
but flared up a week or so ago.
Then
I slotted in Sunil and arranged him for 08:30 tomorrow so he can go to work
afterwards. Will he come? Then Shabnam came over to say there was a new patient
waiting! Shabiha is a very serious case so I hope we can help in the seven days
I have remaining. Her MRI report shows neck and lumbar spine problems with disk
desiccation and bulging as well as several other issues.
Surprisingly,
the next day everyone turned up on time!
This
week, my final before I am off to Vietnam on a course and the ‘Indian’ flavour
is getting hotter. Not only that but I have had three new patients this week!
I’m not sure what I can do with such little time. However one has not even come
for his first appointment.
*****
Aziza
said “you have a patient waiting. An old man.” That ‘old man’, I said is a year
younger than I am! That set me to thinking about the appearance of people here
because this is not the first time for this sort of remark.
What
is it that makes some people ‘older’ than others? Often not just in appearance
but also in attitude and behaviour? I would guess that poverty has much to do
with it, especially here. Then how about expectation? Lifestyle, family and
work, nutrition, opportunity and the way s/he is treated?
Maybe
there is an entire book in those thoughts.
*****
Some more things you might not know
·
it
was between 3,000 and 15,000 that died on 3 December, depending on who is counting.
·
that
at least another 20,000 have died since as a direct result.
·
that
many families had only one parent surviving and some families were wiped out.
·
the
compensation went to only 573,588 of the victims. About $500 equivalent each.
·
the
compensation works out to 3p if spread to all the people who should
have received it.
·
these
people will suffer* for the rest of their lives. And some of them are still in
their early 30s.
·
about
the water pollution because toxic chemicals dumped on and around the site have
been washed into the ground water source.
·
that
these poisonous chemicals and heavy metals are still being washed into
the soil and spreading the water pollution by 200 metres every year.
·
that
people still have to drink this water.
·
that
babies born to parents exposed to the gas or water are several times more
likely than babies in the rest of India to have some form of congenital
malformation**.
·
that
no-one knows when this inheritance will stop. If ever. Probably never.
·
that
Dow Chemical bought UCC in 2001 and refuses to accept any liability.
·
that
Dow still will not tell the Indian Government the exact gases to which
people were exposed to and their effects on the body.
* Health problems include
lung and breathing problems, many gynaecological issues including sterility,
blindness. Cancer rates are high, diabetes rates are high, asthma rates are
high, hypertension (high blood pressure) is high.
And it’s raining lots here!
