From Alice to Cuba

Spring has arrived and the giant birch standing beside the hospital is now covered in fresh green foliage. My humble garden is growing wonderfully providing herbs for the table, flowers for the bees and the miraculous unfolding of every new leaf feeding my awe at life. Meanwhile the temperature is steadily rising reaching the high 30s most of this past week – and summer is still a few months away!

News of ‘The Intervention’
The response to the ‘Aboriginal crisis’ is continuing to roll out. Dr. Jim Thurley, the coordinator of the central child health checks, visited Alice Springs Paediatric department and updated us on what was happening with this. He is a long-term NT resident, having worked as a Paediatrician and GP in Alice Springs and remote communities for the past 30 years. He signed on to the role of coordinator after reading with concern the initial intervention plans with the rationale, “it’s gonna happen, and I want to make sure it at least does some good”. The child health checks that are now being implemented are totally different from the initial idea. They are fully voluntary. They are comprehensive health checks. They do not aim to uncover sexual abuse – any suspicion of this requires referral to the sexual assault unit as per normal. They aim to see every child in the communities selected. They gather masses of information (that is sent to Canberra for compilation).

So far the outcomes have been pretty well as we would expect. There is a huge burden of infectious disease, especially chronic ear infection and skin infection. There are many children with anaemia, growth problems, and a few with heart murmurs previously undetected. This is a virtually identical picture to Dr. Thurley’s study in the early 1990s – showing that the health crisis is chronic and minimal improvement has been achieved. Dr. Thurley is cautiously hopeful.

“This survey will be the most comprehensive child health survey ever conducted in the NT. However, if it stops here it will be simply an enormous waste of time and money. The resources to address these problems is what is really needed… 300 teachers, 70 doctors, 3 ENT (ear, nose, throat) surgeons, billions of dollars worth of housing.”

This is an election year and all the pollies have been lavishly promising they will do what is needed. As citizens I believe we have a responsibility to keep them accountable. This is a unique historical opportunity, and if it is missed Australia will have another atrocity on our conscience.

Palm Valley

Here are a few pictures from my recent trip to Finke River National Park with my brother and a mate from Melbourne. It was an amazing place, and the views from the edge of the Amphitheatre among the best I have seen in the Red Centre. We did have a few close shaves trying to rock climb the sandstone cliffs – and I’m amazed we got away with all our limbs intact. The Ranger had a few words to say, but let’s not go there now…

Foster Parents
A couple of month ago Tristan came home and asked what I thought about becoming a foster carer. I thought it sounded alright and got a bit enthused as I imagined having a cute baby around the house. That night I had nightmares – poohey nappies, crying all night, sleepless nights and tiresome days… So I decided I better nut it out a bit more. Since then we contacted FACS (Family and Community Services – NT), submitted loads of paperwork, attended two long weekends of training, and finally completed our interview. Now we are registered as foster carers and will be on the list for Emergency and Respite care – expecting our first child in October.

Dinner with Fidel Castro
Did you know that Cubans are healthier than their USAmerican neighbours, despite the USA being 10 times wealthier, and spending 100 times the amount on health? Now check this. Cuba is now training doctors from the USA to serve poor communities back in the USA – and giving them full scholarships to do so! Wait a minute, surely this is some political ploy by Fidel in his ongoing wrestle with Washington?!?

Actually, Cuba has a long history of giving scholarships to train doctors from poorer countries around the globe – demanding only that the graduates return to their country of origin to work. The scholarships for USAmericans is apparently an extension of this, instituted after Fidel Castro met with the Mayor of a relatively poor US city and heard that the local predominantly African-American citizens could not afford to study Medicine. Fidel surprised the Mayor with his intimate knowledge of the health statistics of his electorate – then blew his mind by offering full scholarships to study Medicine in Cuba.

So I invited Fidel around for tea (via DVD) and he got chatting about his response to a run of hijackings in 2003. The film, Looking for Fidel, contained a string of interviews with Fidel Castro, exploring the Cuban social situation and particularly the multiple hijackings of 2003. In one scene, Fidel sat down with a dozen hijackers who were about to go to trial and candidly listened to their thoughts. At one stage he asked them what they thought the solution was to stop the hijackings! No doubt their answers were carefully constructed in view of their delicate legal position. But imagine John Howard sitting down with some of those asylum seekers he likes to label ‘illegals’, or perhaps the APEC protestors he likes to ridicule. Which reminds me, Chaser team – I salute you!

Alice Springs - Solar City

Finally, a quick pic from Hermannsberg community - each of these solar dishes produces enough electricity for 10 households. Alice Springs has recently been granted millions of bucks as part of the Federal Solar City project - so we may have a few more of these pop up in the next few years.

Greetings to you all, and a special cheerio to all of you now fasting for Ramadhan – may your month be full of peace and blessings!