The year in brief: I had a wonderful Himalayan experience
walking in Ladakh. I enjoyed hosting friends in Brecon. I worked to improve the
image of leprosy “New Face for Leprosy” in Ethiopia. I protested with 700 000
others against Brexit on the people’s march.
In August I walked for 10 days in
Ladakh, a dry Himalayan area in India bordering Tibet and Pakistan. There were
16 people (19-66 yrs) on an organized trek. Ladakh has high dry mountains with
beautiful rock formations. Leh, the
capital is at 3200m and we walked to above 4,000m. We drove up to the Khardung
La pass, the worlds highest café and had lemon tea there. The rocks colours
range from red to brown, beautiful to photograph. The highest points are decorated with
Buddhist prayer flags. We saw beautiful Bhuddist monasteries. The Indus starts
up here and the only trees are along the river. We walked, camped and had
interesting village homestays and talked to local people. The locals were
harvesting and drying their apricots; which I brought home for my neighbours.
They are Buddhist and so much less pushy than elsewhere in India and their social
structures are kinder to women.
My latest project is
called “A new face for leprosy”. When new
leprosy patients go on the Internet they see only pictures of patients with no fingers
and toes; whereas contemporary leprosy is a treatable infection. I tell new
patients that they have a 21 st century curable infection and most will not
develop disabilities. The NGO’s working in leprosy need these graphic images to
raise money. My patients have overcome the stigma of leprosy and progressed
with lives and careers. We aim to
capture this positive image of leprosy without stigma. Myself, Saba Lambert one of my team based in
Ethiopia and Alex Kumar, one of my DTMH students spent time in Ethiopia in Sept
photographing and interviewing patients.
We plan an exhibition for World Leprosy Day on Jan 27 2019 when there is
media interest in Leprosy. I celebrated the Ethiopia New year in Sept in Addis
Ababa with candles, bonfires and fireworks in the central square.
My friend Steve Walker was
appointed to the tropical dermatology consultant post at Hospital for Tropical
Diseases (HTD), he is the first black consultant at HTD, I was the first woman
consultant in 1994. Steve has worked
with me on leprosy for many years and will be taking over the NHS leprosy work.
I shall retire next June. I shall stay connected with leprosy work, a new
project will be writing a book about leprosy based on patients’ stories. This
will take me back to the places I have worked in the past. I plan to cross Russia on the trans-Siberian
train.
I have explored black culture
this year after hearing my hero David Olusoga’s talk at Hay about his book “Black
and British” about the under-recognised contribution black people have made to
British history. I saw the play the” Secret Lives of Baba
Segi’s Wives” (at The Arcola) by Lola Shoneyin, about a Nigerian man who takes more wives to mask his infertility
whilst they find their own solutions. The audience included appreciative
Nigerians enjoying the tale and the music and ready to dance. The novel “Stay with me” captures the
devastating effect infertility has on families and the lies that are told to
mask it, by Ayobami Adebayo a 30 yr old
Nigerian writer.
My friend Iain Reddish died
rapidly from bladder cancer in February. We were friends for 25 years, having
met canvassing for the Labour party in Islington in 1992. He moved to Amsterdam
and I visited him there often, also enjoying reconnecting with my Dutch roots. He
was my first stop for political analysis and reflection. He had a humanist
funeral In Holland with people speaking briefly about this colourful, warm,
thoughtful man who wore amazing clothes.
I wrote an obituary, with friends, published in The Guardian on Apr 20th.
His ex-partner (Alesha) and a Dutch
resident had euthanasia in June and escaped a debilitating neurological
illness. He is the second of my friends to die in Holland from euthanasia and
in both cases it given them peaceful final days and they said goodbye to family
and friends.
Using my mother’s house in Brecon
for hosting people has been a pleasure.
I love showing people around Brecon, walking in the Beacons and sharing
good food beside the River Wye. During
the Hay Literary festival I had many guests including Julia and Steph from
Paris, We heard Ben Zephaniah give a wonderful account of his life. Neil Young looks after the garden. I shall
make the house more mine with my own pictures and furnishings.
Gardening in the community
project in Arlington square connects me with my neighbours. The trees there had fine red autumnal
colours. I have a new gardening project to nuture and improve, Union Square,
the square closest to my home. It is smaller and has visitors with dogs and the
beds lack colour. We are now official and
the Friends of Union Square and will be gardening there.
I enjoyed celebrating 70 years of
the NHS and I took cakes from the Labour party to my local practice and the
HTD. I worked for the NHS for 37 years, over half of its life. I fear for the next 35 years. It is in a
fragile state. The Owen Sheers poem about the NHS had scenes from Wales including
Nevill Hall hospital, Abergavenny, captured the uniqueness of the institution
and how important it is to ensure that it lasts another 70 years. The effects
of 8 years of austerity are visible with poor social provision and rising
homelessness. I despair over Brexit and the many ways it will harm the
country. I am frustrated by Jeremy
Corbyn’s failure to give a clear opposition voice against Brexit. I was energized
by the Anti-Brexit march, 700 000 people marched peaceably and good naturedly
through central London.
Cultural Highlights included
hearing “The Rape of Lucretia” by Britten at the Arcola theatre, and seeing the
play “ The Jungle “ about life in the camp at Calais which I saw with my cousin
Jane and nephew Matthew. This highlighted the survivors tales of people living
in the camp. I had excellent weekends
away with friends, enjoying concerts at Snape Maltings and eating lobster in Suffolk with Rita. Irene
Allen and I found the leprosy museum in Bergen with its pictures of 19 century
patents very moving. I was walking in Haut Savoie with Les and Vera when France
won the World cup ad shared French joy. I explored a volcanic lake in Tanzania
with Saba.
Enjoy the
Solstice and may 2019 be a good year.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/15/iain-reddish-obituary
