Beyond Boundaries, for Age Care

Delegation from ‘Vietnam National Commission on Ageing’ consisting of members from government & NGO working with Elderly under leadership of Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan , Head of Office, Vietnam National Commission on Ageing recently visited India on Study Tour on Invitation of Sailesh Mishra, Founder President of Silver Inning Foundation – a not for profit organization dedicated for the cause of Senior Citizens.

This visit facilitated meeting & exchange of knowledge between various NGO’s/Organisation working with Elderly in both countries, which shares historic relationship. This networking meeting will help people from both the countries to understand issues and needs of the Elderly and work out solutions as required by country specific.
The diversity of culture and tradition in South East Asia has its own dynamics in care for elderly. There is a world out there that lends to us different cultures, different lifestyles, and educational, social, religious and political views.
We get entangled in our everyday lives and take most things for granted. It is important to enrich our lives with experiences from other countries for a lot of reasons; the social aspect, seeing how other people lives so that we can respect and appreciate the life that we lead.

The consequences of demographic change in Asia, with the continuously growing Elder population is a huge challenge.Asian countries need to increase knowledge about how to promote good social, healthy life among Elders with preserving our culture & tradition in changing globalization so as to promote health and quality in later life stages.

Policy-makers need good outlines to make decisions, based on research and good practice. This in turn requires that the “bridge” between research and public policy is open and constructive. NGO’s and Senior Citizens play major role in helping the policy makers making an elder friendly policy.

According to the 2009 estimate in Vietnam 9% of population of the country is of Elders 60+ , about 7.5 million. According to the forecast of the UN Population Program due to a decrease in the birth rate & an increase in life-span , by 2025 the Elder population in Vietnam will be about 17% of the total population & 25% by 2050.
In Vietnam traditionally, the elderly are respected in the family and are recognized to have contributed to the cause of constructing and defending the nation and have a lot of life experience. The elderly play significant role in maintaining the traditional value of the family, in educating the children and in different social activities of the community.

Elders in Vietnam actively participate into the family life and social life. In the family, the voices of older persons are important to their children. They contribute to both spiritual and material life of the family, in many cases helping to ensure the sustainability and happiness of the family. For the community, older persons participate in economic activities and continue contributing to producing material properties. Older persons play the key role in social activities, developing “cultural family”, “cultural residential area”, “learning society”, preventing social vices such as drug addiction, prostitution in the residential area. The elderly also have active contribution to the development of policies of the authority.

Vietnam has a saying “the Young rely on their father, the elderly rely on their children”, which means when you grow old, the elderly have to rely on the care of their children. Most of the elderly in Vietnam earn their income by doing farming, and do not have pensions so they need their offspring to take care of and meet their needs when they are too old. These days, in the context of the market economy, there is some change in the value; some of the elderly have prepared for their old age, but the majority still needs the caring from the children, especially those without any savings. The successful people with wealthy life still secure the needs of their old parents and can take care of older people when needed.

In current scenario there is a trend of increasing nuclear family and decreasing extended families. In the market economy, the young generation concentrates on making money for their living and have to migrate to urban area. There are some young people without incomes or employment, and those addicted to drugs, violating the law, etc. they pose difficulties for ensuring older peopled to be taken care of and in many cases bring about burden for the elderly.

In order to assist families in caring for the elderly, the Vietnam government has implemented different policies. The role of social organizations, NGOs and private organizations are strongly promoted thanks to the policy of broadening the participation of the society in caring for the elderly. The social organizations like Women’s Union, Vietnam Red Cross and international NGOs, as well as donors, etc. have made significant contribution to developing caring services for the elderly, which is still in shortage in Vietnam. The government is formulating new policy and programme for elderly. The Vietnam delegation visited capital city of New Delhi, commercial capital Mumbai and retirement paradise city Pune.

The first meeting was held at Helpage India HO at New Delhi with Mr.Mathew Cherian, CEO & his Team of Directors. Sailesh Mishra of Silver Inning Foundation was also present with the delegation. Helpage India shared information about their activities and their new vision for Age Care. It was an interactive information sharing meeting. Both the countries felt that there has been increase of neglect and abuse cases. Helpage India also assured of help to the delegation with regards to capacity building. The delegation was given CD’s of documentary of various activities and on issues of elderly.

In Mumbai the delegation visited Geriatric Psychiatry dept of The BYL Nair Charitable Municipal Hospital. Dr.R.V.Rananavare - The Dean, Dr. Charles Pinto - Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, Dr. Alka Subramanian, Dr.Vinod Gangooli from The BYL Nair Charitable Municipal Hospital and Sailesh Mishra of Silver Inning Foundation were present. The delegation was impressed with the care and services offered to underprivileged by the public hospital. It also got the information of Geriatric Psychiatry clinic run by the hospital. Nair Hospital is a Tertiary care hospital one of the four big public hospitals attached to medical College in Mumbai city. The delegation was informed about growing incidence of mental illness in elderly including Dementia/Alzheimer’s’. Dr.Alka informed the delegation about high number of Diabetic, High Blood Pressure, Depression, Cardiac and Infectious realted illness in elder population. Dr.Charles Pinto explained the working of the Geriatric Psychiatry dept and the hospital. Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan wished if Vietnam could have such medical facility in each district.

The delegation also participated in Networking meeting of NGO’s & Organization’s working with Senior Citizens in India at Center for Life Long Learning, Tata Institute of Social Science, (TISS) Mumbai. Prof. Nasreen Rustomfram - Chairperson, Centre for Lifelong Learning ,Prof. Siva Raju – Demographer & Social Gerontologist , Mr. Sandip & Mr. Darpan Ved from TISS ;Dr.Kinjawadekar & Mr.Chapke from AISCCON ; Mr.Vijay Aundhe from FESCOM ; Mr.S.Mahapatra from GIC Pensioners Association ; Mr.R.S.Desai from All India Bank Retirees Federation ; Ms.Shobha Philips & Ms. Regina from YWCA Asha Kiran; Prakash Borgaonkar & Vallerian Pias from HelpAge India ; Ms.Mona , Sailesh Mishra from Silver Inning Foundation & Ms.Laxmi Rao Project Coordinator from 1298 Senior Citizens Helpline were present for the meet. Prof.Parsuram Director of TISS chaired the meet but had to leave early for an urgent meet. Sailesh Mishra gave an overview of Indian Ageing and NGO’s working in India. Prof. Siva Raju shared Situation Analysis of Indian Ageing and Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan gave presentation on Country report of Vietnam Ageing scenario. It was followed by Q & A session and we all got to know more about respective country ageing issues. The Indians were impressed by the work done by Vietnam government, NGO’s and Community for their Aged. The Health Insurance and Community care of Vietnam elderly was appreciated. Representative from Vietnam delegation wanted to know if there can be support from prestigious institute like TISS on this Prof. Nasreen assured of the support and also informed a Tailor made programme/course can be made available. She also expressed her desire on behalf of TISS to strength the social science particularly in developing countries. Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan invited a delegation from India to visit Vietnam. We all expressed our desire for exchange of resource/people among developing countries and developed nations vice versa for creating better social infrastructure for Age Care. Sailesh Mishra hoped if UN agency or International Community could come forward and encourage such networking among transnational organisation, expert and Senior Citizens.

To get the first hand experience with elder care facility delegation visited Harmony Day Care Center at Harmony Interactive Centre managed by Harmony for Silvers Foundation in central Mumbai. It was amazing to see the interaction among Senior Citizens and the Delegation. Hiren Mehta, Vitista Dhar and Amrita from Harmony and Sailesh Mishra from Silver Inning Foundation were present. ‘Harmony Celebrate Age’ and Harmony memento was presented to the delegates.

The Pune tour included visit to ATHASHRI Retirement Township for Independent Living. The staff of the township gave a tradition Indian Welcome to the entire Delegation member with a huge beautiful Garland. Dr.Vijay Rhayakar - Resident Manager , Ms.Neela Deshpande - Administrative Officer from Athashri and Sailesh Mishra & Laxmi Rao from Silver Inning Foundation were present. The delegation was shown the different facilities including Kitchen, Dining, Club House, Library, Temple, Sample Flat, Gym etc . They were also taken to ‘Continuing Care Center’ for assisted living. We all were amazed by Elder Friendly Design and Infrastructure & by generous and committed staff. The delegation also enjoyed a ride on Electric open car.
The Pune & India tour reached its climax with the Meeting with International Longevity Center – India (ILC –I) and representatives of SCOs, Govt. officials. Dr.S.D.Gokhale ,Mr.Jayant Umranikar, Mr.Prakash Ahirekar and Ms.Anjali Raje from ILC –I ,Dr. Gururaj Mutalik former WHO Director & Mr.Prakash Jawdekar, Wing.Commnd. Marathe, Mr.Avinash , Colonel Athawale and representative from FESCOM & Association of Senior Citizen's Organisation of Pune (ASCOP) were present . Ms. Lan gave info about Ageing in Vietnam. She stressed the need of Shelter for Aged and hope if we could help them. She also bought to the notice importance of Transport facility for Elderly and how difficult it is for them to avail this facility. Ms.Lan also informed that the Vietnam Govt. is drafting a new policy /Programme for Elderly. Dr.S.D.Gokhale informed about Review of NPOP (National Policy of Older Person) and assured help for framing a policy for Elderly in Vietnam. Dr.S.D.Gokhale also shared information on ILC- I ‘Leadership Exchange Programme’ between different countries. Dr.Mutalik talked about establishing ILC-I ‘Information Exchange Center for Ageing’ which could help to share and explore recourses for aging.
In the end Dr.Kinjwadekar of AISCCON & on behalf of all the organisation working with/for Senior Citizens in India gave ‘Silver Inning Foundation Memento’ to each member of the delegation. Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan gave Memento to Helpage India , The BYL Nair Charitable Municipal Hospital, ATHASHRI , TISS and Harmony for Silvers Foundation.

Sailesh Mishra of Silver Inning Foundation , the host and facilitator thanked the Vietnam National Commission on Ageing, Helpage India , The BYL Nair Charitable Municipal Hospital, ATHASHRI , ILC-I , TISS, Harmony for Silvers Foundation , AISCCON, FESCOM, ASCOP, YWCA, GIC Pensioners Association , All India Bank Retirees Federation , 1298 Senior Citizens Helpline , Center for Lifelong Learning- TISS & other organizations working with Senior Citizens for their unconditional support for this Transnational Networking ‘Beyond Boundaries, for Age Care’. He also hopes to facilitate more such visits and sought invitation for Indian delegation visit abroad. Organization and Country interested to Network for the welfare of our Elder can contact Silver inning Foundation. This interaction and networking was also possible due to mentorship of Prof.Joseph Troisi and INIA, Malta.

Year 2011, Planet Earth, Time is Now. Switch Of

It’s no secret that humans are the dominant race on earth. A small education will tell you that hasn’t always been the case. In all our pride and vainglory we tend to forget that we are just one of the many species on the planet. We didn’t make a decision to let earth house us; we were put here, rather appeared by chance and as luck would have it we also happen to be the custodians of all this wonder and marvel that we don’t own and have done nothing to make possible. We rule. Don’t we?

Every activity that defines human habitation has done only harm to the planet. Every attempt to tame nature for our bloating needs has added something to the natural mix that doesn’t fare well with the all-important environment – that too, just to make sure we get cool air indoors or a shorter time travelling to the movies maybe. Earth has millions of species. We have just one earth. From the point of view of someone in need we are clearly not being very careful.

It’s as if humans, as a collective, have subconsciously accepted that we aren’t welcomed everywhere. Why would we be? Chance, evolution, biology, Gaia (if you believe in it) has been careful enough to populate itself with a variety of flora and fauna; much more complex and beautiful. There’s proof everywhere that earth wasn’t designed with humans in mind. What do we do on realizing that? We take it in our stride and barge into the next available piece of land, or atmospheric layer, to leave our mark on. If I were earth, I’d find humans very annoying.
Our entire presence has been expended in trying to master nature and all that it stands for. True, our knowledge has grown but so has our need to acquire more just for the sake of growth. Human history has many examples to show what happens when action loses reason. The most violent chapters in history are testaments to deeds accomplished with reason suspended. We seem headed to be reduced to just a violent chapter in the history of earth; one that no one will be around to read.

There have been many calls for action in the past. How you responded then and how much of a loss was your unavailability is not to be delved on now. You have your chance to respond positively to a new call. March 26, 2011, 8:30 pm Earth Hour.

All we need is for you to switch off all your lights for an hour. This is the smallest step you can take to show that you are willing to make a change to your way of living in favour of the planet.
It wouldn’t be unreasonable if you ask what Earth Hour actually stands for. We’ve put together a small quiz for you to better understand the symbol of a lightless hour and also realize where you stand in relation to the need for change.

Transform your online zeal into offline activism

Each one of us has different strength, different surroundings. Our priorities are also based on the need of our immediate surroundings. Think about what your locality/town/city needs the most, and then try to find out whether you could help make a difference.  Talk to your youth club and community leaders. Get support from your friends and the local people (their parents).  Does it sound fun? If it doesn’t, then stop complaining. Stop saying, “The government is sleeping…”

Each one of us has his/her own way of doing things and a set of special needs. Try to understand what you’re passionate about and then proceed with the painful task of thinking. Be realistic. A solution to any social problem that has existed for several years cannot be found immediately. Even if you think you’ve found a solution, it might take years to get into effect or produce a visible change. 

We have listed 10 ways you could transform your online zeal into offline activism: Part 1 and Part 2.

You could choose any one of these 10 ideas and get into action. There are many ways you could contribute. You could also create a group: http://www.jaagore.com/groups and post links of your activities and discussions on our Facebook page to inform and get more people to participate. It’s likely that you’ll get a lot of responses but please remember, there is no substitute to the offline work—the real work, if you like. 

If all your online enthusiasm doesn’t transform into the real world, congratulations! You’ve become just like those people who are enormously passionate about a social cause but have no real intention whatsoever to do the boring, hard work. 

“An idealist believes the short run doesn't count. A cynic believes the long run doesn't matter. A realist believes that what is done or left undone in the short run determines the long run.”— Sydney J. Harris

Conserve Energy Conserve Life

One aspect of knowledge is that is tends to make its possessors cynical. When the hidden complexity of seemingly simple systems makes itself apparent our incapacity to master the system in its entirety is the first realization we afford ourselves. This, I am speaking in reference to the environment. With awareness and scientific attitude on a rise it is becoming increasingly stark that the numbers of things we have contributed negatively to the planet majorly outweigh the positives, which happen to be zero. We like to think that the special status we have that has been provided to us by chance as the dominant specie also sanctions the license to use the planet as a workshop and see how much of our products it can take before it starts giving things back.

Most activities that can be associated with human habitation are in some way or the other harmful to the environment. For example, electricity, the most revolutionary human discovery comes with tremendous harmful emissions to the environment irrespective of the generation method. Hydro electricity releases superheated water in the water bodies which charge aquatic extinction as fees for keeping our houses lit. Thermal electricity releases fumes, which after going through various layers of the atmosphere and causing havoc there, returns back to us in some or the other form that is not appreciated by humans. There’s some justice here, if you are looking for it, as in this case we are the ones causing damage to ourselves to keep our houses lit. But then we pay the electricity bill anyway. We, however, fulfill our responsibility as caring species of the planet by mulling over which method will cause lesser damage and try to implement that with a greater gusto.

Modern structure of the world is such that there are provisions made for most concerns that a considerable section of the population can have. Sounds ideal? Now you should know that the concept of ideal is a total abstract. There is nothing ideal in this world. The downside of this facility is that unless your concern becomes a concern to a major section it does not merit a hearing. This is where the need to be able to take measures on your own comes to the foreground. A single person, a single locality, a single district, a single town, a single state and even a single country cannot undo changes happening in a foreign country that cause havoc in your backyard. There’s no point in waiting for international legislation to come to your rescue. You can start with changes in your own life. Energy conservation doesn’t have to be a public undertaking.

Global warming and warming up to responsibility

Our general discourse daily spans a wide variety of topics. We take sides in national politics, pass judgment on politicians, make unrealized suggestions on civic matters and ardently support our national team. We have sure solutions for corruption and the crowded public transport. We are all, without a doubt, tremendously knowledgeable on world history and the culture of India. Furthermore, all these activities are accomplished while maintaining a healthy interest in the private lives of actors, actresses, cricketers, politicians, businessmen and the girl/guy from the opposite building. Life is busy.

We even have ingenious solutions to all the environmental problems plaguing our planet. Take global warming as an instance. Our simple understanding is that earth is getting warmer and ice is melting. That’s comprehension enough for us to provide environment altering solutions or at least account for half an hour of office travel time on certain weekdays. We however fail to realize that the casual resignation that we practice towards most other aspects of modern life will be of fatal consequence to not only ourselves but to the entire planet in case of Global Warming. There’s always someone or the other to pass the responsibility onto about everything else. In this case the responsibility will have to be shouldered by all of us. Together.

The above-mentioned basic understanding of Global Warming is of little use in getting people to move towards making environmental changes. That’s the shortcoming of easy-to-consume, fast-food variety descriptions of important issues. They are consumed real fast and real wide, real quickly, but fail to leave any noteworthy impact. Global Warming is essentially a scientific issue. Unless we have an understanding of the scientific basis for tall claims by environmental organizations, we will not be able to promise full support to the cause. The earth is getting warm but how and why do we need to be bothered by it? Do we realize how close the problem is to every one of us? Have we contributed to the crisis?

Here’s a quick description.
Any activity which unbalances the amount of carbon dioxide in atmosphere contributes to global warming. Carbon Dioxide absorbs heat which should ideally escape back to space and thus ends up increasing the temperature of the planet. Increased temperature melts ice, changes climate and causes havoc. Some of the major activities responsible for global warming are as casual as burning of fossil fuels, using vehicles and deforestation.

The casualness of these activities has a two-fold aspect. It is what makes them widespread and at the same time leaves the possibilities of change in the hands of each and every one of us.

We all dream of playing a part in the shaping the planets future. A potential global catastrophe like environment shift can surprisingly serve as the reason to bring everyone together. With information dissipation on a rise and awareness of environmental issues gaining importance it is only a matter of time before the big corporate interests are made to relent into giving way to big legislation changes leading to betterment in our handling of the environment.

There is however no reason to wait for governments and businessmen to play heroes who save the earth against disaster. There are small steps we can all take that will go a long way eventually and also serve as proof that we have, though on a small level, made a change we can be proud of.

Earth Hour: Switch off your lights, switch on your minds

In India last year, more than five million people and 56 cities switched off their lights for one hour to call for immediate action for climate change that saved approximately 1000 MW of power. (Wow!)

The Indian government reciprocated by announcing its commitment to slow the growth of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 prior to the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen.

That one hour that showed that we can all make a difference at an individual level is called Earth Hour. It’s a WWF initiative which sends across an inspiring message of hope and action for climate change by doing something very simple — turning off our lights for one hour. Earth Hour 2010 continues to be a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community to stand up, to show leadership and be responsible for our future.
Celebrities and cricketers including Aamir Khan, Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble have supported the cause with Abhishek Bachchan pledging his support as the brand ambassador. Key historic and landmark buildings like Qutub Minar, Red Fort, Humanyun’s Tomb and Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus switched off their lights on Earth Hour 2009. Connaught Place in Delhi and Brigade Road in Bangalore offered a unique visual spectacle with just the essential lights turned on. And of course Jaago Re! is a huge fan of this initiative!

This year more than one billion people are expected to switch off their lights in over 6000 cities around the world for one hour on Saturday at 8:30 pm local time.

Join the cause, if you care to show to the world that India is united in its stand against global warming and is demanding immediate action. Switch off your lights. Switch on your minds.

Take action against politicians who abuse power

These politicians are really a big trouble for citizens. They don’t have any civic sense and they are always with a group of useless and brainless people who think that they are the ultimate. They don’t think about the citizens or how much trouble they are causing to them. I live in Hyderabad, near hi-tech city. There is a small politician who owns a hotel in front of my building. Actually he has constructed his hotel on to the road (beyond his area), without proper parking space or emergency measures like fire accidents. He has constructed generators room on the road. But the municipality or government or police don’t take any action against him. They are not even willing to register complaint against them and whenever any resident asks them to move their vehicles, they manhandle them.