# 29 - Sunday Bells - No man is an Island

#29 - Sunday Bells

No man is an Iland, intire of it selfe; every man
is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a
Clod bee washed away by the Sea, Europe is the lesse,
as well as if a Promontorie were, as well as if a Mannorof thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans deathdiminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And
therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee." 

The prose quoted is John Donne's Meditation no. 17 from "Devotions upon Emergent Occasions" (1624):  and made famous in 1940 by Ernest Hemingway. in his book "For whom the bell tolls"

With all good intentions to attend the island church service this morning, it was not to be.  I received my first call out at 8, then 9, 1030 and 1130.  Having just returned from my 5th call on my day off (at 330pm) , I missed the opportunity to attend the service this morning, but was reminded, nay taunted by the church bell ringing to call the people to church.  I was ring for me, but Me couldn't get there because there were people to see.

What is it with these folk and boils?  I have never seen so many boils.  A small girl presented with multiple boils, 7 presentations in the last 12 months  for boils on her motop (you sit on your motop usually!!).  Normally when you come at children with needles and scalpels, the kids will start crying and carrying on...not this princess.  "been there done that"  she knew the drill.  It is sad really.

A researcher (Seligman)  did experiments electrocuting dogs in the 1960s, coined the term "Learned Helplessness"  where, knowing that there is no escape from an inevitable painful stimulus (in the dogs case it was an electric shock, the dogs subjected to the shocks stopped reacting, or even bracing themselves to the coming shock.  Some of these children are so used to having boils incised and drained, or painful LA Bicillin injections injections in their motop, that they hardly flinch.  There is in effect a form of learned helplessness.

So what is the answer?  The wider Torres medical and nursing community would suggest that these recurrent conditions are multifaceted.  Caused by substandard hygiene, over crowding (sometimes 3-6 kids in one bed), poor nutrition (Vit C , zinc, iron in the diet).  What ever the causes, these conditions are fairly isolated to these communities, and I am a little flawed as to why more awareness, and funding is not being thrown at this continuing problem.  Is it in the too hard box??  Has our federal health department received a dose of it's own learned helplessness?  Look I am not meaning to get political here, and nor is this a political issue, but as a White boy taking a look at a snapshot of a few indigenous communities in the Torres, in 2011.  These sorts of problems read like medical journal observations from the 60's and 70's.

For whom does the bell toll??

On a lighter note, my colleague Annie's  husband, Chris just returned from fishing off that reef ledge out the front of the clinic just now.  He has 100 pound line (45kg ish) on his lure and something just hit his rod and shredded the line like limp spaghetti .  His wire trace was snapped and a metal swivel was straightened!!!  I have decided not to go snorkling there tomorrow, but dead keen to see if I can lose a few lures.  The locals go down to the jetty on high tide and with a fresh hook, flick it through vast schools of sardines; foul hook them, and use them immediately as "injured, distressed live bait"  Trevelly and spanish Mackrell  love them.
I think that sounds like great fun...catch your bait, and then recast out to deep water to catch you dinner.
Hopefully by this time tomorrow afternoon (Queensland Birthday), I will be able to report a seafood feast.

Until tomorrow. Yawo!