Ashoop vir bejaardes

 Wat weet ons van die mishandeling en verwaarlosing van ons bejaardes? Daar is al soveel vordering gemaak op die gebied van diere- en (miskien) kindermishandeling (ongelukkig in daai volgorde), maar ons (Suid Afrika) is nog groentjies op die gebied van bejaardesorg (lees -beskerming). Almal verdien tog om met respek hanteer te word. Om met waardigheid oud te word.

Volgens die American Psychological Association:

“Every year an estimated 2.1 million older Americans are victims of physical, psychological, or other forms of abuse and neglect. Those statistics may not tell the whole story. For every case of elder abuse and neglect that is reported to authorities, experts estimate that there may be as many as five cases that have not been reported. Recent research suggests that elders who have been abused tend to die earlier than those who are not abused, even in the absence of chronic conditions or life threatening disease.”

Volgens Suid Afrika:

“Elder abuse is a relatively new phenomenon, not only in South Africa but globally and is emerging as a growing social problem.”

Ek kan nie dink dat dit ‘n ‘nuwe’ fenomeen is nie, maar ek kan dit nie staaf met statistiek nie. Wat natuurlik my probleem is. Ons almal weet dit gebeur al lankal, maar waar is die hofsake, studies, ens daaroor. Ek dink die publiek sal meer bewus gemaak moet word hiervan. Hel, speel op hulle gevoel soos die TV advertensies dit goed doen wat dieremishandeling betref.

Bygesê, Suid Afrika doen darem nie absoluut niks hieroor nie. Daar is ‘n organisasie genaamd Age-In-Action. Besoek hulle gerus hier. Sommige regte van ‘n bejaarde volgens Age-In-Action is (1) Toegang tot geskikte kos, water, skuilplek (verblyf), klere en mediese behandeling deur hul inkomste, familie en gemeenskapsteun en self-help. (2) Hulle behoort die geleentheid te hê om te werk of om toegang te hê tot ander inkomste-genererende geleenthede. Gaan loer gerus na die res op Age-In-Action se webblad onder RIGHTS.

Dis so ontstellend om te hoor van mense wat hul bejaarde moeder / vader / familielid in ‘n ouetehuis laat sit en dan van hulle vergeet. Dis ook ‘n vorm van mishandeling en verwaarlosing. Hierdie ou mensies kwyn weg. Soms van verlange en eensaamheid en soms is al wat hulle oor het in die lewe brokkies herinneringe (as moeder natuur nie so wreed was om hulle dit ook te ontneem nie). Hopelik goeie herinneringe. Om hulle nou nog te mishandel… Ek kan my dit amper nie indink nie.

15 Junie is WORLD ELDER ABUSE AWARENESS DAY. Ek hou asem op. Kom ons sien wat kan ons doen.

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“When an old lady died in the geriatric ward of a small hospital near Dundee, Scotland, it was felt that she had nothing left of any value. Later, when the nurses were going through her meager possessions, they found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital. One nurse took her copy to Ireland. The old lady’s sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas edition of the News Magazine of the North Ireland Association for Mental Health…And this little old Scottish lady, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this “anonymous” poem winging across the Internet.”

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An Old Lady’s Poem

What do you see, nurses, what do you see?
What are you thinking when you’re looking at me?
A crabby old woman, not very wise,
uncertain of habit, with faraway eyes?
Who dribbles her food and makes no reply,
when you say in a loud voice, “I do wish you’d try!”
Who seems not to notice the things that you do,
and forever is losing a stocking or shoe…..
Who, resisting or not, lets you do as you will,
with bathing and feeding, the long day to fill….
Is that what you’re thinking?
Is that what you see?
Then open your eyes, nurse; you’re not looking at me.
I’ll tell you who I am as I sit here so still,
as I do at your bidding, as I eat at your will.
I’m a small child of ten …with a father and mother,
brothers and sisters, who love one another.
A young girl of sixteen, with wings on her feet,
dreaming that soon now a lover she’ll meet.
A bride soon at twenty — my heart gives a leap,
remembering the vows that I promised to keep.
At twenty-five now, I have young of my own,
who need me to guide and a secure happy home.
A woman of thirty, my young now grown fast,
bound to each other with ties that should last.
At forty, my young sons have grown and are gone,
but my man’s beside me to see I don’t mourn.
At fifty once more, babies play round my knee,
again we know children, my loved one and me.
Dark days are upon me, my husband is dead;
I look at the future, I shudder with dread.
For my young are all rearing young of their own,
and I think of the years and the love that I’ve known.
I’m now an old woman …and nature is cruel;
‘Tis jest to make old age look like a fool.
The body, it crumbles, grace and vigour depart,
there is now a stone where I once had a heart.
But inside this old carcass a young girl still dwells,
and now and again my battered heart swells.
I remember the joys, I remember the pain,
and I’m loving and living life over again.
I think of the years ……all too few, gone too fast,
and accept the stark fact that nothing can last.
So open your eyes, people, open and see,
not a crabby old woman; look closer …see ME!! 

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