International Day for the Elderly
When, many years ago, I was teaching Religious Education, some of the most successful lessons we had revolved around a book: Northbourne Tales.
Published in 1976, by McGraw Hill, (no I am not being paid for the advert – I don’t even think that it is still in print), was written by Graham Cleverley and centered on a group of schoolchildren in a multi-cultural, muti-ethnic urban comprehensive school somewhere in England. It was, of course, a fictitious school in a fictitious town, but this scenario was used to explore a number of themes as seen and experienced by the various teenage students in the class. Coming from different backgrounds and representing different religions, we were able to explore how a variety of cultures treated topics such as the birth of a child, marriage and death.
To be frank, I was somewhat surprised, (if not amazed), by the success of the lessons. I was teaching in a large comprehensive school in rural Oxfordshire, a community which was predominantly – no, almost exclusively – Christian, where there were few immigrants. Indeed, the biggest “religious” controversy we faced when a Jehovah’s Witness was appointed to the staff – but as it happened, this proved to be a very useful challenge to the inculcated and imbedded prejudices that existed and the atmosphere that they created. In short, this school and environment was about as far removed from fictitious Northboure School as you could get. So much so, that when I placed the order for a set of the books, I played safe and only ordered a three-quarters set … not enough for one per pupil, so we would have to share copies, one between two, but enough so that there would be some spares in case we needed them.
I came to wish that I had ordered more. Classes that had previously showed no interest in religious education sat enthralled as we read the stories and actively entered into the discussion as we considered the issues explored in the content. Some of the pupils even asked if they could borrow a copy so that they could read it for themselves.
One of the aims of the first chapter was, of course, to introduce the various characters and their belief systems. Cleverley cleverly, (pun intended), chose to do this through the calendar. One of the Chinese students brought some fireworks into school and set them off to celebrate Chinese New Year. He didn’t seem to be a bit worried the trouble that it got him into, and this act of daring endeared him to everyone, especially to the most rebellious and recalcitrant members of the class – not just in the book, but in my classes as well. It led naturally into a discussion about the wisdom of such actions, and why he was punished; the risk of fire and need for fire drills; how different peoples celebrate and, naturally, to the idea people celebrating different “New Years” and the idea of different calendars and moveable feasts … just why does the date of Easter change every year?.
The class in the story decided to draw up a calendar of festivals. Each brought a list of festivals that they celebrated at home and in their community and gave the class a brief explanation as they constructed their own “multi faith calendar”, starting in January with the Gregorian New Year, (and, Chinese New Year), and ending up in December with Christmas … and David, the Jewish member of the group laughed as he exclaimed, “You can’t live in Britain and without knowing about Christmas!”
We couldn’t do the same because we didn’t have representatives of different faiths in the school. We did, however, try to extend the calendar. Everyone had find and bring in a list of holidays from around the world that weren’t already on the list, like: ANZAC day – Australia and New Zealand, 25th April; Martin Luther Day – United Sates, January 18th and Birthday of Marcus Garvey – Rastafarians, August 17th, and explain their importance to the class. They got extra points for anything really unusual, and , of course, some were pretty exotic. However, it was an interesting exercise and got people thinking in a way that they hadn’t shown previously.
I am not sure how well the exercise would work here. There are so many “unofficial holidays” – commemorating this or that. The Kyrgyz, and other nationalities here, seem to seize every opportunity for a celebration, no matter how minor. As well as the official Public Holidays, there are the “Professional holidays” such as Teachers’ Day – October 5th, Medical Workers’ Day – the first Sunday in July, the International Day of Tourism – September 27th and even Tax Inspectors’ Day (!) – July 1st.
They also mark with press conferences and special events like exhibitions, commemorative days such as: Mental Health Day – October 10th; World AIDS Day – December 1st; Human Rights Day – December 10th; International Mountains Day – December 11th ( … well, over 90% of the country is mountainous).
Much is also made of days like Children’s Day – June 1st, the International Day of Disabled Persons – December 3rd … and … the International Day for Older Persons – October 1st.
To be honest, I am not sure what effect these days have in reality.
Perhaps the most important thing is that they give the opportunity for the particular group to enter the limelight for just a short period – to have their “fifteen minutes of fame” as press conferences are held for government and local authority officials to announce this or that initiative to benefit them.
This year, for example, at an event called “From Heart to Heart”, one of the Deputy Prime Ministers stated that there were over half a million pensioners in the country – that’s about 10% of the population, which is in keeping with the global average according to the UN … but they also estimate that by by 2050 it will be 20% and a hundred years later 33.3% – and each year up to another 25,000 join their ranks. Something like 800 are accommodated in on or other of the six nursing homes in the country.
Simply because they have retired does not necessarily mean, however, that they have stopped work. For example, something like 10% of the civil servants working in state structures are “elderly people” and in many ways it is thanks to the elderly that many schools are able to stay open. There is a shortage of teachers and many of those working in the system are pensioners. There are also a wide variety of “self help groups” working under different schemes operated by 44 different voluntary associations in which several thousand work: sewing clothes, working with felt, producing pictures, making jam and growing fruit, all of which then goes for sale.
These days seem, however, simply to be an occasion for charitable organizations to appeal for support – sponsorship, either financial or “in kind”. This year, for example, we received a number of such appeals by organizations for the elderly, and it is always difficult to decide which ones to support and how – they are all worthy organizations but we can’t support them all. We already sponsor a number of local organizations who support the elderly and our resources are limited.
Now, “respect for the elderly” is inbuilt into the system. It’s even embedded into the Constitution – Article 37 states:
- in the Kyrgyz Republic, folk customs and traditions, that do not violate human rights and freedoms, are supported by the State.
- respect for elders, caring for loved ones, is the duty of everyone.
It’s even built into the legal system. The Aksakal, (literally “white beard”), is a respected institution in traditional Kyrgyz society and their is a system of Aksakal Courts, where elders adjudicate on various legal issues.
Despite this, however, when it comes to charitable causes, most people here seem to concentrate on charities that support children – apart from being vulnerable and often helpless they represent the future.
Ever since I first came here, however, I have felt more sympathy with the older generation. They reminded me of Boxer, the kind, loyal respectable but impressionable and easily led horse in George Orwell’s Animal Farm. All through the book he exclaims “I will work harder” and looks forward to his “retirement” in the pasture that has been set aside for elderly farm animals who have reached the end of their working life, only to die before he is entitled to benefit from it. These pensioners grew up in the Soviet Union, in a system that promised to look after them in just the same way, and then the system collapsed, their savings disappeared, and they, even if not destitute, are left with little help and support – especially those whose children have emigrated or disappeared like their savings – with pensions of only a few thousand som and nowhere near enough to sustain themselves.
Bishkek