Cricket frenzy

Wow...that has been an intense week, everyone was pushed to their limits!
 Radio, TV, internet and all other possible media outlets were always on, in every work place, public transport, cafe, EVERYWHERE!!!!! In fact, people barely attended work, some of the schools in the city were only operating until 13:30, children were wearing black mufti...(not for mourning purposes:-). For a "twisted" person like myself this whole happening had only one association and that is in preparation for a war, as I have experienced more then once, in my mother land of Israel. Only there was one IMMENSE difference, the whole country of NZ was holding its breath in anticipation of a cricket game, in World Cup Championship semi-finals game of NZ vs. South Africa (SA). It was amazing to see how the sport frenzy of cricket was finding its way into every aspect of life, how all Kiwis were possessed by it, absolutely nothing else mattered.
Working in a medical center, I was absolutely shocked to witness patients cancelling their appointments, which they have been waiting for for weeks, doctors taking days off and paying the best of their money to sit as close as possible to the field on the stadium, wearing team T-shirts and cheering loudly for their favorite team, until the loss of voice. Days at work were sooo quiet, for a second, one might think that Cricket is a cure for all diseases in the world...And, indeed, in a way, maybe it is...Isn't it wonderful when the entire nation is united in something so positive and energizing as a Sport game? Isn't it absolutely great to see how THIS becomes the talk of the day, rather then implications of political elections on security and lives of people of one other little nation, that is so close to my heart, that I am of them.? It is heartbreaking, in a way, to see how some kids are finishing school early, so the teachers can make it on time to the game and in another part of the world, schools are struggling to operate "as usual", despite the ongoing rocket threat.
 So here I am , conflicted with my own feelings and thoughts, trying to join the festivities around the sport that is completely foreign to me. But, I guess, any excuse works for a good party mood...
Apparently, NZ made it into history this year, and got into finals and will be playing against Australia. That, in itself, is like a "Star War", just one more episode in an ongoing competition between the two "Down under" love/hate partners for life!
My hope is that Israel will also make a history one day and people will be tuned on to news for one single purpose of knowing games scores, rather then casualties counts...

Auckland city on last Monday, middle of the day. Seems like work was only optional for many...

Focus on vaccinations!

Today I have decided to write and express my concerns, my opinion and also my outrage on what appears to be one of the most controversial topics I can think of, vaccinations!! I am writing today as a health professional, but mainly, as a sensible, educated human being. 

It has been 17 years since I have made Nursing my profession and in many ways my way of life too. I am particularly interested in aspects of nursing education of patients and staff, as one. I have been doing it with great dedication for most part of my career. I went on and expanded my studies by completing Master degree in Public Health, learning extensively about World's trends in immunization programs. Studying years and years about the importance of this basic method of prevention and eradication of some of the deadliest diseases in the world, exploring and analyzing the vast variety of scientifically proven evidence, beyond any doubt, I couldn't even begin to imagine that it would create any sort of controversy. No contemporary phenomenon confounds and confuses me more than seemingly sensible people turning down one of the most unambiguously helpful interventions in the history of modern medicine. Yet they do!!!!!! To me everything looked and still does look: "Black &White". 

Not only that I think these people are wrong and that their beliefs are misguided. I also think that in any scientific matter there is no place for beliefs, but purely scientifically evidence based decisions. But, of course, those who refuse vaccination, for various reasons and beliefs, disagree with me. Unfortunately, it seems to me that there is no amount of evidence that could convince them otherwise, which is precisely the problem! If this trend continues, we are gradually deteriorating to be like Sub-Saharan Africa, where children are still dying in mass from totally preventable diseases. This dangerous trend indicates that something has gone very terribly wrong in our society. I wish I could point a finger on what it is!!!!

What irritates me most of all is that those anti-vaccinations advocates or selective" vaccinators are, basically, lacking any sense of public/community responsibility and are taking advantage on "Herd immunity" of the population. Maybe few weeks spent in SSA (e.g. Nigeria) would bring some perspective into their misguided opinions, maybe seeing people crawling on the streets without their limbs entirely or partially, as a result of debilitating Polio, will do the trick???? Consequently, as the amount of not vaccinated people increases, the "Herd immunity" decreases and we witness diseases outbreaks, which were considered to pass from this world long ago. Then I and you, as parents, need to worry that the two-week-old infant in GP's waiting room, who could be my baby or yours, as well, is getting exposed to a potentially-fatal case of pertussis if "non-vaccinating" parents bring their children in with a bad cough. 

Giving kids vaccines is the absolute, unambiguous standard of care!

Another aspect of the troubling "anti-vax" trend is increased speculation regarding newer vaccines, such as anti-HPV vaccines (@Gardasil, @Cervarix). Just to refresh our collective memory, HPV is sexually transmitted virus, which is associated with 90% of cervical cancer diagnosis. The argument, which seemingly initially makes sense, that there is not enough information yet to prove the safety of the vaccine, or that there are reported cases of serious adverse effects, proves again to be wrong when we switch our thinking from "beliefs" into "facts and evidence". 

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6229a4.htm?s_cid=mm6229a4_w 

There is also a lot of debate going on about the "morality" of this specific vaccine, given in such young age. Many of various religious authorities are banning the topic even from discussion and, of course, the vaccine is not even available in Muslim countries. But my question is: "Is preventing health from future women and mothers of our society is moral? Is it ethical at all? How about forming a skilled, educated opinion based on scientific facts?" 

Moreover, there are new studies that show that HPV vaccination also has an effect on people who have already previously had this disease, and who generally have a much greater risk of subsequently contracting an HPV-associated disease again. Studies were able to show that the risk of a renewed disease is reduced by two thirds with this vaccination. The vaccination protects people from the disease, and it is not only advisable for young people. There is data which proves the efficiency of the vaccination in people even up to the age of 45. Therefore vaccination is to be recommended for everyone up to the age of 45. It provides protection not only from cervical cancer but also from other types of cancer, such as anal carcinoma. This protection applies to men and women equally. This revolutionary new evidence was recently published in British Medical Journal (BMJ), which is one the leading medical publications in the world.

Reference: 

1.                      E. A. Joura, S. M. Garland, J. Paavonen, D. G. Ferris, G. Perez, K. A. Ault, W. K. Huh, H. L. Sings, M. K. James, R. M. Haupt. Effect of the human papillomavirus (HPV) quadrivalent vaccine in a subgroup of women with cervical and vulvar disease: retrospective pooled analysis of trial data. BMJ, 2012; 344 (mar27 3): e1401 DOI: 10.1136/bmj.e1401

Practicing Democracy

Today, in a contrast to my two previous posts, I won't be be diving into my past and present, but rather have a little self chat about my democratic duties, in view of today's coming elections in my mother land. No, I am not going to convince you in who is better: the left or the right. I wish I knew..., but rather reflect on the way these elections are felt for me this time around, from "Down under"

It is ,certainly, not the first time I am out of Israel on elections day. My first time was in 2006, when I was in Nigeria. We were living a flight distance away from Nigeria's capital city of Abuja, where Israeli citizens on governmental duties were allowed to practice their democratic duty and vote in an Israeli embassy. It seemed extremely important to me at the time to vote and make a difference, I was willing to pay any price and go through major obstacles to contribute my vote to what I believed should make a difference in Israeli reality, which is my home, and lives of people like myself. In Israel, in contrast to USSR, I was taught democratic values, that every vote counts and is important. I was also taught that not voting means giving away your vote to the opponent. Driven by all this motivation, accompanied by my 2 years old son, I have made it! I have made it despite all dangers and obstacles imposed on me by Nigerian reality! Oh boy...., only today I actually fully understand how genuinely potentially dangerous that trip was.  I felt proud to be able to make a difference...

Last Israeli elections have already found me in NZ and this time around I couldn't vote anymore, as I am just an immigrant, even though, holding Israeli citizenship. Despite being preoccupied with new immigrant's issues, such as settling down in a new country, I remember how "glued" I was to all Israeli media outlets and how well I knew all the details of the candidates and I have, indeed, had my solid opinion of whom I would vote for. The despair of not being able to make a difference (or so I believed) this time was huge...

Interestingly enough, this inability to vote for Israeli elections, provoked an urge in me to learn and connect to the basics of politics and Parliamentary system in my new home country of NZ. I have started satisfying this need by a visit to NZ Parliament in Wellington. I would really warmly recommend this to all you, new "Kiwis-to be". Their guided tours there are giving a very good start to understanding the system, which is quite different from Israeli one. Shortly followed NZ parliamentary elections....Yesss, I have the right to vote again!!!!!!! I have the right to contribute to a change in my new Home country!!! As absurd as it may sound to some of you, the realization of it made me feel a lot more at home in this wonderful place, which already had accredited me with the power to influence its reality. 

Today Israel is going to vote, going to decide for its future, going to make a choice.Optimists among us are those who still believe that a real choice is going to be made today, that there are actually alternatives to choose from...I, on the other side, feel myself very distanced and un-engaged today. I feel that the gap between me and my mother land is growing bigger, I even don't laugh that much anymore from Israeli pre- elections satiric shows, I feel more like crying...Judging by many posts and comments on social networks and media, I find myself being relieved that this time I don't need to make a choice. I also don't feel that I could significantly contribute or make a skilled decision this time. The reasons for that are mixed and my feelings about this are even more mixed. It is the lack of a real leader who would clearly show the way and make people go after him, it is the frustration of people and decisions driven by anger and hopelessness, but it is also me...I feel that I have no moral right to influence on the future of a country that I have chosen not to live in. This is not to say that I don't love Israel anymore or love it less. I ,absolutely, love it, but like every relationship is at times, ours is complicated at the moment...

P.S. Few days ago Israeli representatives of  the "Jewish agency" held pseudo Israeli elections here, in NZ, for the Jewish community. The results were quite shocking comparing to what is expected to really happen in Israel.

I know that one may argue that the sample wasn't representative of a community. Not many people, indeed, showed up, due to cyclone Pam fears, or maybe some of the people felt like me, that it is morally incorrect... Looking at the graph made me wonder: Isn't this one of the reasons why we have chosen to live away from Home? Don't we feel at times that the political situation there doesn't represent us?....

 

 

"It is time to break free!"

Yeyy, I have successfully made it to my second post!
 
This time, I'm a bit more familiar with the territory and really am getting into my "blogger mind-set", or should I say, the expectation for "Lady Pam" brings slightly reflective mood upon me, snuggled in my comfy orange arm chair.



Going through my path of life, I found how strictly structured it was for the most part of it and how really limited were my choices, limited by the system I lived in, by obligations, by circumstances, etc...First, it was school. In the Russian version of it , I was like a perfectly cloned exemplar of the communist system. That was tough and demanding and to earn my respect among the peers and the teachers, I was taught to excel. I think, growing in a Jewish family, that has been and still is the main educational motive: "You have got to do the very best you can in what you are doing, otherwise, you won't "survive" the competition. So I was a good girl, good athlete and good student. I never suspected things could work any other way.


In an Israeli version of school, the absolute expectation from me would be to graduate with "gates open" to any desired university. My parents were too busy and preoccupied with basic survival and settling into a new life, to be bothered worrying about my social integration. I have also felt like I was left without any guiding hand and was expected to find my own right way, for that same reason. At only 12 years of age I felt that it is my duty not to overload my parents with my own problems and allow them to deal with "real" problems. They were also completely out of touch with Israeli educational system. In "crazy" teenage years that's not a simple task to deal with. It could basically go two opposite directions: to be either  successful (proving that "whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger"), or disastrous. Unfortunately, I know too many great kids from similar backgrounds to mine, who just couldn't make it and they didn't...  Surprisingly enough, I have found my way, against all odds...


Then it was the university, indeed...In a tender age of 17 I needed to decide about my profession and who I want to be when I grow up, while my peers were all getting ready to change their fancy branded clothes to military uniforms and for them it was the starting point of adulthood. I , on the other side, had to go study, "as long as my parents could provide for it!!!!" Irit, you first need to get a profession in life and the rest is "your own business"- was the motto at home. Being quite mature for my age, I already knew that I like being around people and helping them, I liked biology at school and hated computers and long hours of sitting on my bum. I also happened to have a next door neighbour, who was a nursing student at the time and judging by her stories, Nursing fitted me perfectly...AND...army wanted me to become a nurse! So here I was, making yet another step in my structured life path. I became a nursing student, the youngest one in my year. I was frequently questioned about my choice of profession, many were sceptical about my full understanding of it's scope of practise. But I am not a quitter!!! I have done it!!! After graduation, of course, came the army, which felt like a theatre of absurdities to me, but you gotta do what you gotta do! You gotta pay your dues to your country, which I did, with great dedication, working full time in a major military hospital in North of Israel for no money at all!


Mark and I have joined forces at only 21 years of age for me and 24 years of age for him. Carrying similar "luggage" to mine, he was way less conformist and since our first meeting shared with me the dream of "leaving it all behind" and starting a new life. Dreams aside and reality aside, it took him long 9 years, since we have met, to finish with all his obligations, including engineering degree and 6 years of army service.


"It's time to break free!"- he declared just two weeks before his demobilization. Only later in time, I realized how literally he meant every word of it...

Another one on "My Firsts" list

Hello to all, you, people, out there, in the big world!

You have all probably heard of a famous saying : "Life starts at the end of your comfort zone."  Today, once again, I have decided to step out of MY comfort zone and start doing something that I was  curious about for quite a while , but never had the confidence to fulfil that curiosity.


Like in many other decisions I need to make in my life, my default thinking was: It's now or never!


So....here I am, writing my very first ever, blog post!!!! Yahooo! I really hope it's the beginning of a wonderful journey for me and I will do my best to keep it interesting for you too, my friends.


Just few short words about myself and I promise I will be very short ...and this is just to be able  to better understand where I am coming from in my views, opinions, mind-set, etc...


So who am I?????


 I am, basically, an ordinary Jewish girl who was taken by life circumstances to some very unordinary places and different realities. Born in late 70's in communist Ukraine, USSR, in a little town of Chernovtsi. I was growing up to be a perfect product of that environment , being a good pupil in school, dedicated pioneer of Youth communist movement and an excellent athlete. At this young age, my parents tried to wrap up my life in "cotton balls," creating an illusion of perfect childhood, which  still IS perfect in my memory. It wasn't until 1986, that I have first started hearing secret discussions at home about how it is time to "leave" to a place called "Haaretz" (Hebrew for Israel). The main reason they were using this particular word is because they didn't want me to understand. It was a top secret! So what had happened that year???  Chernobyl nuclear disaster! It had a great impact on my family's immediate and long term decisions.
Step by step, in February, 1990, we have landed in The Holy Land. It was a great shock to all systems, physically and mentally. I could possibly only compare it to an adjustment that astronauts are required to go through in space. Only they don't need to learn a new language or adjust to writing from right to left...and I needed to! Not only this, but from being a popular girl in school, I went to being an alien, at only 11.5 years old! But you all know what they say: Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you stronger! After 24 years of rubbing side by side with  the best and worst of my own people, fulfilling all of my civil duties, educational and personal goals, Israel is definitely a home, or should I say: THE home!!!  And that's where begins the story of my conscious mature life. I would have said "adult", but that sounds too old:-)
I'm fortunate to have someone to walk with along the challenging path of life, who is also "to blame" for many interesting challenges that have shaped up my life, and that's my dear hubby Mark. We have produced two little people, who are a "non-stop interactive entertainment" in our lives: My son Barr, 11 years old and my daughter, Maayan, 6 years old princess.
I'm in one of women's most classical professions..., and noooo, it is not prostitution!!!!!! It's Nursing:-) And Mark is a civil engineer. Specializing in infrastructure, roads and tunnels, his job took us extensively around the world, to not very developed places, where his services are most needed. That is how I found myself in Nigeria, living in a "golden cage" with my two years old son. This experience influenced heavily on my views about the world and changed my priorities in life significantly. I'm sure that you will feel that impact in between the lines in my future posts.


Years after, my daughter was born and we have decided that radical change is needed! We can't spend all our lives in "money race". Search for a better future for the children, security, life style, quality over quantity and mainly, new exciting opportunity, dominated our decision of moving yet again, to ,literally, "The End of the World".


Here I am, sitting in my new beautiful house in one of the central suburbs of Auckland, New Zealand, and writing these lines and reflecting on my on-going Kiwi dream!