Corpus - Corpus

“A Nurse on the Edge of the Desert”

13 November 2017 2 Comments

Lorraine Ritchie

Perhaps having been born the fifth child in a family of six children where their mother “ran the house along military lines” helped Andrew Cameron develop a determined self-sufficiency, strength of spirit, and a good measure of robust survival skills. All of this has held him in good stead throughout his adventurous life and intrepid nursing career. This career is the subject of Cameron’s newly published autobiography, A Nurse on the Edge of the Desert – From Birdsville to Kandahar: the art of extreme nursing. Cameron leads us to the many places and events which populate his nursing journey, culminating in his being awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal, a prestigious honour which very few nurses ever receive.

18 Days in the Axis of Elegance

13 November 2017 Leave a Comment

Annette Rose

Recently my husband and I visited Iran (pronounced ‘Ear-on’) for an 18 day immersion tour in the ‘Axis of Elegance’. We were drawn by its ancient history, and curious as to its present-day culture and lifestyle. What we found there was a treasure box. Persia is sexy, sexy because she hasn’t sold her soul to the bottom-line.

Iranians are proud of their heritage and deep-time archaeology. Its people identify as Persian, rather than as Arab. Most Iranians are Shia Muslims, not Sunni Muslims. Most of Iran today is modern, but pockets of traditional lifestyles remain. For example, tribal nomads still traverse the Zagros and Alborz mountains.

While we saw all too many shahid (martyr) images of dead boys lost in the Iraq-Iran war lining the streets, our overwhelming impression was that Iran was a country whose message to the world is Peace. As one man in a shopping mall put it: “We think all humankind are the same and we respect all and believe in dialogue between all nations”.

Polio Survivors in 21st Century New Zealand – “We’re still here”.

6 November 2017 Leave a Comment

Gordon Jackman

Elvis Presley Salk Vaccine 1956 — Elvis Presley receiving the Salk Polio Vaccine in 1956

New Zealand hasn’t had a case of live and wild polio infection since 1962, so people would be forgiven for thinking that was the end of it, we beat that one. Indeed, thankfully the world is on the brink of eliminating the wild polio virus, with only 14 cases globally reported this year. But the late effects of polio continue to affect thousands of New Zealanders, most of whom are now in their sixties or older.

The “Late Effects of Polio” or “Post-Polio Syndrome” affects most polio survivors. Symptoms include fatigue, muscle weakness and muscle and joint pain, shortening of tendons in polio-affected limbs, difficulty sleeping, difficulty breathing, and psychological stress. These symptoms can be debilitating and may compromise health and independence. A recent systematic review of the incidence and prevalence of Polio worldwide suggests that there may be close to 10,000 polio survivors alive in New Zealand today, including a significant number who caught it overseas more recently than their New Zealand-born counterparts.

Heart risk 1; Sore puku 0

6 November 2017 5 Comments

Kyle Eggleton

I’m a doctor who has been writing poetry for about a year. My poetry writing was born out of a need to more deeply understand the world. Sometimes this need to understand the world arises from a frustration, like a dry seed head lodged in a tramping sock that rubs and chaffs and spoils an otherwise leisurely walk. Sometimes my need to understand stems from my lack of inner comprehension. By exploring the dusty and cobweb filled recesses of my inner self I often uncover a truth about myself and where I fit in the world.

The colours, smells, sounds and emotions invoked by poetry creates what my poet mother calls ‘word pictures’. My work as a general practitioner is full of these word pictures – like the silvery trails left on a father’s face as he talks of the suicide of his child; the cloying, pungent aroma of poverty; the dry hacking paroxysms wracking the frail body of a man without hope.

A Swift bike and book tour

6 November 2017 5 Comments

Joe Baker

Dunedin’s Lilliput Libraries are hand-crafted book-filled boxes set up on the fence line of a dedicated Lilliput Library guardian. Passers-by are encouraged to “take a book now, leave a book later”. John’s Lilliput Library needed a bit of a turn around; we needed some exercise. Thus the Swift bike and book tour was born. We decided that each tour member would take a book to John’s library and swap it with a book found therein. We would then cycle on to other Lilliput Libraries, exchanging our book whenever we found one we preferred. At any one time we would each carry only one book. We would then cycle back up to John’s with our single prized tome.

This place called old age

30 October 2017 3 Comments

Sue Wootton

Renée is one of New Zealand’s most admired playwrights and novelists, the author of eight novels and over twenty plays. She writes direct, clear-sighted social histories, threaded through with humour and with forthright tenderness. Her stories often follow strong, capable women carving good lives for themselves and their dependents in the face of hardship or injustice. I was privileged last week to be present at the Dunedin launch of her memoir, These Two Hands. In person, and on the page, Renée is witty, irreverent, intelligent, moving and utterly inspiring. I defy you to read her memoir and not want to claim your own life with words, passion and delight. These Two Hands is a tonic and a treasure, like its author. Here, from These Two Hands, is Renée on “being old”:

Being old. What’s it like? How does it feel? How do you do it? There are no maps, no guidelines, you have to make your own way. A lot depends on your idea of what being old means. I had no examples in my family because they nearly all died early, and Puti Mary, who lived to seventy-three, and Emmanuel, ninety-three, were before my time. Although they could only have told me how they managed, not how I should.