Artistry and Social Consciousness in Cyprian Ekwensi's Novels and Stories

Starting off from his thrilling and exciting plots it is most evident that Cyprian Ekwensi spins mostly very good and interesting stories. But his plots are often episodic thus losing organic unity. In People of the City the plot is loose and episodic. The looseness at the end of the various sub-plots makes the novel read like a chronicle of events in the lives of people. However, the placing of the same characters in all these events holds them together. The plot is also episodic in Jagua Nana with about three subplots not firmly linked and justified within the wider contexts of the novel. One of them is the one that brings Jagua to Freddie's homeland. The other three novels however are spared this problem as they have better plot control.

Some incidents in the works do not come out real and convincing. All too often there is frequent recourse to melodramatics. These are most evident in the many dramatic incidents involving Amusa Sango and Jagua Nana, those of murders, fights and suicides as well as the numerous sexual orgies involving the same characters. Fortunately Survive the Peace seems to have been spared much of that.

In addition, many characters fail to come off real and convincing. The women Amusa Sango meets with in People of the City are mostly unvaryingly portrayed as beautiful. Even the main character himself, Sango, comes off as shallow and stereotyped.. Much of what we know of him is through authorial commentary rather than through what is revealed of him through his words, thoughts, and actions. Freddie's portrayal in Jagua Nana is very shadowy. Many of his actions seem rather implausible. It is improbable for such an honest and idealistic young man to be suddenly transformed to a self-serving and lusty political aspirant simply because he has just returned from studying overseas.

Other characters such as Uncle Namme, Uncle Ofubara, and Dennis Odoma are almost as good as pawns. Uncle Taiwo's comical presentation makes him more of a caricature than a fully developed character. He is there simply as a pawn introducing the political aspects of Lagos life. Seldom does Ekwensi allow the reader to follow the thought processes of his characters. Neither is his use of diction successful in distinguishing the various characters whose speech remains unvarying in spite of the varying situations and circumstances in which they find themselves. Freddie's superior education does not enable him to speak differently from his uneducated prostitute lover, Jagua. Ekwensi's characters even when involved in events of cultural significance reveal only a superficial awareness, learning little or nothing about themselves in their quests.

There is also not much striking in Ekwensi's use of language. For one, his use of English is mostly uncertain, displaying little mastery of the rules and current usages. Unlike Achebe, he has not developed an authentic African voice. His language seems largely imitative of fourth-rate westerns. For he seems to be merely pandering to the tastes and expectations of the book-buying public in the West that expected from him certain literary conventions and forms. His style of writing therefore had to be influenced by them. For as he himself said he was writing for a mass appeal so much so that in an interview with Larson he was anticipating the wealth he would have been swimming in if he were writing in America.

Despite the above, hundreds of thousands of readers both in the West and in Nigeria, have found entertainment and a realistic picture of the pleasures and hazards of city life in his writings. But could his works be redeemed by his serious preoccupation with some of the most pressing social and political problems threatening modern Nigeria? How well does he come to terms with the social and political concerns of Nigeria as well as Africa? It might also be necessary to look at how he grapples with the "chaotic formlessness and persistent flux of the modern Nigerian city."

In response to the interviewer who asked him what basically inspires him as an artist. he. said:

You can call it social consciousness. You have to be conscious of the people you are living amongst, their likes and dislikes and you respect them and still extract their culture and all that.

Ekwensi's works are set in rural as well as urban centers. These bipolar environments enable him to show up the ugliness and monstrosity of the city beside the idyllic and pristine beauty of rural life. In the rural countryside values such as honesty, industry, and respect for the elders, ancestors and Gods are held in high regard. But in the cold, foreign, alien and barren wasteland which is the city, people are dishonest, politicians are corrupt and neighbors are at hostilities. It is such a hostile world that the émigrés from the rural area are thrust into as prey. In contrast to the beauty and innocence of the country, here they are "daily confronted by wretched filth, decadence, hopelessness, and prevarication." Thus despite the superficial luster they might see in the city their hopes of self-fulfillment are always beset with stifling setbacks, For the city has a formidable influence, a magnetic force that brandishes from a distance only its excitement, gaiety, and transient glitter, luring people to either destruction or downfall.

Ekwensi was gifted as a writer with an acute power of observation. With his talent for immersing himself deeply into any scenario or environment, he not only observed people closely, but translated their mannerisms and manifestations into many of his characters. drawn broadly from his firsthand knowledge and interactions with Nigerians and a sharp and scientific mind - being first and foremost a pharmacist- an orderly trait that manifested itself in his works.

Cyprian Ekwensi has thus had a prolific output of popular novels and stories repeatedly focused on the Nigerian capital city of Lagos showing the negative impact of the urban milieu on immigrants from rural areas, portraying the lives of prostitutes, shady politicians, businessmen, police officers, reporters, thieves, and others who witness the seamier side of life there as well as portraying the erotic love in a society where marriages are mostly arranged and fiction eschews plots dealing with love and marriage.

In People of the City Sango and almost everyone with whom he interacts are shown as suffering from oppressiveness. The city moves to becoming a central motif and then graduates to almost like a character, controlling, defining, organizing and often destroying other people's lives. It is like a trap helping to devour the unwary as is suggested in the very first sentence: "How the city attracts all types and how the unwary must suffer from ignorance of its ways." The policeman's warning after Aina's arrest: ". . . person who's not careful the city will eat him" further captures the incipient danger. Added to that is the constant warning voice of his mother, about the women of the city.

Beatrice is the prime victim. though she seems the most vulnerable. She already demonstrates, on our first acquaintance with her, the restlessness and the yearning for excitement, activity and freedom which usually impel those who are destined to be the city's victims, but she is also showing signs of degradation and disintegration - she already suffers from the deadly disease which is eventually to claim her life.

Beatrice is so entrapped in its clutch that at the end she could not respond favorably to redemption thus earning for herself in the end a humiliating pauper's funeral.

The young girl, Aina, when led to court, standing against a city determined to show her no mercy," though initially capable of demonstrating warm feelings, becomes inevitably conditioned by the city's callousness into a hardened thief and blackmailer." earning herself finally a hard prison sentence.

Dazed by the illusory glitter, they all surrender to the money, fame and influence to be gained. Lost in such a hysteria of living, they follow their basest inclinations with total abandon. Sango in the end, however, cannot bear the scrutiny of others.

Jagua, like all other oppressed females "who came to Lagos, imprisoned, entangled in the city, unable to extricate themselves from its clutches" had come to free herself from the taunts and menacing attitude of her people in Ogabu who kept chiding her for not being productive even after three years of marriage. The Lagos she goes to is found to cherish values diametrically opposed to those of her village. There "girls were glassy, worked in offices like men, danced, smoked, wore high-heeled shoes and narrow slacks and were free and fast with their favors." There no one stands in judgment over another for failure to fulfill any responsibility. In effect, Jagua feels relieved, for she cannot be held down to account for her failure to fulfill her responsibility as a woman and a wife as has been the case back home. She thus falls into the open but pernicious arms of the city. She keeps moving from one situation of desperation to another with little, if any self-satisfaction. At the Tropicana, a favorite night spot for the Lagosians, she entertains varying species of men with the make-believe luster of this degenerate world, it's dim lighting making her look even more seductive and beautiful than usual.

All the women wore dresses which were definitely under size, so that buttocks and breasts jutted grotesquely above the general contours of their bodies. At the same time the midriffs shrunk to suffocation. A dress succeeded if it made men's eyes ogle hungrily in this modern super sex-market. The dancers occupied a tiny floor, unlighted, so that they became silhouetted bodies without faces and the most un-athletic man could be drawn out to attempt the improvisation called High-life.

The full effect of her corruption by the city is fully realized when the villagers of Ogabu ridicule her values and her standards:

The women fixed their eyes on the painted eyebrows and one child called out in Ibo "Mama! Her lips are running blood!... Jagua heard another woman say, "She walks as if her bottom will drop off. I cannot understand what the girl has become

Jagua's abandonment to the excesses of city life only leads to her drifting away from true self-knowledge. She thus escapes into living momentarily, intensely, desperately, without use for social conventions. But upon realizing that the Tropicana was a mere illusion which she must quickly renounce to attain a new life, the big change begins in her life.

Jagua thus returns to Ogabu "with new attitudes, and is rewarded with fulfillment she had been longing for all her life. Her pregnancy gratifies this longing. And for this, Jagua's joy is boundless." Quite significantly the act that led to her conception takes place in the countryside in "a shed by the river, a stone's throw from the shrine." She is thus seen reuniting with the land, her roots, which she had so long rejected and fled from.

Poverty and squalor are both a cause and an effect of the problems of the city. Just a glimpse of the house of Aina's mother tells so much:

It had looked drab enough in the sun, but now the darkness gave it a quality of musty poverty. The only light was from a street lamp some fifty yards away, though the two houses that flanked it fairly glittered with their own lights

Predictably the internal conditions are worse off:

He could not see his way forward. With hands outstretched he groped towards what might be a door. His hand caught against something and he ducked...Then he realized that the entire floor was covered with sleeping bodies. He was covered with sleeping bodies. He was in a kind of bed less open dormitory. Everyone but the old woman slept on the floor. Old, young, lovers, enemies, fathers, mothers, they all shared this hall. From early childhood Aina had listened to talks about sex, seen bitter quarrels, heard and perhaps seen adults bare their passions shamelessly like animals.

Buraimoh Ajikatu is a representative of the underdogs in the stifling economic system of the city. It is ironic that in the midst of such abundance as are to be expected in such stores a clerk in a big department store could hardly have enough to support himself, his four children and wife. Even he himself found it incomprehensible. He therefore regards the city as "an enemy, that keeps raising the prices of its commodities without increasing his pay; or even when the pay was increased the prices quickly raced ahead thus worsening the situation much more than before. His situation is only redressed when he joins a secret society. Then he receives a salary increase and the much overdue promotion with promise of another major one within a month. He now realizes why all along he had been subjected to suppression, being the only non-member. And then:

One night the blow fell. . . . They asked him in a matter of fact manner to give them his first-born son. He protested, asked for an alternative sacrifice, and when they would not listen threatened to leave the society. But they told him that he could not leave. There was a way in, but none out--except through death. He was terrified, but adamant.

He had told no one of his plight, and that was when he vanished from home. Now that the good things of life were his, he would not go back and tell his wife. All this Sango learnt, and much more besides. For him it had great significance. By uncovering this veil, he had discovered where all the depressed people of the city went for sustenance. They literally sold their souls to the devil

In Jagua Nana we are given more insights into the lower reaches of Lagos life with very gory details of its filth and pain:

A young woman in the corner of the smelly room seemed to be making a statement which Freddie had interrupted. She began bawling swear words at the young police constable, who ignored her and kept on writing steadily . . . other constables were deriving some lecherous satisfaction from the young woman's behavior. She had a defiant twinkle in her eye, her breath smelled of alcohol and her blouse--one arm of which had been in some scuffle--slouched over a naked young breast with a dare-devil abandon that could not but be comical. She seemed by her manner to be conscious of the power of her feminity over the males in the khaki uniforms. Freddie stared at this ragged woman who confronted him with the eternal struggle to live, so tragic in the lower reaches of Lagos life.

Ekwensi vividly captures the squalor and filth:

She stored away the food, then took out her towel and went to the bathroom, but when she knocked a man answered her from inside and she went instead to the lavatory. The same old bucket piled high, the floor messed about, so she could see nowhere to put her silver sandals. It was all done by those wretched children upstairs. Why blame them when their mothers did not know any better. Where was the landlord? Where was the Town Council Health Inspector? This Inspector was supposed to come here once in a while and whenever he came he made notes in his black book but nothing ever happened. She would talk seriously to him the next time. The unpleasant side of Lagos life: the flies in the lavatory--big and blue and stubborn--settled on breakfast yam and lunch-time stew (they were invisible in a stew with greens). But Jagua closed her eyes and shut her nostrils with her towel.

Ekwensi's works also demonstrate juvenile delinquency. Beatrice is said to be the one who promotes it in the city. For as Bayo reveals, she introduced Suad Zamil to him "and we fell in love. . . . Of course we used to meet in her room and she was kind to us." The insidious influence of the city on the young is also brought out through Aina the mature teenage prostitute who represents the "mad age" and the mid-teens whose eyes are full of infatuation with life, Aina fuses within her all the evils of the wild life of the city, She contributes most to Sango's depravity. Her meanness and dishonesty manifested particularly in her penchant for shop-lifting she transfers to Sango and uses him in many exploitative and destructive ways thus depriving him of his money and standing between him and good influences like Elina.

Libido Enhancement For Women - What Are Women Libido Enhancements and Where Do You Find Them?

The fact that a decreased libido in women is no longer a taboo subject has opened the door for sexual satisfaction for women. Along with many other generational taboos, a woman's sexual satisfaction has now become a matter of importance. What is libido enhancement for women and where can you find it?

The first thing that must be comprehended is, what is the female libido? Libido is the basic interest in sex and is often referred to as the sex drive. There are many different factors involved in a woman's sex drive; among them are stress, education or training as a young girl, hormonal imbalance due to age or other psychological problems. A simple on-line search for libido enhancement for a woman will reveal multiple pages of products that are claimed to enhance a woman's libido.

There are products that actually work and there are other products that simply do not work. A woman who wishes to take a libido enhancing formula should do some research before purchasing any product on the Internet. Many pharmaceutical companies have researched drugs for natural libido enhancements for women and great strides have been made in this area. Discussing libido enhancement with a physician can be a good thing because he can provide you with some medications that will increase your libido.

One of the greatest causes of low libido in women is stress. Reduction or removal of the stress will go a long way to increase libido in women. The reduction of stress in the lifestyle will provide a positive and happy outlook on life therefore increasing the libido of the woman. Libido enhancement for women can be found in many articles on the Internet however one must remember that the articles provided by a person are in many cases simply advertisements for the product and are consequently biased. Un-biased sources should be sought out for reference and a personal physician should be consulted prior to anyone taking a libido enhancement.

Evaluating Potentially Harmful Exposures During Pregnancy and Lactation

With today's technology and constantly changing environment (physically and educationally) it is virtually impossible for any one individual to know all there is to know about all the medications and environmental toxins that can be harmful to pregnancy. Fortunately, this information is constantly being updated in a database that is available for review by your health care providers, pharmacists and consultants/geneticists.

One must keep in mind that there is a baseline incidence of spontaneous birth defects in the general population (ranging from very minor to serious) and this can be a confounding issue whenever a patient is being counseled regarding a concern about a potentially harmful exposure. Furthermore, this baseline statistic is influenced by additional variables such as the gestational age of the pregnancy at the time of exposure, the patient's ethnicity and the medical history of both patient and partner.

Every day there are numerous anxious calls to prenatal care providers with concerns about exposures during pregnancy. Questioning whether they can have a local anesthetic for a tooth extraction or get their hair colored. Many of these concerns have been addressed through the years which has led to the answers you are looking for through statistical analysis.

I would stress, before bringing such routine questions to your prenatal provider, start with asking your (dentist, herbalist, hairdresser, etc.) about the specifics of the drug or hair product and any concerns that have been raised as they are likely to be most familiar with the product and your situation. It is likely you are not the first time this concern has come up. Their comments to you may be comforting even though you must consult with your prenatal care provider regardless. They want to be sure you are getting the best care and not assuming anything as such decisions are so important. The reason to talk with your pregnancy provider is because the timing of exposure is among the most significant factors when assessing your risk and is not information anyone other than your prenatal care provider will be fully aware of. Your due date is based on your last menstrual period and ultrasound (when necessary) to date your pregnancy accurately.

In addition to timing of exposure during the pregnancy there are other factors not mentioned above including duration and dosage of an exposure as is the case with radiation exposure.

Once your provider has gathered the necessary information, he/she will often refer to the Physician's Desk Reference or a book such as "Drugs During Pregnancy and Lactation" . If the information is not readily available or is inconclusive, your provider will consult with the pharmacist/radiologist etc. who may have access to a larger data base or arrange a visit with a consultant/geneticist who will gather additional information/history from you and address the exposure in more detail.

This article clearly cannot offer advice or recommendations about any specific exposures and is not intended to diagnose, cure, prevent or treat any medical concern on this topic. Hopefully it has helped one understand the process used and the limitations confronting your medical provider when trying to get you the answers you want relating to potentially harmful exposures during your pregnancy.

The Company We Keep - Gaining Support and Inspiration to Support Us on Our Journey

A popular saying is "you are the company you keep." Like most "sayings," we should be careful. The people and objects in our surroundings may influence us, but we are not them. If we are authentic, if we are independent, then we are who we are regardless of the company we keep; we know and define ourselves through our internal not external references. As independent people we do get to choose the company we keep, and the issues in this choice should be considered. If we are climbing a mountain and choosing a path, how do we decide who should accompany us?

First of all, our perceived distinctions among people are more fabricated than real. Through our training in perceiving duality, we are trained to look for distinctions, for differences; we know ourselves and components of the world through people and objects that are dissimilar or opposite. We are not trained to look for commonality, for similarities.

We can confirm this for ourselves by noting our internal and external dialogue, particularly about people; we would observe we are often making distinctions about other people.

I am trying to eliminate this tendency in myself. It is not an easy thing to do. I find myself noting people's weight, dress, hairstyle, hair color, and manner of walking and talking. And this is before I even start evaluating what they have to say!

What I don't often see, and most of us often don't see, is that these same people are just like you and me: they have two eyes, arms and legs, one heart, dreams, aspirations, pain, sadness, desire to love and be loved, innate intelligence, abilities and talents - in various stages of expression - and imagination. If we stop, look, and suspend our habit of making distinctions we will find more qualities that we have in common, that bond and connect us, than are dissimilar, that separate and disconnect us.

When we suspend our habit of making distinctions, we discover there are many more people we could include on our journey than we would normally allow ourselves. Besides being a habit, another reason we may make distinctions is to satisfy our ego and the need to feel comfortable. We may make distinctions so we can surround ourselves with people who we feel are similar to us on the outside, in external references rather than internal ones. They validate our definitions of who we think we are, what we feel is right and wrong. There are many ways to climb mountains with many different types of people; we should be open to exploring all of our options. When we seek the common connection of our humanity, many more doors and options are available to us; we empower ourselves to find the people who can help us on our journey.

Anyone who has participated in a support group, or group therapy has probably had the experience of connecting to a sense or perception of our common humanity. In support groups and group therapy, people from different "walks of life" come together to learn and gain insights, share and express their feelings, heal certain wounds, and benefit from the support of others. Their experiences and backgrounds may be very different. But these diverse people share a desire and willingness to overcome obstacles and challenges that are causing them pain and difficulty in their lives. Sharing a common desire and willingness to act on that desire, they are brought together in a group setting and encouraged to be authentic and loving. They are encouraged to acknowledge and express their feelings, to be honest and human, and to be allowing and nurturing towards themselves and other members in the group. Through being authentic and loving, these diverse members of the group are connected in their humanity.

If the top of a mountain represents a desire, a priority we may have, then a primary part of the path to the top is our seeking to be authentic and loving. When we associate ourselves with others who have the same desire or similar priority and are also seeking to be authentic and truly loving, then we have the shared capacity for inspiration through the developed interconnection and awareness of our humanity and the synergy created by our sharing a common priority. We are individually and collectively enabled by the shared capacity to be loving, to allow and nurture, and through a sense of shared connection of feelings, challenges, fears, hopes, and dreams. When we become human, open, and honest, and others we associate with are this way too, we begin to trust ourselves and others, realizing we are not in this alone and together we can enable each other to achieve great things.

So, when choosing people to accompany us on our journey it is not so important that they come from the same backgrounds, share the same beliefs about the nature of reality, dress, look, and speak the same, are rich or poor, or have the same type of education. In fact, diversity often provides an opportunity for alternative perspectives that can challenge and educate us, expanding our awareness and understanding. We are empowered individually and collectively, however, when we share a common desire and a willingness to achieve that desire in an authentic and loving way.

If we are trying to move away from judgment and blame while also incorporating honesty in our lives, and others we are associating with are into put downs, playing the victim, and/or lying, we may feel that we are paddling upstream rather than down; our efforts will be met with a steady counter-force rather than an enabling flow. If we are trying to scale a mountain, the forces of nature and our conditioning - such as gravity and inertia and our own fears - on their own can make the journey difficult enough; there is no need for us to make it more difficult. As self-responsible people we can make choices that make our life flow more easily. If we are choosing to align ourselves with the laws of nature, principles and ways of acting in the world that are empowering, then certainly it would help us if we surround ourselves with people who are doing the same. When we align ourselves with others going "downstream" - aligning ourselves with the laws of nature - our collective journey encounters much less friction and conflict. When we align ourselves with others who are going upstream, we weigh each other down, making the journey more arduous and collectively adding to our difficulties and creating greater hardship.

Through our example and sharing of ourselves, we can help our children to look for our common humanity rather than our superficial dissimilarities. We can help them to achieve this perspective despite the influence outside of our homes that may discourage it. Through our decisions of who we decide to associate with, our children will come to model our behavior as long as we don't try to impose our beliefs and will on them.

As we can not insulate ourselves from difficult people - those who are traveling upstream - we also can not insulate our children. As we and our children make our way in the world, we will meet and associate with difficult people. We empower our children and ourselves when we both understand we also learn from difficult people. They are often there to challenge our abilities and our capacity to act in an authentic and loving way. When we are challenged in this way, it is an opportunity to learn, grow, and further develop ourselves. We may not be able to avoid difficult people, and we may not want to. The difficult people we attract into our lives will soon no longer bother and upset us, as we alter our response and learn the lesson inherent in altering that response.

In the corporate world, as in other parts of the world, there are plenty of difficult people. One reason I knew it was probably time for me to leave was that the difficult people there no longer seemed to bother me. The irony was, I had struggled with difficult people in the corporate environment for so many years, I thought that perhaps I should stay just so I could enjoy the rewards of my own efforts. On another level, I realized I was free to go because I had learned the lessons, and no longer reacted emotionally to difficult people in that arena of my life.

People who I found particularly difficult in the corporate world were those who were arrogant, condescending, rude, and disrespectful. In response I would become angry, defensive, aloof, and vengeful. However, over time I came to see their behavior as their issue, not mine. I stopped personalizing their behavior and realized that they would be acting the same to almost anyone else, which they often validated through further demonstration. I realized they had significant insecurities and emotional imbalances that caused them to behave in such ways. I began to see their behavior as childlike and immature, acting out their own childhood problems as adults.

I began to respond to them in a detached, unemotional way. In fact, I began to see their behavior as silly and would sometimes smile. Sometimes the smile would disarm these difficult people, sometimes they would be oblivious and continue their ranting and raving, and sometimes they would be confused because this was not their expected or desired response. However, as I continued to respond in a respectful and peaceful way, confrontations were avoided and discussions were better directed towards solutions rather than the promotion of ongoing conflicts.

We can share this perspective regarding difficult people with our children. Viewing difficult people as an opportunity for growth is much more empowering than seeing them as the universe's way of making our lives impossible. When we see it as an opportunity, we are inspired and willing to look for solutions and continue to move on in our lives. Certainly this perspective would be a great gift for our children, and save them a lot of aggravation and unhappiness in their lives. We help them gain this perspective by sharing ours with them and by presenting positive examples of how to act in the world when we respond to difficult people in this more empowering way.

A popular saying is "you are the company you keep." Like most "sayings," we should be careful. The people and objects in our surroundings may influence us, but we are not them. If we are authentic, if we are independent, then we are who we are regardless of the company we keep; we know and define ourselves through our internal not external references. As independent people we do get to choose the company we keep, and the issues in this choice should be considered. If we are climbing a mountain and choosing a path, how do we decide who should accompany us?
First of all, our perceived distinctions among people are more fabricated than real. Through our training in perceiving duality, we are trained to look for distinctions, for differences; we know ourselves and components of the world through people and objects that are dissimilar or opposite. We are not trained to look for commonality, for similarities.
We can confirm this for ourselves by noting our internal and external dialogue, particularly about people; we would observe we are often making distinctions about other people.
I am trying to eliminate this tendency in myself. It is not an easy thing to do. I find myself noting people's weight, dress, hairstyle, hair color, and manner of walking and talking. And this is before I even start evaluating what they have to say!
What I don't often see, and most of us often don't see, is that these same people are just like you and me: they have two eyes, arms and legs, one heart, dreams, aspirations, pain, sadness, desire to love and be loved, innate intelligence, abilities and talents - in various stages of expression - and imagination. If we stop, look, and suspend our habit of making distinctions we will find more qualities that we have in common, that bond and connect us, than are dissimilar, that separate and disconnect us.
When we suspend our habit of making distinctions, we discover there are many more people we could include on our journey than we would normally allow ourselves. Besides being a habit, another reason we may make distinctions is to satisfy our ego and the need to feel comfortable. We may make distinctions so we can surround ourselves with people who we feel are similar to us on the outside, in external references rather than internal ones. They validate our definitions of who we think we are, what we feel is right and wrong. There are many ways to climb mountains with many different types of people; we should be open to exploring all of our options. When we seek the common connection of our humanity, many more doors and options are available to us; we empower ourselves to find the people who can help us on our journey.
Anyone who has participated in a support group, or group therapy has probably had the experience of connecting to a sense or perception of our common humanity. In support groups and group therapy, people from different "walks of life" come together to learn and gain insights, share and express their feelings, heal certain wounds, and benefit from the support of others. Their experiences and backgrounds may be very different. But these diverse people share a desire and willingness to overcome obstacles and challenges that are causing them pain and difficulty in their lives. Sharing a common desire and willingness to act on that desire, they are brought together in a group setting and encouraged to be authentic and loving. They are encouraged to acknowledge and express their feelings, to be honest and human, and to be allowing and nurturing towards themselves and other members in the group. Through being authentic and loving, these diverse members of the group are connected in their humanity.
If the top of a mountain represents a desire, a priority we may have, then a primary part of the path to the top is our seeking to be authentic and loving. When we associate ourselves with others who have the same desire or similar priority and are also seeking to be authentic and truly loving, then we have the shared capacity for inspiration through the developed interconnection and awareness of our humanity and the synergy created by our sharing a common priority. We are individually and collectively enabled by the shared capacity to be loving, to allow and nurture, and through a sense of shared connection of feelings, challenges, fears, hopes, and dreams. When we become human, open, and honest, and others we associate with are this way too, we begin to trust ourselves and others, realizing we are not in this alone and together we can enable each other to achieve great things.
So, when choosing people to accompany us on our journey it is not so important that they come from the same backgrounds, share the same beliefs about the nature of reality, dress, look, and speak the same, are rich or poor, or have the same type of education. In fact, diversity often provides an opportunity for alternative perspectives that can challenge and educate us, expanding our awareness and understanding. We are empowered individually and collectively, however, when we share a common desire and a willingness to achieve that desire in an authentic and loving way.
If we are trying to move away from judgment and blame while also incorporating honesty in our lives, and others we are associating with are into put downs, playing the victim, and/or lying, we may feel that we are paddling upstream rather than down; our efforts will be met with a steady counter-force rather than an enabling flow. If we are trying to scale a mountain, the forces of nature and our conditioning - such as gravity and inertia and our own fears - on their own can make the journey difficult enough; there is no need for us to make it more difficult. As self-responsible people we can make choices that make our life flow more easily. If we are choosing to align ourselves with the laws of nature, principles and ways of acting in the world that are empowering, then certainly it would help us if we surround ourselves with people who are doing the same. When we align ourselves with others going "downstream" - aligning ourselves with the laws of nature - our collective journey encounters much less friction and conflict. When we align ourselves with others who are going upstream, we weigh each other down, making the journey more arduous and collectively adding to our difficulties and creating greater hardship.
Through our example and sharing of ourselves, we can help our children to look for our common humanity rather than our superficial dissimilarities. We can help them to achieve this perspective despite the influence outside of our homes that may discourage it. Through our decisions of who we decide to associate with, our children will come to model our behavior as long as we don't try to impose our beliefs and will on them.
As we can not insulate ourselves from difficult people - those who are traveling upstream - we also can not insulate our children. As we and our children make our way in the world, we will meet and associate with difficult people. We empower our children and ourselves when we both understand we also learn from difficult people. They are often there to challenge our abilities and our capacity to act in an authentic and loving way. When we are challenged in this way, it is an opportunity to learn, grow, and further develop ourselves. We may not be able to avoid difficult people, and we may not want to. The difficult people we attract into our lives will soon no longer bother and upset us, as we alter our response and learn the lesson inherent in altering that response.
In the corporate world, as in other parts of the world, there are plenty of difficult people. One reason I knew it was probably time for me to leave was that the difficult people there no longer seemed to bother me. The irony was, I had struggled with difficult people in the corporate environment for so many years, I thought that perhaps I should stay just so I could enjoy the rewards of my own efforts. On another level, I realized I was free to go because I had learned the lessons, and no longer reacted emotionally to difficult people in that arena of my life.
People who I found particularly difficult in the corporate world were those who were arrogant, condescending, rude, and disrespectful. In response I would become angry, defensive, aloof, and vengeful. However, over time I came to see their behavior as their issue, not mine. I stopped personalizing their behavior and realized that they would be acting the same to almost anyone else, which they often validated through further demonstration. I realized they had significant insecurities and emotional imbalances that caused them to behave in such ways. I began to see their behavior as childlike and immature, acting out their own childhood problems as adults.
I began to respond to them in a detached, unemotional way. In fact, I began to see their behavior as silly and would sometimes smile. Sometimes the smile would disarm these difficult people, sometimes they would be oblivious and continue their ranting and raving, and sometimes they would be confused because this was not their expected or desired response. However, as I continued to respond in a respectful and peaceful way, confrontations were avoided and discussions were better directed towards solutions rather than the promotion of ongoing conflicts.
We can share this perspective regarding difficult people with our children. Viewing difficult people as an opportunity for growth is much more empowering than seeing them as the universe's way of making our lives impossible. When we see it as an opportunity, we are inspired and willing to look for solutions and continue to move on in our lives. Certainly this perspective would be a great gift for our children, and save them a lot of aggravation and unhappiness in their lives. We help them gain this perspective by sharing ours with them and by presenting positive examples of how to act in the world when we respond to difficult people in this more empowering way.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5387835

A Model for Advancing Policy in Cultural Competency and Health Disparity

As The US emerges from a long recession, managing the growing cost of healthcare remains an ongoing concern. The Affordable Health Act will eventually assure the availability of healthcare insurance coverage to over 30 million more Americans. This landmark legislation will improve access to a previously uninsured or underinsured group of Americans.

Health and Healthcare disparities is broadly defined as worse baseline states of health and relatively worse clinical outcomes associated with certain diseases in certain population groups. The affected groups may be distinguished by race, ethnicity, culture, gender, religion and age. The costs to treat the diseases which result from Health and Healthcare disparities represent one of the recognized areas of unnecessary and arguably avoidable healthcare delivery costs. Specifically, in certain instances both prevention and more cost efficient management of chronic disease states can significantly reduce healthcare costs. A chronic disease is defined as a long lasting or recurrent medical condition.

Some common examples include diabetes, hypertension, asthma and cardiovascular disease. Unfortunately, our current healthcare system may be better equipped to manage intermittent and episodic disease occurrences and not the demands of chronic medical conditions In a study published by Weidman et al from The Urban Institute,the authors estimated that in 2009, disparities among African Americans, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic whites will cost the health care system $23.9 billion dollars. Medicare alone will spend an extra $15.6 billion while private insurers will incur $5.1 billion in additional costs due to elevated rates of chronic illness among these groups of Americans. Over the 10-year period from 2009 through 2018, the authors estimated that the total cost of these disparities to be approximately $337 billion, including $220 billion for Medicare.

In the same study, the authors estimated the total healthcare costs secondary to racial and ethnic health disparities in chronic disease treatment (diabetes, hypertension, stroke, renal disease, poor general health) in African Americans and Latino Americans residing in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to be $700 million. The Urban Institute. A study entitled The Economic Burden of Health inequalities in the United States by LaVeist et almeasured the economic burden of health disparities in the US using three measures: (1) direct medical costs of health inequalities (2) Indirect costs of health inequalities (3) Costs of premature death Their findings revealed:

    The combined costs of health inequalities and premature death in the US among African Americans, Hispanics and Asian Americans were $1.24 trillion
    Eliminating health disparities for minorities would have reduced direct medical expenditures by $229.4 billion for the years 2003-2006
    Between 2003 and 2006, 30.6% of direct medical expenditures for African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics were excess costs due to health inequalities.

Cultural competence (CC) refers to an ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures. CC comprises four components: (a) Awareness of one's own cultural worldview, (b) Attitude towards cultural differences, (c) Knowledge of different cultural practices and worldviews, and (d) cross-cultural skills. Developing cultural competence results in an ability to understand, communicate with, and effectively interact with people across cultures. CC has been increasingly recognized as an important, overlooked and underappreciated factor in delivering healthcare to an increasingly diverse America. US census estimations project that by 2050, over 50% of Americans will be non-white. Over 50% of children will be nonwhite by 2025. It seems intuitive to that the interface between patient, healthcare system and healthcare provider is a critical point in the delivery of healthcare. To this end, The Office of Minority Health in the Department of Health and Human Services has issued mandates and recommendations to inform, guide and facilitate the creation of cultural and language appropriate services. (CLAS Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services). Implementation of these guidelines within systems and agencies and among individuals can enhance CC and ultimately improve clinical outcomes.. The Center for Health Improvement and Economic Development was one of several parties which advocated for statewide guidelines regarding the cultural competency CME (continuing medical education) requirements for initial licensure and relicensing of physicians in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. To accomplish this goal, we set forth to educate and inform the various stakeholders regarding the intrinsic value of CC as a critical determinant of improving healthcare outcomes and a direct result of a utilitarian argument of social justice in the United States. The Center also recognized the importance of making a compelling business case in the current economic climate Partnering with the Gateway Medical Society, the Pennsylvania State Legislative Black Caucus (PSLBC) under the leadership of State Representative Ronald G. Waters and the Center for Health Improvement and Economic Development-a townhall format meeting was organized and planned in Pittsburgh. Local legislators including State Representatives Jake Wheatley, Tom Preston and Daniel Frankel were in attendance.

The townhall program: Working To Eliminate Healthcare Disparities in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was held in Pittsburgh. Attendees and participants included state policy makers, legislators, healthcare providers, healthcare administrators, social activists, business leaders and members of the general public. Robust debate occurred throughout the day and the exchange between audience members, legislators, policy makers and thought leaders underscored the recognized importance of the critical issue of Health Disparity and Cultural Competency. It is important to recognize the backdrop of the day's events. The meeting took place two days after the initial steps of The Affordable Care Act were initiated with critical new consumer protections in the Patient's Bill of Rights, including no pre-existing diseases for children, outlawing rescission and creating a path to allow adult children to remain on their parent's insurance until age 26. The enthusiasm of the day culminated with a pledge from State Representative Ronald G Waters to support a resolution on CC to be submitted to the National Black Caucus of State Legislators- ultimately a path to introducing the legislation to all states and ultimately to the Congressional Black Caucus. The meeting emphasized the necessity and the benefit of identifying stakeholders, recognizing mutual agendas and seeking consensus in the path to generating support for public policy. Addressing CC in the healthcare environment through requirements for healthcare provider continuing education is one small step. Certainly, this requirement should be considered for other healthcare professionals, administrators and ancillary staff members. Greater awareness of the emerging diversity of America and understanding how to manage that diversity will significantly enhance the delivery of healthcare. The Pennsylvania State Legislative Black Caucus, The Center for Health Improvement and Economic Development and The Gateway Medical Society call upon other groups to join in our collaborative model to reduce Health Disparity and enhance healthcare delivery in The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and beyond.

The Legislative Black Caucus of Pennsylvania The PLBC was organized by House Majority Leader K. Leroy Irvis during the 1973-74 legislative session. K. Leroy Irvis saw the need for the caucus because he felt that legislators representing minority districts needed to speak with a united voice regarding the issues and concerns of their constituents. State Representative Ronald G. Waters was first elected to the House of Representatives in a special election in May 1999. He is chairman of the Health and Human Services Subcommittee on Health and serves on the Children and Youth, Health and Human Services, Judiciary, Liquor Control and Professional Licensure committees. He is also a member of the Philadelphia and the Southeast Pennsylvania delegations. Waters is also the chairman of the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, and chairman of Region 2 (which includes Pennsylvania and New York) of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators. About the Authors: Lee Kirksey MD is co-founder of The Center for Health Improvement and Economic Development, a public policy think tank. The organization is focused on the impact of social determinants on community health utilizing public private partnerships. His current research efforts include cultural competency and it impact on health disparities within surgery. He is author of The Wellness Revolution: Eliminating Disparities and Promoting Prevention...For All. Dr Kirksey is an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Michele Jones, MSW, MHA serves as Manager of Partnership Development and Community Relations at Fox Cancer Center in Philadelphia. Having over 15 years management experience in health disparities, health education, public relations and development, Ms. Jones oversees prevention practices and partnership development. Through the years, she has worked in similar capacities at companies covering San Diego, New York as well as Pennsylvania. Through her work, she has become known as an innovator in the areas of health access, prevention and education, acquiring City Citations and Awards for both Community Outreach and Health Education. Jones is the founder of Jones Health Care Management Solutions and is currently a second-year Bioethics Student attending the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine.

The Gateway Medical Society The Gateway Medical Society is a component of the National Medical Association. The National Medical Association objectives are to promote the science and art of medicine and the betterment of public health. Organized in 1895, the NMA Limits memberships to physicians licensed to practice medicine in any state or territory of the United States and the District of Columbia. Election of Membership may be obtained through Constituent Associations, through affiliation with societies consisting organized women physicians, Haitian physicians, and other minority physicians. The Gateway Medical Society is therefore a component society of its constituent association the Keystone State Medical Society of Pennsylvania.