TIKKUN OLAM. TO HEAL THE UNIVERSE. ISRAEL IS DOING MORE THAN ITS SHARE

There are words you hear as a child or adolescent which stays in your memory.
I remember, a shaliach from Israel saying:
Theodor Herzl said: Once we achieve our dream of establishing a state for ourselves, we should share our expertise and knowledge and help our brothers in the African Continent.

My own desire to serve the world, putting my drop in the ocean of Humanitarian medicine, may have sprung from the idea of TIKKUN OLAM. heal the universe. There is a lot of discourse on the meaning of OLAM but I am quite content to know that it means UNIVERSE 

So, I was happy to read an article by Jodie Cohen
Jodie@TikkunOlamIsrael.com
Thank you ..

Here are five, which are striving to help the country – and the world – tackle this terrible pandemic in the areas of prevention, testing, patient care, and the crucial search for treatments and vaccines.

1. Prevention – As United Hatzalah’s Founder and President, Eli Beer, lay in an induced coma as he fought his own battle with the coronavirus, his team created one of the first contact tracing apps in the world.
   United Hatzalah realized the potential to connect publically-available Ministry of Health information on reported cases of COVID-19, with mobile location tracking technology. After one weekend of intense work with developer Uri Feldman, the result was Trackvirus, which was launched in mid-March and is free to use. In its first two months it was downloaded 350,000 times, helping people to know if they need to go into quarantine and helping to prevent the further spread of the virus.
2. Testing – There is an expression that medical interns are taught, "When you hear hoofbeats, think of horses not zebras." It means look out for common explanations rather than exotic medical diseases when diagnosing a patient. Today, using the power of AI, Zebra Medical Vision wants to help doctors "take care of the zebras."
   Zebra Medical aims to transform patient care by providing automated, accurate and fast medical image diagnosis. The company’s technologies have received five FDA clearances to date, and Zebra was named in Fast Company’s top 10 most innovative health companies of 2020 list. With the onset of COVID-19, the expectation is that Zebra’s software will be used to offer key insights into disease severity, enabling doctors to diagnose, triage and evaluate patients quickly and effectively.
3. Patient care – TytoCare was originally developed to help people get medical care without having to leave their home. The platform provides patients with an on-demand medical exam, 365 days a year, no matter their location.
   When coronavirus appeared, the company realized it could enable doctors to examine COVID patients remotely. Doctors can carry out numerous health checks, including on the heart, lungs, throat, body temperature and more, whether the patient is at hospital or in their own home. The company already works with over 80 health systems across the world, helping to care for patients and protect healthcare workers from catching the virus at the same time.
4. Potential treatments – CytoReason calls itself the global hub of pharma R&D data. It aggregates proprietary data from different companies across the industry, and uses it to train its computational models of human diseases. In other words, on a computer, scientists and doctors can see precisely what happens to the body on a molecular level when it is fighting an illness.
   CytoReason is now offering COVID-19 modeling to help pharma and biotech companies search for a cure – free of charge. The company has opened its software to all of its pharma customers worldwide, helping scientists and doctors to see the impact of potential medicines on the body in the global hunt for treatments.
5. The race for a vaccine – At the start of February 2020, the Israel Prime Minister instructed the Defense Ministry-run Israeli Institute of Biological Research (IIBR) to produce a vaccine against COVID-19, and to set up a vaccine factory. The Institute is believed to be working around the clock to find treatments and solutions to the virus.
   In May 2020, the laboratory announced that it is the first in the world to reach three major milestones: finding an antibody that destroys the virus; that targets COVID-19 specifically; and that is ‘monoclonal’, meaning it was derived from a single recovered cell. The Institute says it has already successfully completed coronavirus vaccine tests on rodents and will now test on animals before moving on to human trials.

ARE YOUR PEOPLE NATURALLY SMART? NO WE ARE JUST CURIOUS

Apart from getting used to, Where are you from? Originally?, style of questioning, I am confronted with yet another common question, Are your people naturally smart? 

No, I say emphatically, having been answering this questions ever since I was sent to Sweden on an exchange programme during the years of my academic slippery slope of achievement.

I look at my brother's children and their little libraries. The 9 year old has enviable collection of books, a series in her language about notable women, including Harriet Tubman. Her mother, with a PhD in Molecular Biology and an MBA is constantly questioned about: Explain this to me ? Why this is so ?
It is curiosity that distinguishes and directed well by the parents. American children that I know in Miami are equally curious but the parents are equipped to tell them the shoe sizes of celebrities or gossip as knowledge.

I am sure it was one of our sages who said: For Knowledge to be Knowledge, it has to be transferrable. If you look up the meaning of Knowledge Transfer, you would see an almost industrial strength of accumulations of ways of transferring knowledge, tacit knowledge, business transfer etc.

Another young member of the family at dinner asked me : Explain to me what they mean by Meaning of Life ? And seven year old asking me, how many types of Lemurs are there ? and native to which country?

Sequestration of knowledge or the feeling that you need only to know things that can be converted into work and pay, narrows the world view of the students at high school age. 

So, i felt a warmth in my heart about this printed newspaper from a Northern country. I wont tell you in which language it is printed nor the town and country of its origin.
Be curious and find out ..

and dont forget to give that information to your children ..

VISIT TO A GHOST TOWN. MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

I know this airport so well.. and i could not believe what I saw today.

all concourses were empty, no agents nor any identification of any airlines, hardly any human presence.

I have arrived or departed from MIA international airport at all hours of the night or day, but i have never seen this eery silence 

Checking on the airplane traffic in the USA the picture painted is very different. The skies seem to be full of planes.

One thing for sure, no one is coming to Florida.. I did recognize the tail of a Turkish airlines flight but where are the people? At the moment most of the countries of the world are closed to American travellers and with its rising Covid virus detections, perhaps it is not an ideal place to come..

I thought by July 1st, airline traffic would be back to normal in the USA, but now I postpone my adivination to September 1. 2020..

CENTURIES OLD ADVICE FROM A WISE MAN AND POET OF IRAN. SA'DI

We are passing through unusual times. The code of behaviour to other people have changed. On top of it, the flowering of an anti-racist movement has added yet another glittered layer to the emotions and behaviour. 

The american slang, Take Care, never meant much, as it was a casual good-bye, to which you can add now, Stay Safe, yet another nonsense parlance. 

So it was nice to come across in BBC Culture an article about Sa'di, an iranin poet of 13th century of the Common Era. 

“Ask not,” he admonished, “a dervish in poor circumstances, and in the distress of a year of famine, how he feels, unless thou art ready to apply a salve to his wound or to provide him with a maintenance.” Sa’di also believed that “a liberal man who eats and bestows is better than a devotee who fasts and hoards”.

STAY AT HOME AND PRAY AT HOME OR DO NOT PRAY AT ALL. TO AVOID DYING FROM COVID19. UK DATA

Overall, the coronavirus mortality rate was highest among Muslims, followed by Hindus, Jews and Sikhs, while those who say they have no religion had the lowest death rate among religious groups from COVID-19. Figures from UK

Did G-D forsake them, or Allah or Whoever and the Energy forces sided with the Atheists?

Or did the religious people forgot about social distancing in their eagerness to serve the Great Spirit ?

One thing for sure, praying together to whoever DOES NOT PROTECT YOU and puts you at risk ..

Stay at HOME and Pray at HOME

Shabbat Shalom

“For the most part, the elevated risk of certain religious groups is explained by geographical, socio-economic and demographic factors and increased risks associated with ethnicity. However, after adjusting for the above, Jewish males are at twice the risk of Christian males, and Jewish women are also at higher risk,” Nick Stripe, head of live events at the statistics agency, was quoted saying in the report.

He said further research was needed to understand risk levels.

In the period covered in the report, 453 Jews in England and Wales died of COVID-19, accounting for 1.2 percent of total deaths during that time, though they make up 0.5% of the population.

In Israel, in the UK and in New York, ultra religious Jews have disproportionately died.  Lack of physical distance (during the religious rituals) may be one factor. Ultra religious Jews also tend to be poorer and I am not sure of the impact of their strict nutritional restrictions on their immune status.

Another study published shows that in the UK , when a south Asian is admitted to the hospital they have a higher chance of death, compared to both Whites and Blacks. The investigators think it may be due to Diabetes or Poverty or some genetic mechanism. It is of interest to note that they are 12 years younger and that is a huge difference.

Religious practices perhaps a cause of Covid 19 spread as we saw in India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia among Muslims; in Israel, UK and New York among religious Jews (only a very small percentage of Jews are religious)

Nutrition: Has studies been done whether a Strict Kosher or Hallal diet is healthy for you ?  from an immunological point of view ?  Both Kosher and Halal food may be healthy but the lifestyle that comes with it MAY not be healthy, both requires long period of time indoors and at prayers and in close contact with others.

In Italy and Spain they have been able to extract a SNP single nucleotide polymorphism in the genes of the patients who had more serious respiratory diseases due to Covid 19

How much is then due to nature vs nurture ? in the religious groups?

The high rate of death and serous illness due to Covid 19 among religious people (non Christian) may be due to

An unhealthy lifestyle

Obesity

Diabetes

SNP ? not yet found out

Lack of social distancing but that gives rise to greater infection rate

AMALIA RODRIGUES, LISBOA; CARLOS GARDEL, BUENOS AIRES; P. RAMLEE, KUALA LUMPUR; UMM AL KHALTHOUM EL KAHIRA

After writing a blog about Dame Vera Lynn who passed away on 18/6/2020, I thought of other icons of music from other countries that I could think of and also have some sort of a connection.
Portugal and Fado 
The current diva of Fado in Lisboa is from Mozambique but mention this name to a Portuguese person, you would see the joy in his/her face 
AMALIA RODRIGUES  23/07/1920. HER BIRTHDAY, DIED 1990

A Minha Canção É Saudade

De ilusões desvanecidas

Fumo de esperanças perdidas

Minha canção é saudade

Mãe, que de tranças caídas

Via tudo em cores garridas

E em todos via bondade

 

Mãe, que de tranças caídas

Via tudo em cores garridas

E em todos via bondade

 

E nesta sinceridade

De amor e sensualidade

Ponho a alma ao coração

Numa angústia, uma ansiedade

Minha canção é saudade

Do amor sonhado em vão

 

Numa angústia, uma ansiedade

Minha canção é saudade

Do amor sonhado em vão

 

Nesta saudade sem fim

Choro saudades de mim

Sou mulher mas fui pequena

Também brinquei e corri

Mas quem sabe se sofri

Se é de mim que tenho pena

 

Também brinquei e corri

Mas quem sabe se sofri

Se é de mim que tenho pena

My Song is of Longing

Of faded illusions

Smoke of lost hopes

My song is of longing

Mother with fallen braids

Saw everything in bright colors

And in everyone she saw kindness

 

Mother with fallen braids

Saw everything in bright colors

And in everyone she saw kindness

 

And in this sincerity

Of love and sensuality

I put my soul to my heart

In distress, an anxiety

My song is of longing

Of love dreamed in vain

 

In distress, an anxiety

My song is of longing

Of love dreamed in vain

 

In this longing without end

I cry longing for me

I'm a woman but I once was small

I also played and ran

But who knows if I suffered

If it's for me I feel pity

 

I also played and ran

But who knows if I suffered

If it's for me I feel pity

The King of Tango 

Carlos Gardel 

Even after so many years after his tragic death in Medellin, Carlos Gardel's name evokes nostalgia and that peculiar feeling in the heart of a Tango lover whether he is a Porteno or Extranjero..

For a period of five years, you could see me often in the streets of Buenos Aires, enjoying the famous cafe, walking along the path of Jorge Luis Borges in Palermo, late nights of Malbec and delicious meals ..

MOVE CONTINENTS AND THERE IS P RAMLEE WHOM I CALL CARLOS GARDEL OF MALAYSIA 

He was more than a singer as this short presentation will reveal to you .I got to know P Ramlee only much later, already at a time when the Muslim women were wearing women into hijabs and a liberal muslim political system , but he stood for me as a symbol of the purity of Malay thought that existed without the influence of Religious and political thought. My fondness for the Malay people remains the same.

I have maintained close relationship with Malaysia, with some close and good friends in KL.

An added pleasure has been friendships with succeeding Malaysian Ambassadors to Cuba, starting with Datuk Jorgi Samuel who is now their ambassador to Thailand , then Omar Khairy, followed by the current ambassador Dato Roslan 

P.Ramlee

When you are a child you are impressed by feats that seemed beyond your brain could comprehend .

Having middle eastern connections, I heard lots of "facts" about Arabs, Muslims, Iranians but the ones I liked were the ones about the culture of what we now call The Middle East.

three to four hours

Her songs deal mostly with the universal themes of love, longing and loss. They are nothing short of epic in scale, with durations measured in hours rather than minutes. A typical Umm Kulthum concert consisted of the performance of two or three songs over a period of three to four hours.

Her songs lasted more than one hour ? In any case, that name stuck in the head, Umm Kulthum of Egypt 

INDIA OH MOTHER INDIA with millions and millions of people, you must have so many ICONIC singers and actors (all actors are good looking! vow)..

Being an anthropologist, when I saw a movie about Inter racial love starring Denzel Washington MISSISSIPPI MASALA. (I remember a line by Gene Hackman  Mississippi has FOUR "eyes" but still is very blind), there was a song which reminded me as a national anthem of Cultural Frankensteins of Cuba. Shoes from Japan, Pants from England, Hat from Russia but the Heart from India..

The you tube video shows the good looking actor RAJ KAPOOR acting the song while the vocals are by MUKESH, who along with so many musicians in INDIA is iconic.

The number of HITS these singers had in that vast country of millions would make the singers of the west jealous 

Asha Bhosle 10200 songs recorded

Mohammed Rafi 5000

Lata Mangeshkar 6500

Mukesh the singer above 1300

I am sure each person has their iconic singers from the past . Just because we were not alive at the time of Bethoven or Tchaikovsky does not mean we cannot enjoy their music. Many of the iconic singers are not our generation but their songs are timeless..

WE WILL MEET AGAIN DAME VERA LYNN ECHOES IN MIAMI

We'll meet again
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day
Keep smiling through
Just like you always do
'Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away
So will you please say hello
To the folks that I know
Tell them I won't be long
They'll be happy to know
That as you saw me go
I was singing this song
We'll meet again
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day

If you were an unashamed colonial like I was growing up (I visited the Colonial office which was a shadow of what it was when I first visited it, as Britain had just 7 colonies left!), somewhere in your childhood you would have heard this song 
WE WILL MEET AGAIN 
In fact I remember the first time I heard that song, while I was waiting for a bus in an Adelaide, Australia.
There was a graffiti on the wall, which said. Most men Eat, FU MAN CHU... some how left an impression and then this song.

From Monocle 
20.06.2020
 I wrote about the street singalong that happens every Thursday in my neighbourhood, led by William Spaulding, chorus director of the Royal Opera House. This week he was accompanied by a member of the chorus who, as a tribute to Vera Lynn, paused proceedings to sing “We’ll Meet Again”. Surrounded by the houses, with the tree canopy acting as a makeshift opera-house roof, her voice gave echo to the past. But as you looked around and saw kids dancing and people of every age and background listening and singing along (how do people in their twenties know the words?), she also gave voice to hopes for a better future – whatever that turns out to be.
(Andew Tuck, Monocle. If you are not aware of this magazine I highly recommend it. Along with The Economist and The New York Times, they are my favourite reads of the day)

Dame Vera Lynn died in England aged 103.

Poignantly, her death came on the 80th anniversary of Charles de Gaulle's "Appel" to French people to fight Nazi occupation, marked in London yesterday by Prince Charles, Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron.
part of the speech of Charles de Gaulle 
on June 18, 1940
Appeal of 18 June (French: L'Appel du 18 juin)

June 19th which hopefully would be made into a National Holiday in the USA (especially with a more sensitive President and a sympathetic Senate)
is also significant to a large swath of people in the USA : signifying the end of slavery in 1865. The celebrations began in Texas (paradoxically enough). 

20.06.2020 Miami
Lovely day here
Cuba is closed. Airports may not open until August 1st, perhaps even September 1. 2020

In the meantime, no lament about Qatar Airways seat 1 K !
2020 started in  Cochin, India followed by a brief stay in Muscat, Oman and then Havana, Cuba. Not much prospects about long distance travel in 2020, after a year of extensive travel in 2019..
In the mean time to my friends in 

Austria 
France
Spain 
Israel
India 
Malaysia 
Cambodia 
Vietnam 
Australia 
Cuba 
Argentina 
Rapa Nui
Mexico
Iran
and this LONELY PLANET now..

we will meet again ..

IRAN IN MY HEART, ALWAYS AND IT SHOULD BE IN YOUR HEARTS TOO... LISTEN TO THIS VIDEO

My love for Iran is as old as myself, from stories transmitted to me as a child some of which I remember. While a teenager, on a exchange course of study in Europe, I came across Iranians and learned more about Khayyam and about the various cities of that country, hoping one day I can visit. But the tumult of 1979? and the arrival of turbaned ones with a view to the past and not an understanding of the glorious past of Iran, put a stop to all that.
Jews who had lived there for 3000 years were not welcome and the exodus made Iran poorer in many ways. Iran entered strongly into my life a few years ago, actually through Hafez and other poets and through Kuala Lumpur and my good friend there. and it remains tenderly in my heart.
Today I received a TED talk video sent by the same person who had rekindled my love for Iran (in Kuala Lumpur).



You can see that the person presenting represents the sophistication and gentleness and tolerance of Iran. I have made many friends in Iran and I think of them often and dream of a time when I can go to visit them in Iran and enjoy the glory of that civilization.
In the above video, he explains the paradox of Persia and it is carried by the women of Iran despite the efforts of the turbaned ones, who will never succeed to dull the glory of Persia .

TEDMED TALK ON GENERIC MEDICATIONS.

This investigative reporting about Generic Drugs is deeply disturbing. It was on TedMed, a forum very highly respected and the lecture was given by an investigator who spent years trying to unearth about the Generic Drugs coming from India and China.
When I met a professor of Pharmacy in Siem Reap in 2008, he told me that in China he can get medications manufactured to the specifications of the purchaser (thus increasing his profits). I never had trust in medications manufactured in China.
But my experiences in India were different, especially after two friends of mine were helped with medications for their Chronic Leukaemia.
So imagine my shock watching this video. 67/86 generic drug manufactures were FALSE.. oh my god.. I hope there is an universal uproar about this, and the presenter looks trustworthy and she had spent years unearthing this.

it is highly disturbing for me as I rely upon medications from India to donate to patients when I am in developing countries! 

YET ANOTHER GIFT FROM THE START UP NATION ISRAEL TO THE WORLD

ISRAEL is called START UP NATION
Israel has earned the nickname “Startup Nation” for a very good reason: With a population of around 8.5 million, it has the largest number of startups per capita in the world, around one startup per 1,400 people.

The technical gifts are so many that even fervent anti-Israelis wont be able to live without them. They can shout about boycotting Israel but many of the Arab countries are seeing the light and are in technical collaboration with Israel. 

Selfishly I am waiting for Qatar Airways to fly into Ben Gurion Airport, as I can fly my favourite Middle Eastern Airline to my favourite Middle Eastern country.

on June 17, 2020 it was announced that BGU at Negev at the Laboratory of Professor Gabby Sarusi they have a breathanalyzer for Covid Virus which can give you the results in less than one minute. It would be a great boon for airlines and cruise ships and other companies with large number of employees and places of common get togethers around the world. 
Let the professor tell this news himself.

MAZELTOV. PROFESSOR AND HIS STUDENTS 
I am sure Emirates and Etihad Airlines from UAE would welcome this news.

ARE YOU A HENOTHEIST? I CERTAINLY AM, SAID THE JEW

It took me a while to get used to the erudite writing style of the South Asian-American scholar, Anu Garg. I am passionate about my language, I am not sure how and when it happened but take great pleasure in reading, writing and speaking it. I also have pleasure in sharing it as it has become the most popular language on earth.
Also it is a pleasure to learn an absolutely new word that you have never heard before, one such is today's word: HENOTHEISM.



A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

henotheism

PRONUNCIATION:

(HEN-uh-thee-iz-uhm) 

MEANING:

noun: Belief in or worship of one god without denying the possibility of others.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek heno- (one) + -theism (belief in god). Earliest documented use: 1860.

USAGE:

“Of course, it is certainly easier and more economical to please a few gods rather than many, so henotheism slowly superseded polytheism, from which monotheism was a small, albeit logical step.”
Frank Luger; Lebenswert; Lulu; 2019.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Silence will save me from being wrong (and foolish), but it will also deprive me of the possibility of being right. -Igor Stravinsky, composer (17 Jun 1882-1971)

Now the question that would trouble of Jews living in Israel and the West would be, can you be a Jewish Henotheistic Atheist ? Knowing the intricacies of Jewish Ethno-religious identity, I am sure you can!

Jewish Identity is not a STRICT religious identity. It is ethnic, culural and if you wish, religious identity you can share with people. It is not exclusive but at the same time, entails a responsibility to the people called the Hebrews or Israel or Jews, it is not a propagative or evangelistic but much more practising than believing way of life.
I am reminded of what Buddha said :
When I am sitting I know I am sitting, When I am eating I know I am eating, when I am talking, I know I am eating..

When I am Jewish, I know I am a Jew.

Jewish atheism refers to the atheism of people who are ethnically and (at least to some extent) culturally Jewish. Because Jewish identity is ethnoreligious (i.e., it encompasses ethnic as well as religious components), the term "Jewish atheism" does not inherently entail a contradiction.

Based on Jewish law's emphasis on matrilineal descent, even religiously conservative Orthodox Jewish authorities would accept an atheist born to a Jewish mother as fully Jewish.^[1] A 2011 study found that half of all American Jews have doubts about the existence of God, compared to 10–15% of other American religious groups.    from wikipedia

Jews are the least religious of any group identifying as an entity.

close to 80 per cent of Jews hardly or very seldom attend a place of worship.

MEMORIAS, SAUDADES Y SENTIMIENTOS... A RAINY EVENING IN MIAMI GRAY SKIES BRIGHT RED PONCIANAS WHITE PLUMERIAS AND LIGHT CARESSING RAIN

Natalie d'Arbeloff

Born in Paris, raised in Europe, Paraguay, Brazil and the USA, Natalie d’Arbeloff speaks those languages and lives in London. Her father was Russian and her mother French. Her alter ego is the cartoon character Augustine whose twelve year-old blog is Blaugustine where she has sometimes interviewed God and other unusual celebrities.

There is more about her work as book-artist, painter, printmaker and cartoonist on her website.

Cecilia Mireiles 

Por mim, e por vós, e por mais aquilo
que está onde as outras coisas nunca estão,
deixo o mar bravo e o céu tranqüilo:
quero solidão.
Meu caminho é sem marcos nem paisagens.
E como o conheces? — me perguntarão.
— Por não ter palavras, por não ter imagens.
Nenhum inimigo e nenhum irmão.

Que procuras? — Tudo. Que desejas? — Nada.
Viajo sozinha com o meu coração.
Não ando perdida, mas desencontrada.
Levo o meu rumo na minha mão.

A memória voou da minha fronte.
Voou meu amor, minha imaginação…
Talvez eu morra antes do horizonte.
Memória, amor e o resto onde estarão?

Deixo aqui meu corpo, entre o sol e a terra.
(Beijo-te, corpo meu, todo desilusão!
Estandarte triste de uma estranha guerra…)

Quero solidão.

REMEMBERING THE WONDERFUL CLINICAL APPLIED MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGIST. DR CECIL HELMAN

 Why medical anthropology matters
 Guest editorial by Cecil Helman 

 Cecil Helman was Professor of Medical Anthropology at Brunel University. He was awarded the 2005 Lucy Mair Medal for Applied Anthropology. 

 ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY FEBUARY 2006
In it he had written,
 Because of the multi-disciplinary nature of medical anthropology, the discipline must take other forms of aca- demic background, experience and data collection more seriously. This benefits both anthropology and its sub- disciplines - and those with backgrounds in medicine and other health sciences should especially be welcomed into the anthropological community. Their particular experi- ence is a contribution to anthropology rather than a dilu- tion of its approach. For example, I calculated recently that in my own medical career I have carried out at least 200,000 consultations with patients, and have also made many thousands of house visits to patients at every level of British society, from titled aristocracy to squatters, from affluent leafy suburbs to shabby council estates crowded with immigrants or recent refugees. This has taught me more about the nature and context of human suffering than any academic seminar on the semiotics of bodily dysfunction ever could. This type of experience provides another kind of 
ethnographic depth- different perhaps from more traditional forms of data collection in anthropology, but never the less one which can provide it with new insights and new theoretical models. My hope is that in the future different types of professional experience, even if they originate beyond the borders of anthropology, will be increasingly welcomed into the discipline, and encouraged to contribute even further to its development. Such an eclectic approach can only benefit, and enrich, anthropology

Cecil was my teacher when I began studying Medical Anthropology in London and later, became a friend. On my visits to London, I would stay with him or at least break bread with him and had a chance to visit him in Cape Town, RSA.

Cecil Helman, an anthropologist, suggested that a patient with a problem comes to the doctor seeking answers to six questions:

1) What has happened happened? This includes organizing the symptoms and signs into a recognizable pattern, and giving it a name or identity.

2) Why has it happened? This explains the aetiology or cause of the condition.

3) Why has it happened to me? This tries to relate the illness to aspects of the patient, such as behaviour, diet, body-build, personality or heredity.

4) Why now? This concern the timing of the illness and its mode of onset (sudden or slow)

5) What would happen to me if nothing were done about it? This considers its likely course, outcome, prognosis and dangers.

6) What are its likely effects on other people (family, friends, employers, and workmates) if nothing were done about it? This includes loss of income or of employment, or a strain on family relationships.

7) What should I do about it – or to whom should I turn for further help? Strategies for treating the condition, including self-medication, consultation with friends or family, or going to see a doctor.

A prominent UCL GP Professor had written: about Cecil Helman

He stimulated me to ask those frequently important questions such as ‘what do you think is wrong with you?’ ‘Why do you think it happened?’ ‘What caused the illness?’ and ‘what do you think will help you to get better?’ etc.  It was his ground-breaking book, ‘Culture, health and illness’, which opened the eyes of many practitioners like me to the richness of a patient’s experience, concepts of illness and relationships with health professionals, when so much of the trajectory of modern medicine leads us towards ever greater specialisation, fragmentation and the molecularisation of healthcare.  Cecil’s perspective was a counterbalance to the domination of medicine by the physical and biological sciences and helped many health professionals to make sense of their day-to-day interactions with patients.

I am grateful for his mentorship in my formation as a Medical Anthropologist.

Somewhere or other he is having a Talmudic push-pull argument with someone ! 

We used to joke that Jewish Doctors with Buddhist Inclinations make the Best Health Care Providers..