Exercise 2 - Zola

The following story comes from IK Zola.

Slide 1

There was once a man standing by a riverbank and happily watching the world go by. To his horror, he suddenly saw a person floating downstream and in distress.

Slide 2

He was just about to go and get help, when he saw another person, also struggling in the water and obviously drowning.

Slide 3

Without hesitating, he flung off his jacket and jumped in the water. He pulled the drowning person to safety on the bank and got them breathing again.

Slide 4

Again he plunged in and dragged them to the bank and revived them.

Slide 5

But no sooner had he done this when another and another person came floating downstream. More and more people came floating downstream and he had to work extremely hard to look after them.

Slide 6

But no sooner had he done this when another and another person came floating downstream. More and more people came floating downstream and he had to work extremely hard to look after them.

Zola suggested that this is what the medical system does. Doctors pull people out of the water constantly and do their best to save lives, but they don’t look upstream to see who or what is pushing them in.

Slide 7

Unless someone takes a look upstream, and begins to work on what is causing all these people to drown, more and more people will get into difficulties or die.

Slide 8

A collective, community development approach means you have to try to do both things at the same time and that in fact both things are linked. Together, you can support and help people individually but you can also work together to try to prevent some of the problems. 

Exercise 1

WHAT IS EXPECTED OF YOU THIS TERM

You should modify the following 5 paragraphs if participants are not going to go through the credit rating requirements.

1. Attendance

Try to attend each session, unless you have a good reason. Do let the tutor or someone in the group know if you are not coming. Your contribution is important to the whole group because we are learning and thinking together. Your ideas and experience are part of this course. This is important for all course members. In order to get your credit rating for Part 1 an attendance of at least 6 of the units is required as part of your assessment.

     2. Learning logs

On this course you will be asked to keep a few notes each week. Often, these will go in your learning log. Sometimes you might be asked to do other things. The learning logs are to help you to remember and to think a little more about what has happened each week. They will not be shared in the group but your tutor will look at them from time to time. The learning logs are a part of the course assessment system for credit rating and you will be asked to submit them as part of your assessment. There are no right or wrong answers. Your tutor will be on hand to help you with them. If you like you may keep your own notes in addition to the learning logs.

    3. Your contribution to the course

This course has been developed with the help of many groups in the community who have put in their ideas and comments about each session. Although the tutors will be presenting some information and organising the sessions around each week’s topics, it is the course members’ experiences and opinions which form the main part of this course. Health affects us all. We all have bodies and minds and we know what makes us feel well. When it comes to health, we are all experts.

    4. Speaking up

The more you put into this course, the more you will get out of it. We are all different in the way we learn - some of us learn by listening, others by talking it out or writing.

Even if we don’t feel confident in groups, it is important to speak up if there is something we don’t understand or we disagree with what is being said. If this feels too hard, you can use your learning log or take it up with your tutor. However, the groups who have tried this course found that if there is something you don’t understand, you can bet that you are not the only one!

   5. Credit Rating: If you are doing a credit rated course make the following points very clear.

This course offers a credit rating at SCQF Level 6. Requirements for the credit rating submission are:

• Attend at least 6 of the 8 units
• Take part in the group project;
• Complete your learning logs for each unit

Life on the Low

I’m always in pain,
I’m struggling to sleep again,
The bills are in,
But I have no money to pay them,
The children are hungry,
I have no food to give,
I wish I could do this,
I wish I could live.
 

The buses are too dear,
So I can’t go anywhere,
I don’t know what to do,
I don’t know how I got here,
My house has got damp,
And the walls are a mess,
I would love a nice house,
But can’t cope with this stress…..
 

… If we get together and unite,
We can help to make things right,
All we need is a voice,
And to make a right choice,
To hold our head up,
And stand tall,
We could live better,
And our kids most of all…

By Mary Prosser 

 WHAT HEALTH MEANS TO ME

 1. What I got out of today’s session.
(Interesting information, anything new learned, did I enjoy the session etc.)

2. Is there anything you learned today that has changed your attitude towards your own health (Please give an example if you did)

3. Things I would like to know more about.
(Questions I have in my mind. Things I don’t quite understand.)

4. What I put into today’s session.
(How I feel I contributed, e.g. listened well, supported others, offered my views etc. Note any difficulties, and how these felt.)

5. Effects on individual health.
List at least 5 things that affect your health as an individual – refer to the flipcharts from exercise 5 to help you.

6. Effects on community health.
List at least 5 things that have an impact on the health of your community. Again use the flipcharts from exercise 5 to remind you what kind of things these might be.

7. Connections and links
Can you give 1 example of how a community health issue affects your health as an individual?