Humanness
Nursing at the Borders in Greece: An Account of an Australian-Greek Nurse Overcoming Barriers in a Refugee Crisis to Provide Nursing Care
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Helen Zahos
The year 2015 saw a mass exodus of refugees fleeing Syria and surrounding countries affected by conflict. Many refugees did not survive the crossing. As a Greek Australian Nurse seeing images of thousands of refugees arriving in Greece I felt an obligation to help. I spent six weeks on the Greek island of Lesvos. Some days saw arrivals of up to 5000 refugees crossing in rubber boats. Injuries varied, but I was present for the boat accident of 28th October where 300 people were involved in one accident, and in that one night 11 children and 27 adults drowned. I then spent six weeks on the border of FYROM and Greece. I was present for the first border closures and the refugee clashes with the police and army. Our health service faced unparalleled social, political and economic barriers in a tiny geographical region bombarded by need. My focus during the crisis was not on the tens of thousands of people in front of us, but rather that one person that each of us could help. Have you ever covered a person that is shivering cold with a warm blanket? Or held a stranger in your arms that are grieving for their child? Helped another human being, without discrimination, and without expecting anything in return? This for me is Humanity and what nursing represents, and that feeling extends to my ability to apply my skills and knowledge and assist in the refugee crisis, making a difference one person at a time.
Diverse Identities of Self
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Indira Junghare
Human beings are both biological and socio-cultural creatures. They develop individually according to their own capacities and social worlds. The self’s identity is constructed by concepts of race, gender, nationality, religion, age, and ethnicity. This fragmentation of the self, traditionally understood as a composite of body and mind, has resulted in division, fear, and conflict. Individuals wear diverse faces of identities, which are appearances rather than true substantive realities. Since the Indian worldview evolved from orthodox-heterodox philosophies, which focus on the “wholeness of life,” the paper analyses self in the context of its changing nature and diverse identities. The Indian view focuses relatively more on epistemology or the psychological process of introspection in obtaining intuitive knowledge for finding resolutions in the framework of morality and ethics. Any attempt to solve human problems has to be a humanistic approach that will guard human dignity, human rights, and human welfare, not only for individual wellbeing but also for all-inclusive peaceful living.
Experiences of Adolescent Boys Living with Disorders of Sex Development
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Annie Temane, Lizzie Simelane, Marie Poggenpoel, Chris Myburgh
South Africa is a country with diverse cultures. Traditional values and beliefs are strong in within these diverse cultures. Culture shapes and influences the meanings of illnesses. Culture influences the value placed by society on different disorders, the presentation of the symptoms, the way individuals and their families manage the disorder, the way the community responds to the disorder, the degree of acceptance, support, stigma, and discrimination. Some culture contexts determine whether gender variation is seen as a disorder needing treatment or an understood and tolerated variation. What is seen in one culture as problematic may not be seen in the same way by another culture? The aim of this study is to explore and describe the experiences of adolescent boys who are diagnosed with disorders of sex development. A case study design was used in the study. Data was collected through in-depth interviews and drawings. The analysis of drawings were done by a registered psychometrist and thematic analysis was utilised for the in-depth interviews. The analysis of data provided a picture of emotional turmoil and social exclusion. The results show there is a need for equity, tolerance, and support for these adolescent boys living with disorders of sex development.
