As this edition of the Synapse goes to press, we have exciting news of funding by the Kellogg Foundation for the educational project on "community sustainability." I congratulate the efforts of Bob and Sally to take the ideas generated these past years at the Neahtawanta and be willing to test them. "Bob Bay Bucks" may well become a reality!
The photo below is of Betsy, my oldest daughter, last summer on the beach of West Bay near our home. She was five months pregnant, skipping stones as she enjoyed the lingering sunset before she moved to England and had her baby, Madeliene. Betsy is married to a Norwegian graduate student, living in near poverty conditions and yet she shares the benefits of two health care systems which do well at aiding all mothers with birthing and child-rearing. Betsy had two midwives in attendance at Madeliene's birth. Only when the complications grew too great was an obstetrician called in. Throughout Madeliene's first two years, there will be financial support for her coming from the Norwegian government. Had they lived in Norway, there would also be home visits by nurses and social workers, and free access to day care.
As I will note in my article on "Characteristics of Sustainabilty", it's easy to find fault with our own system of health care and see it as not sustainable nor representative of how we would like to be in community. Yet there is no turning back the clock to an earlier time, for today's issues are more complex. So we need to look to new ways to approach community health needs. We can learn from countries that have low infant mortality rates and integrate midwifery and homeopathy into common practice. As Geradine Simkins points out, that integration must embrace differing paradigms of medicine. We can also learn from other religious traditions how to overcome the alienation of a warring past, as I experienced in the Bone Dig. Not that we should simply emulate other's models, as Marc Levin's experience in Denmark with torture victims. Even programs designed to help the needy of the world don't always bring them into community, but may ironically help them find a deeper sense of connection in a past shared before differences and traumas surfaced.
An important test of sustaining community comes from the way it responds to its members in crisis. That's the theme of several articles in this issue. Pathways in Minneapolis is designed to bring alternative therapies for those facing life-threatening illness. Locally, we are blessed with several invigorating new programs with that intent: Safe Harbors Volunteer Network, Barb McIntyre's art therapy for grieving children; the annual Return to Wholeness retreat for people with cancer. Safe Harbors and Natural Healing Way also provide local healing communities for the caregivers themselves. Future Synapses will cover other regional health initiatives such as the AIDS Wellness program and the Integrative Medicine programs at Munson Hospital.
Jim Crowfoot and Ruth Carey help us look concretely at local programs for healthy communities as a part of their "swan song" series of ground-breaking articles. Their presence, enthusiasm and wisdom&emdash;not to mention their bed making skills&emdash;are already sorely missed as they return to vital lives and new community in Ann Arbor.
Death and dying challenge the living to come together when someone vital has been lost. Dr. Mindy Peter shares the profound impact of the death of her young husband on the way she sees medicine and on the needs of the physician as caregiver. We hope that we are at the beginning of the Neahtawanta Inn becoming a retreat center for physician caregivers during their training, so they can experience and open to various alternative therapies and the importance of their own self-care.
The way we deal with the dead is also a part of sustaining the environment. Cremation as a solution is called into question by Diana Green, as she examines environmentally friendly ways to honor deceased loved ones.
As you read this diversity of articles on health in sustaining community, be inspired to find your own ways to express your mission to be in healing&emdash;and sustaining&emdash;community. Honor your personal commitment as expressed by George Bernard Shaw:
I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. Life is no "brief candle" to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.
--John Schneider, Guest Editor