We haven't seen each other for a while. She appeared next to me on the train. We talked about many things, we laughed and smiled. She was happy to see me. She convinced me to come to her place. She wanted to introduce me to her boyfriend. She wanted me to see her family again. Her partner was in bed when we arrived. He looked terribly like her brother. We went to the living room. Her grandmother, father and aunt were in the room. The lights were off. It was dark. The only light in the room was the TV. My heart lighted up when I saw them. I was happy to see them.
"You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water" Here are the beautiful words written by Rabindranath Tagore, painter, poet, composer, playwright, philosopher and social reformer. I read them in the preface written by Albert Chaitram Persaud, Founder CAREIF for the report "Improving the Mental Health of South Asian Populations in the United Kingdom" written by Gnanapragasam S.N. and Menon K.V. (2021) on behalf of CAREIF and Ethnic Inclusion Foundation. One of the key recommendations in the report is to ''provide a culturally competent workforce with appropriate cultural competency training so that care provided appreciates cultural (religious/spiritual/faith), historical and gendered influences of South Asians''. While further training is always welcomed, it should not stop organisations to jump right in engaging with communities from various ethnicities, cultures and backgrounds. As humans, we have the innate ability to cr...
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