People I meet
by simon lawrence
EASTENDERS
RUDOLPH WALKER & ANGELA WYNTER
KEEPING HEALTHY THE CARIBBEAN WAY
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THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED IN 'WHAT MEDICINE MAGAZINE'
Despite recent changes in the law on using mobile phones in cars - I'm constantly amazed at how often I see people still chatting on them whilst behind the wheel; in fact, just this morning, I also spotted someone eating his breakfast, another shaving, a rather large lady cuddling her dog and a couple engaged in a pretty serious smooch - but then I have been sitting in this traffic jam for over half an hour!
What Medicine has sent me to the famous Elstree Studios in London, home of the Eastenders set, to chat with Rudolph Walker and Angela Wynter alias Patrick Trueman and his on-screen lady-friend Yolandi. There has been much talk recently about the state of the health of the Nation. Every other programme seems to include some reference to diet or health and fitness, and news programmes appear to delight in showing images of overly large people shopping.
Rudolph and Angela were born in the Caribbean and brought up with the traditions, wisdom and philosophies handed down through generations of elders. It has long been acknowledged that the dietary habits of the Caribbean islands have resulted in a much lower incidence of heart disease, cancer and strokes. However, the trend in recent years has been more Western, with fast food chains moving in and the general population adopting more time-saving strategies simply for convenience, as we do here. We thought it interesting to see what changes this might have had on the Island's health and psyche.
I arrived at Elstree twenty minutes late, signed myself into the BBC car park and ducked out of the rain into a rather nondescript, low-slung building that is the BBC canteen and bar - nothing like Eastenders Queen Vic. They were waiting for me - patiently, I hasten to add, as I dropped my overladen camera bag at their feet and offered a still rain-soaked hand in greeting.
Rudolph Walker has been an actor I've long admired. As a kid, I remember his star role in the 1972 hit television series' Love Thy Neighbour' - probably far too controversial a project these days - possibly litigious at the time too, but it did much to show the absurdity of modern society. I now hope we're all the better for it.
Rudolph said, "Magazines like yours, Simon, do a lot to help people get more of a balanced view about their health. The medicinal relationship between plants and humans goes back thousands of years - perhaps for most of our history. Except in the past century in the West, plants have been the principal source of Medicine, fighting disease and stimulating the body's own healing powers in ways modern science is just beginning to understand. As a kid, I remember taking molasses - the donkey cart would pass by once a week carrying a huge drum of the stuff, and my grandmother would send me out with a few cents and a jug. It's a wonderful laxative. We were quite poor; when I look at photographs of my home, I find it hard to believe I grew up there. But it was surrounded by fruit trees, and we ate from the land. It was wonderful. I could lie in the shade under an orange tree, and if I felt the need, reach up and pull one from the branches."
By contrast, Angela grew up in a bar. Her parents had left to set up a new life in England to provide a more settled existence for her to move into later. "My grandmother ran the bar, and I was the mascot behind it. I have memories of being a bit of a wild child, a little boisterous, I think - I didn't have to do the dishes, and there was always someone to look after my every need. It was a lovely life. I often went to the country to stay with my great-grandmother - that was a completely different experience. I'd go fishing with my grandfather, and I still remember the freshness and the sunshine. I moved to the UK in 1965 and grew up as any other little black girl then. England, though, was a culture shock; after four years, I had few memories of my parents, and suddenly, I was expected to do things for myself."
It wasn't until 1986 that Angela had the opportunity to return home. Unfortunately, both her grandparents had died. She visited the country home she knew - where once coffee grew, and orange and mango trees, there was just dereliction; "I was in a state of shock. It was such a lush place, under a canopy of trees so thick the sun could hardly get through. Beyond the small wooden house were tall coconut trees all the way to the horizon. Now, the ground was overgrown, uncultivated, just left to its own devices, and the house was falling down - it was so hard to look at. But the people were much the same, more affluent and pursuing more Western ideals."
Since the mid-80s, Angela has regularly returned home to Jamaica; "As a child, I was in paradise, but it's all being spoiled in pursuit of progress. It's all fast roads now and fast food chains on every corner - the people are not taking time for themselves. When I first went home, they looked like gods, lean and very statuesque, but over the years, I've noticed they eat more junk and imported foods - they're not eating natural foods from the land anymore. Consequently, there's a lot more loose flesh around; you never used to see that, and people use more pharmaceutical medicines in their old age. I find the senior generation looking much older and lacking vitality. In the past, they looked brighter, especially in their eyes - they had good muscle tone, now their skin is creased and saggy." Angela describes their appearance as more like the inhabitance of the West, "I'm sure it's to do with diet and the modern medicines they're taking. Before, they would drink special brews for specific aliments - that's what they've been surviving on for centuries, handed down through the family."
Rudolph says he, too, has witnessed a steep decline in the general health and well-being of the Caribbean islands. "When I left the Caribbean in 1960, the people were virtually free of disease and illness. But there is now a severe lack of agriculture and a lack of appreciation of the land, particularly in Trinidad, where I grew up. Like the UK, they've created a concrete jungle - where once there were mango trees, there are now enormous houses with swimming pools cemented in. Finding areas still cultivating the traditional Caribbean ways is becoming increasingly difficult. When I first came to the UK, I was exposed to all the usual cultural Western habits, drinking, drugs and parties, and boy, did I party - but I've never liked being around anyone who smokes or uses drugs. I get my highs from right here," he said, thumping his chest. "I've always tried to look after myself, and to be honest, that was something drummed into me from an early age. I prefer to head off anything nasty by pursuing preventative measures. My overall intake is healthy, although I do not think I will walk tall by taking a supplement. It's much more than that; it's that philosophy - 'you are what you put in your mouth'."
It's generally acknowledged that people who eat regular portions of fruit and vegetables are significantly healthier. Unfortunately, so many of us here in the West appear to have lost the ability to survive outside this imperishable world we believe we've created around ourselves. And worst still, we're in the process of infecting much of the rest of the world with our ideals.
We also appear to have lost many of the basic life skills essential to our survival - surrounded by all things manufactured, reaching by reflex action towards anything convenient, ever ready for us - so engrossed in technology my son at ten years of age can equal my computer skills, drive a car - off-road of course, and do pretty much the same as I can at my great age and level of experience.
Technology rules our lives, an obvious statement to make, I know, but how many children, or adults for that matter, know where much of our food comes from, or how to prepare and cook a meal with a credible nutritional value, or how to heal our bodies when we get sick, or create a regime that ensures we remain healthy.
The Government suggests our minimum nutritional requirements in statements to the press or issues contradictory food and health scares all too frequently. We're lost in one heck of a confusing maze - so many of us do nothing - but seriously, this is one issue worthy of our immediate attention because our lives depend on our decisions.
© Simon Lawrence
Despite recent changes in the law on using mobile phones in cars - I'm constantly amazed at how often I see people still chatting on them whilst behind the wheel; in fact, just this morning, I also spotted someone eating his breakfast, another shaving, a rather large lady cuddling her dog and a couple engaged in a pretty serious smooch - but then I have been sitting in this traffic jam for over half an hour!
What Medicine has sent me to the famous Elstree Studios in London, home of the Eastenders set, to chat with Rudolph Walker and Angela Wynter alias Patrick Trueman and his on-screen lady-friend Yolandi. There has been much talk recently about the state of the health of the Nation. Every other programme seems to include some reference to diet or health and fitness, and news programmes appear to delight in showing images of overly large people shopping.
Rudolph and Angela were born in the Caribbean and brought up with the traditions, wisdom and philosophies handed down through generations of elders. It has long been acknowledged that the dietary habits of the Caribbean islands have resulted in a much lower incidence of heart disease, cancer and strokes. However, the trend in recent years has been more Western, with fast food chains moving in and the general population adopting more time-saving strategies simply for convenience, as we do here. We thought it interesting to see what changes this might have had on the Island's health and psyche.
I arrived at Elstree twenty minutes late, signed myself into the BBC car park and ducked out of the rain into a rather nondescript, low-slung building that is the BBC canteen and bar - nothing like Eastenders Queen Vic. They were waiting for me - patiently, I hasten to add, as I dropped my overladen camera bag at their feet and offered a still rain-soaked hand in greeting.
Rudolph Walker has been an actor I've long admired. As a kid, I remember his star role in the 1972 hit television series' Love Thy Neighbour' - probably far too controversial a project these days - possibly litigious at the time too, but it did much to show the absurdity of modern society. I now hope we're all the better for it.
Rudolph said, "Magazines like yours, Simon, do a lot to help people get more of a balanced view about their health. The medicinal relationship between plants and humans goes back thousands of years - perhaps for most of our history. Except in the past century in the West, plants have been the principal source of Medicine, fighting disease and stimulating the body's own healing powers in ways modern science is just beginning to understand. As a kid, I remember taking molasses - the donkey cart would pass by once a week carrying a huge drum of the stuff, and my grandmother would send me out with a few cents and a jug. It's a wonderful laxative. We were quite poor; when I look at photographs of my home, I find it hard to believe I grew up there. But it was surrounded by fruit trees, and we ate from the land. It was wonderful. I could lie in the shade under an orange tree, and if I felt the need, reach up and pull one from the branches."
By contrast, Angela grew up in a bar. Her parents had left to set up a new life in England to provide a more settled existence for her to move into later. "My grandmother ran the bar, and I was the mascot behind it. I have memories of being a bit of a wild child, a little boisterous, I think - I didn't have to do the dishes, and there was always someone to look after my every need. It was a lovely life. I often went to the country to stay with my great-grandmother - that was a completely different experience. I'd go fishing with my grandfather, and I still remember the freshness and the sunshine. I moved to the UK in 1965 and grew up as any other little black girl then. England, though, was a culture shock; after four years, I had few memories of my parents, and suddenly, I was expected to do things for myself."
It wasn't until 1986 that Angela had the opportunity to return home. Unfortunately, both her grandparents had died. She visited the country home she knew - where once coffee grew, and orange and mango trees, there was just dereliction; "I was in a state of shock. It was such a lush place, under a canopy of trees so thick the sun could hardly get through. Beyond the small wooden house were tall coconut trees all the way to the horizon. Now, the ground was overgrown, uncultivated, just left to its own devices, and the house was falling down - it was so hard to look at. But the people were much the same, more affluent and pursuing more Western ideals."
Since the mid-80s, Angela has regularly returned home to Jamaica; "As a child, I was in paradise, but it's all being spoiled in pursuit of progress. It's all fast roads now and fast food chains on every corner - the people are not taking time for themselves. When I first went home, they looked like gods, lean and very statuesque, but over the years, I've noticed they eat more junk and imported foods - they're not eating natural foods from the land anymore. Consequently, there's a lot more loose flesh around; you never used to see that, and people use more pharmaceutical medicines in their old age. I find the senior generation looking much older and lacking vitality. In the past, they looked brighter, especially in their eyes - they had good muscle tone, now their skin is creased and saggy." Angela describes their appearance as more like the inhabitance of the West, "I'm sure it's to do with diet and the modern medicines they're taking. Before, they would drink special brews for specific aliments - that's what they've been surviving on for centuries, handed down through the family."
Rudolph says he, too, has witnessed a steep decline in the general health and well-being of the Caribbean islands. "When I left the Caribbean in 1960, the people were virtually free of disease and illness. But there is now a severe lack of agriculture and a lack of appreciation of the land, particularly in Trinidad, where I grew up. Like the UK, they've created a concrete jungle - where once there were mango trees, there are now enormous houses with swimming pools cemented in. Finding areas still cultivating the traditional Caribbean ways is becoming increasingly difficult. When I first came to the UK, I was exposed to all the usual cultural Western habits, drinking, drugs and parties, and boy, did I party - but I've never liked being around anyone who smokes or uses drugs. I get my highs from right here," he said, thumping his chest. "I've always tried to look after myself, and to be honest, that was something drummed into me from an early age. I prefer to head off anything nasty by pursuing preventative measures. My overall intake is healthy, although I do not think I will walk tall by taking a supplement. It's much more than that; it's that philosophy - 'you are what you put in your mouth'."
It's generally acknowledged that people who eat regular portions of fruit and vegetables are significantly healthier. Unfortunately, so many of us here in the West appear to have lost the ability to survive outside this imperishable world we believe we've created around ourselves. And worst still, we're in the process of infecting much of the rest of the world with our ideals.
We also appear to have lost many of the basic life skills essential to our survival - surrounded by all things manufactured, reaching by reflex action towards anything convenient, ever ready for us - so engrossed in technology my son at ten years of age can equal my computer skills, drive a car - off-road of course, and do pretty much the same as I can at my great age and level of experience.
Technology rules our lives, an obvious statement to make, I know, but how many children, or adults for that matter, know where much of our food comes from, or how to prepare and cook a meal with a credible nutritional value, or how to heal our bodies when we get sick, or create a regime that ensures we remain healthy.
The Government suggests our minimum nutritional requirements in statements to the press or issues contradictory food and health scares all too frequently. We're lost in one heck of a confusing maze - so many of us do nothing - but seriously, this is one issue worthy of our immediate attention because our lives depend on our decisions.
© Simon Lawrence
