Who are 'They'?

We say: 'They need to do something about obesity. They need to do something with pollution. They need to do something with poverty. They... They... They... We say these things while we're munching on an oversized bag of chips, while we're driving SUV's and while we're guiltlessly passing by a homeless person pretending we don't own a wallet.

You might wonder where this is coming from. I went to visit my family on the weekend and when I walked in they were watching 'This Is It'. I still haven’t made up my mind what to think about Michael Jackson, but hearing a familiar song made me think it might be worth watching it. I was making myself comfortable on the sofa when Michael Jackson said something like... ‘We keep saying that they need to fix the Earth. Who are 'They'? It's 'Us', we need to fix the Earth.’ He didn't say those exact words but that's what he meant. And the Earth Song followed.

I'm not going to talk about Jackson here, but what he said got me thinking.

Why do we use the word 'They'? To draw a line which tells us where our responsibility ends? So that we can feel small enough to say I'm just one person, I can't do anything about it? So that we can blame our inactivity on the fact that there is an elevator in the building? So that we can blame it on the system? I don't exercise because I don't want to. I really don't. And I'm looking for every excuse not to. But I take the stairs, I walk, I run for the bus, I ride my bike for pleasure and I stretch at home when I feel like it.

Are we responsible for our own health? Often we’re not. The woman who took McDonald's to court for being fat comes to my mind.

I think that since ‘They’ are failing to keep us healthy we need to take over…

Being relatively new to Canada I’m still figuring out the Canadian health care system. Various illnesses of friends, family and my own familiarized me with walk-in clinics and hospitals. But I know I’m not the only one who sometimes doesn’t know where to go. According to 2006 census, one in five Canadians was born outside of Canada. In other words, one in five Canadians is an immigrant. There is a high chance they don’t know how the system works. They don’t know where to go for help. They don’t know what their options are. They - meaning immigrants. In 2003 Statistics Canada measured literacy levels among immigrants and found that an immigrant, on average, scores one level lower than a Canadian born in Canada. In my opinion not much has changed since 2003. So we, immigrants, tend not to speak English very well, if at all. Worse, we often don’t read or write in English. Houston... we have a problem.

Last year I discovered community health centres. And with them I discovered a whole new world, that I didn’t know existed. For example, free workshops on healthy eating, healthy cooking, physical activity, healthy pregnancy, breast feeding, self-esteem, and what not, all available to you in your local community health centre. Often, they take place in the evenings and are led by dietitians, nurses, social workers and other health care professionals. Often, there is a free childcare available to you, and occasionally they will even feed you. Also for free. They will give brochures in your language and sometimes they will even talk to you in your mother tongue. All you need to do is register and show up. What excuse do you have now?

And I'm not blaming the victim. I’m all about balance. All I'm saying is that there is something we can do. And I will end this with my latest favourite quote:

“I am only one, but still I am one.

I cannot do everything, but still I can do something;

and because I cannot do everything,

I will not refuse to do something that I can do.”

Hellen Keller