As you know, Fairtrade Fortnight is always the last week of February and the first week of March.
This year, as Llanelli Fairtrade no longer exists, sadly, I kept one commitment by speaking to a small school for teenagers. I loved it. I always find teenagers very interesting and interested in what I have to say about Fairtrade. I love speaking about Fairtrade and I will continue to do so. In fact, in very recent times, my talks have led to something marvellous. Over the past 5 years building up and running Fairtrade Llanelli has been massively hard work and very lonely.
I have recently given talks to my local Women’s Institute, a delightful group. They invited me to join them but I did explain that I have no skills. That did not seem to matter to them. I have joined and I am having a great time, no longer feeling that dreadful isolation. I also gave a talk to a Rotary group and the same thing happened. John and I are joining this Rotary group where, again, there is good company. This enables me to feel that I am still doing something for my community which is very important for my soul.
Fairtrade will still be in my heart and I will continue to give talks about it wherever I am invited and the invitations are still coming in which gives me great pleasure. Fairtrade will therefore become a talking and writing platform, thanks to Llanelli Standard. Being a retired teacher, talking to local schools is always a particular pleasure.
Although it is still a great loss to me that Llanelli Fairtrade no longer exists, there have been very positive aspects which I look back on and realise that it has given me a great deal. I have met some interesting people and I have made some close friends. I would never have met them if it had not been for Fairtrade. This is a definite plus. Even though I have this tremendous feeling of failure after 5 years of hard work, I have to look at the positive side of things. This is important for my mental health.
I appreciate that people do not like to talk about mental health problems. They do not know how to handle it. They think that if they leave the people who are suffering alone, it will sort itself out. Unfortunately, this is not the case. As someone who has suffered from severe depression for years, in fact I was medically retired for it, I know exactly how people can deal with it.
All these organisations are set up to help but in fact, what is needed is a listening friend or a regular visit from a friend. The Samaritans have been a great organisation for that but it is still not a friend .I People need a listening friend, someone they know and they know that that person really cares for them. Unfortunately, it puts a great burden on that one friend. Sometimes people do not have the time to give because they are understandably busy themselves.
If you have a broken leg, people can see the disability and deal with it in a practical way. With mental health, it is a hidden disability like deafness, and the two are difficult to deal with on an everyday basis. They both need time and thought. These are commodities which, very often, people are unable to give. Life has a way of taking over as people have so many stresses today, now more than ever.
We all make the right noises. The usual expressions come out.
“We must support people with mental health problems”.
“Mental health problems are very sad and we should help our friends, neighbours etc”
However, in spite of all these words, people still commit suicide because no-one is aware of what is going on inside some-one’s brain, heart and soul. No-one has taken the time to notice. Also, I think people are afraid of those who have mental health problems.
They do not know how to deal with it and so stay away. Whereas, in fact, people should have the courage to take that step and say to themselves that people need a listening ear.
The other side of this problem is that sometimes mentally ill people can be very demanding of your time but that can be dealt with. You can pop in and say, “I’ve come for a coffee or tea, shall I make it? “ That way you have given a time constraint and yet, your mentally ill friend has had a moment of your time and even that can be an enormous help.
So returning to Fairtrade for a moment, even that has been able to help people, as while running a Fairtrade stall, I have listened to people who just need to talk. For me, that has been a very important part of what I did. I have understood because I have been there.
These hidden disabilities are the worst. How do we deal with them? Well, we have to have a sense of awareness of other people. We have to learn to notice differences in behaviour.
We have to say to ourselves, my friend needs support. I must be there for him. Men are more inclined to commit suicide because they do not want to admit weakness or they do not make friends easily so no-one notices until it is too late.
So let us try to be more aware of the people around us and their needs and do something to help before it is too late.
