Amell's Corner

MRCF's resident health expert, Amell, introduces her column, Amell's Corner:

Amell's Corner will "inform-advise-and motivate’’ the reader, providing them with helpful hints and facts on how to tackle common mental health issues so they can begin their journey to recovery and regain ownership of their life!  

The term health covers an extremely broad range of physical, emotional and psychological facets. Having good health is not defined by the absence of physical disease, but rather is a broad term that embraces the mind, body and spirit of an individual.

It is often the case that an individual will attend to the physical condition of their body and neglect their mental health issues, unaware of the fact that there is a strong connection between mental health and physical health and that it is difficult for one to exist without the other. Many physical symptoms experienced by an individual can be misdiagnosed and treated with unnecessary medications such as pain killers etc., when in fact the symptoms are a result of the individual's mental ill health. 

Knots Outside, Not Inside

During a 6-week workshop in January and February, dedicated volunteer knitting instructors from the Knitting for Others charity group very patiently and expertly shared their craft with a group of MRCF women that expanded each week. Some of us were beginners and others saw their previous passion for knitting reignited. We worked on scarves, hats and baby clothes with instruments ranging in size from giant plastic needles to a tiny crochet hook. While learning to knit, we chatted (some of us have a hard time chatting and knitting at the same time!) and got to know one another. What fun to have a knitting circle at MRCF and learn a new craft that will not only make TV watching productive, but also has calming and meditative effects. Jeena said it best when she said, “I create knots outside so I don’t have them inside.” Later this Spring, we hope to expand our skills to papercrafting and jewelry making, under the friendly direction of the same group. Look out craft world, here we come!

An Apology

Mahmood shares with us his reflections on the attributes of donkeys!

Lately, I saw a TV video asking people to donate 3 pounds to help donkeys. The video showed donkeys carrying heavy loads and falling to the ground because of these loads and exhaustion.

At the same period, I received an email from a friend in Iraq telling the story of a donkey in an American military camp used to carry ammunition boxes inside the camp. An American officer admired this animal. When his service ended, and before returning home, he managed to have this donkey transferred to his farm in America. This cost him a good sum of money. Photographs of this donkey in his habitat in America showed the nice stable and the joy of the retired officer. Many Iraqis envied the donkey for his good fortune.