風鈴さんの おぼえた日記 - 2021年1月16日(土)

Let's try to treasure ourselves and others in 2021　Monday, January 16
自分と誰かを大切に


A year has passed since Dr. Tetsu Nakamura, a member of the NGO Peshawar-kai which engages in medical and irrigation projects in Afghanistan, was gunned down while working in the country. At the end of 2020, I had the opportunity to listen to Chiyoko Fujita, a nurse who worked with Nakamura for almost 20 years in Afghanistan and who still supports the NGO's activities.
アフガニスタンで医療とかんがいの仕事に取り組んでいたペシャワール会の中村哲医師が、凶弾に倒れてから１年がすぎた。昨年末、中村医師とともに２０年近くにわたり現地で働き、いまも会の活動を支える看護師の藤田千代子さんの話を聴く機会があった。

Fujita said that when she was in her 20s, she heard Nakamura describe in a lecture how Muslim women in the area were hesitant to show their skin even during medical examinations, meaning diseases could not be detected at an early stage. Upon hearing this, she volunteered to help without a second thought.
藤田さんは２０代の頃、中村医師が講演で「現地のイスラム教徒の女性は診察でも肌を見せるのをためらうため、病気の早期発見ができない」と話したのを聴いて、迷うことなく「参加したい」と手をあげたと語った。

Fujita conveyed Nakamura's unpretentious personality through various anecdotes. Nakamura would cut his own hair; often too much of it. Afghanistan has a strong culture of respecting one's seniors, so when the local staff saw the state of his hair, they were at pains to control their laughter.
藤田さんは中村医師の飾らない人柄について、いろいろなエピソードを交えて語った。中村医師は自分で散髪し、しばしば切りすぎてしまう。アフガニスタンでは「先輩を敬う」という文化があり、その髪形を見ても現地スタッフは笑うに笑えず、苦しそうな表情をする。

In moments like this, Fujita would ask, "Doctor, did you cut it yourself?" and he would reply, "Yes. Does it look funny?" Finally, everyone could laugh out loud. Another time, when they were digging a deep well, Nakamura took it upon himself to go to the bottom of it barefoot and join the work. He was later told by experts it had been dangerous for him to do so. Even in grim environments, they laughed all the time.
そんなときには藤田さんが「先生、ご自分で切ったのですか」と水を向け、中村医師が「うん。おかしいかな？」と答え、やっとみんなで声に出して笑ったという。また、大きな井戸を掘るときに中村医師は率先してはだしで底に降りて作業に加わり、あとから専門家に「危険です」と怒られたこともあったそうだ。厳しい環境でも、いつも笑いが絶えなかったという。

Over time, his warmth and the sense that he was just another person on site touched the hearts of the local people. At first, everyone would ask, "When are you guys going home?" but the doctor and his colleagues would continue working hard in the field, even in droughts and aerial bombings.
そういう親しみやすさや、あくまで自分も現場のひとりという態度が、長い時間をかけて現地の人たちの心を動かした。最初はみんな「先生たちはいつ帰国するの？」と尋ねていたそうだが、干ばつがあっても空爆があっても、中村医師らは現地でふんばり続けた。

Of course, not everyone can make it that far. There are many things I have tried to do in the medical and education fields that I gave up on along the way. But Fujita also said, "If each of us can be mindful not only about our own day-to-day lives, but of those in need elsewhere, that alone can make a big difference."
もちろん、誰もがそこまでできるわけではない。私も医療や教育でがんばろうと取り組んできたことの中には、途中であきらめてやめたこともたくさんある。でも、藤田さんはこうも言った。「それぞれの人が、自分の生活のことだけではなくて、どこかで困っている人がいないかな、と気づいて心を寄せるだけでもいいんです。それだけでもずいぶん変わります」

I nodded in agreement. Not everyone can be a hero, and not everyone can save tens of thousands of people. Nevertheless, even if we can change our focus from "just me" to "me and someone else," society will change. In this new year, I hope we can continue to laugh like Nakamura and his colleagues, and treasure "myself and someone else." If we can do what we can at our own pace, without heaping too much pressure on our backs, then that will surely be enough.
(Japanese original by Rika Kayama, psychiatrist)
その通りだとうなずいた。誰もが偉人になれるわけではない。何万もの人を救えるはずもない。とはいえ、目を向けるのが「自分だけ」から「自分と誰か」になるだけでも、社会は変わっていくだろう。新しい年は、中村医師たちのように笑いを忘れず「自分と誰か」を大切にしながら進んでいければいいな、と思った。肩に力を入れずに、それぞれが自分のペースでやれることをやれば、きっとそれでいいのだ。（日本語原文香山リカ精神科医）
毎日新聞香山リカココロの万華鏡



　ユリカモメの両翼の長さ
広げるとこんなに長い。多くはロシアのカムチャッカ半島から来ているらしい。