Values and Ethics To Leave To Our Children

(If You Want to Be Happy for the Rest of Your Life…)

I would like to start this journey of Ethical happiness with a story I once heard…

‘The cleaner about a persistent problem in the girls’ toilets alerted a school headmistress: every day they were leaving lipstick kisses on the mirrors. The cleaners had made notices asking for this to stop, but it made no difference; so every afternoon they would wipe away the kisses, and the next day lots more kisses would be planted on the mirror. It had become a bit of a game. The creative headmistress asked a few girls from each class to meet with her in the cloakrooms.

"Thank you for coming," she said, "You will see there are several lipstick kisses in the mirrors in this washroom." Some of the girls grinned at each other. She continued, "As you will understand, modern lipstick is cleverly designed to stay on the lips, and so the lipstick is not at all easy to wash off. We have therefore developed a special cleaning way, and I hope that when you see the effort involved, you will help me spread the word that we'd all be better off if the girls used tissue paper instead of the mirrors."

At this point the cleaner took a sponge squeegee, which he then dipped into the toilet bowl, and used it to clean one of the lipstick-covered mirrors.

The moment of truth! The cleaner and headmistress smiled at each other, and there were no more lipstick kisses on the mirrors.

I can’t remember when I first heard this story, but it’s one of my favourites.

Ethics and values are central to morality - a human duty - based on rational people's respect for other rational people. The ideas go as far back as Aristotle. Virtues such as justice, charity and generosity benefit the person and the person's society. The guiding principle is based on conduct which produces the greatest happiness or benefit to the greatest number of people. True happiness in all human beings is directly linked to these principles.

Recent research from the world of psychology repeatedly proves that true happiness and mental health and well-being does not come from the accumulation of wealth and all the delightful material things that money can buy. These are very fleeting feelings. Research shows that once basic human needs are met, additional income does little to raise life happiness. In addition, “youth” is also no guarantee of happiness: In fact, older people are more consistently satisfied with their lives than the young, and they are less prone to dark moods. Watching TV and playing video games? Not at all! People who spend more than three hours a day on all electronic media are more unhappy than those who spend less time in front of the box or glued to their screens.

There is so much knowledge and facts that we teach our children even from the tender age of four –how the planets revolve around the sun in the solar system, how to do simple sums like 4 + 2 = 6, now Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo, and that water is made of hydrogen and oxygen in a structure that vaguely resembles Mickey Mouse. And of course it has been critical to teach all this valid and useful information incredibly well so it sits in their beautiful knowledge space for ever. But citing from the previously-mentioned research about life-satisfaction, neither education nor for that matter a high IQ paves the road to happiness.

When you look at the problems that plague our children, their parents and all of us as teachers, our education system falls short in the ethics and values domain. How good are we at teaching our children to be kind to one another so that it is obvious at a glance? Why can’t we educate them to stay away from verbal and physical abuse so that they don’t become regular and active victims of violence? There is no doubt that as we focus on the final “product” in our educational endeavours, we neglect the process. We desperately need to teach the skills and help them develop strategies for coping with stress and hardships. There is no avoiding hard times, and apart from religion, the secular beliefs enshrined in axioms like, “This too shall pass,” and “That which doesn’t kill me makes me stronger,” also help a lot. The trick is that we have to believe them and to live them.

All of the concepts and ideas around, “What are we living for? What is my purpose in life? How can I be the very best I can be?” should be an integral part of our education – and they all relate to ethics and values! We need to focus more on encouraging our children to seek out and examine the sufficiency and the logic that endorses their own judgements and opinions, and that builds rather than erodes their confidence and self-esteem.

For this to be effective, we need to promote and examine the reasoning processes used by our children to answer real questions that actually challenge them about “where they live”, rather than resorting to an approach that is tied to information accumulation that focuses on “the correct answer.”

I truly believe that introducing ethical and values-driven issues into the school curriculum should be the primary element that underlies our education framework. Ethics and values are important in enabling our children to use logical and rational reasoning skills in common difficult situations encountered by them, and which will promote open-mindedness as we prepare them to be better decision-makers in the future. These life lessons empower them with capabilities and attitudes that foster the promotion and protection of their personal development, as well as the well-being of their families, their school, our nation, and ultimately the world.

There are hundreds of examples of how we can do this, and I have included some photographs with this article of various activities that we do with our children. We help them identify and talk about their emotions and have empathy towards others through warm/fuzzy as well as cold/prickly pictures and puppets with sad, angry, scared, excited and happy faces. We use activities like baking and gardening not just to produce delicious cookies or harvest tomatoes, but to also foster cooperation and teamwork, and a sensitivity towards others’ needs. We discuss issues around smart choices versus not-so-good choices by telling stories, sharing examples and newsworthy stories, and describing scenarios in which we ask, “What would you do if you were in this situation?”

We use examples of unethical and ethicalbehaviours and activities to discuss themes like drugs, alcohol and smoking, the natural environment and harming our planet, unnecessary waste, wars and terrorism, the law, crime and corruption, animal experimentation and cruelty, power-hungry leaders in politics and business, dishonesty, withholding information, distortion of facts, misleading or confusing communications or advertising, manipulation of people's feelings, deception, trickery, rule-bending, and fooling people, exploitation of weakness and vulnerability, excessive profit and greed, anything liable to harm or endanger people, avoiding of blame or penalty for wrong-doing by taking responsibility, gossiping, plotting and conspiring against others, secrecy and lack of transparency, forcing people to do things they don’t want to, invasion of privacy, trust betrayal, or anything causing privacy to be compromised, nepotism (the appointment or preference of family members) and favouritism with ulterior motives, racism, alienation or marginalisation of people or groups, questions arising from conflicts of interests (having a foot in two or more competing camps,)neglect of one’s duties or just not caring, “bystanding”or failing to intervene or report wrong-doing, but without interfering anywhere and everywhere, any unfairness, unkindness, lack of compassion and humanity, and dozens of other examples. The possibilities are endless.

Finally, instead of trying to arrive at a standard or all-encompassing rule of what is ethical, it is helpful to illustrate the depth and variety of ethics through suitable discussions that their minds can deal with at the appropriate age.

There are lots of great books on this topic, but the bottom line is this: true happiness and success in life as a child and as an adult comes from appreciating our blessings and getting involved in the things that we love to do. But interacting with other people in an ethical and values-driven way is also critical! Perhaps we sometimes need to pause the pursuit of pure knowledge, and focus on these issues to leave behind a legacy that our children will remember forever.

Written By:

Efstathia (Efi) Kanavou

Member of Sella Messinia Blog News- Nemesis  ( managing block)




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WORLDS FIRST SUCCESSFUL PENIS TRANSPLANT PERFORMED IN SOUTH AFRICA!

South Africa as we know has many Political, Social and Economical Problems.

Many European South Africans have always been ashamed and despondent about the country they have called home… but… there are times when news like this breaks out and gives South Africa hope that we can be on par with the rest of Europe and the world.

This article, part of the “Stellenbosch Medical Journal” makes me proud of the success the Medical Field has achieved this year! One of the Nursing staff who was part of this surgical team is a Hellene by the name of ElisabetGeorgakopoulou.

In a ground-breaking operation, a team of pioneering surgeons from Stellenbosch University (SU) and Tygerberg Hospital in the Cape performed the first successful penile transplant in the world.

The marathon nine-hour operation, led by Prof André van der Merwe, head of SU's Division of Urology, was performed on 11 December 2014 at Tygerberg Hospital in Bellville, Cape Town. This is the second time that this type of procedure was attempted, but the first time in history that a successful long-term result was achieved.

This procedure could eventually also be extended to men who have lost their penises from penile cancer or as a last-resort treatment for severe erectile dysfunction due to medication side effects. As part of the study, nine more patients will receive penile transplants.

Medical progress

"South Africa remains at the forefront of medical progress," says Prof Jimmy Volmink, Dean of Stellenbosch University's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS).

"This procedure is another excellent example of how medical research, technical know- how and patient-centred care can be combined in the quest to relieve human suffering. It shows what can be achieved through effective partnerships between academic institutions and government health services."

 

Van der Merwe was assisted by Prof Frank Graewe, head of the Division of Plastic Reconstructive Surgery at SU FMHS, Prof RafiqueMoosa, head of the FMHS Department of Medicine, transplant coordinators, anaesthetists, theatre nurses, a psychologist, an ethicist and other support staff.  The patient, whose identity is being protected for ethical reasons, has made a full recovery and has regained all function in the newly transplanted organ.

 'Rapid recovery'

"Our goal was that he would be fully functional at two years and we are very surprised by his rapid recovery," says Van der Merwe. The end result of the transplant was the restoration of all the patient's urinary and reproductive functions.  "It's a massive breakthrough. We've proved that it can be done – we can give someone an organ that is just as good as the one that he had," says Graewe. "It was a privilege to be part of this first successful penis transplant in the world."

"Western Cape Government Health (WCGH) is very proud to be part of this ground- breaking scientific achievement," says Dr Beth Engelbrecht, head of the WCGH. "We are proud of the medical team, who also form part of our own staff compliment at Tygerberg Hospital.

"It is good to know that a young man's life has been significantly changed with this very complex surgical feat. From experience we know that penile dysfunction and disfigurement has a major adverse psychological effect on people."

Pilot project

The procedure was part of a pilot study to develop a penile transplant procedure that could be performed in a typical South African hospital theatre setting.

"There is a greater need in South Africa for this type of procedure than elsewhere in the world, as many young men lose their penises every year due to complications from traditional circumcision," explains Van der Merwe.

Three years ago the 21-year-old recipient's penis had to be amputated in order to save his life when he developed severe complications after a traditional circumcision. Although there are no formal records on the number of penile amputations per year due to traditional circumcision, one study reported up to 55 cases in the Eastern Cape alone, and experts estimate as many as 250 amputations per year across the country.

Heroes

"This is a very serious situation. For a young man of 18 or 19 years the loss of his penis can be deeply traumatic. He doesn't necessarily have the psychological capability to process this. There are even reports of suicide among these young men," says Van der Merwe.

"The heroes in all of this for me are the donor, and his family. They saved the lives of many people because they donated the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, skin, corneas, and then the penis," says Van der Merwe. Finding a donor organ was one of the major challenges of the study.

The planning and preparation for the study started in 2010. After extensive research Van der Merwe and his surgical team decided to employ some parts of the model and techniques developed for the first facial transplant.

"We used the same type of microscopic surgery to connect small blood vessels and nerves, and the psychological evaluation of patients was also similar. The procedure has to be sustainable and has to work in our environment at Tygerberg," says Van der Merwe.

So with all this to consider…a successful Surgical Process was a Success.

We are proud of the whole surgical team!

They have made a difference in the world and we are proud to have had a fellow South African Hellene involved in the first penis transplant procedure.

.......By EfiKanavou for Sella Sella Messinia Blog News Nemesis

    

E. Kanavou ( ΚΑΘΗΓΗΤΡΙΑ ΣΤO JOHANNESBURG 

SOUTH AFRICA)

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EFI KANAVOU : "BEING FEMALE - GENDER AND THE FINANCIAL CRISIS! "

Two days ago I was sipping on a ‘Café Latte’ when I overheard a woman on her phone discussing Finance to a colleague on her mobile. Now, as you know…although I’m interested in World Economics  …my knowledge is minimal and although I assume that I have an understanding …I’m probably fooling myself…and… I haven’t got a clue!

I approached this woman and asked if she could help me understand the womans role in Finance. She graciously offered to send me an article about an experience she had not too long ago…

Although a lot of the information here still leaves me in the dark about Finances and the Economy. It still makes it… a good read for those who understand Finances better.

I appreciate Mrs Denice Paige’s contribution and although she wrote with a Feminist outlook…it’s worth reading.

This I dedicate to my friend Vassilis Argyropoulos! Who will probably have a better understanding than I will ever have.

Enjoy!

 

“I got a call yesterday from a German TV station, asking me for ideas for a program on “Is the economy becoming female?” The two women reporters were particularly interested in the hypothetical question, “If there had been more women on Wall Street, would the financial crisis have occurred?” I’m afraid I gave them rather a more complicated and subtle response than would fit into a TV sound bite, and one that goes deeply into our assumptions about economic life.

The story they wanted—preferably with great visuals!—was about how (as they see it) women’s greater communicative and social “soft” skills are more suited to contemporary business needs than men’s (as they see it) propensities to greater aggression and risk-taking. This drives me nuts, for two reasons.

The first reason is the reification of stereotyping, or as many feminists like to call it, “essentializing” involved in this story. I’ve been quite fascinated with work on the cognitive psychology that underlies stereotyping. It seems that our brains have a strong tendency to group things together for easy processing, and we then tend to think that what is easy is also true. One way to make gender issues easy is to insist on treating males and females as a single group, resolutely denying that any observed differences in behavior come from anything but warped socialization. “Sameness” is an easy concept. Another easy out is to think of males and females as nearly different species due to differences in genetics and hormonal influences from the womb—the “Mars versus Venus”

approach. “Difference” is an easy concept.

In fact, research done on issues such as social intelligence, risk-taking, or leadership styles usually find only fairly small differences, on average, in adults or older children. Researchers in psychology summarize these using d-values (differences in means divided by the pooled standard deviation), which give an idea of how important cross-gender variation is relative to within-gender variation. A d-value of around .20, for example, which is in the ballpark of many d-values found, means that 54% of the scores for one gender exceed the median (50^th percentile) score for the other (Hyde, 2005). If you sketch the corresponding distributions, they largely overlap. These are hardly “Mars versus Venus” findings. Researchers in psychology are often cautious, as well, in making conclusions about the roles of biology and socialization—as well as their interplay, as culture shapes human physiological development—in creating any difference.  (One notable exception, however, seems to be in behavioral and experimental economics. In what I have read, d-values do not seem to be generally reported by economists, with the emphasis being put, instead, on the statistical—versus substantive—significance of gender differences found.) “Broadly similar but also a bit different on average” seems, unfortunately, to be a non-easy concept. And, unfortunately, overlapping bell curves is not exactly the sort of visual image that the TV reporters were looking for.

The second reason the suggested story line drives me nuts is that it ignores a deeper level at which gender beliefs and gender stereotypes have in fact strongly shaped behavior in the areas of business and finance.

 

Many stories coming out of bond-trading rooms and other realms of high-flying commerce attest to a frequent macho, swaggering, risk-loving, aggressive atmosphere, often alluded to in the media as being testosterone-soaked. I see no need to question the veracity of these stories, having often experienced an only slightly more subtle variant of this atmosphere in academic economics seminar rooms. And certainly a tendency by many financial market actors to take excessive risks, while showing a distinct lack of care for the adverse results of these decisions on clients or anyone else, is a big piece of the financial crisis story.

The essentialist story about what causes this atmosphere attributes it to the participants being mostly male. The more subtle alternative I’d like to suggest, however, is that it is the culturally ascribed masculinity of the financial sector that explains both the predominant maleness of its participants and a one-sided emphasis on stereotypically masculine behaviors. Beginning with the Classical economists, markets have been thought of as mechanical, populated by autonomous agents driven by self-interest, competition, and a drive for achievement—all areas of life associated with masculinity. Agents have often also been thought of as guided by (masculine) rationality (though, with evidence of social-emotional herd behavior, more people are coming to doubt that now). Meanwhile, considerations of human personal relations, care, cooperation, the nurturing conservation of life, and emotion—explicitly excluded from economic life by an approach that tried to emulate physics—were read off onto the feminine-stereotyped realms of home and family. These “soft” considerations have often been perceived as both foreign to (impersonal, rational) market behavior, and unnecessary due to the presumed “self-regulating” nature of markets. Women, stereotyped as the carriers of all those denigrated considerations, have been also, in consequence (and to the benefit of male consolidation of power), considered unsuitable and unnecessary in such environments.

What is actually underlying the financial crisis, then, is not a story of too many testosterone-driven men and too few caring women. Instead, we should be in shock, wondering about why in the world we ever dreamed that human-made markets did or could ever function using only one-half of human-shared capacities. We, as a society, came to believe that emotions and social phenomena don’t play any role in commerce and finance, and that care and caution about outcomes could be thrown to the wind in these realms, by WHOEVER is in charge.”

(Author: Denice Paige)

By: Efi Kanavou

 

 

 

   
E. Kanavou( ΚΑΘΗΓΗΤΡΙΑ ΣΤO JOHANNESBURG 

SOUTH AFRICA)

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STOP !!! XENOPHOBIA

In the past couple of months South Africa has been faced with on going violent attacks. These ‘Xenophobic’ or as we call it ‘Afrophobic’ has just gone too far.

  

I can't stand idly by and read more stories about loadshedding, (Electricity Outages) while my fellow South Africans are shedding the lives of enterprising foreigners. As a white Greek South African, I know what it's like to be discriminated against. I also know what it's like to have to feel like a target for criminals because of something completely beyond my control.

As a Greek South African and yes as a foreigner - I’m not 'taking the job' of another South African, by being employed legally. Nor are all the apparent victims of these senseless and despicable attacks, who are self-employed entrepreneurs who've faced far greater hardships than the desperate people who are now trying to simply take what foreigners have built up.

I know I'm preaching to the choir here. I just hope that we can all, in our own way, do what we can to spread a strong message that xenophobia is NOT ok; it is NOT funny; and it shouldn't be something to only be used by racists of all colours to say 'I told you so, look at this bunch of blood-thirsty hooligans'.

To the foreigners feeling even more isolated than ever in a foreign land, Wherever that may be in the world…even those residing and working in Greece…my apology here on behalf of those targeting you would be meaningless. All I can offer is my word that not all beings of the human race feel like those that are persecuting you, and we appreciate that you're just trying to work towards a better life for yourself however you can ... just like we all are, ultimately.

I call on to all Governments all over the world…to speak out against Xenophobia in a clear way that these agitators will understand, at  the grass roots levels in local communities, that It is perfectly ok to disagree with your very own electorate, and until you are brave enough to make unpopular decisions with your own supporters you're not going to be deserving of the leadership positions they have elected you to.

When the rage is turned away from us, maybe fellow human beings can see more clearly that it's not hatred that drives racism ... it's fear and anger, willing to hit out at anybody and anything which is painted as “The Other”.

Let's take the one truth that is constructive away from the xenophobic violence - all citizens in the world are lost and in need of leadership - and start introducing positive leadership into our own lives rather than just reacting mindlessly with fear and anger as well.

To those lost in XENOPHOBIC violence around the world –may your bloodshed… not be in vain…may the world eventually listen up and do something to STOP this.

..... By Efi Kanavou...

   
E. Kanavou( ΚΑΘΗΓΗΤΡΙΑ ΣΤO JOHANNESBURG 

SOUTH AFRICA)

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ΚΑΝΑΒΟΥ ΕΦΗ : ΟΡΘΟΔΟΞΟ ΠΑΣΧΑ 2015 ΣΤΗΝ Ν ΑΦΡΙΚΗ !

Many Orthodox Christians in South Africa celebrate Jesus Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday. The Orthodox Christian date for Easter Sunday is often observed at a later date than the Easter date observed by many western churches. The day is known as Pascha, as well as the Sunday of the Resurrection

What do people do.

Many Orthodox Christians in South Africa celebrate Pascha according to the Easter date in the Julian calendar. Easter is the most important event in the church calendar. The Easter Sunday church liturgies are joyous as they celebrate Jesus Christ’s resurrection, according to Christian belief, as well as spiritual victory.   Many Orthodox Christians in South Africa fast during Lent prior to Easter. Easter Sunday is a time for families and friends to get together for a festive meal, where meat and dairy products can be eaten again. Lamb and tsourekia(or tsoureki), which is a type of Easter bread, are popular Easter dishes in many Greek Orthodox communities in South Africa. Traditional Easter egg games are also popular. Each person takes a dyed red egg and tries to crack other challengers’ eggs. This game symbolizes Jesus Christ breaking from his tomb. The person whose egg lasts the longest is assured good luck for the rest of the year. Some people bring dyed Easter eggs to church to be blessed at the Easter liturgy.

Special egg painting workshops for pysanky (special type of Easter eggs) are held in some cities, such as Johannesburg, prior to the Orthodox Easter date. These beautifully decorated eggs are customary in some eastern European countries such as Ukraine. Many people are banned from setting off fireworks during the Easter celebrations.

Public life

The Orthodox Christian date for Easter Sunday is not a federal public holiday in South Africa. However, it is held on a Sunday, which is a non-school day and non-working day for many South Africans.  Sunday trading hours still apply in areas where there is Sunday trading, particularly in major cities.

 

Background

Many Orthodox churches base their Easter date on the Julian calendar, which differs from the Gregorian calendar that is used by many western countries. Therefore the Orthodox Easter period often occurs later than the Easter period that falls around the time of the March equinox.

There are different types of Orthodox churches in South Africa, including the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Slavic Orthodox Church, and the Greek Orthodox Church. There are many Greek Orthodox Christians in South Africa. The federal government’s 2006 census recorded that there were 85 000 Greek-born people in South Africa, with the largest numbers in Johannesburg. The census also showed that 84 000 Greek-born South Africans are of the Eastern Orthodox faith.

Symbols

The Easter egg is hard-boiled and dyed red to symbolize the blood of Christ. It was an important symbol connected with spring fertility rituals in many early civilizations. Many Greek Orthodox Christians rap their eggs against their friends' eggs and the owner of the last uncracked egg is considered lucky.

 

 

 

The Orthodox custom of decorating the round Easter bread with red eggs at the four edges of the cross on the bread dates back to around the 12th century. Another important symbol associated with Easter is the lamb. It is often depicted with a banner that bears a cross, and it is known as the Agnus Dei, meaning "Lamb of God" in Latin.

Easter 2015

This Year Easter Sunday was celebrated on the 12 April. My Family and I celebrated Easter at St Athanasios Church in Benoni, 25 Km East of Johannesburg City. It was a joyous occasion of Eating Lamb on the spit. A total 0f 48 lambs were cooked that day. Eggs were broken and everyone enjoyed Live music and dancing. The festivities continued until early Sunday evening. Please see a short clip of the festivities attached.

So…from myself Efh Kanavou, The Hellenic Community of Benoni, South Africa…

 I wish you all

XRISTOS ANESTH

KAI

XRONIA POLLA

BY EFΙ KANAVOU

 

E. Kanavou( ΚΑΘΗΓΗΤΡΙΑ ΣΤO JOHANNESBURG 

SOUTH AFRICA)

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