Awake!, March 22, 1991

Awake! — March 22, 1991

Source: jw.org

Contents

Page Two

“Honor Your Father and Your Mother”

Caring for the Aged—A Growing Problem

The Asbestos Story—From Lifesaver to Death Threat

The Wood-Carvers of Kavango

How Can I Help My Single Parent?

A Killer Held at Bay

Philippi—Place of Fountains

Watching the World

From Our Readers

“Mole People”

An Event You Should Not Miss

Page Two

Do You Honor the Elderly? 3-9

In Europe a century ago, the elderly were 1 percent of the population; today they are 17 percent. There are 90 million Chinese considered to be elderly. In the United States, the older population is increasing twice as fast as the rest of the population. Worldwide, their numbers are escalating; caring for them is becoming more critical.

The Asbestos Story—From Lifesaver to Death Threat 10

It has twice revolutionized the construction industry: first, to get it in buildings; second, to get it out

A Killer Held at Bay 21

Down through the centuries, smallpox left its mark on many nations, killing millions. Is it still a threat today?

[Picture Credit Line on page 2]

WHO photo

“Honor Your Father and Your Mother”

THOSE words come down to us from antiquity, centuries before the time of Christ. They were brought down from a mountaintop, written on stone by the finger of God. Moses had been used to lead the Israelite captives out from Egyptian bondage, through the Red Sea, and to an encampment at the foot of rugged Mount Sinai. After spending 40 days and nights with Jehovah on Mount Sinai, Moses came down with the two stone tablets on which were written the Ten Commandments.—Exodus 34:1, 27, 28.

On one of these tablets was written the fifth commandment, which now appears in the Bible at Exodus chapter 20, verse 12. It reads as follows: “Honor your father and your mother in order that your days may prove long upon the ground that Jehovah your God is giving you.” According to the apostle Paul, it is “the first command with a promise,” which promise is: “That your days may prove long upon the ground.”—Ephesians 6:1-3.

The awesome display of fire and smoke and the frightful quaking of Mount Sinai during the delivery of the Ten Commandments dramatically proclaimed their importance, including the fifth one, to render honor to father and mother. What is involved in showing this honor? Not just respect and obedience but also care and support in a material way when needed.

This was made clear centuries later when Jesus clashed with the scribes and the Pharisees concerning their oral traditions. Jesus pointed out that when they withheld material support from needy parents, they were failing to honor their father or mother. He said to them, as recorded at Matthew 15:3-6: “God said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Let him that reviles father or mother end up in death.’ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother: “Whatever I have by which you might get benefit from me is a gift dedicated to God,” he must not honor his father at all.’ And so you have made the word of God invalid because of your tradition.”

In the case of Jesus himself, he showed obedience to his parents, being submissive to them. (Luke 2:51) Years later, when he was dying on a torture stake, he showed honor to his mother by making loving provision for her care and support.—John 19:25-27.

The apostle Paul knew only too well that it was God’s requirement for children, and even grandchildren, to care for needy parents. And, interestingly, he related such material assistance to showing honor: “Honor widows that are actually widows. But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let these learn first to practice godly devotion in their own household and to keep paying a due compensation to their parents and grandparents, for this is acceptable in God’s sight.” (1 Timothy 5:3, 4) Your parents cared for you when you were a helpless babe and child; in their old age, it is your turn to help them in their need.

Caring for the Aged—A Growing Problem

THE story is told about a little girl who asked her mother: “Why does Grandma eat out of the wooden bowl but the rest of us eat out of our beautiful dishes?” Her mother explained: “Mama’s hands are shaky, and she might drop our good dishes and break them, so she uses the wooden bowl instead.” After thinking about this for a moment, the little girl asked: “Then would you save the wooden bowl for me so I will have it for you when I grow up?” This preview of coming events might have startled the mother, even shaken her a little. But upon reflection, it may also have reassured her—her little girl was planning on taking care of her!

The prospect for many of the elderly may not be so bright. They have become the fastest growing segment of the population in many parts of the world. World Press Review of August 1987 reported that some 600 million people, 12 percent of the planet’s population at that time, were then over the age of 60.

In the United States, the elderly are outpacing the teenage population for the first time ever. The science editor of a New York City newspaper reported: “Thirty million Americans now are 65 or older—one in every eight of us, more than ever before, and: The older population is growing twice as fast as the rest of the population. . . . The average life expectancy for Americans was 35 in 1786. For an American child born in 1989, it’s 75.”

In Canada the number of the very elderly, age 85 and up, is expected to more than triple by the end of the century.

In Europe a hundred years ago, the elderly made up just 1 percent of its total population. Today their numbers have soared to 17 percent.

A U.S. Census Bureau report on “Aging in the Third World” said: “Four-fifths of the increase in older people is occurring in the Third World.”

Four decades ago the life expectancy of the Chinese people was about 35 years. By 1982 the figure had jumped to 68 years. Today over 90 million Chinese are counted as elderly, and it is estimated that by the end of the century, the figure will rise to 130 million, or 11 percent of the population.

Special Effort to Care for Your Own

As the number of the very elderly escalates worldwide, the perplexing question of how to care for them becomes more critical. In Bible times the problem was not as difficult. They had the extended family, where children, parents, and grandparents lived together. Children and grandparents interacted with benefit to one another, and parents could make the necessary material provisions and also see to it that any special care needed by the elderly in the household was made available. Such extended families with care for the elderly are still the rule in some countries today. (For examples, please see the box on page 8.) But that is not the case in the more affluent nations where the family circle is limited to parents and children. When the children grow up and marry and have children of their own, often they are faced with the problem of caring for their aged, frail, and often chronically ill parents.

In this present system of things, to do this can be a weighty problem indeed! As undesirable as it is, under present economic conditions, it may be necessary for both parents to work. Food is expensive, rents are high, bills come in. Even two paychecks can disappear quickly. If the woman of the house does not work outside, she may be busy with children, shopping, cleaning—a full-time job in itself. This is not to say that an elderly parent, or parents, should not be cared for in the home. What it does say is that it can be a very difficult assignment. The elderly have their aches and pains, and understandably they can at times be complaining and crotchety, not always congenial and of a sunny disposition. None of which means that a strenuous effort should not be made to care for an elderly parent in the home.

Often, the responsibility falls on the shoulders of the surviving daughters. Study after study has revealed that although men may provide financial assistance, it is primarily women who provide the personal hands-on care. They cook meals for the aged—often spoon-feeding them—they bathe and dress them, they change them, they drive them to doctors and hospitals, they see to their medical supplies. Often they are the eyes, the ears, and the mind of their elderly parents. Their job is a formidable one, and their willingness to do it despite its hardships is truly commendable and pleasing to Jehovah God.

The belief that most adult children send their elderly parents away to spend their declining years in a nursing home is just not true, according to Carl Eisdorfer, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center on Adult Development and Aging at the University of Miami, Florida, U.S.A. “Studies have shown that the majority of care for older people is provided by their own families,” he said.

Statistics give support to his claim. In the United States, for example, 75 percent of those polled said that they would want their parents, if they were no longer capable of living alone, to live with them. “This confirms that families do want to take care of their own,” Dr. Eisdorfer said. And a report in Ms. magazine said: “Only 5 percent of those over 65 are in nursing homes at any one time because both the elderly and most of their relatives prefer home to institutional care.”

The following case shows the effort some make to care for an elderly parent. The report is from a traveling representative of Jehovah’s Witnesses who visits congregations throughout the United States. He explains how he and his wife were determined to keep her 83-year-old mother with them rather than put her in a nursing home. “I recalled the saying,” he commented, “that one mother could take care of 11 children, but 11 children could not take care of one mother. Well, the two of us were determined to take care of one elderly mother. Although she was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, she traveled with us in the trailer.

“At first she went with us when we preached the Kingdom message from door to door. Later we had to take her in a wheelchair. Householders seemed to appreciate how we looked after her. At times she would say things that were not right, but we never embarrassed her by correcting her. She still, however, had her sense of humor. I’d caution her and say, ‘Watch your step, Mother,’ and she’d reply, ‘I don’t have a stepmother.’ We took care of her until she died, at the age of 90.”

When Nursing Homes Are Needed

Nearly two million elderly do live in nursing homes in the United States. In most cases, however, it is not a matter of the “callous warehousing of the elderly,” as some have called the putting of them in nursing homes. Rather, it is often the only alternative to adequate care for those unable to care for themselves. All too often, children of the elderly are not in a position to care for their aged parents, many of whom may be severely afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease or bedridden with some other debilitating malady that requires special round-the-clock care. In such cases nursing homes may be the only places capable of meeting these special needs.

A missionary of the Watch Tower Society in Sierra Leone, Africa, told of the pain his mother experienced when she had to put her mother in a nursing home: “Recently my mother in Florida put her mother, Helen, in a nursing home. It was a very difficult decision for her. She had cared for Helen for four years, but now Helen needed full-time nursing care. Mother’s friends, family, and various social workers and doctors all supported the decision to put Helen in the nursing home, but still it was a very difficult decision to make. My mother felt that since her mother had cared for her as a child, now it was only right for her to care for her mother in her old age—the repayment, or the ‘due compensation,’ the apostle Paul had talked about. As it was, however, Helen was better cared for in the nursing home than she could have been at my mother’s home.”—1 Timothy 5:4.

Another Witness, working at the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses, told of his father’s bout with cancer. “My dad was a zealous Witness for over 30 years. For the last nine years of his life, he had cancer. My wife and I spent our vacations with him and took extended leaves of absence to be with him and help. Other relatives helped in various ways. But most of that time, he was cared for by his wife and a married daughter who lived next door. He also had visits from members of the congregation of Witnesses where he had attended. The last two years, he was in and out of a hospital, and the last five months, he spent in an extended-care facility where he could get the specialized care he required.

“The decision to move him from home to the facility was a family one, with him participating. He decided that his care was becoming too arduous, even impossible, for the family in the home. ‘It’s going to kill all of you!’ he exclaimed. ‘It’s time to go to this extended-care facility. Better for you; better for me.’

“So he went. For most of nine years, the family had cared for him, and only as a last resort did he go into the extended-care facility for the specialized, round-the-clock care that was required.”

When, as a last resort, a nursing home becomes needed for adequate care, the family should seek out one that is clean and staffed by kindly and competent care-givers. If it is at all possible, arrange for a visitor every day—a family member, someone from the congregation, at least a phone call—so that the elderly person does not feel abandoned, forgotten, totally alone, and thinking that no one cares. When others in the nursing home are having visitors, but no one comes to see your loved one—this can be very disheartening. So try to see the person regularly. Visit with him. Listen to him. Pray with him. The latter is very important. Even if he seems to be in a coma, pray anyway. You never know to what degree he may be hearing something!

When making decisions regarding parents, try to do so with them instead of for them. Let them feel they are still in control of their lives. Offer the needed assistance with all the love and patience and understanding possible. Then is the time to repay, as the apostle Paul wrote, what we owe our parents and grandparents.

“The Whole Obligation of Man”

In the hustle and bustle of this modern world, it is easy for the elderly to get pushed into the backwaters of life. Especially, young ones just entering the race and hurrying to get on with their lives tend to feel that the elderly just get in the way, that they have outlived their usefulness. Maybe we should all stop and reflect: What qualifies a life as useful anyway? It’s easy for the young to devalue the lives of the old and attach an inflated value to their own.

It is not, however, just the old and the feeble who may make little or no contribution to what seems to count. King Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes frequently referred to the activities of people in general as vanity. He spoke of youths and their temporary vigor and showed how the passing years will ravage their bodies just as it already has the bodies of millions of others. All end up as dust and earn this assessment: “The greatest vanity!” said Solomon. “Everything is vanity.”—Ecclesiastes 12:8.

But he did extol the words of the wise ones and summed up his observations on life with these words: “The conclusion of the matter, everything having been heard, is: Fear the true God and keep his commandments. For this is the whole obligation of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13) That is the formula for a useful life, not how young or how old you are or what kind of mark you make in this materialistic old world that is passing away.

To govern our human relationships, Jesus gave the guiding principle that has come to be known as the Golden Rule: “Always treat others as you would like them to treat you.” (Matthew 7:12, The New English Bible) To apply that rule, we must be able to put ourselves in the other person’s place, to see how we would like to be treated if we were in his place. If we are old and feeble and in need of help, how would we like to be treated by one of our children? Will we pay back our parents for the 20 years of care and support they lavished on us when we were helpless children by now caring for them when they are helpless in their old age?

As we look at our elderly parents in their need, perhaps we will review our childhood and recall all that they did for us when we were babies, children, being nursed through childhood sicknesses by them, fed and clothed by them, taken by them on outings for our childish delight. Then, with loving concern for their welfare, consider what is best to meet their needs.

That may be making the arrangements necessary to keep them at home if at all possible. On the other hand, the best arrangement for all involved, including the elderly parents, may be an extended-care facility or nursing home. Whatever decision is made, it should be respected by others. As we are told: “Why do you judge your brother? Or why do you also look down on your brother?” And again: “Who are you to be judging your neighbor?”—Romans 14:10; James 4:12.

Whatever may work out for elderly parents, whether living with their children or in a nursing home, if they have their mental faculties intact, they may still have a meaningful life. They may learn of Jehovah’s purpose for all obedient mankind to live forever in health on a paradise earth. They may find a new career, a joyful and fulfilling one of serving their Creator, Jehovah God. This then becomes the most purposeful and happy time of their life. Some in their advanced years, when others have given up on life itself, have come to know of Jehovah’s promises of everlasting life in a new world of righteousness without end and have found a new joy in talking to others about that hope.

To conclude with a case in point. One California woman, at the age of 100, was introduced to these promised blessings by a nurse in the nursing home, and at the ripe age of 102, she was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. She finished her life, not in a ‘vanity of vanities’ dead end, but by fulfilling her ‘whole obligation of life,’ namely, ‘fearing the true God and keeping his commandments.’

[Blurb on page 6]

It has been said that years ago one mother could take care of 11 children; now 11 children can’t take care of one mother

[Box on page 8]

Showing Honor by Caring for the Elderly—Comments From Around the World

“In Africa there are few or no government provisions for the elderly—no nursing homes, no Medicare or Social Security benefits, no pensions. Old people are looked after by their children.

“A fundamental reason why childbearing is so important to people in developing countries is that their children will look after them in the future. Even poor people will produce many children, reasoning that the more they have, the better the chances that some will survive and look after them.

“Though standards are changing in Africa, for the most part, families take seriously the responsibility to look after their elderly. If there are no children, other family members will look after them. Often those providing care are in a weak financial position, but they share what they have.

“Another way that children care for their parents is to lend them their own children. Often it is the grandchildren that do the work around the house.

“In developed countries, people live longer because of medical advances. In the developing world, this isn’t the case. Poor people die because they can’t afford even the limited medical help that is available. A proverb spoken in Sierra Leone is: ‘No poor person is sick.’ That is, since a poor person has no money for treatment, he is either well or dead.”—Robert Landis, missionary in Africa.

“In Mexico people have high respect for elderly parents. Parents live alone in their homes when their sons get married, but when the parents get older and are in need, the children take them into their home and care for them. They feel that this is an obligation.

“It is common to see grandparents living in the same home as their sons and grandchildren. Grandchildren love and respect their grandparents. The family is very close.

“In Mexico homes for elderly persons are rare because the sons and daughters take care of the elderly. If there are several sons, sometimes the last one getting married stays at home and lives with the parents.”—Isha Aleman, from Mexico.

“In Korea we are taught in the home and at school to honor elderly people. In the family the eldest son is supposed to take care of his old parents. If he is unable to support them, another son or daughter will do so. Many couples live with and take care of their old parents under the same roof. Parents expect to live with their children, and they like to instruct and take care of their grandchildren. It is regarded as shameful for a young couple to send their old parents to a nursing home.

“My father was the eldest son, and we lived with our grandparents in the same house. Whenever we left home, we informed them as to where we were going and when we would be back. When we came back home, we first dropped by their room and greeted them with our head bowed down and let them know we were back because they were concerned about the whole family’s welfare.

“When we handed something to them, we held the item with two hands. It is impolite to pass anything with one hand to persons held in respect, such as parents, grandparents, teachers, or higher officers in public service. When we had some special food, we served our grandparents first.

“Honoring the elderly is not limited to just family members but extends to all the elderly. From primary school through high school, there are classes in ethics. During that class, we learned through fairy tales or lectures how to respect and honor the elderly.

“When an old person enters a room, the young people are expected to stand up. If a young person is seated on a bus and an elderly man or woman has no seat, then it is customary for the younger person to yield his seat. If an old man is carrying a very heavy-looking package, you stop and ask whether he needs help or not. If he says yes, you carry the package to his destination for him.

“As the Bible prophesied, in these last days of the system of things, the moral standard would be deteriorating day by day. Korea is not exempt from this influence. Still, this kind of respectful attitude toward elderly people remains in the hearts of many Koreans.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5)—Kay Kim, from Korea.

[Picture on page 7]

Visiting the elderly is time well spent

The Asbestos Story—From Lifesaver to Death Threat

NOT long ago all the residents of a trailer park in Arizona, U.S.A., had to sell their homes and possessions to the government and move out. Everything in the park, from trailers to furniture to children’s toys, was systematically destroyed—crushed flat and buried under layers of filter paper, gravel, and topsoil. Why? Radiation? Toxic chemicals? Bad water? No; the trailer park was sitting on the residues of an old milling operation. It was contaminated with asbestos.

This has been a tumultuous century for asbestos—a dizzying descent from the pinnacle of popularity to the depths of vilification. Once the darling of industry and the revered savior of countless lives from fires, asbestos now stands accused of complicity in the deaths of literally hundreds of thousands of people. To asbestos goes the dubious distinction of having revolutionized the construction industry—not once, but twice: first, in the global trend to put it in buildings; second, in the sometimes mad rush to get the stuff out again.

Schools, offices, and apartment buildings have shut down, at a monumental cost to taxpayers, landlords, and residents. A tidal wave of lawsuits has swamped the legal system. And fear has altered lives—all because of asbestos.

But what is asbestos? Where does it come from? Is it really all that dangerous?

A Checkered Past

Contrary to what some may think, asbestos is not just another misfire of modern technology, another laboratory brainchild gone berserk. No, asbestos is a mineral mined from the earth. Or, more accurately, asbestos is a class of minerals—there are six different types, each quite different. But all are fibrous in structure, and all are extremely resistant to heat.

People have been using asbestos for thousands of years. Many centuries before Christ, Finnish peasants mixed it in pottery and chinked cracks in their log huts with it. The ancient Greeks used it to make wicks for lamps. The ancient Romans wove asbestos fibers into fabrics to make towels, nets, and even head coverings for women. These fabrics were easy to clean: simply throw them into a blazing fire and draw them out bright and white!

In medieval times Emperor Charlemagne reportedly convinced some barbarian guests that he had supernatural powers when he threw an asbestos tablecloth into the fire and pulled it out unsinged. Some enterprising medieval merchants even sold asbestos crosses, citing their resistance to fire as evidence that they were made from the wood of “the true cross”!

Until the late 19th century, though, asbestos was little more than a curiosity. That changed because of the industrial age. In the 1800’s, industry realized that asbestos is more than fireproof; it also resists corrosion and makes a good insulator. Asbestos soon found its way into roofing felt, ceiling tiles, floor tiles, insulation, concrete mixes, cement pipes, asphalt, theater curtains, brake linings, and even filters. Eventually, some 3,000 uses were found for it.

Before long, asbestos supported a flourishing global industry. Large deposits were discovered in the Ural Mountains of the Soviet Union, in the Alps of northern Italy, in Vermont in the United States, and in South Africa. By the mid-1970’s, world production of asbestos neared six million tons per year.

The Terrible Price

This meteoric rise in popularity, however, was not without its rumblings of foreboding. In fact, as far back as some 19 centuries ago, the Roman historian Pliny had noted that slaves who worked in asbestos mines seemed to have respiratory problems. His was only the first of many warning voices.

In the early 1900’s, doctors in Europe began to notice that asbestos workers were dying of respiratory ailments. By 1918 some insurance companies were already refusing to cover asbestos workers, noting their unusually short life spans. By the 1930’s, autopsies had established that massive exposure to asbestos could indeed be fatal. The tiny, needle-shaped crystals of many types of asbestos can work their way far down into the lungs, or even into the abdominal cavity, and remain there, sometimes bringing on disease decades later. Following are some of the more common asbestos-related diseases:

Asbestosis. The most common affliction, particularly among those who have had a long-term exposure to asbestos. A scarring of lung tissue that gradually causes the lung to rigidify and that obstructs the air spaces within the lung. Asbestosis causes labored breathing and makes lungs more vulnerable to infections such as pneumonia and bronchitis, which in turn are much more dangerous to people with the condition. Asbestosis is incurable, and it can kill.

Lung Cancer. Also very common, it kills more people than does asbestosis. Interestingly, though, when exposure to asbestos is combined with the smoking habit, the incidence of lung cancer really soars—far higher than if the risks of smoking and of asbestos exposure were simply added together.

Mesothelioma. A rare but extremely lethal form of cancer. It attacks the membrane that lines the chest or abdominal cavity. It may occur even after limited exposure to the mineral, and it may show up after a delay of as long as 40 years.

According to the International Journal of Health Services, asbestos will cause from two to three hundred thousand premature and painful deaths between 1986 and the year 2000 in the United States alone. If that holds true, it would about equal the number of U.S. military personnel who died in combat in World War II.

An Overreaction?

However, a number of scientists charge that there has been a vast overreaction to the asbestos threat. They claim that some scientists have overplayed the dangers, leading to a widespread “fiber phobia,” a panic that has done more harm than good.

For instance, Brooke Mossman, at the University of Vermont College of Medicine, led a team of scientists in writing a report that appeared in the journal Science. Mossman and her colleagues decry the huge sums of money spent on removing asbestos from office buildings and schools, often to prevent levels of exposure so low, they say, as to be virtually harmless.

In fact, they charge that in some of the buildings slated for asbestos removal, there is actually less asbestos in the air inside than outside! Statistics are cited showing that children are in vastly greater danger from riding bicycles or from stray lightning bolts than from such low levels of asbestos. Besides, many asbestos-removal projects have been hastily undertaken and sloppily done, actually increasing the levels of asbestos in buildings by stirring up all the dust. In such cases it would have been safer simply to leave the asbestos in place and seal it off.

Furthermore, as many European countries recognize in their laws on asbestos, not all varieties of the mineral have the same needle-shaped fibers. Chrysotile asbestos is made up of longer, curly fibers that are more readily trapped and ejected by the lungs. Some 95 percent of the asbestos produced around the world is of this chrysotile variety. Amphibole asbestos, the type that seems to cause most cases of mesothelioma, is used only rarely.

Mossman and her colleagues also dismiss the ‘one-fiber theory’—the notion that even a single asbestos fiber can be lethal. After all, asbestos occurs naturally. According to an editor of Science magazine, all of us breathe about a million asbestos fibers each year!

Still, these points do not placate all scientists. Dr. Irving J. Selikoff, who did a landmark study on asbestos hazards in 1964, insists that low levels of exposure to asbestos can indeed be dangerous. Many scientists side with him. They are particularly concerned about school buildings. Simply measuring the asbestos content in the air in such buildings is meaningless, they say, since it is only very specific point sources of asbestos that present the danger, such as insulated pipes and boilers. Curious or mischievous children are likely to find and disturb such sources; custodians and janitors may be exposed regularly.

Scientists also disagree on the hazards of chrysotile asbestos. An international conference of scientists in the spring of 1990 responded to Mossman’s Science report by asserting that chrysotile is as hazardous as other types. Further, some have charged that scientists who minimize the dangers of asbestos are simply being used by the asbestos industry, which pays some of them to testify in court.

The Greed Factor

Such accusations, if true, brand the accused as greedy. The fact is, though, that greed is a running theme in the history of asbestos in this century.

The asbestos industry has been charged with outrageous greed for keeping workers in the dark about the hazards of asbestos exposure. Many court verdicts have assessed punitive damages against asbestos manufacturers for failing to make employees aware of the risks they were facing. And despite all the controversy, asbestos companies still export their products to less developed nations that have not yet banned the material—and where factory workers are not always properly protected from it.

Charges of greed have also been leveled at the asbestos-removal industry. Critics decry the exorbitant costs, which often range from $25 to $50 per square foot [$250 to $500 per sq m], well over a hundred times what it cost to install asbestos to begin with. There are also reports of corruption. Many removal firms have been caught bribing government officials to get them to overlook illegal and dangerous removal and disposal methods. Corrupt landlords have been known to hire unscrupulous firms to remove asbestos improperly just to save money. The workers they hire often have no idea of the hazards of their work, wear no protection, and have been known to dump the asbestos illegally—even in parks.

Asbestos and You

Still, there is some hope in this grim story. Awareness of the various dangers of asbestos is spreading around the world. Many governments are limiting the use of asbestos or at least ensuring that workers who deal with the mineral wear protective gear.

What if you think there is asbestos in your home or at your workplace? First of all, only a laboratory test can tell for certain whether it really is asbestos or not. Second, don’t panic. Panic has led some to try to remove the asbestos themselves, which is often illegal and much more dangerous than leaving it where it is. Get expert advice before taking any action. Only a reputable, licensed firm should be allowed to remove the asbestos or seal it off, depending on what the situation calls for.

If you have little choice but to work with asbestos, wearing protective gear is crucial, as is keeping the material wet to prevent its fibers from becoming airborne—however inconvenient all this may seem. One survey of 405 workers in Egypt found that only 31.4 percent of them wore their protective devices when working with asbestos.

Finally, don’t smoke! In a U.S. study, 34 percent of asbestos workers were found to be smokers, in spite of their high concern about cancer and in spite of the fact that smokers are some 50 times more likely to contract asbestos-related disorders.

Of course, the experts still disagree on just how dangerous asbestos is and on whether any level of exposure is safe. Perhaps they will continue to disagree, angrily hurling statistics and studies at one another, until the day when man finally stops “ruining the earth” and misusing its resources. (Revelation 11:18) But until then, perhaps the wise course is to err on the side of safety.

[Picture on page 12]

Typical asbestos setup, including decontamination chambers. From left to right: 1. work area; 2. equipment room; 3. air lock; 4. shower; 5. air lock; 6. clean room

The Wood-Carvers of Kavango

By Awake! correspondent in Namibia

WHAT happened? Startled, I sit up. Something has awakened me. Anxiously, I look out at the African night. I see only the stars twinkling brilliantly through the branches of the camel-thorn tree.

Then I notice it—hear it! The silence!

The drums have stopped. All through the night, the throbbing tom-tom-te-tum-tum has been a background to the other noises of the African bush, but now they are silent. It is eerie at first. Then the normal nocturnal noises become noticeable again. The crick-crick of crickets and the zoom of mosquitoes, the whir, chirp, buzz, and hum of the myriads of insects that make up the musical mosaic of the tropical night. I am now wide awake. I lie thinking about these fascinating drums and how we had watched them being carved.

My wife and I were sleeping in our trailer on the bank of the Okavango River. We were visiting the congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses at Rundu, a trading village in Kavango Province in the northeast of Namibia on the Angola border. On our way through the bush, we were intrigued by the open-air workshops, where wood-carvers were busy whittling and whistling, chipping and chopping, sawing and sanding away at tree trunks.

Among the carvings were masks used for ceremonial dances as well as for “signposts” outside kraals where there were sick people. These masks were to warn visitors and to chase away bad spirits. Although many find the masks fascinating, Christians in Kavango do not keep them in their homes because of the connection with wicked spirits. It is therefore good to see that many objects are no longer being carved with these masks as the main feature, but all sorts of geometric designs are now used for ornamentation.

The wood used is teak. It is sad that this beautiful wood is becoming scarce in Kavango. Hopefully, more attention will be given to planting new trees, as it takes 50 years for them to mature. The wood has an attractive grain, with light and dark patterns, which is effectively featured in the carvings. A suitable tree is selected and then chopped down or burned off at the base. Then it is dragged to the workshop hut, where it is sawed into round stumps or flat planks, depending on the art object to be made.

A Sawmill in the Forest?

Watching the carvers at work in one of the huts, I noticed some of these smoothly sawed planks in a corner. I was curious about how these were cut, as there is no sawmill or electricity in the forest. I asked Joakim, who was chipping away at a drum.

“Well, you see, Tatekulu [Older One],” he explained, “it is really quite simple. We push the tree across the hole. Jonas climbs down into the hole, and I stand on top, on the tree. Jonas pulls the saw down into the hole, and then I pull it up. We both keep pulling. We soon finish sawing the tree, and then we have the planks.”

“But surely,” I said, “that must take you a long time, and then you must be very tired.”

“No, Tatekulu, not really. The sun comes up and we work. The sun goes down and we rest. Tomorrow the sun will come up again. The next day also, and the next. There are many days, much time. Time to work and rest.”

Taxis of the Okavango

Taxis in the heart of African forests? Yes, but these are not the cabs of New York City nor the rickshas of Yangon. The people of the Okavango River also do a different type of carving. The taxis of the Okavango are the mawato, or mekoro as they are called farther downstream. These are dugout canoes, carved out of solid tree trunks.

You see, the Okavango River forms the northern border between Kavango and Angola and offers the easiest transport—up, down, or across the river. Whether upstream to Owambo, downstream to Botswana, or across to Angola, the mawato, or water taxis, can travel on this water highway regardless of borders or man-made boundaries.

However, there are two residents of the river that wato (singular) passengers have to acknowledge with deep respect. In spite of human encroachment into their natural habitat, the crocodile and the hippopotamus are still to be found—and feared! Previously, when a wato capsized near Rundu, one unfortunate occupant was too slow and did not reach the bank. He was killed by a crocodile!

As for “the lord of the river,” the hippo, why, a warning grunt, even from afar, sends the ferryman in his water taxi scuttling for the bank until he is sure that it is safe to cross. He knows that the fearsome jaws of the hippo can easily crunch a wato.

But the taxis are not limited to water travel. As a wato, or mokoro, ages, and bigger and more dangerous leaks develop, it is withdrawn from river service to become a land-based sled or trailer. We have seen many an old canoe, piled high with wood or goods from a nearby trading store, hitched behind either oxen or donkeys and slowly slithering or sliding over the soft sands of Kavango.

These Okavango taxis, now equipped with reliable one-donkey-power drive, can transport goods and provisions over terrain where modern multihorsepower vehicles get bogged down in thick sand. Archaic? Maybe. Tedious? Possibly. Slow? Yes, as some people consider slowness. But Africa is the timeless land! As Joakim the wood-carver said: ‘Tomorrow the sun will come up again. There are many days.’

These, then, are the wood-carvers of Kavango. What a pleasure it is to share with them the message of peace that comes through God’s Kingdom! (Matthew 24:14) Superstition is rife in many of the tribes, but seeds of Bible truth have taken root.

Three years ago there were 23 baptized Witnesses in the Rundu Congregation. They met in a small Kingdom Hall with wooden walls and a low roof made of corrugated iron. “With a squeeze it could take 40 people,” recalls Christo, a traveling overseer of Jehovah’s Witnesses, “but 56 came to listen to the public talk. This is a tropical region of Africa, and it gets very hot and humid. My shirt was wet with perspiration while I was giving the talk. In the cramped little Kingdom Hall, it was too uncomfortable to wear a jacket.”

In spite of these unpleasant conditions, the number of interested people who attended meetings kept increasing. So plans to build a larger and more suitable hall became a matter of urgency. A local Witness kindly donated land for this purpose.

Witnesses from other parts of Namibia and South Africa responded to the call and came to this remote region at their own expense to help build the hall. Local people also became interested in the project. For example, young Ambiri and Willem, though not Witnesses themselves, kindly offered their assistance. Soon both began studying the Bible and attending meetings. Now they too are baptized Witnesses.

Another interested person who helped with the building work was a refugee from Angola named Pedro. As a staunch Catholic, Pedro got involved in a religious discussion with Witnesses at his place of work. But afterward he reflected: ‘How is it possible that Jehovah’s Witnesses know the Bible so well?’ He then formulated a plan of action. He would ask the Witnesses for a Bible study. Then, as soon as he had sufficient knowledge, he would stop the study and use the Bible to prove that the Witnesses are wrong. Did his plan succeed? “After the third study,” recalls Pedro, “I went home and said to my mother: ‘Mom, from today onward, I am no longer a member of the Catholic Church.’” Though his family opposed him, Pedro made fast progress and soon resigned from the Catholic Church. He was baptized in December 1989 at the “Godly Devotion” Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Windhoek, Namibia.

Other interested persons also helped to build the Kingdom Hall. “I remember something that happened while we were busy pouring the foundations,” says Christo, the traveling overseer. “About 40 of us were busy on the job. I noticed one person who seemed a bit aloof. So I introduced myself and asked him: ‘Who studies the Bible with you?’ Young Mateus answered: ‘You must talk to these people because they don’t want to study the Bible with me. I’ve asked them to help me many times, but they have done nothing.’ The reason for this was that the local Witnesses were already conducting so many Bible studies that they had placed Mateus on the waiting list. However, I managed to make arrangements for a Bible study, and today Mateus is a baptized Witness.”

In July 1989 the Rundu Congregation dedicated their new Kingdom Hall. Since they started using the hall, 10 new ones have been baptized, bringing the total number of baptized Witnesses to 33. Many others are progressing toward baptism, and during the last visit of the traveling overseer, 118 attended the public talk.

We hope you have enjoyed this brief trip to Kavango—with its remarkable river, fine forests, capable wood-carvers, and timber taxis—where the message of Jehovah’s Kingdom is finding hearing ears and responding hearts.

[Pictures on page 16, 17]

From left clockwise:

▪ Publishers in front of old Kingdom Hall

▪ New Kingdom Hall at Rundu

▪ Crocodile and hippo in the Okavango River

▪ Various masks and carvings

How Can I Help My Single Parent?

Young People Ask . . .

How Can I Help My Single Parent?

“Being a single parent is like being a juggler. After six months of practice, you have finally been able to juggle four balls at once. But just as soon as you are able to do that, somebody throws a new ball to you!”—A single parent.

A SINGLE parent’s job is tiring, often unrelenting. And if your mother is a single parent, you no doubt realize that she could use some help.a But as a teenager, you face what one writer called “the most stressful and threatening time of life.” It might seem that you have enough to do just coping with being young.

Nevertheless, like the single parent quoted at the outset, your mother may from time to time feel overwhelmed, trying to be both mother and father to you. True, Jehovah does not expect the impossible from anyone. As one Bible principle states: “The important thing is to be willing to give as much as we can—that is what God accepts.” (2 Corinthians 8:12, Phillips) But still she may feel under considerable pressure. Should you simply ignore her plight, or is there good reason for you to try to help out?

“Paying a Due Compensation”

At 1 Peter 3:8, Christians are told: “Finally, all of you be like-minded, showing fellow feeling.” So at the very least, should not fellow feeling for your parent move you to help her? Indeed, it is “acceptable in God’s sight” for Christian youths to “keep paying a due compensation to their parents.”—1 Timothy 5:4.

While this text no doubt refers to rendering a bereaved parent financial aid, it does teach an important principle: We owe our parents more than we could ever possibly repay. And when they are in need, it is our duty and privilege to try to compensate them. For example, some youths will use some or all of their earnings from part-time jobs to help pay household bills. This demonstrates real gratitude and appreciation!

Financial aid, however, is just one way to pay your parent “a due compensation.” Not that you should try to fill the shoes of your absent parent—that would be impossible—nor do you need to wear yourself out emotionally, feeling you are fully responsible for all the goings-on in your household. That is still your mother’s job as parent. (Compare Proverbs 31:27.) But there are many practical ways in which you can prove yourself a real asset to your mother if she is a single parent.

Obedience Lightens Her Load

One way is simply to follow the command at Colossians 3:20: “You children, be obedient to your parents in everything, for this is well-pleasing in the Lord.” You may well be able to recite this text by heart. But do you sometimes fail to heed it?

One single parent with a teenage son works long hours to provide for her family. But she says with a sigh: “My son makes life harder when he disobeys me.” Her son counters: “I’m the only male in the house. I’m bigger than my mother, so sometimes it’s very hard for me to obey and respect her as family head.”

Neither your physical dimensions nor your gender exempts you from Jehovah’s command: “Do not forsake the law of your mother.” (Proverbs 6:20) Your mother is authorized by God to make laws, or house rules. You owe her respect and obedience. If you are a male, Mom may affectionately call you the man of the house. But she is head of the house! And by obeying her—not arguing with her every time she asks you to do something—you lighten her load and make for peace in your family.

Help With Housework

Another way to lighten your parent’s load is to help with household chores—not waiting till you are nagged into doing them. ‘But Mom doesn’t ask me to do anything,’ you object. Surprisingly, this is often the case. As Carol V. Murdock writes: “Single Mom or Single Dad staggers through the living room with a load of laundry big enough to buckle the strongest knees—and three kids’ eyes never leave the television screen.”—Single Parents Are People, Too!

Why do many single parents require so little from their offspring? One single mother reasoned: “I don’t want my daughter to have to miss out on any fun because I have to work. I’m afraid she will resent me for it.” Another said: “You want to make up for the absence of the other parent by making it easy for the kids.” At the core of such feelings, though, may be your parent’s unwarranted sense of guilt. She may feel guilty because maintaining a job keeps her away from you. Or she may feel guilty about her failed marriage, reasoning that she is to blame for your having to live in a one-parent home.

According to Dr. Richard A. Gardner, author of The Boys and Girls Book About Divorce, some youths take advantage of the situation. They demand pity and refuse to share in household chores. This reminds us, though, of the callous attitude shown by religious leaders in Jesus’ day. Jesus said of them: ‘They fix up heavy loads, yet they aren’t willing even to lift a finger to help carry those loads.’—Matthew 23:4, Today’s English Version.

Show a different attitude. Refuse to add to your mother’s load; do not exempt yourself from household chores.

Taking the Initiative

This may mean doing what needs to be done without being asked. Consider how young Tony lightens his mother’s load. He says: “My mother works in a hospital, and her uniform has to be pressed. So I iron it for her.” But isn’t that woman’s work? “Some think so,” replies Tony. “But it helps my mom, so I do it.”

Besides offering practical help, you can do much to buoy up your mother’s spirits simply by making expressions of appreciation. One single parent wrote: “I often find that when I am really low or irritable from a particularly trying day at work and I come home—that is the day my daughter has chosen to set the table and get the supper going.” She adds: “My son puts his arms around me and hugs me and says, ‘You’re the best little mom in the world.’” How is she affected by such thoughtful acts? She continues: “My whole mood changes for the better again.”

“Go On Walking in the Truth”

“No greater cause for thankfulness do I have than these things, that I should be hearing that my children go on walking in the truth.” (3 John 4) The apostle John here spoke of his spiritual children. If your mother is a Christian, she no doubt feels the same way toward you; she wants you to walk in the truth. To that end she may arrange a regular family Bible study with you.

Conducting that study may not be easy for her after an exhausting day’s work. And if you are uncooperative or complaining, family study can be an ordeal for everyone concerned. So cooperate! Be ready to study when the scheduled time arrives. Prepare your lessons beforehand. Your cooperation may be just the impetus your parent needs to keep that study regular. When you attend Christian meetings and share in the house-to-house preaching work without having to be prodded, you also demonstrate that you are walking in the truth. (Matthew 24:14; Hebrews 10:24, 25) In this way you assure your mother that her efforts are not in vain!

The Benefits

Proverbs 3:27 says: “Do not hold back good from those to whom it is owing, when it happens to be in the power of your hand to do it.” Clearly, you owe your parent such consideration. And when you give it, you please not only her but Jehovah God himself. Another benefit: Your parent will be in a better frame of mind to give you help when you need it.

Finally, helping others builds good qualities. As one writer notes: “Young people need opportunities to feel that they are helping and giving to others. When they have none of these experiences, they cannot discover their own strengths and durability [that come] with knowing you are a good person helping others.” As Jesus himself said: “There is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving.” (Acts 20:35) And great happiness can be yours if you care enough to help your single parent.

[Footnotes]

Since the majority of single parents are women, we will use the female gender. However, the principles discussed here apply to single parents of either sex.

[Pictures on page 19]

A lazy or unconcerned youth adds stress to his parent’s life . . . One who helps with the housework lightens her load

A Killer Held at Bay

PHARAOH Ramses V of Egypt died some three thousand years ago. No one knew for sure the cause of his death, but down to this day, his mummified corpse bears telltale marks of a strange assassin. This same fiend also left its devastating mark in ancient India, China, Greece, and virtually every other nation.

This was a killer so powerful that it has changed the course of history. According to one source, in the lower Indus Valley, it even dealt the mighty army of Alexander the Great a severe blow. Accompanying explorer Cortés to Mexico, it decimated the native population to such an extent that it almost guaranteed the conquistador an easy victory. In 18th-century Europe, some years saw as many as 600,000 dead in the clutches of the killer. All of them were victims of a foe they could not see—a tiny, brick-shaped virus, the smallpox virus.

Even in modern times, mention of smallpox has struck fear into the hearts of many. For example, in 1947, because 12 cases were reported in New York City, over 6 million of its inhabitants were vaccinated. And it has been estimated that as recently as 1967, smallpox took two million lives. Why is this disease so fearsome? Is it still a threat today?

A Killer to Be Feared

For most of us, our only acquaintance with the disease is the sight of the characteristic scars on a stranger, whose pitted face tells the story of his having survived a visit from the killer. Many, however, did not survive. In some localities as many as 1 in every 2 persons infected died.

Yet, to many, as frightening as the high mortality rate were the ugly symptoms. Usually, within two weeks of a person’s contracting the virus, it would have multiplied sufficiently to start causing real problems. Very high fevers, headaches, and chills would begin, followed shortly by convulsions and stabbing pains in the spine. A few days later, tiny reddish spots would become visible, first on the face, then on the arms, chest, back, and finally on the legs. These would rapidly enlarge to become pus-filled blisters, or pustules, giving the sufferer a frightening appearance. Even more serious would be the attack on the body’s vital organs. If the body’s immune system was not able to muster its defenses sufficiently, one or more of these organs would break down, leading to the patient’s death.

Although not considered highly contagious, the ability of smallpox to survive for a considerable period of time outside the human host meant that it could easily be spread to those in close contact with the sufferer or to others who handled contaminated bedding and clothing. The murderous virus, released from the erupted blisters of its last casualty, would ride on dust particles or water droplets and could easily enter the throat or respiratory tract of another victim and start its infectious cycle all over again.

There was no known chemical or drug—and there still is none—that could arrest the spread of smallpox. Doctors and nurses would simply try to make the patient as comfortable as possible and give medication to reduce the risk of spreading the infection. The only hope of cure was from the wonderfully designed immune system within the human body itself. And that was where one of the greatest discoveries of modern medicine was made, thus providing the weapon to curb this ruthless killer.

A Weapon to Slay the Killer

“Future nations will know by history only that the loathsome smallpox has existed,” wrote Thomas Jefferson, then president of the United States, in 1806. He was writing to congratulate Edward Jenner, a British country physician and naturalist, on his discovery of a means to wipe out smallpox. Jenner’s treatment, later called vaccination, is basically the same process that travelers in this century have become familiar with.

Centuries before Jenner’s investigations, a somewhat similar form of treatment for smallpox was already in use. For example, in Bengal, India, it had been a custom of the ancient priests of Shitala Mata (the smallpox goddess) to collect infected material from milder cases of smallpox and in a controlled way introduce this to healthy persons. A less severe form of the disease often resulted from this primitive type of inoculation. But once the recipient’s immune system overcame the disease, the individual would be left completely resistant to further attacks.

In spite of its inherent dangers, this form of treatment was introduced into Europe in the pre-Jenner period. In 1757, as a small boy of eight, Jenner himself had become vividly aware of these perils when his guardians, anxious to protect him from the then common scourge, ushered him off to one of the “inoculation stables” common in that day. Tied to a rope leash to restrict his movement, he was bedded down, as were the other inmates, on a simple straw-covered pallet. There he suffered the distressing effects of inoculation-induced smallpox, under only the most primitive form of nursing care.

Although Jenner survived, he did not fully recover for many years. This experience to some extent explains his zeal in later life to find a better system of immunization. The opportunity for this came when he began to practice as a doctor in rural Sodbury, England. He was struck by the truth of an old country saying that milkmaids who caught a disease known as cowpox would never catch smallpox. In 1796, after years of case studies, he tested his findings by deliberately infecting a young boy, James Phipps, with the very mild cowpox virus. His theory was that James would recover with only minimal discomfort and then be immune to the deadly smallpox.

Not all shared Jenner’s conviction. Local villagers protested that he would begin a terrible new plague or that children he treated would develop bovine characteristics. Jenner weathered the storm, and when James recovered with no problems and, best of all, was completely immune to smallpox, local opposition died down. Research continued until 1798, when Jenner published his findings to the world. His theory had been vindicated. At last the weapon for slaying the killer was at hand.

Closing In for the Kill

Following Jenner’s pioneering work, other scientists continued the research. Better methods of producing and administering the vaccine were developed, sharpening the effectiveness of this new weapon for the kill. In spite of the progress, however, the smallpox virus continued to claim its victims. Even in 1966, cases of smallpox were still reported in 44 countries, and frightening epidemics were common in developing nations.

It was later that same year, at the 19th World Health Assembly, that the nations finally decided to unite in positive action to catch and destroy the killer. Success depended on the fact that the smallpox virus would die once outside the human body. In other words, humans were its only carrier. If it was prevented from being passed from human to human, the virus would die out. Thus, a ten-year smallpox-eradication plan was launched. This consisted of surveillance to watch for any outbreak, including urging the public to report any cases, and mass vaccination to keep the villain at bay, unable to spread.

Encouraging results were achieved almost immediately even in countries with limited health-service facilities. In West and Central Africa, for example, when equipment, advisers, and vaccines were made available, 20 nations were able to eradicate the disease in just three and a half years. Spurred on by success in Africa, Asia intensified its eradication efforts. By October 16, 1975, the last naturally occurring case was isolated in Bangladesh.

This though was not the finale, for in 1976 one of the two milder forms of the virus was still being reported in Somalia. A 13-month struggle ensued; health officials chased and blocked the rogue until finally, in October 1977, they had it cornered. Its last victim was a native named Ali Maow Maalin. When Ali recovered, the last case of naturally occurring smallpox was over. At last, nearly 200 years later, Jenner’s dream was realized. “The annihilation of smallpox—the most dreadful scourge of the human race”—had been accomplished.

Could It Strike Again?

In 1980 the world was declared officially free from smallpox. Compulsory vaccination has ceased, and a new generation is growing up without the need for protection against the virus. Yet, what would happen if the killer were to return to such an unvaccinated population? Fears that it could decimate entire continents move us to ask if such a comeback is possible.

…

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Awake!, March 22, 1991