Rural health

The Mental Health Foundation announced the online release of ‘‘Down on the farm: Depression and mental health in the rural south’’ earlier this month.

The 16-page supplement was produced by 2009 New Zealand Mental Health Media Grant recipient Yvonne O’Hara. Originally published on 29 September and 6 October in the Southern Rural Life and Courier Country respectively to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week, the resource has now been made available for download via the Mental Health Foundation’s website.

‘‘Down on the farm: Depression and mental health in the rural south’’ features articles on stress management, financial planning, depression and grief as well as providing information on support services available.

The aim of the publication is to reduce the stigma associated with mental health issues and to encourage the traditionally stoical and staunch farming community to talk about their problems, and to seek help if necessary.

Feedback so far has been extremely positive with one reader writing, “As a farmer's wife in my mid thirties, for the first time in years I feel compelled to give feedback on something received in the post. I have just read the Down on the Farm supplement from cover and cover and really wanted to drop you this line to commend all those involved with it. The approach taken is spot on. The medium, as a supplement in a well known farming mag, has made it hugely accessible. The supplement itself was filled with great information, real and practical advice, with great sharing of stories from real and respected people in the rural sector. The cross section and range of articles was thorough and well thought out, from youth to long term farmers, along with aspects like the article for widows. Importantly it has a great readability factor to it. Overall it provides an excellent resource not only for people experiencing or having experienced depression, but for their friends and family who want to know what they can do to help. Through the countless bits of newsprint that passes through our mail box these days, this supplement is definitely a keeper and one I will be sure to share with friends and family.”

Despite being specifically aimed at the communities around Southland, Otago and Canterbury, ‘‘Down on the farm: Depression and mental health in the rural south’’ offers valuable advice to anyone within the farming community.

(Incidentally, the cover picture is superb. This portrait, entitled Killing Time, is by Cromwell artist Deidre Copeland, with permission from the subject’s family. More of her artwork can be viewed on her website.)

Town and country

Being a townie in almost every respect (I love the country - for a couple of days) I find it hard to understand how people work as pastors in the rural sector. And plainly a lot of other people do, as a post from the blog site, Out of Ur, indicates.
The piece is written by Collin Hansen, and notes that Time magazine has recently checked out the state of rural churches, and their lack of pastors: stating the obvious, in fact. Hansen takes a good look at the difficulties involved: the fact that most pastors are trained in urban settings, that they earn more in urban settings, that the rural churches often can't afford even the minimum salary to pay a pastor. And then there's the fact that in a rural setting your parish may extend over an area vastly larger than any urban one, meaning a lot of driving, long days, and...getting lost regularly, at least in the early days.
But rural people need Christ as much as urban people.
This post is well worth checking out, and, as is usually the case, the comments that follow are equally worth noting, including the young pastor who claims that rural people are stuck in their ways and don't want to change.

Ministering in Rural Areas

Muriel Mellow has been running a series of articles on the Canadian Church Rural Network site. The latest (and last) is now available. (Previous ones are in the Archives section.)

The articles have been based on her book, Defining Work: Gender Professional Work and the Case of Rural Clergy. The most recent article in the series is entitled: Professional Demands and Personal Lives, and looks at how rural clergy manage the relationship between professional and private life, and the different challenges for women and men in this regard. What's presented in the article is a much condensed version of what she has to say in the book.

Here's what the publisher's blurb has to say about the book: For rural clergy, the lines between private life and professional life can blur. Their offices are often in their homes, parishioners are also neighbours, and professional duties are intertwined with emotional caregiving and volunteer activity. In a society that defines work as paid, public, and intellectual the ambiguity inherent in the life of the rural clergy poses unique challenges. Muriel Mellow considers how men and women in this occupational group conceptualize "work" in the context of their unique circumstances and shows how their experience raises questions for feminist theories of work. Based on interviews with forty rural Protestant clergy, Mellow argues that male and female clergy challenge gendered definitions of work by focusing on obligation, context, visibility, and time. She also considers how clergys work is shaped by the rural setting, arguing that we must consider how work is "placed" as well as gendered.

The book was published in 2006.

Drought and Faith – a perspective from Bill Bennett

I am currently spending a day a week visiting farmers in Central Hawke’s Bay (Waipawa Parish). Clearly the almost nation-wide drought is hitting many in the rural sector. This includes parts of Taupo-Bay of Plenty, as well as Tararua, Hawke’s Bay and pockets in Eastland. Following last year’s difficult times many have already reduced stock numbers, and the process continues. Unfortunately some farmers are having to get rid of breeding stock. The cost of stock feed is high and often difficult to obtain. Hay and silage stockpiles have been reduced. Over the past few years a number of farmers have decided to lease their farms and allow others to absorb the risks. Some lessees are large companies able to farm on a larger scale. Those who have sold stock to export meat companies are finding the returns are not great due to the high value of the dollar. The dollar value remains a source of concern.

Others have the advantage of transporting stock to areas of the country for a period where feed is more plentiful. Not all have that option.

Those in dairying are feeling the pressure. Water irrigation restrictions are a real issue, as the dairy farmer depends on good quantities of green feed. Where irrigation occurs the contrast between green pasture and dry land is stark.

Listening to many farmers I am aware that some feel imprisoned by the lack of rain, sometimes with a sense of oppression or failure. Many quip – “You’ll have to really talk hard to the bloke above!” In other words, there are many who are really hurting. And they are reaching toward a sort of faith that yearns for meaning, despite their stoicism. Many have partners working off-farm to bring in more income. And others ask is this a sure sign that climate change is now really upon us? (The jury is still out on that issue. It is interesting to read the diaries of our missionary forebears recording times of severe drought in the 19^th century).

Farmers are aware that they have no power to govern the rain. When it comes it comes! But as autumn and winter come upon us any rain that produces growth will be curtailed by colder weather that drops soil temperatures. Our ministry is one that means listening, listening, listening. The Easter message acknowledges pain, failure, crisis as well as hope and joy. In other words our ministry is a ministry of compassion, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, the ‘paracletos’, of one who stands alongside. Enabling farmers to talk about their feelings is a positive.

The media generally haven’t taken on board how severe this drought is except by noting that more and more regions are being declared drought-crisis areas. The government is recommending farmers take advantage of tax and benefit opportunities. But the recovery will take many years.

Bill Bennett has written at least two books with liturgies for rural communities.

This perspective first came to my attention on the IRCA Network newsletter; it is reprinted with their permission.