Pietas St.Philip's Old Boy's Magazine submission May 2013

 

St.Philips Grammar School, its part in forming my Catholic Conscience and where did it all go wrong? by Ray Towey (1955-62) 

We all take individual responsibility for our life choices of course but when reflecting back over the years at the principal influences throughout my life, next to my parents, to whom I owe the richness of my Catholic faith, it is to Blessed John Henry Newman and the Oratorians at SPGS that I am indebted to today.

As a first generation child of immigrant Irish parents who came to Birmingham searching for the dignity of work and who suffered under the rigors and dangers of the Birmingham Blitz in World War II, life was in no way materially privileged. I was brought up in the Sparkbrook area in the parish of St.Anne’s Alcester Street in Digbeth-which interestingly was a parish that Fr.John Henry Newman as he then was, served at the beginning of his early ministry. Along with my two brothers and sister, I went to Our Lady of Lourdes primary school in Yardley Wood and the great privilege of being accepted as a pupil in St.Philips Grammar School at the age of 11 years has been one of the great joys of my life. Being a pupil at SPGS  fostered an inquiring mind, an academic discipline, a work ethic and a nurturing and a study of the Catholic faith. Included in my studies were social teachings of the Church. During my time Fr.Geoffrey, Fr.John and Fr.Hamish were the Oratorians most active in the School. My memories of them were that they were men of faith who had the the capacity to not only teach their pupils, but also to listen to their pupils and to respect their pupils. They encouraged us to question and to follow our faith journeys with integrity and courage. They gave us the basics of what an informed conscience should be. Cardinal Newman was presented to us as man of conscience who followed his conscientious historical discerning to Rome and as history has told - such a journey is not without personal sacrifice. Newman’s discerning of the development of Christian doctrine showed us that faith journeys are a living process that need to be followed with persistance and courage. He believed that his responsibilities went beyond teaching and imparting of knowledge. He saw his role as both moral and pastoral as well. Working tirelessly especially for the poor parishioners of the Birmingham Oratory, Newman also conducted an enormous correspondence, helping people all over the world with their religious difficulties. Newman's aim was to describe and enlighten the Christian mind. When Newman became a Cardinal in 1879, he had to choose a motto to go on his coat of arms. He chose the Latin words Cor ad Cor loquitur – heart speaks unto heart. The words from St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622) a French Bishop and great spiritual writer whom Newman revered. Newman wanted English Catholics to be better educated because he believed the Church needed to be prepared for converts, as well as converts prepared for the Church.

 In my later years at SPGS I was fortunate to be very active in the St.Vincent De Paul Society and as I look back I can now recognise from this distance the very beginings of my life choices which were nurtured at SPGS. My academic interests were in Chemistry, Physics and Biology and this led me to study medicine in Manchester qualifying as a doctor in 1967, interestingly the very year of the Abortion Act. My Catholic training in SPGS alongside the influence of Newman’s philosphy certainly prepared me for realising that the Catholic conscience may lead you out of the mainstream secular world at a personal cost in whatever profession you choose, especially in medicine.  I had the privilege after more than a decade of training to hold the position of consultant at Guy’s Hospital in London and serve in that role for many years. However that position was not to be the final pinnacle of my career and in the early 90s I resigned to work as a medical missionary in Africa.

 Over the last 20 years I have spent most of my professional life working in Tanzania and Uganda: countries whose life expectancies are around 53 years compared with 82 years in the UK. However its difficult to experience and feel the poverty of Africa and not look at my own society and its choices with a discriminating scrutiny. A short time in Africa can alter your whole outlook and your priorities. For me, it was to assess the choices that we as a country made for war when there was so much need in Africa going unanswered that moved me to make a special commitment to the peace movement. When there was so much unnecessary death in Africa from diseases that we prevent or cure in UK so easily - why were we ready to spend so much of our resources on creating more deaths in war? Could not these resources be diverted to my patients for saving lives? Could not these conflicts be resolved non-violently? I often look back and reflect on the wars that we have fought as a country. I ask myself: have these wars ever solved any real issue of justice from the South Atlantic to Iraq or Afghanistan? Similarly, it could be said that the ultimate evil genocidal weapon of the Trident nuclear weapon system leaves us as a community both morally, spiritually and economically bankcrupt.  

My commitment to the peace movement is often in the form on non-violent civil disobedience at the Ministry of Defence in London during Lent. For some of us this journey of faith often led to court followed by short prison sentences in Pentonville or Holloway Prison. Without doubt the influences of Newman and the staff of SPGS helped me to discern the life choices I made. The staff and chaplains of SPGS showed me the way to find the grace to make these life choices. 

This article is a small way of saying thank you to all the Oratorian Fathers and teachers at SPGS that helped inspire and mould my Catholic conscience. From my humble beginnings along with the richness of family love and faith you all guided me and led me both to Africa and to Pentonville Prison! I take full responsibility for these choices myself but I thank you all for giving me the intellectual and spiritual capacity for making those choices with freedom and joy. On reflection I leave you with one question: St.Philip’s Grammar School, its part in forming my Catholic conscience……did it really all go wrong?            

  Ray Towey

raymond.towey@btinternet.com     There is a charity which continues to support my work in Uganda now and other missionaries in Zimbabwe, African Mission, www.africanmission.org.uk

A small group known as Catholic Peace Action which I joined can be seen on You Tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQXHJShmfv4

Intensive Care in rural Africa...Is it possible?

Visit to Zimbabwe June 2009

From Harare to Victoria Falls by bus and car an opportunity to see Zimbabwe at close quarters. Life expectancy 43 years, one of the worst in Africa. A photo of local people building a school in Dunga.

Catholic Peace Action video

Lenten Witness at Ministry of Defence 2 April 2012

 

 

 

Working in Africa as a doctor is of course a great privilege but also a great challenge. It is hard to believe the extreme poverty of many of the sub-Saharan African countries. Even after 20years of African experience there are times I am shocked myself. The life expectancy in Uganda is 54 years whereas in UK its 82 yrs. This simple statistic represents most inadequately the suffering of and grieving for many thousands of premature deaths. Watching helplessly while many young people die is the medical reality. At a recent medical meeting in London I presented the data of the age groups in our intensive care unit, ICU. Overall about 30% of our patients in the intensive care unit die and of all the patients in our ICU 44% are under 18 years of age. I hope shortly to place on the web page of African Mission a more detailed analysis of our ICU outcomes for those who would wish to see the specific areas and diseases the ICU is able to help.

It’s not just a matter of the many diseases which are prevalent in Africa, diseases which we hardly ever see in Europe such as malaria and tetanus and typhoid but also the entire infrastructure is inadequate for what we in Europe would consider essential. Getting normal email, boxes by normal post, phone calls, driving on normal tarred roads, water and electricity at the hospital and in your own living quarters cannot be taken for granted. All of these essential logistical support structures have to be built from scratch. African Mission in London is my most significant logistical and donor support group which makes it possible for me to function with some efficiency in such an environment. It is also a special privilege to work in St.Mary’s Hospital Lacor Gulu Uganda which has as its special mission to bring quality care to the poorest. All patients are subsidised significantly for the hospital costs and there is no special fee to be admitted to ICU. Over the last year the African Mission Charity has been a support in many significant areas where the hospital in its overall plan has not been able to focus where I, in my close working contact with my colleagues, have been able to identify special needs. Our anaesthetists in theatre perform a very essential and skilful task but are often without adequate books of the correct level to study and reflect on their wide experiences. African Mission has assisted with book purchases. Acquiring a laryngoscope for each anaesthetist, a special instrument for the
anaesthetist to place safely a tube in the lungs of patients, has improved the safety of surgery in the operating theatre.

Surgical mortality in Africa is an area which is gaining more international support and is where African Mission has assisted me over the 10 years that I have been at St.Mary’s Lacor. The question which faces the physician in the context of extreme poverty is whether any form of ICU care can be sustainable. Hospital care of any sort is not cheap and is ICU care sustainable? Physicians have to face the reality that their resources are limited. The most complex equipment that the ICU possesses is the Glostavent ventilator for those patients who are too weak to breath on their own. Often this weakness is only a short interval and many of these patients recover. African Mission has been crucial in keeping our Glostavent machines in good working order with spares and upgrades that build a strong capacity for this facility. The electricity for the ICU is from solar power and the oxygen is mainly from concentrators which filter ordinary air, removing nitrogen and leaving almost pure oxygen. In this way our machines consume hardly any disposables and run cheaply. This means when I ask African Mission for spare parts it is a very considered request for an item that will maintain our hospital care with sustainability. Your donations are making the hospital care efficient and sustainable and reaching direct patient care and supporting those on the very face of critical patient care. We now have a good supply of antibiotics which means we can reduce delays in the treatment of septic conditions thus giving the patient a better chance of survival. I have included 3 photos of interest. The first is a mother and child whom the ICU cared for after a major operation. Mortality after any kind of surgery in a small baby is high in Africa and we are grateful to all the staff who contributed to this child’s recovery. The photo of a boy who has recovered from tetanus after being on a Glostavent ventilator for 4 weeks shows him now in the process of rehabilitation. His poor nutrition is another area of challenge which we have to face in the future.

The third photo is of the team of people who contribute to the sustainability of our ICU care. Anaesthetists know their debt to engineers so that their life saving equipment works well. This third photo shows our hospital engineer getting instructions from the Glostavent engineer who was able to visit us this year from UK. African Mission has supported many developments of life saving significance in the ICU and operating theatre. In the future we will need to maintain this momentum. Our anaesthetists and nurses need more educational opportunities if they are able to sustain the care they are giving now and this is an area we may need to focus on soon. Thank you for your prayers and financial support.
http://africanmission.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/index.htm

Ash Wednesdsay 2012. I had time to write this on 22 February at the Ministry of Defence. I didn't have time to finish it which would have been, " Choose Life". A small chance to speak truth to power. No charge at that time but later in Lent, 2 April 2012, I was charged with Criminal Damage for trying to do the same.