Traveller Probo
39. England

Evening Talk Show

Talk Show Host: “The most talked about issue in social media at the moment is the return of Michael and Tatae from Saxon England to seek medical treatment. While the latest news is that modern medicine has saved Tatae and her baby, her need for medical treatment has raised the issue of the need for modern medical treatment by many of the people of Giolgrave, the Saxon village of one thousand years in our past. TV audiences globally have taken the people of Giolgrave into their hearts thanks to the reality TV show, ‘Hunter of Saxon England’.

Our question is: should we, offer medical assistance to those who are in need of simple procedures that would dramatically change their lives for the better?”

Celebrity Guest 1: “Perhaps I could offer an alternative question Stephen? Do we, who have, without any invitation, intruded into these simple people’s lives, have any right not to offer help when we can do so very easily? There are people in the village of Giolgrave who could have their lives changed immeasurably through simple procedures that are regularly offered today. Take the example of the young lass Rowena who has a cleft pallet, or the mother, I think her name is Ymma? Is that the right pronunciation? … who has been diagnosed with fistula? We could so simply change their lives!”

Talk show Host: Yes, that has been a lot of discussion of that on social media especially. It seems that the poor woman can barely leave her hut because wherever she goes, a sickly smell follows. That’s because she’s constantly leaking urine from a hole that has been torn in the wall between her bladder and her vagina. Even today it’s all too common an experience for women in parts of Africa with enormous social consequence, some even calling these poor women ‘cursed’. Yet it could be so easily fixed for Ymma and women like her!

Celebrity Guest 2: “But shouldn’t we be cautious in making such hasty decisions? After all, there is the argument that we have to beware of how many things we introduce into the past that could possibly change our current time!”

Celebrity Guest 1: Oh come now, don’t you think that the Travellers’ presence at the Battle of Giolgrave has already made changes. Lives would have been lost or even the village eradicated if our lads had not been there. We still have no idea if anything we do in Giolgrave of Saxon England…

Celebrity Guest 3: “Isn’t it Aengland?”

Celebrity Guest 1: “Well, okay, Aengland then! I actually heard it was also Engaland. The thing is, we still don’t know if we are indeed the future of these people or only a possible future.”

Celebrity Guest 3: “Even thinking about that does my head in.”

Talk show Host: “Ha! Indeed! Well, doesn’t it ever. The whole thing about potential futures and whether we are the actual future of the people of Giolgrave is too much, I must say.”

Celebrity Guest 1: “Yes but back to my point, I think we have a responsibility to help these people. After all, we’ve taken them into our lives and Traveller Corp and TV networks globally have made absolute fortunes from the Traveller concept. Beside the TV shows, there is the movie and millions made in merchandising of everything from toys to clothes, not to mention the Tatae range of natural health-care products. Traveller has so far been worth millions, if not billions, and we as a civilisation just sit back and make money, or at least benefit from the knowledge and experiences these people have to offer. We don’t even offer one small girl some relatively simple, craniofacial surgery to fix what seems to be a standard cleft pallet!”

Celebrity Guest 2: Yes, I agree that we should help them but perhaps our real obligation is in providing more assistance to those in our present time. With record numbers of homeless, the ongoing global refugee crisis and the ever widening gap between those who have access to modern medical procedures and those who don’t, perhaps we can direct our attention to today’s needs rather than to one-thousand years in the past!

Talk Show Host: Well I think we have some very good points here and can now open this discussion to the viewers. Please Tweet your comments with the hashtag #medicineforsaxons or you can phone and vote if we should be more cautious of changes we may make to our historical time-line and direct more attention to those with medical needs in our own time.

Now back to our discussion………