LEARNING OUTCOMES
By the end
of this lecture, students should be able to:
Explain the
influence of key social factors on health and illness
Outline the
wide range of factors interacting to influence health status
Describe
the concepts of health inequality and inequity
Explain the
links between the social determinants of health and health inequities
Explain the effects of the social determinants of health on clinical and
public health practice
Hi there Students,
Today we will use
a powerful film, My Migrant Soul, to parse the effect of the social
determinants of health in the life of the protagonist of the film, Shahjahan
Babu, who came from Bangladesh to work in Malaysia in the 1990s. The film also
exposes the complexity of social factors that impact health in a major
phenomenon of our times, namely migration.
Our gratitude to
Yasmine Kabir who produced My Migrant Soul, for allowing to use this film for
our tutorial. More on Yasmine Kabir below.
My Migrant Soul
(2000) – A Film by Yasmine Kabir
Yasmine Kabir is an
independent filmmaker. She lives and works in Dhaka and Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Her documentaries are on stories that reflect the human condition. Her films have been
seen widely all over the world and have received many awards and acclaim. Her
filmography includes: ‘Death Chant’ (1992), ‘A day at the Embassy’ (1996), ‘For
Solaiman’ (1997), ‘A Mother’s Lament’ (Duhshomoy, 1999), ‘My Migrant Soul’
(Porobashi Mon Amar, 2000), ‘A Certain Liberation’ (Shadhinota, 2003) and ‘The
Last Rites’ (2008).
My Migrant Soul is considered to be
Kabir’s most renowned film.
Director’s Statement
Kabir says, I first came across Babu’s
story in a newspaper article titled “Death of an Exploited Migrant Worker in
Malaysia”. It told of a young man who sold all of his possessions and left his
country, penniless; a young man, full of hopes, desires and aspirations in
search of a dream never to be realized- a man stripped of all dignity, and
finally, of life itself. The tragedy of this young man’s plight was deeply
affecting. Through interviews and interactions with the family, I learnt of
similar stories; stories of those, who, for the first time, were being directly
confronted by the forces of globalization- a force beyond their comprehension;
stories of unskilled workers, many of who had never worked in construction
sites before, returning home in coffins.
By telling the story of one man, I intended
to highlight the plight of countless other migrant workers.
“In
a marketplace, like fish and vegetables, humans are being bought and sold”,
said Babu, prior to his death.
I hope that through my work, voices like
Babu’s will be heeded.
TUTORIAL ACTIVITY
View the film.