VOL. 70, NO. 1 Janvier-- January 2011 - AAFI-AFICS, Geneva - UNOG

Another elderly lady has different ideas. She has booked herself for life on a cruiser and enjoys agood life sailing around the world in a luxury cabin with all mod-cons. She eats and sleeps onboard and is entertained just like other paying guests. Only she doesn’t ever disembark. The ship isher home until she leaves this world. What a life!So far nobody has come up with the excellent idea of creating such a cruise ship exclusively for theelderly!Remaining in one’s own home is helped a great deal by the supply of meals-on-wheels. Havingseen some of them, I would not term these gourmet dinners. However at an old age, some areprepared to put up with disappointments.Remaining at home appears to be an ideal solution if one can afford to health-wise. There isnothing like one’s own bed. With TV, computer, telephone, kitchen and bathroom, many do notcrave for more. Friends can visit at will and do not have to stick to visiting hours like thoseimposed in some Homes. However there are also drawbacks. It is a more lonely life for those whoenjoy company but cannot get out and about as they once did. And you certainly cannot orderwhat you prefer to eat. You take it as it comes.Many Homes were at first situated outside town centres. That causes both physical and mentalloneliness. Transport is laid on to take them into town, but is not always at convenient times andone is bound by time. Lately, many Homes have been appearing in the centre of areas where thereare shopping, hairdressing and other features and a choice of restaurants.One such establishment is in the Charpentier arcade in the centre of Morges. Another is at Etoy,surprisingly on the route Suisse. Both of these facilities offer nearby shopping in boutiques andsupermarkets, so transport is unnecessary as everything is within walking distance. Etoy is spoiltfor shops. In that particular area is found Denner, Migros, Casino, Coop, Pfister, Hornbach,SunStore, McDonalds and many other ‘eateries’. There are railway and bus services availableregularly.Decisions must be made by all of us one day, sooner or later. It is not possible to reserve in any ofthese establishments because clearly they don’t know when a vacancy is going to occur! Sothoughts of being able to contribute to one’s abode in the future, don’t exist.In the course of 2011, AFICS will begin extensive enquiries into the choices of remaining in one’sown home or checking into a residential Home. It is not expected to be able to hold a Seminar onthe subject until 2012, due to the amount of work involved in organizing such an event, along withthe collection of a mass of data and research. It is expected to be as great a success as their lastSeminar on Wills and Successions held at the ILO on 28 September 2010.News of this Seminar will eventually be highlighted in the AFICS Bulletins of 2011. Meantime, itsCommittee members are working very hard behind the scenes to make this a success, whilstcontinuing tirelessly to achieve their other tasks on a day-by-day basis. It’s going to be a mammothachievement, but this work could not be more ably conducted. It is going to be worth lookingforward to.Happy New Year to everybody.51