LESSONS FROM THE FAMILY
As a child, I together with my siblings were trained to always show great respect towards the elderly. This was one thing we learnt at the very early stages of our lives. We were taught to always greet the elderly, allow them to talk first no matter what and just hold the elderly in high esteem. In my family, the elderly is always looked up to as the source of advise and training. I remember constantly visiting my grandparents when growing up and during those visits we we were given sound advice about life and generally encouraged when we spoke about issues that felt like a burden at that point. In my family, conflict is always dealt with directly, often with an elder person being the mediator in the conflict. Depending on the family, for example in my nuclear family, decisions are always made jointly by my parents but when it comes to the extended family, there is an individual who is referred to as the "elder of the family" and he in consultation with other older people ...