Families starved of self-esteem
THE Weekend Post on Saturday carried harrowing stories of Cairns residents living in poverty. If not poverty, they’re certainly on the verge of it. More and more people are relying on welfare charities, which themselves are under more pressure than ever to deliver services with fewer resources and less money.
Children as young as 10 are lining up for food handouts, because they’re not being fed at home. It’s often said these days that many families are only two pay cheques away from homelessness, and there’s growing concern among charities and schools for the wellbeing of more people than ever before.
In a recent report, the Australian Council for Social Services outlined what’s been hit the most, they include: “$1 billion in cuts to vital community services for people in the greatest need … children at risk, people facing eviction and homelessness, those with mental health problems …” The list goes on and on. What suffers is everyone’s self-esteem, and self-esteem is the real subject of this column.
Where’s a child’s self-esteem when having to line up for food, and going to school the next day? How can parents who can’t afford to feed their kids have much self-esteem? Where’s the self-esteem of a charity worker who feels unable to help?
Helga Biro, the executive director of Centacare Cairns, told me: “Due to funding cuts, ever-increasing demand and frequent change in government policy, the social services sector is under enormous pressure like never before. It is simply excruciating for staff to have to turn away people in desperate need. This preys on a worker’s mind, who wonders where will that person go and what will happen to him or her?
“In a country like Australia, it beggars belief that we have citizens who live in abject poverty trying to choose between meals on the family table or paying the electricity bill. Causes of poverty are deep and complex, and unaffordable housing, lack of education and few jobs, ill-health and other factors contribute to crises that more people are facing on a daily basis.”
A staff member of a Cairns school recently told me that many schools operate a breakfast program to cater for students who don’t get a meal at home, and that lunches are often supplied. Sometimes teachers fork out of their own pockets to make sure students don’t go hungry. I know what it’s like not to have self-esteem. I have osteoporosis and chronic back injuries. Six years ago I could hardly walk, and it was only because of my doctor, a couple of very good friends and the physiotherapy department at Cairns Hospital, that I got, literally, on my feet again.
Once that happened, I could pick up an instrument and play again. That’s how I got my self-esteem back. I’m very lucky. Finally, and staying on the subject, you may have noticed Work for the Dole teams on the streets of Cairns recently.
They are picking up cigarette ends off the pavement, and don’t exactly look overjoyed to be doing it.
The Federal Government website says participating in the scheme, which is mandatory to keep receiving income support, will “develop the skills employers want, increase your confidence, and make contacts who can be a referee for you”.
Where’s the self-esteem and skills development in picking up cigarette ends?
We need the feds to inject more money into social and welfare services, not less, and then, maybe, there’ll be a way to rebuild more people’s self-esteem, but it’s a long, hard, road to travel.
You certainly won’t find it at the bottom of a litter-picking stick.