Posts by Rosemary McDonald
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I get poverty. I get living on a low income with no hope of any improvement.
I get inequality. I get inequity. I get discrimination. I get feelings of total marginalisation. I get the deep sense of hopelessness from having tried and having your fingers stomped on by those above you on the 'ladder'.I can't see any of the causes of inequity, inequality and discrimination being addressed any time soon.
So...what do we do in the meantime?
The way I see it....every individual or family who is empowered to make choices that will improve their lives can be notched up as a win against the established order.
Not becoming a statistic, not feeding the narrative of the right that the poor are poor because they are stupid, or stubborn...
We can sit around and debate politics and framing and economics and neo liberalism until the cows come home....but the teeth will still be rotting in the heads of small children.
The complicated stuff is very interesting.
The day to day reality can be a lot simpler.
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And a very good piece from Te Manu Korihi a couple of months ago...
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/281014/intervention-vital-to-curb-maori-obesity
"We are modelling the sorts of foods we want our children to chose and limiting the marketing of unhealthy foods and drinks to children and families."
She also wanted the Government to tax sugary drinks.
"We need to send a clear message that sugary drinks are something that should not be consumed every day," she said.
Dr Te Morenga said if the message was continually made and made loudly and strongly enough, then eventually the Government would come on board.
"They did it with tobacco legislation, didn't they?" -
Speaker: Are there opportunities within…, in reply to Joe Wylie,
"Which is a bit like claiming that the grotesque disproportion of Maori prison inmates is all due to their lack of “awareness” of good old middle-class busybody values."
Whangarei woman Flo Higgins, 53, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes only two years ago. She was not surprised Maori were more likely to die of treatable illnesses, with a range of factors, including affordability, people being stubborn and lack of support.
"It costs me $17 for each doctor visit and about $5 for my prescriptions plus gas to get to appointments. While it does not affect me, if you're struggling to put food on the table to might be a struggle. I also have family members who have just decided not to take their medicine. I think some people think they don't need it so there needs to be more awareness on what illnesses do to the body," she said.
Ms Higgins said while she has nothing but praise for the public health system, some form of Maori support would be beneficial.
"I think it's ingrained in us to want the fattiest pork bone or to put so much sugar in coffee. I think there needs to be a change in attitude," she said.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=11539761
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Speaker: Are there opportunities within…, in reply to Danielle,
(I barely post here anymore, compared to previously, so take from that what you will about my opinions of the tenor of discussions lately.)
Perhaps, Danielle, you could elaborate on that? I would not want to take from that what was not intended.
And no-one one talking about accosting anyone. The potential desire to do so was floated. But...if you saw someone dragging a child by its ear...would you speak out at this abuse?
Or would you not see it?
In some circles, putting sugary drinks into the baby's bottle is tantamount to abuse.
Its about education and awareness...http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=11539761
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When we are not here on the wrong side of the River in the Waikato, we are often in the Far North.
We are equally at home in both regions.
And, we do make an effort to engage with those around us.
And we do observe. Not in a judgmental or pervey way...but observe we do.
No apologies for that.
Anyway, both of our primary stomping grounds are fairly low socio economic and predominantly Maori.
Both groups feature in stats regarding obesity, diabetes and poor dental health.
What to do?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=11539761
We know two young Maori men. Both grossly obese. One with diabetes and seriously badly ulcerated legs, the other works fulltime in an outdoor job....and wheezes like a ward of consumptives.
Both of them have always a big bottle of fizzy at hand.
Both are lovely young men, with families and friends. But they are slowly killing themselves.
This breaks my heart.
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Speaker: Are there opportunities within…, in reply to Katharine Moody,
Just called in at our local country gas station. Usually a fairly sparse shop area...but today....one could barely move for pallets (and I mean the wooden ones) full of soft drinks, energy drinks and a few token stands of bottled water (all quite heavily discounted). I mean shit loads of sugary crap, right where you'd have to step around to get to the milk fridge.
"Doing your bit for the obesity epidemic," I said, in what I thought was my schoolmarm voice. Big laughs, lots of involuntary hand rubbing in anticipation of the big sales to come.
The local school...a five minute walk away, is largely Maori. Do you think I should give them a ring and ask them how they feel about it?
In the other direction from us is another school whose pupils are mostly from the Mormom Church. Clean living Osmond types, you'd think? Turns out, they have some of the worst teeth in the area. Tea, coffee and alcohol might be sinful...but the sugary drinks and doughnuts are all good. Hallelujah!
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Access: How many agencies does it take…, in reply to Lucy Telfar Barnard,
What if we all had solar panels on the roof or our own wind turbine in the garden?
It would cost much, much more that $120?
Yes, but, once up and running a solar (and maybe wind) powered system is so liberating.
All up, our solar power system in our Bus cost about $2000 dollars. We could have spent less. We could have spent way more. What we have got is freedom from having to be hooked into the grid. Its kinda like cutting the umbilical cord.
AND...in our situation....provides a much better quality of life within our very restricted income.
Speaking of contingency plans, our Bus is ours. We realised that if/when we sold the family home after the Young People left home (hahahahaha) we would have considerable trouble finding somewhere to live that was wheelchair accessible....that was in a location that was life sustaining to us. The whole of the country is potentially our home. And we carry all our required infrastructure with us.
And...two people plus wheelchair can live comfortably in a 7x2 metre space. ;-) ;-)
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Up Front: Fringe of Darkness, in reply to Katharine Moody,
They deserve only scorn.
And, the organisations who employ them and give them a legitimised platform deserve an equal measure of scorn.
Enablers.
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There's a website!
AND....Guidelines!!!!
file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/Guideline-on-Arrangements-to-Assist-Medically-Dependent-Consumers.pdf
BUT....
(d) the Guideline does not imply a guaranteed supply of electricity. Temporary
electricity outages do occur from time to time. It is expected that:
(i) MDCs note that retailers cannot guarantee the supply of electricity at
all times. Therefore MDCs need to take responsibility for ensuring that
they have an emergency response plan in place to respond to any
electricity outage;
(ii) such a plan will be particular to the MDCs affected, and may range
from ensuring that a stand-by battery is always fully charged, to
relocating to a friend’s or family member’s premises which has
electricity at that point in time, or even calling an ambulance to be
taken to hospital;So, there you have it...the Electricity Authority say's you're on your own.
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Access: How many agencies does it take…, in reply to ,
last time they winched me onboard.
Bloomin heck! I'm not religious, but I have more than once been in a boat in a 3m sou wester aiming for the Kawhia Bar. Singing under my breath...