Thirteen Things about Work!- I've been working today:-)
- I was teaching a short first aid course to mothers on the local "dodgy" estate
- It was organised with less than a weeks notice by the college, despite the fact that they have apparently been working on getting a course for over two months
- The course was set up by sure start for mothers who have no qualifications or education - there are plenty of those around here
- Since before I moved here I have been warned about how terrible this estate is, how full of drug addicts & criminals (not like the East End of London where I grew up then!), how they are the worst elements of society "dumped" here years ago to get them out of Bristol
- They were all lovely people - intelligent, caring, hard-working, responsible mothers
- The most educated one of the 12 had 1 GCSE.
- They understood the course, asked pertinant questions, demonstrated good skills and related the practises to actual events.
- These are not the non-working classes that I grew up with - the ones who have no intention of ever getting a job & believe the world owes them a good life, house, holiday & childcare.
- all these mothers were working, or actively looking for work.
- For many of them, this is the first certificate they have ever recieved!
- The aim of Sure Start is to provide access to work & a way out of poverty for these families. This is a good aim, and appears to be working in many cases.
- But why is it necessary? Surely we are failing as a society by having to provide the education at that point in their lives - they should have recieved a decent education at compulsory school age.
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10 Comments:
At Thursday, July 20, 2006 4:35:00 pm,
Anonymous said…
Sounds like rewarding work, and kudos to you for helping others! :) I think it's a basic human need to better ourselves, our family and our life, if we have any self-respect. So glad they were all willing and interested participants.
Have a great day, thanks for stopping by my T13!
At Thursday, July 20, 2006 4:56:00 pm,
Anonymous said…
I think that society's failings can be overcome by the members of the society. Sounds like you're doing your part.
At Thursday, July 20, 2006 5:27:00 pm,
craziequeen said…
Good job, honey :-) :-)
cq
btw - it was 28 in Inverness the day I left....and had been hot mostly all week....the photos of the blue sky are mine!
At Thursday, July 20, 2006 5:47:00 pm,
K T Cat said…
Very impressive. This sounds like a great World of Good post for me.
As for society failing, I would suggest that accepting the breakdown of the family is a big contributor. It's one thing for Angelina Jolie, rich actress to have lots of kids and no husband. It's another thing entirely for Susie Smith, ordinary woman to do it.
At Thursday, July 20, 2006 7:05:00 pm,
Laura said…
interesting observations. i learned a lot of things like that while working in an inner city hospital. you just never really know about people sometimes.
my tt is up too. from another juggling mother.
At Thursday, July 20, 2006 7:37:00 pm,
Juggling Mother said…
KT Cat - i doubt that the breakdown of the family has got much to do with it reallly: 1) all the women there that I talked to about their private lives had long term partners, many of them husbands, 2) the "traditional family unit" is anything but traditional - it's a pretty new invention from the 50's or so, designed to get all those uppity women who took on "mens" jobs during the war, back out of the workplace & into the homes. My grandmothers both worked throughout their child-rearing lives, one was a single mother for over 20 years. My great grandmothers all worked - one was a divorcee, one a single mother (no mention of ever having a husband) - noboy quite knows who belongs in which generation beyond that - siblings/children/parents were all fairly interchangeable!
Laura - i am ashamed to say that I did assume that the estate was full of the "non-working" classes i had grown up with. The ones that I have no tolerance for, because they have no wish to change or desire to better themselves or the world. I should know by now. NEVER assume!
At Thursday, July 20, 2006 8:57:00 pm,
Changed by His Love said…
Sounds like a great ministry/mission. Keep up the hard work.
Thanks for visiting my TT!
At Friday, July 21, 2006 7:15:00 am,
Juggling Mother said…
Karen - does it really? how worrying! I thought it was a job, what with being paid, doing it for the money, and actually being asked to come and give the information to these people! nothing like a mission then!
At Friday, July 21, 2006 6:20:00 pm,
julie said…
Just goes to show you that qualifications aren't everything doesn't it. Sounds like great work, hope you get more of it!
At Friday, July 21, 2006 8:27:00 pm,
Unknown said…
It sound like very rewarding work.
I have to agree with some of your commentators about the breakdown of the family. I too believe it is the cause of many ill-social issues in this world. 75-80% of all incarcerated men in the US prison system did not have a relationship with their father and/or had an awful one. Families go back a lot further than the 50's, it was and is a God thing.
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