I just spent two hours trying to write a blog post about my neighbor, who is taking care of her mother-in-law who is very ill with what appears to be dementia and who doesn't have the care she needs. And about another grandma in our neighborhood who doesn't have a family to take care of her and is living in the equivalent of a convalescent home in poor conditions. And the barefoot kids on the streets who sell things and the double amputees who pull themselves along the dirt with their hands, and don't have anyone watching out for them. And about the 8-year old girl down the street who doesn't go to school because she has Downs Syndrome and there isn't a program for her.
About how people's lives play out in a place where there isn't a built-in safety net. Where there aren't government services like Medicare, financial assistance, child welfare, and disability services. Where foreign aid and non-governmental organizations and missions groups do a lot, but it's not enough. Where family and friends do what they can, and if you have connections to get what you need you're one of the lucky ones.
About how scary it could be and is for so many around me to live without a safety net. How lucky I am to have it. That I get to pay taxes for it. That although it may not be managed perfectly and some abuse the system and many still fall through the cracks.... There is a safety net. I'm from a place where I have layers of protection around me. Family, education, wealth, social services, and government assistance available to me should I need it.
There are too many stories that feel impossible to tell well, but mostly I think I spent two hours trying to express how sad I feel about what I see and how passionate I feel about the importance of publicly-funded social services as a general model. What I see without it scares me. Single organizations together are making a huge impact here and around the world. I don't underestimate the power of a few to impact the lives of the one. I work with one such organization that is a part of a larger coalition working together towards the same aim. I wouldn't do what I do if I didn't believe in that. But the eventual strengthening of rules and minimum services available to all through governmental institutions with the supplemental support of non-governmental services is the more long term solution.
As a social worker I already intrinsically appreciate America's social welfare system, but here all the more...
About how people's lives play out in a place where there isn't a built-in safety net. Where there aren't government services like Medicare, financial assistance, child welfare, and disability services. Where foreign aid and non-governmental organizations and missions groups do a lot, but it's not enough. Where family and friends do what they can, and if you have connections to get what you need you're one of the lucky ones.
About how scary it could be and is for so many around me to live without a safety net. How lucky I am to have it. That I get to pay taxes for it. That although it may not be managed perfectly and some abuse the system and many still fall through the cracks.... There is a safety net. I'm from a place where I have layers of protection around me. Family, education, wealth, social services, and government assistance available to me should I need it.
There are too many stories that feel impossible to tell well, but mostly I think I spent two hours trying to express how sad I feel about what I see and how passionate I feel about the importance of publicly-funded social services as a general model. What I see without it scares me. Single organizations together are making a huge impact here and around the world. I don't underestimate the power of a few to impact the lives of the one. I work with one such organization that is a part of a larger coalition working together towards the same aim. I wouldn't do what I do if I didn't believe in that. But the eventual strengthening of rules and minimum services available to all through governmental institutions with the supplemental support of non-governmental services is the more long term solution.
As a social worker I already intrinsically appreciate America's social welfare system, but here all the more...
No comments:
Post a Comment