Solas Family Resource Centre would like to put out a request for donations of previously-owned clothing, sheets, blankets and towels. These items go to help fund our many programmes such as Meals on Wheels (see last week's post) and discount counseling, among others. So, if your closets or drawers won't close, maybe put a few of those extra items (please, no duvets or pillows) in a bag and bring them to Solas. You'll be helping your community, as well as yourself.
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
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| Real Cowboys |
Have you ever noticed how some people really enjoy
complaining? If it’s not the weather, it’s crooked bankers they’re whinging
about, or farmers who get too many breaks. Perhaps what makes all these
complaints even more annoying is the element of truth in all of them. For
instance, it is true that farmers get more subsidies than, say, an office
worker or a car salesman. That could be due, at least in some slight part, to
the fact that the average Irish farmer, unlike the average farmer in other
developed countries, is a small farmer.
In order for this country to avoid the huge, industrialised farms that are prevalent
in other countries, the small farmer cannot be ignored. Not unless we want to
martyr ourselves to extensive groundwater contamination and drug-resistant
illnesses due to overuse of antibiotics in livestock production. Those are just
two of the many horrors of ‘factory farms,’ or ‘concentrated animal feeding operations.'
One of the existing alternatives in many
areas, including Headford, is the Rural Social Scheme. It’s participants—those guys
in yellow florescent vests you see mowing the grass at the cemetery or raking
leaves at the school—are cowboys. No, not that
kind of cowboy. They aren’t selling banjaxed cars or boxes of dried-up
biros. They’re guys (and sometimes ladies) with cows. Their work weeks
alternate so they do a total of twenty-six weeks a year for the Headford
community, and twenty-six weeks on their farms (which usually include bovine
inhabitants). So, yeah. Cowboys.
The Rural Social Scheme (RSS), is aimed at
low-income farmers and fishermen/women who are getting a social welfare
payment. In return for this support, people participating in the RSS provide
services that benefit their local communities. Like cutting the grass and
making the place look good.
In addition to upkeep of public areas, the RSS
posse offer a ‘Care and Repair’ service through Solas. For the elderly or those
with a disability, they often do repair work like fixing locks, clearing
gutters or even hanging pictures. ‘We help those people do things they can’t do
for themselves,’ their supervisor, Martin Donnellan, says.
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| Martin Donnellan, RSS Supervisor |
Equally important is the social aspect of the
scheme. ‘You don’t meet people on the farm like you used to,’ one man says.
‘And the cost of farming has gone very high.’ So, the RSS offers a bit of
security. No matter how bad the farming income gets, the participants in this
scheme know they’ll still have something coming in. And it suits them. With a
farm to run, fulltime work would be out of the question. This scheme allows
people to keep their farms alive and still be active in their community.
There are a total of ten RSS participants in
the Headford area. In case you're wondering, here they are:
On any given day, you might see Seamus and Padraig helping to clean up
Presentation.
Ask them to show you the showers they built for the gym.
Or you could meet Mary and John
delivering Meals on Wheels.
Oliver and Vinnie say they like the fact that
this work takes them to ‘a different place every day.’
After nine years of supervising, Martin has
gotten good at this. ‘If I sense a bit of conflict, I move people around.’ He
says that with the ease of someone who hasn’t had to put up with a lot of
skirmishes. That’s probably because most of the work is outside, in the fresh
air, and these guys are in their element. On any given day, they might do ‘anything
from hanging a picture to digging a grave,’ Martin says.
Next time you pass the Claran church, you
might notice Mike mowing the lawn, surrounded by the beautiful green-smell of
fresh mown grass. He’ll probably be smiling when you see him, because this is a
man who obviously enjoys his work. ‘I’ve got my own routine to do and I know
how to do it. It’s a handy number for the likes of me at sixty years of age.’
So, maybe it's time to redefine the word 'Cowboy.' They might be lads and ladies whose work--fixing rock walls, saving businesses money by doing maintenance, clearing gutters, delivering meals and digging graves--seems humble. But, then again, they might just 'save the day.'
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