Headford News and Community Spotlight - Real Cowboys

A CLEAN CLOSET IS A JOY! 

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

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.

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.

‘It keeps ya outta harm,’ Padraig says. ‘And we do things other people wouldn’t do.’

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.' 

Headford News and Community Spotlight - Craving More Than Food

MEN'S HEALTH WEEK! Begins Monday, June 9th. Come on, guys, see if you can get yourselves looking like this in a week. It could happen.


COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

The First Meals on Wheels during WWII

If you’ve ever been out driving in the countryside around Headford on a weekday afternoon, you’ve probably passed John Cloonan in the Solas van delivering Meals on Wheels. Some of the people on his delivery route can no longer walk. One is blind, others are nearly deaf, and some just seem ‘lost.’ The one thing they all have in common is that they’re delighted when John arrives with a hot meal.

‘These dinners are mighty,’ Sally tells me. Her house is dark and she stays mostly in one room because she has difficulty walking. The dinner she’s talking about is simple fare – meat or fish, mashed potatoes, carrots and peas – but if you’re hungry and you can’t cook for yourself, it’s a welcome meal.

The Meals on Wheels concept originated in the United Kingdom during the Blitz, when many people lost their homes and therefore the ability to cook their own food. The Women's Volunteer Service for Civil Defence (WVS) provided food for these people. The name ‘Meals on Wheels’ derived from the WVS's related activity of bringing meals to servicemen. Sometimes old prams lined with straw were used to transport the meals which might have been covered with old felt hats to keep the food warm in transit. In Australia, Canada, the U.S. and Ireland, Meals on Wheels services began in the mid and late 1950s.

Today, in Headford and surrounding areas, Solas supplies the van and fuel for delivery free of charge, and for six Euros, Angler’s Rest provides the meal.

The Angler's Rest kitchen crew

On this particular Friday, the kitchen at Angler’s Rest is bustling. Niall cooks and Barbara sets up an assembly line of plates. Together, they heap steaming food into separate compartments on each plate, then seal the whole thing up tight to keep the food warm. They work with the speed of a well-oiled machine.

John Cloonan delivering meals

John Cloonan then takes the meals and rushes out the door with them in a sealed carrier, speeding away in the Solas van, into the wilds of the Connaught countryside. Normally, there would be a volunteer to help, but today John is on his own. This afternoon, he’s delivering hot meals to twenty-five different houses, which will require two separate trips to Anglers for food pick up and take a total of four hours.

As you might expect, there are a wide range of personalities taking advantage of the Meals on Wheels service.

One 94-year-old man on the programme used to have his meal delivered to his elderly neighbour’s house so they could eat together. But his neighbour passed away and now John might be the only person this elderly gentleman sees for days on end.

Then there are the demanding customers. One woman decreed that her meal must be delivered at precisely one o’clock. Not 12:55. Not 1:05, but 1:00 pm on the dot. Though this woman did not explain why, and John had to rearrange his entire route to meet her demand, he doesn’t feel cross with her. ‘She probably has medication to take at 1:00 pm and it needs to be taken with food,’ he says.

Some people, like 84-year-old Agnes, come outside to meet the van. It’s clear she enjoys the social lift this visit gives her. John brings her a bit of news from town, and she takes the opportunity to ask after a few people she knows.

Pauline and her care-giver, Phil, come to the door together to collect Pauline’s meal. ‘This [service] is the best thing ever,’ Pauline says. ‘I don’t have to shop or chop or anything.’

When you can no longer drive or even walk very well, shopping for food can be an overwhelming undertaking. More importantly, as John Middleton, Solas Co-ordinator puts it, ‘If it ever happens that other services are needed, we can ring them right away.’

He’s referring to the time a driver was delivering a meal to a man who didn’t answer the door. The driver looked through a window and saw the man lying, unconscious, on the floor. When he couldn’t be roused, the guards, and then an ambulance were called. Unfortunately, the man had passed away, but he might have been lying there for days if not for a visit from the Meals on Wheels driver. Another woman fell in her bathroom and couldn’t get up until the Meals on Wheels crew arrived.

The last stop on this Friday afternoon is down a long, winding back round. It’s a lonely old house, set out on its own and surrounded by vacant green fields. As the van pulls up, an elderly gentleman walks out to meet us. When I ask him what he thinks of the Meals on Wheels service, he smiles. ‘I love it! I love it!’

Headford News and Community Spotlight - Sharing Knowledge

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

Every spring swallows arrive in Ireland having travelled over 9500 kilometres from South Africa. During this hazardous migration, many birds die from starvation, exhaustion and in storms, with an average of only 30% actually completing the journey. So what makes these tiny birds undertake such a mad feat? According to Joe Kennedy, writing for the Irish Independent, ‘Swallows are among the most dedicated parents in the bird world. They cover over 200 miles a day just to reach their nesting grounds.’

When it’s put that way, pretty much anyone can understand wanting the best for their young. Even if it means migrating to another continent.

Back in 1998, that’s exactly what Kathleen Van Der Wath did when she and her daughter travelled all the way from South Africa to Ireland. ‘I wanted my daughter to have a good education,’ Kathleen says.

Migration may not be as hazardous for humans as it is for birds, but it does come with a great many challenges and difficulties. Like the swallows who come back to the same places every year, Kathleen came to Ireland because ‘that’s where Grandfather Kelly came from – Tipperary.’

Kathleen’s daughter, Tammy, did get that good education and she’s migrated, once again, to Perth where she works as a hairdresser in a salon.

Kathleen Van Der Wath

Now, Kathleen teaches the Over 55’s Computer Classes at Solas, but teaching is something she’s been doing for a long time. She used to teach secondary school science. ‘I’m a math and science head,’ she says. She also got accreditation for hairdressing theory for junior and senior trades so she can teach hair science. Salons don’t offer this, she says, so when her daughter was younger Kathleen taught her the ‘science’ of hair dressing. She teaches the structure of the hair and what shampoos, conditioners and colours do to hair. ‘Not all chemicals are bad,’ she says. ‘The human body contains many chemicals—hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen . . . Chemicals can be good.’

Kathleen travels all the way from the Clonboo area to Headford because, ‘Solas gives me a platform to contribute to the community.’ She also offers a ‘Pampering Course’ – teaching people how to pamper themselves rather than going to a salon. The course covers skin care, masks, exfoliation, hydration, hand massage, manicure and care of the nails. In this course, she also instructs participants in what things they already have at home that they can use for pampering, rather than costly chemicals that aren’t very good for you. 

‘I’ve done the Train the Trainer course and loads of other courses as well. I’m not one of those people who thinks I’m too old to learn.’

So if you or someone you know are interested in the computer classes at Solas but you just aren’t sure, or you want to know more about the people teaching those classes, come back and visit this blog again. We’ll be highlighting each of the instructors. They’re all great teachers and, most important, they’re terrifically patient with beginners.

As Kathleen puts it, ‘I like sharing knowledge because it brings growth and makes people ask questions they wouldn’t normally ask.’