The Cure for Poverty
Damien McGill
Engineering Happy Healthy Homes for People and Planet. Certified Passive House Consultant
Last week I nearly gave up on #housing in @aotearoa, so this week I thought I might have a crack at poverty. Must be much easier?
With Christmas coming, it's a timely topic.
Can’t do any worse than successive governments.
I could be criticised for writing this from my ivory tower, but that wasn't always the case. The mahi is the man's measure. Besides, I've tested this strategy out on a couple of social workers and a few others and had universal agreement, so it can't be too far off the mark.
The cure for poverty is pretty simple;
1. Feed small bodies - Kai (food)
2. Feed small minds - Mātauranga (education)
3. Fix broken housing - Whare Ora (healthy homes)
Feed tamariki, mokopuna, sprogs, kids, fanau and fānau.
Feed them at school. Feed them breakfast and a meal at the end of the day. Feed them fruit to function. School lunches miss the point. Half the opportunity of the school day is already gone!
Feed everyone that wants feeding.
Don't single anyone out, children like the rest of us, don't like a lapel label of difference. Call it an investment in our National future. It's not an Act, a benefit-cost ratio can quantify.
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The opportunity of a hearty breakfast might get a few more turning up at school. Given current attendance, there's NZ's First win right there.
Nurture the body to nurture the mind.
Nutritious food nurtures small minds and bodies. Ask yourself how you function, when you are hungry? What's your attention span like?
Teach culinary skills at school. Get the tamariki to help cook, serve, clean up and korero around the kitchen table. Teach them the value of food. Being able to feed yourself effectively and efficiently, is as important as the 3 R's. Plus, while you're reading the recipe, writing the mornings menu and measuring quantities, the rhertoric road is righting itself. Add a til for tallies.
Full kids will be warmer, healthier, more responsive kids.
Whatever reason these little fella's are not getting fed at home is initially immaterial, if we're to break the cycle.
House mokupuna properly. Warm, dry salubrious homes create happy fauna, fānau and whanau.
This includes providing proper ventilation at home and school. Full, drowsy, children won't learn much better than hungry, distracted children.
Within a generation, Labour productivity improves and health care requirements decline. Sorted. Simple.
This only works if political parties stop playing ping pong politics and using poverty and housing as policy play things.
Lo and behold, I've just ended back at housing again. Must be important, eh?
alchemist, creating multidimensional passive resource generators (planting trees, gardens and quantum housing)
11 个月Moonday, Monday is Rā Hina, rāhina
Building Control Officer - Auckland Council
11 个月Well said Damien McGill I am bit like you too. Keep mentioning this that for example in high school each grade can take turn to cook, serve and clean. For breakfast could be year 12 and 13 they can start early and leave early the school so if they want they can go to work or enjoy their reward for their hard mahi and looking after others. Primary School will be last to years can donthe lunches. It is not child labour it's all about teaching them survival skills and same time teaching them job skills. I said to my son if I was a Education minister I will look into more skill based education like fixing stuff diy, changing oil, changing car tires and so on. We seem loosing all these skills with young generation as most of the adults are to busy to earn money for their whanau to survive these days. Also I believe Our education minister need to look into change the learning path by looking other countries where they do allow their 13 and 14 year Olds start learning trade or other skill jobs instead of more academic path of learning. There much better options to make our youth more interesting towards learning again we need brave leaders to this. I would definitely do efficient and healthy homes learning classes too.