Know your Rights

Things often happen here that leave me confused as to whether I should laugh or cry. In a recent survey that Gearoid conducted for as local NGO, he asked a number of school children the question, “Do you know your rights as a child?” One answer will stick with me forever. It was, “Yes, I have the right to sweep, and the right to be punished.”

I seriously considered going home early, and cutting my losses, but things like that remind me of why I came here and renew my motivation to get things done. There is a reminder of some sort every day, so here I will remain and focus on making an impact.

After hefty delay and much ado, I was able to sit around a table with my VSO programme manager and the Deputy Mayor this week. I was expecting to have a heated argument, but the council seemed to be genuinely accepting of my reasons for leaving, and they appealed to me at length to change my mind, promising to take action to rectify the issues. This would involve firing a number of staff. After several hours of persuasion, I have agreed to wait another couple of weeks so that I can meet with the Mayor when he returns from Europe. When that happens (sometime between Christmas and New Year) we will discuss a way forward for the council, and a possible return to work for me. It seems I have more power than I had first realised.

Meanwhile, I am working for the college and finding myself with more free time than I would really like. My mind has wondered with several ideas of how to help people on an individual level. I know some very decent, intelligent, hard working people, who are stifled by lack of opportunity and intense poverty. People who I consider friends, and who I want to help because they never ask for it. I am going to start putting these ideas into action, so stay tuned.