11-10-2022, 02:04 PM
The reaction to this is mainly the traditional one of blaming their parents - that much loved refrain of 'shouldn't have kids if you can't feed them', completely ignoring that circumstances can & do, change & that the greed based Neo liberalism imposed here brutally & swiftly without warning, is sadly still with us & largely responsible for this situation where we have hungry kids looking for food scraps.
That there are always going to be some parents who are incompetent, neglectful & uncaring goes without saying but there are also those who struggle to feed their kids, sometimes going without in order to do so.
https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-nat...C0PlMSyzSo
"Two small children on the street, unsupervised, looking for food scraps in a rubbish bag.
It's the kind of scene you might expect to see in a third-world country, not the streets of modern-day New Zealand.
Yet that's exactly what Kaitaia resident, Stacey-Lee Ropiha, came across last Thursday.
As it was her study day, Ropiha explained she had dropped her kids at the movies and gone to Awanui with her sister for a kai (feed).
"We ended up having so much food left over we took it home."
On their way home, Ropiha said she saw something she'll never forget.
"We were driving along when I saw something strange. I actually thought I was seeing things and remember thinking, 'it can't be!'"
But her eyes had not deceived her, she had spotted two small children picking out food scraps from an open rubbish bag.
"I drove really slowly up to where they were to see what was going on and then spun around to double-check. I said to my sister, 'Can you see what I'm seeing?' She just started crying."
Ropiha said they pulled up to the children - a girl (believed to be around 5) and a boy (who looked about 2).
She asked the children if they were okay and eventually the little girl explained their dad was away and mum was in the house sleeping.
"I asked if their mum knew they were outside and then asked if they wanted to have the rest of our chicken and chips and tubs of paua," Ropiha explained.
"The little girl didn't say anything, but I could tell she really wanted it and she asked to make sure we had finished eating.
"I told her there was plenty and when I gave it to them, the little boy got straight into it.
"It just broke our hearts and all I wanted to do was take them home and give them a shower and a feed."
She also posted on Facebook about what she had seen in the hope of spreading more awareness about the issue.
"I just want everyone in our community to know what's going on out there and to realise there are kids really struggling," Ropiha said.
"They're not just tutu kids trying to find trouble, they're literally struggling at home and hopefully we can get on to this as a community and do better."
Ropiha explained that after posting to Facebook she had received several private messages from people offering food and support for the whānau.
She said a few people had also alleged they knew the children and had reported the issue to authorities, but that nothing had allegedly happened."
That there are always going to be some parents who are incompetent, neglectful & uncaring goes without saying but there are also those who struggle to feed their kids, sometimes going without in order to do so.
https://www.odt.co.nz/star-news/star-nat...C0PlMSyzSo
"Two small children on the street, unsupervised, looking for food scraps in a rubbish bag.
It's the kind of scene you might expect to see in a third-world country, not the streets of modern-day New Zealand.
Yet that's exactly what Kaitaia resident, Stacey-Lee Ropiha, came across last Thursday.
As it was her study day, Ropiha explained she had dropped her kids at the movies and gone to Awanui with her sister for a kai (feed).
"We ended up having so much food left over we took it home."
On their way home, Ropiha said she saw something she'll never forget.
"We were driving along when I saw something strange. I actually thought I was seeing things and remember thinking, 'it can't be!'"
But her eyes had not deceived her, she had spotted two small children picking out food scraps from an open rubbish bag.
"I drove really slowly up to where they were to see what was going on and then spun around to double-check. I said to my sister, 'Can you see what I'm seeing?' She just started crying."
Ropiha said they pulled up to the children - a girl (believed to be around 5) and a boy (who looked about 2).
She asked the children if they were okay and eventually the little girl explained their dad was away and mum was in the house sleeping.
"I asked if their mum knew they were outside and then asked if they wanted to have the rest of our chicken and chips and tubs of paua," Ropiha explained.
"The little girl didn't say anything, but I could tell she really wanted it and she asked to make sure we had finished eating.
"I told her there was plenty and when I gave it to them, the little boy got straight into it.
"It just broke our hearts and all I wanted to do was take them home and give them a shower and a feed."
She also posted on Facebook about what she had seen in the hope of spreading more awareness about the issue.
"I just want everyone in our community to know what's going on out there and to realise there are kids really struggling," Ropiha said.
"They're not just tutu kids trying to find trouble, they're literally struggling at home and hopefully we can get on to this as a community and do better."
Ropiha explained that after posting to Facebook she had received several private messages from people offering food and support for the whānau.
She said a few people had also alleged they knew the children and had reported the issue to authorities, but that nothing had allegedly happened."
in order to be old & wise, you must first be young & stupid. (I'm still working on that.)
