The Australian Dream

It is currently 11:30pm on Monday.

We walked to the Magill office this morning. It was about a half hour walk. We went the wrong way a bit but it was intentional. We chose to walk in a way that took us by some of the things we recognized rather than the directions that Map quest gave us. We arrived a little warm, but no worse for the wear. We spent the morning learning about the programs that the agency we are interning with (Lutheran Community Care) runs and some other general information about them as an agency.

Lutheran Community Care is incorporated into the Australian Lutheran church and is a non-profit organization. Because of this they have charity status and are exempt from taxes (much like in the US). The welfare system here works a bit different than in the US in that the majority, if not all, of the funding is provided by the government through tenders (grants) to non-profit organizations so that they can distribute it throughout their specific regions as they see fit. There are 5 main functions of Lutheran Community Care. The first is providing trainings on child safe (which is a program required for anyone who is working with children), parenting, pre and post-marriage, and more. The second is a shelter for families, which I am VERY excited to work with. Transitional housing is another of the many services provided through this program. Another site focuses on the low income population and emergency relief. This site also includes an Op Shop (what we would call a thrift store) that offers nice clothes and other necessities at a reasonable cost. Clients meet with counselors and receive vouchers to take to the shop and get things that they need. The final two programs are linked. They are community development and programs for outreach to the indigenous people. The community development program does a lot of work with refugee populations. The indigenous outreach program is very new and has not yet really begun.

As a part of this discussion we found ourselves talking about a lot of comparisons between the culture and welfare system in the US and here in Australia. The most interesting direction that this conversation took started with a discussion of the American dream and the values that are often used to describe American culture. Helene and Helen tried to help us understand what the comparative Australian dream would look like. Three aspects that they suggested it would include are home ownership, mateship, and wealth (which is a somewhat new addition to the list). Helene mentioned that there have been phases in the development of Australia (especially around the 60's-70's) that focused on making home ownership as achievable as possible. The home ownership rate is as high as almost 70%. Mateship means something like friendship. The idea is that people look out for each other and take care of the underdog. A great example of this is found in a mass text message that was sent out from a government source that gave a warning about the intense heat that we've been experiencing. It included the suggestion to check on vulnerable neighbors as a part of what people should make a point to do. The Australian culture is definitely more of a collective society than the US.

The rest of the day was spent at the Blair Athol office meeting different staff and checking out their Op Shop.

When we got dropped off the weather was pleasant in the shade so Hilary and I sat and talked about the day until it was time for supper. This is when the most wonderful thing happened. David, the man who runs this place, approached me and talked to me about the food. As most of you know I am not a strict vegetarian all the time, but when I am travelling I find it especially easier on my system to eat a vegetarian diet and had made that a part of my accommodation requests. The food that has been available has mainly been rice and various meat dishes so I assumed that my request was not something that they worried about here. In reality, as it turns out, the request had not been passed on until Morgan talked to him today and he let me know that they would make up plates and leave them in the kitchen for me without meat. This is very exciting. Then, to make it even better the meal tonight was something like a roast beef and potato medley which was great for Morgan and Hilary. I personally enjoyed a well seasoned medley of vegetables. Later we talked to David more and he showed us how to use phone cards and set up voicemail for our rooms. He gave us a bit more info about the facilities and bus routes. This information is a piece of what was missing as far as being comfortable in this facility and I am very excited to have had it happen. As it turns out both Morgan and Hilary have now requested vegetarian meals to be set aside for them. All three of us feel terrible for any complaints we made about the food after having this meal and realizing that all we really needed to do was talk to David about what was going on. All in all the day was quite informative and productive. Hilary and I even did some laundry and were able to dry it on the balcony since the night was so nice. Now I am off to bed since tomorrow will come before I know it!