Post by lennie on Aug 13, 2006 18:51:33 GMT -5
Aboriginal elder says hunger drives children to drugs
An Aboriginal elder from the Anangu Pitjantjatjarra Yunkatjatjarra (APY) lands in South Australia says children are starving and turning to drugs to forget hunger pains.
Waniwa Lester is calling for shelters for women and children in the APY lands.
There are plans to build a drug rehabilitation centre there, but with fruit costing up to $3 a piece, Mrs Lester says the centre alone will do little.
She says in the past, women had sites where they could protect each other, and a return to that system would stop abuse and children taking up drugs.
"In the cities, this special place is called women's shelter," she said.
"A lot of our women know that name.
"It's a safety [measure], if they could arrange it quickly for that mother to go with the children to that centre."
There are no women's shelters in the APY lands.
SA Aboriginal Affairs Minister Jay Weatherill says he is discussing the idea with the Federal Government.
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This is the furtherest from the truth. It is the Drugs and the alcohol that are causing the hunger. The reality is that drugs and alcohol have become a way of life for many aboriginal youngsters and the funding for them takes priority over other neccessities such as food and shelter.
These people receive Government funding and assistance to survive but their survival skills are limited. If we concentrate on teaching these people survival and social skills there may be some improvement in the situation. They all know the consequences of drug and alcohol misuse but their greater disposition to the disease factor precedes. The taking drugs because they have hunger pains is bulls**t.
An Aboriginal elder from the Anangu Pitjantjatjarra Yunkatjatjarra (APY) lands in South Australia says children are starving and turning to drugs to forget hunger pains.
Waniwa Lester is calling for shelters for women and children in the APY lands.
There are plans to build a drug rehabilitation centre there, but with fruit costing up to $3 a piece, Mrs Lester says the centre alone will do little.
She says in the past, women had sites where they could protect each other, and a return to that system would stop abuse and children taking up drugs.
"In the cities, this special place is called women's shelter," she said.
"A lot of our women know that name.
"It's a safety [measure], if they could arrange it quickly for that mother to go with the children to that centre."
There are no women's shelters in the APY lands.
SA Aboriginal Affairs Minister Jay Weatherill says he is discussing the idea with the Federal Government.
_________________________________________________
This is the furtherest from the truth. It is the Drugs and the alcohol that are causing the hunger. The reality is that drugs and alcohol have become a way of life for many aboriginal youngsters and the funding for them takes priority over other neccessities such as food and shelter.
These people receive Government funding and assistance to survive but their survival skills are limited. If we concentrate on teaching these people survival and social skills there may be some improvement in the situation. They all know the consequences of drug and alcohol misuse but their greater disposition to the disease factor precedes. The taking drugs because they have hunger pains is bulls**t.