Excuses, Debate and Action

I’m reading Patricia St John’s autobiography ‘In Her Words’. Patrica was working as a nurse in a remote village in Morrocco, treating a boy who had fallen backwards into a cauldron of boiling water.

She’d dressed his wounds, and left instructions for the bandages to be washed, boiled and hung out to dry. She returned two days later, asked for the bandages, and was greeted with laughter:

‘Did you wash them?’ Yes, yes, we washed them in the stream.’

‘Did you boil them?’ ‘Yes we boiled them long in the charcoal.’

‘Did you hang them out to dry?’ ‘Yes, yes we hung them on the line… gales of mirth ‘…and a goat came and ate them up.’

In yesterday’s ‘Lowestoft Journal’ I read:

‘Ministers heard about the problems faced by Suffolk children with special educational needs at an emotional debate in Westminster Hall this week.’

The article described a repeated cycle… damning report, promises of change, nothing happens, provision deteriorates, families complain… another investigation… another report highlights further concerns.

MP Jess Asato says: ‘The system is creaking at the seams following years of neglect, and without action would only deteriorate further, given the growing number of families needing support, which is why we are determined to grip the issue once and for all.’

Will there be further ‘A goat ate them’ excuses?, debate, or action?

The next page in my Journal celebrates the tenth anniversary of ‘Catalyst Counselling’. I remember my friend Gus being involved in setting it up…

Catalyst Counselling has just moved into new premises. There’s mention of its not-for-profit service… supporting mental health in the workplace… providing ‘…high-quality, low cost, longer-term counselling to those in the local community who would not otherwise be able to afford, or access, such a service.’  

No goat-eaten excuses, no discussion or debate of needs, just purposeful action to the benefit of those in need.

In a world full of excuses, blame and debate, I pray that today I will quietly focus on supporting those in need.