Day 34: Blindmans Bluff

Making ends meet has been the Blindman and the Blindmans wife's profession over the past 25 year. There is not a day that goes by where we have not had to stretch the meal a little further, make every cent count that comes in and eventually goes out. I know I speak of most average Australian households  when I talk about life's financial challenges but it has been our experience at least that I reflect on when I talk about stretching the budget.

When we first hit the workforce it was me that initially got a job. I worked for a whole year whilst Deano applied for work all over the place after leaving university. I won't say I wasn't a little jealous that our flat mate would take Deano body surfing every day to get him out of the house and enjoying life while I worked my guts out changing babies nappies and keeping children educated in a Childcare centre with over 100 little kids under the age of 5 running through its corridors each day. Nope not envious at all! (Said with sarcasm)   Deano would prepare his applications for jobs the night before and then send of a wad of letters the next day...the rest of the day was for housework and surfing. The problem that was holding him back from being interviewed was that he couldn't drive and an environmental scientist needed a drivers licence as field work was mostly part and parcel of the job. Something my Blindman just never considered when he was studying.

Behind the surf and the smile was a man truly struggling to come to terms with being overlooked for work due to his vision impairment 

Not having work can be often demoralising for a male who has the in built need to provide for his family. Eventually I could see the daily surfing (although he was getting a great tan)was wearing thin, along with his eyesight his mental health was deteriorating. Eventually I resigned from my job and we moved 8 hours away to live close to Deano's parents. The Blindmans parents owned a roof tiling company where my Father-in-Law ended up employing his son to load tiles until he found something more suited to his degree. 

Eventually The Blindman managed to get volunteer work with the local council and worked in a waste water treatment laboratory. This voluntary work went on for 3 months until  the council decided that this blindman was a worthy and capable employee. Now I know to some, three months volunteering might seem like a long time for someone to work for free, but that job went onto him becoming a manager at council and full time employment for the length of 7 years until he decided that his life needed to hit the books again and retrain. 

I guess some people in life would just throw their hands up in the air with despair with the thought of having to work for free to prove their worth, but in the end we have learnt that working for free has been a real blessing for us. It gives service to those in need, it helps our own self esteem, volunteering proves our worth and eventually, from our experience  it leads to a fantastic outcome. For every job this Blindman has obtained he has volunteered in the position first. In the meantime I work out ways to stretch our budget to cover our costs and make things happen. I have really learnt the art of feeding a family of 6 for under $15 a meal. 

I know that some people would think this proves that mainstream society has employment  inequality for people with disabilities, perhaps it does, but I always feel that volunteering   is an opportunity to educate society making the pathway easier for those that follow. With the roll out of the National Disability Support Scheme here in Australia I hope will help those who need it the most with ease find work and conquer life's hurdles.

Australian Government NDIS Website

What A difference NDIS funding can make

My advise to my own children and anyone else looking for work is...if a blindman is willing and able to volunteer and give life a go then any able bodied person can do that too. You never know where life will lead you you just have to get out there and give it a go.