Last week, Australia’s new prime minister Scott Morrison was sworn into office. Given the last decade’s political history and pattern, this leadership shake-up was certainly unsurprising. “But what would this mean for ordinary Australians?” I asked myself.
Amidst policy uncertainty, one thing is clear – that the Australian Liberal Party minister believes that the “best form of welfare is a job”. This he declared in his first speech as the nation’s prime minister.
Not everyone might agree with him on that. However, whatever one’s political views are, it is difficult to deny the importance of work as a means to survive.
At work this week at Ordinary Heroes though, I find my attention turned away from the stately Government house in Canberra to an unpretentious working farm in Nepal. There, the propensity to engage in social policy and economic table talk fades out as the cruel reality of poverty and people’s need for a livelihood sets in.
Nepal, I’ve learnt, is home to nearly 29 million people. Being an agricultural country, the majority of households are directly engaged in farming. Hence crops are a crucial source of food and cash income, especially for households in rural and needy communities where alternative employment is scarce. Yet, many households struggle to produce sufficient crops to meet their basic daily needs. So much so that, a quarter of the population are living below the national poverty line.
Yet in these dark and bleak circumstances, we find light. This week, I learnt of the little shining light of Shiloh Farms. Shiloh Farms is a working farm that runs a sustainable farming program for locals, especially women. A program under OM Nepal, Shiloh farm trains locals in environmentally sustainable and organic farming methods to increase healthy crop production.
The working internship model provides employment and training, equipping locals with the improved skills and confidence to not only successfully manage their farms, but also pass on the knowledge to those in their home villages. This ripple-on effect is also buoyed by short regional training sessions.
Knowing that ‘capabilities’ form only a portion of the sustainable livelihood formula, Shiloh Farms also installs water pumps in communities to help improve water accessibility for farmers especially during the dry season.
It is the combination of these activities that help improve food security, increase household income generation and improve the health of local farmers in these needy communities. The work also acts as a protection for women-at-risk, providing them with the skills and opportunities to secure a livelihood and a place in society that they otherwise would not have had.
And so, in the backdrop of Australian current affairs, the endless peaceful sharing of opinions and (more often than not) hot inconclusive debates on “what is the best for our country?”, the faithful, ongoing work of Shiloh Farms in the lives of Nepalese strikes me and shines. Not as an amazing policy piece or project, but on the faces of these women pictured.
I’m not yet sure what this would mean for me in Australia, or for anyone who’s bothered reading this. But it has reminded me that whatever my social policy views are, to avoid the quicksand of endless debates, to get to work and remember the faces on the field (quite literally).
Perhaps for some, the work of Shiloh Farms and its positive impact on the lives of the poor and needy present a strong argument in support of the prime minister’s statement. I personally think our deliverer needs to be stronger than our economy. Though it is certain that the good works of Shiloh Farms and its’ likes should be enlarged, in both Nepal and Australia.
There is much to be done and many people to care for.
But What Does It Mean For Me, An Ordinary Hero?
Last week, Australia’s new prime minister Scott Morrison was sworn into office. Given the last decade’s political history and pattern, this leadership shake-up was certainly unsurprising. “But what would this mean for ordinary Australians?” I asked myself.
Amidst policy uncertainty, one thing is clear – that the Australian Liberal Party minister believes that the “best form of welfare is a job”. This he declared in his first speech as the nation’s prime minister.
Not everyone might agree with him on that. However, whatever one’s political views are, it is difficult to deny the importance of work as a means to survive.
At work this week at Ordinary Heroes though, I find my attention turned away from the stately Government house in Canberra to an unpretentious working farm in Nepal. There, the propensity to engage in social policy and economic table talk fades out as the cruel reality of poverty and people’s need for a livelihood sets in.
Nepal, I’ve learnt, is home to nearly 29 million people. Being an agricultural country, the majority of households are directly engaged in farming. Hence crops are a crucial source of food and cash income, especially for households in rural and needy communities where alternative employment is scarce. Yet, many households struggle to produce sufficient crops to meet their basic daily needs. So much so that, a quarter of the population are living below the national poverty line.
Yet in these dark and bleak circumstances, we find light. This week, I learnt of the little shining light of Shiloh Farms. Shiloh Farms is a working farm that runs a sustainable farming program for locals, especially women. A program under OM Nepal, Shiloh farm trains locals in environmentally sustainable and organic farming methods to increase healthy crop production.
The working internship model provides employment and training, equipping locals with the improved skills and confidence to not only successfully manage their farms, but also pass on the knowledge to those in their home villages. This ripple-on effect is also buoyed by short regional training sessions.
Knowing that ‘capabilities’ form only a portion of the sustainable livelihood formula, Shiloh Farms also installs water pumps in communities to help improve water accessibility for farmers especially during the dry season.
It is the combination of these activities that help improve food security, increase household income generation and improve the health of local farmers in these needy communities. The work also acts as a protection for women-at-risk, providing them with the skills and opportunities to secure a livelihood and a place in society that they otherwise would not have had.
And so, in the backdrop of Australian current affairs, the endless peaceful sharing of opinions and (more often than not) hot inconclusive debates on “what is the best for our country?”, the faithful, ongoing work of Shiloh Farms in the lives of Nepalese strikes me and shines. Not as an amazing policy piece or project, but on the faces of these women pictured.
I’m not yet sure what this would mean for me in Australia, or for anyone who’s bothered reading this. But it has reminded me that whatever my social policy views are, to avoid the quicksand of endless debates, to get to work and remember the faces on the field (quite literally).
Perhaps for some, the work of Shiloh Farms and its positive impact on the lives of the poor and needy present a strong argument in support of the prime minister’s statement. I personally think our deliverer needs to be stronger than our economy. Though it is certain that the good works of Shiloh Farms and its’ likes should be enlarged, in both Nepal and Australia.
There is much to be done and many people to care for.
By Yin-ting Sim, 27/08/2018