It was titled 'Growing up poor' and it centred around 5 families living in the government built generational welfare suburb of Claymore near Campbelltown NSW.
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The program wasn't only about perspectives of children growing up poor in the midst of plenty.
It was about growing up without a bedroom light to save money on electricity. Growing up with your cousins because their mum has a mental illness. Growing up in domestic violence. Growing up scared. Growing up without your Dad. Growing up if you're lucky. Growing up being bullied. Growing up surrounded by unemployment, mental illness, addiction, abuse, neglect and miserable dirt and dilapidation.
There were small sparks of hope in the children's eyes, particularly the younger ones. The pre-teens, not so much. They had a dark wisdom about them. Far too dark for their age.
This is what 12 year old Jessica had to say about what she wanted for her future....
"A good job, like where you get like heaps of money. I'd be like a decent mum, like a husband with no violence and everything, so it could be a happy family, you know, but like that would never happen..."
The promise is that the cycle will be repeated for most of these kids. A great promise isn't it?
The NSW state government have run out of money to invest in the area.
It's right at our backdoor. This disadvantage is right here.
I was ashamedly surprised that the kids were pretty articulate. I was also heartened by the hard work educators have invested, it does make a huge difference. The 8 year old girl Jayda was incredibly hopeful for a bright future. It was obvious this girl had been invested in, even through all her hardships, she knew what she wanted to do when she was an adult.
Today I see my 7 year old finishing the home reading program in year 1 instead of year 2. She lost her sports shoes, so I bought her another pair. She loses her scissors and uses up all her glue. I buy her more. She isn't disadvantaged at school because she has what she needs to learn well: resources and a stable home environment.
When she comes home, the house is relatively peaceful and there is nutritious food and a hot bath waiting for her. At night she has clean sheets and a soft lamp to read under which then takes her off to slumber safely. There are no threats of sexual abuse or domestic violence to wake her up.
Her lunch is healthy, sometimes there is even $2 on a Friday for the canteen. I'm not so frazzled, depressed or lost with no hope that I can manage delicious dinners. Some of the mothers pictured served junk. I can see why, it's easier, the kids will eat it and they won't feel so harassed. They are left as single parents, they are exhausted and consumed by disadvantage and the cycle that they were brought up in.
I have been lucky enough to not know what it's like.
I don't know what my Smith Family Learning for Life sponsor child lives with but I know he is Broadie, one of ten kids, nearly 12 years old and my 7 year old daughter is already streets ahead of him academically. I know he is loved and I know his mum at 41 wants him to have opportunities too. Just the same as I want and give to my own children.
How can I forget about him when I am giving so much to my own?
He is but only one child and he lives in my country. I know I can do something about that. I can use my advantage to give him a chance.
At the conclusion of the program host Kerry O'Brien said 'we can tell these kids that they can be whatever they want to be, that their dreams can be realised, but not if they're left largely to do it on their own. That would be a cruel hoax wouldn't it.'
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Check out The Smith Family's Learning for Life Program and see if there is something that you can do to help. I feel so strongly about this issue that they are my family's main charity which we support. The Program isn't cheap but opportunity isn't cheap. If you've got the means, please consider it.
Did you grow up poor?
What changed for you?
How does advantage shape your view of disadvantage?
Did you see the program?
What did you think?
