I don’t wish to put in a single ounce of energy that dissaffects the solid, dedicated, and without return work that you do, have done or are willing to do in the future. Nor, and I urge you to pay attention to this part of the sentence, for any comment, want you to feel challenged or direspected.

Collectively men are missing the boat. There is a large hole in our waka and we are in danger of sinking.

Think about it. At the Picnic Julie piped up that there was sufficient room for collaboration in the community to adopt MCNS and that the practical difficulties were not insurmountable: or at least that is how I interpreted her comments. I replied going directly into teh history of the centre and described that there was nothing wrong with it. Emotionally it is a bastion of security for those many who have sat through any of the Monday night stories. It is the only really sanctuary that I know of that has housed unconditionally men’s pain. And it is being held together my the most miniscule thread possible.

What it needs is for you, or those any with an interest to look at what you have to do. You, as you have have got the finances back into order. Excellent. Stage 1. Now - stage two is Julie. SHE told you at the Picnic that SHE could assist you to get funding. SHE said there is buckets of funding out there. BUCKETS.

Concentrate: Buckets!

If you, Dave, or any others cannot find amongst us any man brave enough to carry a bucket, like they were a water boy, then we really have got a problem. “There’s a hole in my bucket dear Laila, dear Laila”.

In one of my earlier posts I urged people to put their hands in their pockets and employ Paul Catton. He would get the funding applications organised and have them into the right department immediately. Instead of doing this he needed to work on his own case, live his own life and fight his own other battles, and pin the IRD Commissioner to the wall. You could still get him employed. You just need to prioritise the tasks.

Optimally you know me well enough by now to recognise that I am encouraging you and not berating you, but really, if we have effective champions in our ranks, like you surely are one, then you need to pick the right paths to follow and carry the right equipment. At the moment we seem to be out of water. Get a new bucket. Find a new tap, and then you’ll pick up some carriers.

Chhers bro,
Benjamin.

And nothing much has changed. The political community - sure have advanced and slowly absorbed some of the issues of gender inequity, recognising possibly that every dad loves his child: Yet that hasn’t and is unlikely to boil down to recognise that those people who have been at the work face of faith securing those individuals dissafected by the masses with some hope that they do not have to believe that they are “deadbeats” or “losers” or “no hopers” have to be protected, or else noone will register the truth.

So good on you Murray and Julie - hope the AGM instilled the kind of commitment to the community we saw at the picnic into the attendees at the MCNS.