Winter is the hardest time of year for a child living in hardship with food, warm clothes and heating scarce. KidsCan's winter campaign aims to reach the more than 4,000 children waiting for support in schools and early childhood centres nationwide.
Newshub speaks to Kopuarahi School Principal Chris Patel, who shares her firsthand experience of seeing children living in poverty.
The child that sticks in my mind is the first one who told me she wore her jacket to bed. She was a gorgeous little girl who we used to feed at school most days. She’d been given a jacket from KidsCan and had not taken it off, it was so cold and damp in her house - where she shared a bed with her sister. In the middle of winter, it was the warmest clothing she had. It was very sobering when she said, "I really love this and I’ve been sleeping in it."
It was first up best dressed in that house. Her older sister was the same size and would also claim things, because they both needed them. We see kids sharing everything from uniform shorts to shoes. And it shouldn't be like that. These kids are our future. It’s awful to think that we’ve got children right now surviving without the basics in a wet, frosty environment.
Poverty is across our society but it’s hidden for those of us who aren’t in that world. Perhaps that’s because a) we don’t really want to see it or b) we don’t see it because we don’t venture into places where these kids are. I think if people went and spent a few days wandering around some parts of New Zealand, they’d see a third world country.
At my last school there would be two or three children sharing a bed. If one woke up that disturbed everyone, so a child might come to school and go to sleep in the sick bay. Many Kiwis don’t realise that for a huge slice of our society that’s their norm. The kids don’t know that life could be different. We had families living in their cars in the middle of winter, but they were still getting their kids to school. They are survivors, surviving stuff most of us would struggle with.
When we’re cold or hungry we tend to pull in on ourselves. I’ve learnt to read body language very quickly. Those kids are often quiet and withdrawn, and they can’t engage with learning. So you start asking the right questions. "Are you hungry? Are you well?" We’ve got children who regularly come to school not having had breakfast, and with no lunch or not enough to sustain them. Other parents keep their children at home if they don’t have food, and you might have kids who don’t come to school for three or four days.
I’ve put my hand into my pocket so many times to help, because how does that child feel when they don’t have what others do? We asked KidsCan for support, and it fills a huge need. They help provide breakfast and lunch every day. The butter chicken soup mixed with pumpkin soup is especially popular! Some of our tamariki eat a huge lunch. School is the place that feeds them the most regular, predictable meals because things are so tough.
The kids are glued to their KidsCan jackets. They’re brand new, they don’t have to share them with their siblings, and everyone thinks they’re cool. Some of their shoes were hardly holding together, so the new shoes mean they can come to school feeling good in their uniform, and go out on field trips with pride and dignity as well.
Being at school, getting an education, is their best shot at getting out of poverty. Every parent I meet wants that - they want their kids to be able to do something better or greater than they’ve done themselves. There are just a lot of barriers standing in the way. Charities like KidsCan are so hugely important in removing those barriers. And wouldn’t it be nice if we didn’t have to have that ambulance at the bottom of the cliff? But I know there would be a lot of kids who wouldn’t be at school without it.
More than 4,000 children in early childhood centres and schools across New Zealand are waiting for KidsCan support. $30 a month gives them food, shoes, and a warm jacket. Can you be the difference? www.kidscan.org.nz
