Susan: “We’ve broken the cycle”

Education is the key to breaking the cycle of disadvantage. Susan’s story shows how one family can make this happen.

When she was three and a half months, my youngest daughter Christine passed away in hospital from cot death. That was nearly two years ago. It was a very hard time: I was lost and just on autopilot really. Having the other kids was the only thing that got me out of bed each morning and kept me going. It was the counsellor at the hospital who referred me to Brighter Futures.

We started with making some goals for myself and what I wanted for the children. I have five other kids: there’s Jessica she’s 10, then Jeannie’s 8 this year, Alister he’s 6, Paulo he’s 4 and Henry’s 3.  At that stage, I had all the younger ones home with me every day: I like having them with me and it’s the way I’ve always done it. When Lynette suggested I should take them to day care, I was really hesitant, but now I see it’s the best thing I’ve ever done. They are learning, interacting with the other children and coming on so well. It was especially important for Paulo: he was two and a half and he didn’t talk at all. We got him to a speech therapist and it turned out it was his tonsils. Now he’s talking, he’s great and he’s finished with the therapist.

My eldest daughter Jessie was having a lot of trouble at school with her spelling, reading and writing, and Bridget (caseworker) organised tutoring. She’s been going for quite a while now and they’re saying she’s doing really well.

Once a fortnight our early childhood worker comes. She’s taught me how to help the children at home and they love her. We’ve done cooking and painting and we’ve discovered really amazing things you can make together that don’t cost a lot of money but really help with their development. At the same time, I’ve been working on goals for me: like getting my drivers licence. Now my goal is to get myself up and running with a car so we can get out to sports activities and the park and things. We are so much stronger now: we’re back on track.

Today, I was up at the school to watch Alister in a performance and I was able to see Paulo get an award. I was so proud of him. It was for being respectful and learning well. It was his first one. We’ll put it up on the wall with all the others. See up there? All the children have awards there now: we just keep putting them up.

My dad didn’t read or write and I had a lot of trouble learning at school: just like Jessie. My sister is dyslexic. I remember that my Mum had to fight to get help for us: she got no support. Talking about it now, I’m putting it all together…this generation will be different. These are huge, huge changes for us. We’ve broken the cycle.

Getting the right support at the right time made an enormous difference for Susan and her family. When families have the help they need, they can make incredible changes now that will make a difference into the future.

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