IHH closed due to COVID-19

On Sunday March 16 we met with our business committee, as we do each month. The main thing we needed to talk about was our response to COVID-19. 

As a group, we came to the conclusion that it was best for us to close the house to hospital guests for the time being, rather than risk spreading the virus to our guests and their communities. For many of our hospital guests, the fact that we offer accommodation in an informal, home environment is attractive, but in the current situation, what we offer isn’t appropriate. At the moment, folks need to be able to stay somewhere that is self-contained, not in a sharehouse. 

Most of us resident volunteers are continuing to stay at the house. We are all following the guidelines around handwashing (especially when re-entering the house or preparing food) and we’ve cut off most physical contact with folks outside the house. We are hoping that we might be able to help out locally during this time. If you know of ways that we could help out without spreading the virus, please get in touch. 

We also cancelled our annual trivia night for the time being, but we’re hoping we might be able to reschedule it as a celebration once we’re able to open again. 

We’ve been thinking that this time might be an opportunity to do some more online engagement, but so far we’ve just been settling into the new situation. If there’s anything you’d like to do with us online, let us know. Keep an eye on our Facebook page, where we will let you know what’s happening. 

First term 2018

First Term this year we had very few nights without hospital guests staying. A lot of our guests needed to stay for extended periods of time (eg. one to three weeks at a time). We're aware that the William T. Onus Hostel (one of the other accommodation options our referrers often utilise) has been closed for renovations and that this might be why we had been so busy. The longer stays have meant that we've been able to get to know a lot of our guests better, they get to settle in more and it's often just felt like they're part of our team.
- Chris

Guest meat fund

The resis have been thinking about how we can be more connected to the rural areas and people who supply our food. This partly came about from conversations with our guest Michael last year, who was a farmer in Shepparton. He talked about how hard it is to make a living from farming, and that as a farmer he couldn’t afford to eat fresh local stuff, and had no time to grow his own, so he had to go for what was cheapest from the supermarket. That seems really unfair!

In response to this, we are looking into buying meat in bulk from a local farmer. We think this might help us to be more aware of where the meat we cook and share comes from, and support farmers who can feel under-appreciated by folks in the city. It’s more expensive than the big supermarkets, but if we can pass that money directly on to the farmers, especially if they know they have regular customers who care about how the animals and the land are being treated, then we hope we are contributing to a more integrated relationship between land, food and people.

With this in mind, in our wish list we are asking for cash donations to go towards a guest meat fund and will use this to order directly from a farmer who is set up to receive orders in this way (such as Cherry Tree Organics which supplies beef, chicken, pork and lamb, and Yarra Valley Game meats which supplies kangaroo). If you know of any other suppliers, feel free to let us know! And if you want to contribute to this fund, please indicate this when you donate.

- Samara

Power and Vulnerability

I’ve been thinking a bit lately, about power and vulnerability. Sometimes, at the house I forget how much power we residents have. Power to choose who can stay with us, for how long and when. I forget and feel disempowered, squeezed out, pushed to the edges of my own home. My natural tendency is to give preference to our guests. To try and accommodate them as much as possible. I usually find I can do things this way in the short-term, but in the long-term it means I end up feeling resentful. If I am not able to take back some of the power I have given to guests, this resentment can build and impact negatively on my ability to host. It can then cause me to resent myself because I am not hosting well, which means I feel further disempowered in my situation.

Some of our most recent guests were grandparents of a premature baby boy. They stayed with us for just under a month while the baby was in hospital and then, while a maternal health nurse from VAHS came to see how the baby was doing. Like most grandparents, they doted on their grandson. Showing him off and tending to him so naturally. They had quite a bit going on, including housing pressures, and so DHS was also involved. While this family showed so much resilience and strength in dealing with their circumstances, it was revealing to see their whole attitude and confidence level drop when both DHS and VAHS were visiting. They seemed to become unsure of themselves and their abilities.

A friend came to visit last week. He lives just outside of Brisbane, and often hitchhikes in order to travel long distances. I was asking him about his choice to travel this way and mentioned that while I thought it was a great way to get around, I wouldn’t — as a short, young-looking woman —  feel confident hitchhiking on my own. He told me that he had not had any negative experiences, and knew of some women who traveled in pairs, and some older women who traveled independently this way.

Sometimes, at the house it can feel like we’re not doing enough. We justify our time off by maintaining that we are volunteers, and that we need our home to ourselves some of the time. This argument can fall down though when confronted with continuing unmet need. It seems selfish to be looking forward to having a break, when our guest’s hospital business continues and they have to find alternative accommodation. However without these short-term breaks, the long-term work could not continue.

My friend who hitchhikes has had trouble finding work. So, maybe what I see as an act of adventurous independence is — for him — a practical solution to the real problem of not having enough money to get around. Or maybe he sees not just the risks but also the benefits of catching a ride with others; providing company for people who are often traveling long distances alone, creating safer communities by encouraging generosity and finding new friends, all while getting where he needs to go. Maybe strangers aren’t so very dangerous after all?

Surprisingly at the end of last week the grandma who had been staying with us made a choice. She made the choice to leave our house of hospitality and put herself and her family in a more precarious living situation. She told me, 'I’m going to do it my way now.' She had understood that while she and her family were staying with us they were not perceived as vulnerable enough to need immediate attention. She understood that in order to get what she and her family needed in the long-term she had to act counter-intuitively in the short-term. She had to put her family at greater risk in order to become more secure. 

Perhaps it is our broader systems of power that need some work…

- Mehrin

Term 1 2016 at IHH

My first group of guests were a family from Ballarat, come to Melbourne so that their 4 year old could have dental surgery. Opening the door to any group of strangers and welcoming them into your house can be a confronting experience, especially so when they're from a cultural group you've not had much contact with. 

My fears were soon dispelled, the grandmother, aunt and child all being interested in the house,  happy to have such an open, safe space.  Coffee was made and a happy dance performed at the sight of ginormous teddy bear, a new addition to the house this year.

The grandmother was the obviously the matriarch of the family. She was originally from Alice Springs, a Southern Arrente woman she was proud to tell me, speaking or understanding four languages. She was happy to talk about being an Arrente woman, caring for two of her grandsons in Ballarat, whilst still keeping in contact with her people in and around Alice Springs. She was quite interested in our book collection, picking out books of interest to read.  One book in particular got her attention, a book about the Aboriginal experiences in South Australia since 1836.  When I glanced over her shoulder to see what she was looking at, I found it really hard going.  Stories about poison being mixed into food parcels, photos of young men in prison and atom bombs being tested at Maralinga... but these were stories about her people, and she calmly kept turning the pages.  Just as we were getting ready for dinner, an excited shout out - she had found a photo of a group of soldiers which included her father and her cousin.

We were happy to send the family back to Ballarat the next day, the little boy minus some teeth, and new family photos for her collection.  I too, was left feeling enriched from the conversations I'd had, from the innocent delight in the little boy at play, and the gift of having been able to provide hospitality to people who had travelled to a strange city.  

I found that as I was the person first to welcome this family into our home, they felt most comfortable sharing stories with me and looked to me as first avenue for information, no matter how many other residents were around. Being able to offer hospitality quickly builds bridges and starts the beginnings of relationships. These can be simple acts such as a smile as you greet them at the door, putting on the kettle or pointing out where the food for breakfast is kept.  Already this big life decision to be part of IHH is bringing me great rewards.  I look forward to the experiences to come.

- Fiona

Conversations with a Four-year-old

Recently we had some old friends from Dareton come and stay with us. On this trip they brought their spritely four-year-old daughter and niece with them. The first few of days were spent quietly playing with the toys in the toy corner but by day three or four her mum sat down with me at the kitchen table as we had breakfast.

The young girl's mum and I chatted over our cereal while the little one was engrossed in her iPad game. Then across the table she began explaining what she was doing to me. 'See, this is what you do, this is how you play! See, do you like that one? Do you like that one?'

As her mum went to have a shower and I drank my cup of tea the four year old kept talking and talking. Slowly she moved closer to where I was sitting, until she was right next to me. She even let me have a turn playing with her iPad, explaining how to play and encouraging me when I did well 'That's it cuz, you got it!'

As we played she noticed a man climbing a ladder in front of the house next door. 'What's 'e doin'?' she asked. 'I think he might be looking for a bee hive.' I replied, as we had noticed a small swarm of bees had been gathering there over the last few days. 

'They gunna get 'oney?'

'Well, yes, they might get honey, if they keep the bees. They might just need to put them somewhere else.'

'They like 'oney? I like 'oney.'

'I'm not sure, they may like honey, I like honey too.'

Later the next day as I was reading outside the inquisitive four year old came to join me. 

'Whatcha doin'?'

'I'm reading.'

I was by the outside fire pit, trying to keep my distance as I had developed a bad cold. She was not deterred. 

'Can I come over there.'

'Yeah, you can.'

As she looked around the backyard she wondered,

'You got 'ens?'

'No, we don't have hens, but we have thought about getting some.'

''Ens are good for eggs.'

'Yes they are, you're right.'

'I like 'em 'ens.'

'Yeah I like them too.'

Seeing that young girl, talking to her, being welcomed in to her world was a real experience for me. It is one of many precious experiences I have had while living at the IHH. These small, everyday things add up to create a great deal of difference over time. Most especially in me.

- Mehrin