Turning a page on childcare
Having carved out a distinguished career in journalism over many years, broadcaster and author Geraldine Doogue is not necessarily an easy woman to impress. But there was no denying her enthusiasm for the task at hand at the official launch of Taking Care: The story of multicultural childcare in Marrickville, a new book which celebrates local women from diverse backgrounds working in childcare.
“One of the things that was front and centre throughout the early years I was hosting Life Matters on the ABC was coverage of the childcare debate,” Doogue said. “It ranged from the original discussion of, ‘Should mothers work?’, to the accreditation debate. And if you have a country where they’re still massively debating the rights of the mother to work, you get a different type of debate [compared] to a place where they’ve moved the discussion on to, ‘Let’s assume that a lot of mothers work – what do we do about the next generation?’ In the US, they’re still debating the question of whether mothers should work, and they haven’t yet advanced to the debate we were having in the 1990s, of how we guarantee quality childcare and ensure that we’re not short-changing the sector.
“I think we have got an incredibly good childcare system that, in many ways, is the envy of many countries in the world, but it wasn’t a given that it would be so. I watched it be put together, and I think it’s fabulous that [Marrickville] Council has recorded it in this way.”
Author Julia Richardson was another who was highly appreciative of Council’s support for the project. “It was their initiative, and I thought it was the most wonderful idea,” she said. “It’s the kind of project you’d love to be able to work on, but you wouldn’t think there was a place for it or someone to fund it – and yet here was Council doing just that. I think it is a profession that is generally agreed to be a little bit forgotten and underrated; yet these women all had such a belief they were doing something very important. They loved what they were doing and were completely committed to it – and they were able to articulate those sentiments very specifically.”
The book’s photographer, Bruce Daly, commented on the cheerfulness of the workplaces he experienced – an aspect which helped frame the publication’s imagery. “I’m used to working in a more corporate environment, and I was struck by how essentially cheerful workplaces they all were – maybe I’ve been working in the wrong places!” he laughed. “It was great material to work with – there’s a general air of optimism and cheerfulness, so it was terrific to work in an environment where people are enjoying themselves.”
Marrickville Mayor Fiona Byrne said the book focused on an array of women who work in positions where they were not often recognised for their contributions to the wider community. “We believe this publication will draw attention to their enormous value to our community and gives them an opportunity to tell their stories,” she said.
One of the 16 women profiled in the book is Trupti Oza, who migrated to Australia from India following the Gujarat earthquake in 2001. In her work at the Cavendish Street Children’s Centre in Stanmore, she places great importance in the task of building up a child’s character.
“I’ve made a lot of new friendships out of the project – it’s very good to see the cultural diversity in this field,” Oza said. “I think there’s a shared appreciation, amongst all of us, of the love of working with children – they’re so pure and enthusiastic about everything. I just simply love working with them – it makes me feel young!”
